IMSA eyes Pacific Northwest and potential NASCAR tie-ins as part of 2028 calendar expansion

IMSA President John Doonan is laying the groundwork for the next major evolution of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar, eyeing 2028 as a target for fresh venues, potential street races, and deeper collaborations with NASCAR.

Doonan has made his strongest remarks yet regarding the sanctioning body's desire to expand into untapped markets – specifically pointing to the Pacific Northwest – while balancing team budgets and traditional road courses.

“I think we’ve had a lot of date and venue equity, which is great, but I also think we need to look at other opportunities,” Doonan said. “We ask our community all the time about where do they want to activate and market.

“We take that in. I’ve said it many times over the years, but I’d love to go to the Pacific Northwest; looking at opportunities there with the Amazon’s, the Boeing’s, the Microsoft’s, the Starbuck’s of the world. That is also a very car culture enthusiast marketplace. We will find something there.”

A key pillar of IMSA’s future calendar strategy involves exploring synergies with NASCAR, including potential joint weekends, street races, or specialized events on U.S. military installations following the success of NASCAR's San Diego event on the Coronado Naval Base.

“We’re constantly in contact with our NASCAR colleagues (on) where we can join them,” Doonan noted. “Obviously they’ve done San Diego, they’ve done Chicago and who knows what else is possible with them. I think the opportunity for something new and fresh, that’s what we’ve tried to do with the six-hour at Road America, going into 2028 is a huge goal of ours.”

General view of NASCAR in San Diego at Naval Base Coronado

Photo by: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Doonan also emphasized the emotional and commercial appeal of military and urban settings.

“Adding a venue that celebrates the men and women of the military is always special. We’ll have to wait and see how that shapes out for them (NASCAR). We watched those events and San Diego, for them, was unbelievable,” Doonan said. “Obviously as a Chicago boy, I’d love to see us race in the streets of Chicago. So, we’ll have to wait and see. We know the interest is there to keep the schedule fresh and exciting.”

When asked if IMSA would consider a street course in the Pacific Northwest, Doonan remained receptive to all options.

“If something were available, I think we would look at all options, and there's some other very cool venues in the U.S., but we've just got to look at where they fit in the schedule, the costs associated with it for the teams,” Doonan explained. “I've even said if we ever did anything else on the West Coast, I'd want it to align with Long Beach and WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca, so the teams could just make one swing out to the West.”

While street courses offer access to new fans, Doonan stressed the importance of maintaining IMSA's roots at core venues like Road Atlanta and Road America.

“I think it's a good mix, because what we're seeing at the natural terrain circuits, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Road America, we're seeing huge crowds at those traditional tracks,” Doonan said. “At the same time, as we continue to grow, we're going to have to continue to put the property in front of bigger audiences, maybe in metropolitan areas that they've never been to a car race, number one, they've never certainly seen a sports car race, and so if we could be part of things like that, that would be amazing. So much has to happen for that to become a reality, but I think a good mix of that is really important.”

IMSA President John Doonan

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images

To manage team expenditures and avoid overly bloated schedules, Doonan confirmed that a rotation of venues – similar to strategies used in Formula 1 – is under active consideration. Additionally, IMSA could dispatch support series like the Michelin Pilot Challenge to marquee events where the main WeatherTech Championship cannot go due to scheduling conflicts like the 24 Hours of Le Mans or the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen.

“Just adding another event is difficult for everyone, from a budget standpoint,” said Doonan. “So, it would have to fit into the rubik’s cube of the season.”

When asked directly if a multi-year track rotation schedule is possible, Doonan confirmed: “Absolutely on the table. Where we could look at sending also, because of the number of properties we have, sending a Michelin Pilot Challenge to one of those events, because of Le Mans and the Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen, there's no way we could have done San Diego because it was right in the middle, but maybe you could send another series out to one of those NASCAR events. You just never know, but I think we're looking at all options to continue to keep it fresh.”

On the question of whether a new venue would mean adding an extra race weekend overall, Doonan remained realistic about paddock economics.

“I mean, again, we're really tough on the budget side. We're trying to be really smart with the cost of driving out to the venues and just adding something, so we would have to just take it all into consideration.”

While an initiative is underway to explore holding a military base event in 2028, work on integrating any new marquee weekend into the schedule must begin shortly. Doonan reiterated plans to stick to IMSA's yearly tradition of releasing future schedules roughly two years in advance, with the 2028 calendar expected to be unveiled around the 75th edition of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.

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