Farah Ben Gamra
The NASCAR–IndyCar doubleheader at Phoenix Raceway last weekend was a massive hit, and fans weren’t the only ones convinced by it. Drivers are already talking about making these crossover events a regular thing. It was a rare chance to see both of America’s premier racing series share the same stage for an exciting weekend.
It was a huge weekend for American motorsports as both major series shared the stage. IndyCar made its big return to Phoenix on March 7 – first time back since 2018- right before the NASCAR Cup Series took over on March 8 for the Straight Talk Wireless 500.
Team Penske absolutely crushed it, walking away with the win in both series. Josef Newgarden handled business in the IndyCar race, and Ryan Blaney won the Cup Series event the next day.
Former NASCAR star and 40 Cup Series races winner Mark Martin was among those who loved the idea of both series sharing the same race weekend. The Hall of Famer even said on the Kenny Wallace podcast that he wants to see more of it in the future. “Look, I’m a hillbilly from Arkansas, so I can’t say these foreign names, but that Rasmussen or whatever his name is, our host of our, man, is IndyCar’s host. Dude, he made a fan out of me. I’m going to be watching more of these races. Man, that guy was on the gas!”
The Hall of Famer added. “Blaney put on a show Sunday at racetrack where they say you can’t pass,” Martin continued. “I think he passed 49 cars or something like that. So it was just it was another great NASCAR weekend. And it also I believe it was a great weekend for IndyCar. I really think that we need to more cross-promotion.”
Kyle Larson also supports the idea
Reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson also liked what he saw from the Phoenix doubleheader weekend.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver said in an interview in Phoenix: “I watched the race on TV. It was a great race. I think any cars on short ovals are really exciting. So yeah, hopefully we can do more of it in the future. I think it’d be pretty neat to kind of go to their, you know, neck of the woods, maybe with, like, a street course or a road course, you know, and kind of let them be the premier division.”
“You know those guys deserve it; they put on great racing, so yeah, we’d love to do it again, but the crossover is great,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver added.
Larson also had a strong showing in the NASCAR race itself. After qualifying near the front, he finished third behind Christopher Bell and race winner Ryan Blaney.
The success of the Phoenix weekend has many fans and drivers wondering if NASCAR and IndyCar could team up for more events like this in the future.
The concept is simple: bring both series to the same track, create a bigger race weekend, and give fans more racing to enjoy.
If the excitement from Phoenix is any indication, the idea of NASCAR and IndyCar sharing more race weekends may only grow from here.
