Sep. 24—There was a significant announcement made by the IndyCar Series this week with the formation of a charter system.

A total of 25 charters have been awarded to 10 teams which have competed with the series on a regular basis over the past two years.

The charter system provides for a guaranteed starting spot in 16 of the 17 races scheduled for 2025.

There is not a guaranteed starting position for the Indianapolis 500, which was the right decision to make.

The Indy 500 has always been about the fastest 33 qualifiers starting the race, and as we have seen in the past, there are teams which compete on a regular basis which don’t make the starting field.

The 2025 schedule includes six races on ovals again, with the final race again taking place at the Nashville Super Speedway.

There are two oval races at Iowa Speedway and one at the Milwaukee Mile instead of two.

The sixth oval race is at the former Gateway International Speedway.

I would still like to see the series return to the Michigan International Speedway oval in the future.

IN OTHER RACING NEWS

—This past weekend was the Four Crowns event at Eldora Speedway, and Kody Swanson took a big step toward an eighth USAC Silver Crown championship.

Swanson entered the weekend with a 12-point lead over Justin Grant and, with a second-place finish at Eldora, extended that margin to 27 points with two races remaining.

There is one more Silver Crown race on a dirt oval at the Terre Haute Action Track on Oct. 6, and the season concludes at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Oct. 19.

—The USAC Sprint Cars are in action this week at the temporary dirt track constructed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the Driven to Save Lives BC 39.

The race is run in memory of Bryan Clausen, who died several years ago in a racing accident, and his family has been encouraging fans to become organ donors ever since.

Racing starts Thursday with the main event Saturday.

Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.