NBC, USA Network To Televise INDYCAR Harvest GP presented by GMR This Week
September 30, 2020 | By Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES return to live network television Saturday as part of the INDYCAR Harvest GP presented by GMR.
The second race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader will air at 2:30 p.m. (ET) Saturday on NBC. The first race, held Friday at 3:30 p.m., will air on USA Network. The Pennzoil INDYCAR Radio Network will carry both races.
Saturday’s 75-lap race will be the sixth NBC race of 2020. The season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, Oct. 25 also will air on NBC, capping a strong year for INDYCAR on network television. Exactly half of the 14 races will have been shown live on NBC, with six more on NBCSN.
The on-track action at IMS begins Thursday and features a 75-minute NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice at 2:25 p.m., with coverage on the INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold. Also on INDYCAR Pass will be qualifying for Race 1 at 6:20 p.m. Thursday and qualifying for Race 2 at 10:20 a.m. Saturday.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon holds a 72-point lead over Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden with three races remaining. Dixon was the winner of the most recent NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course, the GMR Grand Prix, on July 4.
Team Penske drivers Simon Pagenaud and Will Power have each won three road course races at IMS since the NTT INDYCAR SERIES began using it in 2014. Power has been the NTT P1 Award winner a record four times, including at this year’s GMR Grand Prix.
Dixon can clinch his sixth NTT INDYCAR SERIES season championship at IMS, although he wouldn’t officially be crowned the champion and awarded the prestigious Astor Challenge Cup until the St. Petersburg race.
The week’s schedule includes the first pairing of two major sports car series -- the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli and its North American counterpart, GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS. Former Indianapolis 500 pole winner Ryan Briscoe is among the drivers in the Indianapolis 8 Hour event held Sunday, Oct. 4 beginning at 10 a.m.
The event also will showcase drivers in SRO America’s Pirelli GT4 America, GT Sports Club America and the TC America series.
Sports car qualifying and racing action this weekend from IMS can be seen at SRO’s GT World YouTube channel plus the Intercontinental GT Challenge Facebook page and website (www.intercontinentalgtchallenge.com).