IndyCar announces 2011 schedule

The already-announced new street race in Baltimore and return to the New Hampshire one-mile oval in Loudon are the other two definite additions, while Las Vegas Motor Speedway is expected to be brought back into the fold as the season finale, although that deal is not yet complete.

To make room for these changes, the ovals at Kentucky, Chicagoland and Homestead have all been dropped along with the Watkins Glen road course. All four venues are run by International Speedway Corporation.

The schedule features eight oval races, five street circuits, and four road course or airport layouts.

"It was important that the IZOD IndyCar Series continue to strike a balance between ovals and non-ovals to maintain our claim to the most diverse racing schedule in the world," said series chief Randy Bernard.

"We want to have the best drivers in the world, and it's important that our schedule truly challenges the best through short ovals, speedways, temporary circuits and road courses."

Among the other alterations are the return of St Petersburg to the season-opener slot, with this year's opening round in Sao Paulo becoming 2011's fourth event on 1 May.

The Indianapolis 500 will be the first oval race on the calendar for the first time, while Texas retains the immediate post-Indy slot - which traditionally belonged to Milwaukee - despite the Wisconsin oval's return. Milwaukee's race will instead take place on 19 June. Texas will be run as a double-header, with two separate rounds happening under the lights on race day.

The only other venue to see a significant date change is Kentucky Speedway, which shifts from a September date to October and returns to a daytime slot rather than running at night. Iowa Speedway's event shifts from daylight to being a floodlit evening event.

Should the deal with Las Vegas to host the final round fall through, the Fontana superspeedway is tipped to get the race instead.

Rnd  Date          Venue                         Circuit type
 1.  27 March      St Petersburg                 Street
 2.  10 April      Barber Motorsports Park       Road
 3.  17 April      Long Beach                    Street
 4.  1 May         Sao Paulo                     Street
 5.  29 May        Indianapolis 500              Oval
 6.  11 June       Texas Motor Speedway          Oval (2 races)
 7.  19 June       Milwaukee Mile                Oval
 8.  25 June       Iowa Speedway                 Oval
 9.  10 July       Toronto                       Street
10.  24 July       Edmonton                      Airport
11.  7 August      Mid-Ohio                      Road
12.  14 August     New Hampshire Motor Speedway  Oval
13.  28 August     Infineon Raceway              Road
14.  4 September   Baltimore                     Street
15.  18 September  Twin Ring Motegi              Oval
16.  2 October     Kentucky Speedway             Oval
17.  tba           Las Vegas Motor Speedway?     Oval