Indy Lights Rebrands as Indy NXT by Firestone for 2023

Beginning in 2023, the highest developmental class of the NTT IndyCar Collection will now not be often called Indy Lights. The sequence will now be formally often called Indy NXT by Firestone.

The rebrand and identify change to Indy NXT comes after IndyCar reassumed direct management of the event sequence’ promotion and administration late final yr. Indy NXT will proceed to develop and put together driving expertise to make the step as much as the IndyCar Collection whereas closing its ties with the guardian championship. Together with the rebrand, Firestone can even change into the tire provider of Indy NXT alongside supplying the IndyCar Collection. Although, I’m barely upset to see the Gentle identify disappear.

The Indy Lights identify was a less-than-subtle reference to the Huge Automobiles, IndyCar’s different and now-antiqued colloquial nickname. The origin of the Huge Automobiles moniker harkens again to the early 1900s, earlier than the development of Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. The American Car Affiliation (AAA), the then-national governing physique of motorsport, divided racing automobiles into courses by automobile weight with the heaviest class being the quickest and most prestigious, therefore the Huge Automobiles. The Indy Lights model first appeared in 1991 as a rebrand of the developmental American Racing Collection.

Whereas the transfer away from the Lights identify is comprehensible, the selection of Indy NXT is baffling for an apparent purpose. World Wrestling Leisure (WWE) has had a preferred developmental promotion and tv program additionally referred to as NXT since 2010. One may assume {that a} naming battle between an open-wheel racing sequence and a professional wrestling promotion isn’t an actual drawback, however that may not be the case.

IndyCar and WWE additionally share a tv accomplice, NBC. IndyCar Collection races and NXT are each broadcast on the USA Community, an NBCUniversal property. Weekly episodes of NXT have aired on USA since 2019, the identical yr NBC gained the unique broadcast rights for the NTT IndyCar Collection. Indy NXT received’t have its races air on tv, however the 14-race 2023 season can be out there to look at on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service.

I genuinely surprise if IndyCar executives consulted with its tv accomplice over the potential confusion between NXT and Indy NXT. IndyCar’s high improvement sequence had struggled lately to draw entries however is rebounding to characteristic a discipline of just about 20 automobiles for the 2023 season. Now, isn’t the time to create an issue the place viewers and potential sponsors have points differentiating your model from a virtually identically named model in skilled wrestling.