Indy race organizers still hopeful F1 will return U.S. GP

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials still want to host the U.S. Grand Prix. It might take at least another year to get it back.

When Formula One released its provisional 2009 schedule Wednesday, the race that had become synonymous with Indianapolis was left off the list. The mid-June weekend after the Canadian Grand Prix, a previous date for the U.S. race, was left blank on the new schedule, a strong indication F1 officials plan to skip the country for a second straight year.

But race organizers haven't lost hope about reaching a deal with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.

"Discussions will continue," speedway spokesman Ron Green said. "We believe a return of Formula One to our calendar, especially during our centennial era, the period between 2009-2011, would be appropriate. But it must be on terms reasonable to all the groups."

Eight races were held at Indianapolis from 2000 to 2007 with mixed results.

The most notable blemish occurred in 2005 when 14 of 20 drivers pulled off the track just before the race started as a protest over concerns about tire safety. Afterward, speedway boss Tony George refused to wave the checkered flag or join Michael Schumacher in the winner's circle.

Ecclestone didn't help win American fans, either, by repeatedly saying over the past couple of years that the circuit didn't need to race in the United States.

Yet the race continued to draw some of F1's biggest crowds, and a late agreement to keep the race wouldn't be unprecedented. In 2006, speedway officials didn't finalize a one-year deal to keep the race until August, and negotiations continued into mid-July last year before it was announced Indianapolis would not host the race this season.

Since then, speedway officials have added a new motorcycle race, which will run on the track's modified road course, but continue to believe they can win back the U.S. Grand Prix, too.

"We want to stress it's just a provisional schedule," Green said. "We continue to be interested in the return of the United States Grand Prix.