Music: {allcanada} INDYCAR: 2012 Schedule Revealed?

Unless Randy Bernard and Bruton Smith can find a couple of title sponsors, the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR schedule is going to be hurting for ovals.

Because without some major funding there will be no races at Kentucky or Loudon, N.H., Milwaukee has already thrown in the towel and Motegi, Japan is gone.

Smith, whose SMI tracks at Texas, Sonoma, Las Vegas, Loudon and Kentucky comprise almost a third of this year's schedule, met with Bernard here Saturday afternoon trying to find a way to keep Kentucky Speedway and New Hampshire International Speedway on the 2012 card.

"We need title sponsors to make these things work,'' said Bernard, the INDYCAR CEO who is promoting the season finale at Smith's Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 16.

"The ovals are important to our fan base and to our series because we need to keep a balance in order to remain the most diverse series in the world.

"I'm concerned but what can we do? It's a tough deal right now getting promoters for ovals.''

This year's schedule has seven oval tracks (comprising 8 of the 17 races) and, without Loudon and Kentucky, there may only be five ovals in 2012 – Indianapolis, Texas, Iowa, Vegas and Fontana, Calif.

There had been talk of returning to Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. but no deal could be reached and after Milwaukee's new promoters lost over $1 million last June, the oldest circuit in INDYCAR has been dropped.

Tony George's original Indy Racing League featured all ovals from 1996-2004 before beginning to add street and road courses but ovals have steadily become endangered species.

Phoenix, Michigan and Milwaukee were CART strongholds prior to The Split but all three became financial losers and were eventually dropped.

Milwaukee tried hosting both Champ Car and IRL without any success before going dark in 2010 and this summer's return to the state fairgrounds mile drew a poor crowd – just like Loudon, which was back on the INDYCAR schedule for the first time since 1998.

Unless something changes, there would only be six of 17 races on ovals next season (Texas stages a doubleheader).

China, expected to replace Motegi, Japan was thought to be a done deal for a street show at Qingdao but still hasn't been finalized.

"It's not signed yet and we should know within three weeks,'' said Bernard. "I'm always optimistic but there's always a 'but' in these motorsports deals. We thought we had a deal for a second race in Brazil (Porto Alegre) but it fell through at the last minute.

"I think we'll be at 17 races next year.''

Officially, there are two new races at old venues. The street race at Belle Isle in Detroit will follow the Indianapolis 500 on June 3 and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana will be back on the schedule Sept. 15 after a seven-year absence.

There had been discussions that Laguna Seca might replace Sonoma, which had its best ever crowd last August despite being a road course that offers very little in the way of passing. But Infineon will remain in 2012, although Bernard has asked for a track configuration to enhance passing on the old road courses from the 1960s.

"I did tell Mid-Ohio and Infineon that they needed to make some changes to make the racing more exciting," continued Bernard. "We can't continue to go to tracks that aren't exciting and both of those places said they would make changes.''

Bernard had discussed having a doubleheader at Iowa on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

"The promoters at Iowa loved the idea but our car owners didn't like it,"' he explained. "I don't understand it, it would have saved the teams a lot of money.''

Another possible promotion was going to be a street race around a casino in Las Vegas on a Friday, followed by the season-ending race on the Vegas oval. "The city of Las Vegas is all for it but it's going to require $9 million from somewhere.''

With new cars and engines set for 2012, the season will open in late March at St. Petersburg but in the future, Bernard eventually wants 22 races and an early February opener.

AN EDUCATED GUESS AT THE 2012 SKED:

1. March 25 - St. Petersburg, FL - street course
2. April 1 - Birmingham, AL - road course
3. April 15 - Long Beach, CA - street course
4. April 29 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - street course
5. May 27 - Indianapolis, IN - oval track
6. June 3 - Detroit, MI – street course
7. June 9 - Ft. Worth, TX - oval track (Saturday night doubleheader)
8. June 24 - Newton, IA - oval track (Saturday night race)
9. July 8 - Toronto, Canada - street course
10. July 22 - Edmonton, Canada - street course
11. August 5 - Lexington, OH - road course
12. Aug. 26 – Sonoma, Calif. road course
13. September 2 - Baltimore, MD - street course
14. September 15 - Fontana, CA - oval track (Sat Night Race)
15. September 23 – Qingdao, China (street course)
16. October 13-14 - Las Vegas, NV - oval track