Canadian Motor Speedway: ovals vs. streets debate comes to life

(Originally posted by Steph to Planet-IRL.com.)

The Meet the Media panel held this afternoon at the Canadian Motorsports Expo offered a unique view into where the IZOD IndyCar Series fits into the current mindset of the motorsport community in Canada.

The panel, which included seven high-profile Canadian motorsport journalists, discussed topics that covered a near-equal split between Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar — and though the latter didn’t escape scot-free, it was on the receiving end of the least criticism.  The overall perception was that the changes being made by the IRL are promising and that its future appears more secure than it has in some time, which is a marked reversal from the outlook pervasive in the Canadian media in recent years.

The topic that spurred the discussion toward IndyCar was that of the Canadian Motor Speedway, a project approaching the late stages of its development.  A location has recently been approved by the town council of Fort Erie, Ontario, that sits two miles from the American border.  The facility, due to begin operation for the 2011 season, proposes to give Canada its first one-mile oval track and would also house a 2.6-mile FIA grade road course and a motorsport R&D facility to be operated in conjunction with nearby McMaster University.

Erik Tomas, a motorsports broadcaster well-known in Southern Ontario, mentioned that personnel at the CMS have been in contact with the IRL to begin discussions into securing a date on the schedule.  This led to the question of their likelihood of success, given that the new facility lies less than two hours from the city of Toronto and at the exact halfway point between the event in that city and Watkins Glen International in nearby New York state.

The panel was quick to agree that the Southern Ontario and Western New York market is not sufficiently large to support three IRL events.  However, opinions quickly diverged on which event would be the best inclusion for IndyCar.

Tomas suggested that the weekend in Toronto might be supplanted by one at the CMS because the IRL still positions itself as an oval-centric series.  Heads shook vigorously as other panelists asserted that this is no longer the case, but Tomas was adamant.  As long as the Indy 500 is its centerpiece, he insisted, IndyCar will always give precedence to oval events where the option is available.

Canadian motorsport journalist Russ Bond disagreed.  The event in downtown Toronto draws its crowds because of its central location, he posited, and an attempt to draw those same people to a location nearly two hours away would prove unsuccessful regardless of the track type on offer.  An agreement on the matter was never reached, and the debate ended at an impasse.

The current lack of short ovals on the IndyCar schedule is an identified weakness, and there are many who would be thrilled to see the Toronto race scrapped in favor of an oval event.  On the other hand, an equally vocal group would fiercely defend the history and viability of Canada’s best-known street race.  In fact, this topic was recently raised in a feature here at Planet-IRL, and the Southern Ontario market is by all appearances about to become a real-life example of one of the more divisive topics in the IndyCar community today.  As the Canadian Motor Speedway project nears completion, this will surely become a story to watch.