McLaren CEO Zak Brown penned an open letter on Monday outlining his perspective on the recently concluded NTT IndyCar season.
His Arrow McLaren team fared well, finishing second, fifth, and 22nd in the overall driver standings.
The driver of the #5 entry Pato O’Ward earned two victories, and finished on the podium at the Indianapolis 500 for the third time in the past four years.
Brown referenced his team’s strong performance and expressed pleasure at the series’ strong television viewership numbers with new broadcast partner FOX.
He also outlined three areas he feels the series should focus on in order to build even more momentum.
Specifically, he called out the need for changes to the racing calendar, which recently only occupies six months of the year and does not visit key areas of the country.
“We need to shake up our racing calendar to be more impactful,” said Brown in the letter. “How can we bring the blockbuster energy of the Indy 500 to the rest of the schedule? What can we learn from other series?
“The new race in Arlington, Texas is going to be awesome. But we still have a gap by not having a race in the Northeast, and we need to shift away from some of the smaller markets and trend toward bigger markets where we can turn the whole race weekend into truly unmissable events.
“I fully get the concern over not going up against the NFL – so perhaps we should look at pulling the calendar forward a bit to avoid a short season with currently too much downtime from September to March.”
New car and digital presence
One of the other areas Brown mentioned in his letter was the need to ensure the new chassis, currently in development for 2028, hits the right marks.
He, like many fans, understands the current DW12 chassis is long in the tooth even if it still produces great racing.
“We need to get the car right,” Brown continued. “While we’ll have to wait beyond next year for the new chassis, we need to make sure fans feel the excitement of the new car when it finally debuts on track.
“The end result needs to be worth the wait. It would be great to get a bit more sound out of the engine to really add to that visceral experience of being at the track and experiencing the thrill of the race.”
Brown also pointed to a need for more digital presence, which would bring in a younger audience.
While television viewer numbers are still king, engagement from fans through phones and other digital platforms can help bring in a new audience.
“Finally, we’ve got so much room for growth in the digital space. We’re still far from where we need to be to attract a younger audience and are missing out on the opportunity to attract the new motorsport fandom that Formula 1 has created in North America.
“For the millions of fans who may never attend a race in person, we need to bring the sport closer by offering more engaging content across our digital platforms.
“Let’s find ways to expose this new generation of fans to our great racing in IndyCar and tap into that incredible momentum.”
The full letter from Zak Brown to Arrow McLaren fans can be found on the team’s website.
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