2010 Indy Car Series Season - Series News

Series News

• Announced in a press conference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on November 5, 2009, clothier Izod signed on as the series' new title sponsor from 2010 to 2015, with an option for two additional years. According to Robin Miller, the deal was worth $10 million per year with at least $5 million toward promotions and marketing. It would additionally include a payout of $100,000 per car, per year to teams eligible for the TEAM revenue-sharing program, and possible partial funding for a full-time car for Ryan Hunter-Reay, whom received sponsorship backing from the brand in 2009. This was the third title sponsorship in the IndyCar Series' history; previous sponsorships were provided by Pep Boys (1998–1999) and Northern Light (2000–2001).
• On November 25, 2009, a season opening race in São Paulo, Brazil was confirmed by city authorities and an Indy Racing League press release. The race, the São Paulo Indy 300, took place on a 2.3-mile (3.7 km) temporary street course. Despite the long travel distance for the teams, the event was lucrative with Terry Angstadt claiming each participating team would receive a six-figure sum from the event promoters in addition to all expenses paid.
• The possibility was left open for a race at Milwaukee, however, ongoing issues involving unpaid sanctioning fees from the management put the race, and the future of the facility, at risk. In November, Historic Mile, LLC. announced they were going out of business. It was announced on December 16 that no national racing series would race at the Milwaukee Mile in 2010 due to the inability for Wisconsin State Fair Park officials to find a replacement promoter for the season.
• The July 25 race in Edmonton went ahead, despite event organizers losing $9.2 million on the race over the previous two seasons.
• 2010 rule changes were announced on January 12, 2010. The 4-position fuel mixture switch was removed so that cars were only able to run on "full rich" or "yellow" fuel settings. The Honda Overtake assist returned with an approximate doubling of bhp increase from last year's 5–20 bhp upon pressing the button. All cars had a reverse gear on the road and street courses in 2010.
• IRL founder and IMS board member, Tony George, resigned from the IMS effective immediately on January 19, 2010.
• Former chief executive officer of the Professional Bull Riders, Randy Bernard, was announced as the new IRL CEO on February 2, 2010.
• A carriage dispute between the Comcast Corporation and its Versus channel, and DirecTV that had been in place since August was resolved on March 15, 2010. This meant that Versus was restored to nearly sixteen million customers; returning to coverage that the channel offered before the dispute.
• Indianapolis 500 qualifying in 2010 awarded points to each of the 33 qualifying drivers. The polesitter received fifteen points, with the other drivers on the front row receiving 13 and 12 respectively. Each qualifying driver earned at least three points.
• Two additional titles were awarded starting with the 2010 season, with an oval champion and a road/street course champion being crowned. A trophy and prize money was awarded to the highest points finisher on the 9 road/street courses and 7 oval races (excluding Homestead). After a fan vote, the names of the championships were announced as the A. J. Foyt Oval Championship and the Mario Andretti Road Course Championship.