Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - IndyCar revealed on Monday it has revised the race distances for four events during the 2013 season.
The March 24 season-opening race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. will feature an increase of 10 laps to 110 (198 miles), while the April 21 event on the streets of Long Beach, Calif. will have a decrease of five laps to 80 (157.4 miles). The June 15 race at The Milwaukee Mile has been increased from 225 laps to 250. And the Aug. 4 road-course event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has an increase of five laps to 90 (203 miles).
IndyCar said it is featuring the new race distances to discourage fuel-mileage racing and therefore better match traditional fuel windows at each of those four racetracks.
"Changing the distances at these races will hopefully eliminate the strategy of saving fuel from the drop of the green flag," IndyCar Series race director Beaux Barfield said. "That will enable our teams and drivers to race hard for the full distance and improve the event's entertainment value for the fans."
IndyCar also announced the television start times for each of its 19 races this upcoming season. NBC Sports Network will televise the first four events. ABC begins its stretch of televising six of the next seven races with the May 26 Indianapolis 500.
