Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography

This year will mark the sixth straight year without Indy NXT racing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval during the Freedom 100, which took place on Carb Day, the Friday preceding the Indianapolis 500. This year, there is going to be an alternative.

In what I’m sure is a big moment for what I’m sure is a deeply devoted hot dog racing community, the six Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles will compete in the inaugural “Wienie 500,” a race streamed live on the FOX Sports App, complete with a DraftKings betting pool.

Other IndyCar personalities and reporters immediately took to Twitter to joke about how we are racing hot dogs instead of bringing back a race which has involved some of the most legendary finishes in American junior open-wheel history.

For me, someone who spends time in the paddock interviewing, sharing the stories, and highlighting the fantastic drivers on the Indy NXT grid, the news invoked a groan as I began to question whether or not the sport cared more about its future stars or processed meat.

While it is commendable to see a partner such as Oscar Mayer be on board with a sport that is aching to get more sponsors and brand involvement, I am left dumbfounded as to why instead of putting the greatest American open-wheel development race on, we are instead bringing FOX Sports and their resources and this new deal in to race hot dogs.

So I wanted to just break down a few thoughts, points, and reasons why I think the Freedom 100 needs to come back now and why it is not only beneficial for Indy NXT, but for the weekend and sport as a whole.

The Freedom 100 was and would be a fantastic advertisement for the Indy 500.

As previously referenced, the Freedom 100 contained numerous close finishes and tight contests that showed the beauty of the circuit and a teaser for what action could be expected on Sunday. The rhetoric surrounding whether or not the Freedom 100 takes away from the Indy 500 festivities itself seems moot when you consider that no number of bunmobiles can provide a better taste for what’s to come than the drivers who could very well be on the Indy 500 grid in the next few years.

Oval preparation is still crucial in the development of young drivers.

Data has shown that young drivers heading up the IndyCar ladder want to see more ovals and data also backs up that drivers who are more competitive on ovals in their junior career tend to have better career outcomes once they reach IndyCar. So it seems like a slam dunk for the developmental prospects of the series if you place young drivers on the series’ most prominent oval. Ed Carpenter, Josef Newgarden, and Colton Herta are all Freedom 100 winners. The next generation of young drivers won’t have access to that development, or the exposure that comes along with it.

This is the first time many fans will be exposed to Indy NXT talent.

Nearly 50 drivers who have competed in the Freedom 100 went on to compete at least once in the Indy 500, bringing an average of around 3-4 future/current Indy 500 competitors per Freedom 100 race. Indy NXT has heavily improved its broadcast standing in 2025 with all but one races being aired on FOX Sports 1, but the sprawling in-person crowds of Carb Day would tower over the amount of people in the stands for any other Indy NXT race. Seeing full grandstands at Indianapolis for Freedom 100 races of years past is nearly jarring when seeing the barren crowd witnessing the Indy NXT races on the Indianapolis Road Course this year. Taking part in Indy GP weekend is a great boost for the series, but that alone is no alternative to the way the series could be involved in the Month of May.

The car count issues of the past will likely be gone.

A big reason the Freedom 100 got bounced could be drawn to the low car counts in the final years of the race. From 2013-2019, the race was only able to clear 11 total entrants twice. Indy NXT’s field counts at ovals have gotten much more healthy throughout the entire season since then and the trend of teams skipping out on the ovals has become way less frequent. In 2024, oval races in Indy NXT average 18 cars, which would put the field right around the average size it had from 2003-2012, giving well enough cars for a quality product on the track.

Everyone involved deserves more than a meme.

Fans, drivers, teams, everyone. Marketing gimmicks are fun and great but Carb Day is one of the most tradition-rich days in American motorsport. Since the removal of the Freedom 100, it has lost the shine of having wheel-to-wheel racing at 190 miles per hour. If the sport wanted to prioritize the development of its future stars, it would make the strides to do so.