The 2014 IndyCar Series TV schedule was released on Tuesday and featured a major change from recent seasons as the entire month of May and Indianapolis 500 festivities will be aired on broadcast television.
Long-time TV partner ABC will televise all the major IndyCar Series portions of the month of May, including the new Grand Prix of Indianapolis road course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, both days of Indianapolis 500 qualifying and the Greatest Spectacle in Racing itself on May 25.
NBC Sports Network will continue to cover Carb Day and the Freedom 100 Indy Lights Series race on May 23.
"With the debut of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, the intensity of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 and the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing,' ABC is the destination to tune in for our three big weekends of competition in May," said Mark Miles, CEO of Hulman & Co., the parent company of IndyCar.
Overall, ABC will televise five races.
In addition to the two races at IMS, the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Fla.) and the doubleheader at Detroit's Streets of Belle Isle can also be seen on over-the-air television.
NBC Sports Network will carry the remainder of the schedule, including races from Barber Motorsports Park, the Streets of Long Beach, Texas Motor Speedway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Pocono Raceway, Reliant Park Houston, the Streets of Ohio, the Milwaukee Mile, Sonoma Raceway and the season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontna, Calif.
"We're grateful to our television partners for working with us on a schedule that gives our fans the best of both networks," Miles said. "Fans will know that NBC Sports Network is our home for the final 11 races of the season, including two doubleheaders, as we build up to another exciting championship."
The 2014 schedule has been condenced from prior seasons and will run from March 30 to August 30 with the idea to etablish largely uniterrupted momentum and enthusiasm.
The same logic was likely applied to the month of May, with the new road course race at IMS serving as commercial for qualifying and the 500-mile race. The complete 2014 IndyCar Series TV schedule can be found below.
2014 IndyCar television schedule
March 30 -- Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
April 13 -- Streets of Long Beach, California, 4 p.m. ET, NBCSN
April 27 -- Barber Motorsports Park, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN
May 10 -- Grand Prix of Indianapolis, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
May 17 -- Indianapolis 500 qualifying, 4 p.m. ET, ABC
May 18 -- Indianapolis 500 qualifying, 1 p.m. ET, ABC
May 23 -- Indianapolis 500 Carb Day, 11 a.m. ET, NBCSN
May 25 -- 98th Indianapolis 500, 11 a.m. ET, ABC
May 31/June 1 -- Belle Isle Park, Detroit, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
June 7 -- Texas Motor Speedway, 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN
June 28/29 -- Reliant Park, Houston, 3 p.m. ET, NBCSN
July 6 -- Pocono Raceway, Noon ET, NBCSN
July 12 -- Iowa Speedway, 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN
July 19/20 -- Streets of Toronto, 3 p.m. ET, NBCSN
Aug. 3 -- Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, 3 p.m. ET, NBCSN
Aug. 17 -- Milwaukee Mile, 3 p.m. ET, NBCSN
Aug. 24 -- Sonoma Raceway, 4 p.m. ET, NBCSN
Aug. 30 -- Auto Club Speedway, 9 p.m. ET, NBCSN