The Verizon IndyCar Series is throwing a party to celebrate the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, and it wants everybody to participate all year.
The 500 is, as always, the focal point of the IndyCar world, and the buildup for this year's milestone event starts to reach fever pitch this weekend when the 2016 season flags off with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Sunday 12:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
The Indy 500 is enjoying a nice bump in ticket sales this year thanks to the occasion of the 100th, and IndyCar hopes the added interest rubs off on St. Pete and the other races on the schedule, especially once the calendar turns to June.
There's reason for optimism, given that the IndyCar Series is one of the few established forms of motorsport in the world with key metrics like attendance and television ratings generally moving in a positive direction.
The series' return to classic markets like Phoenix and Road America in Wisconsin is expected to help re-engage portions of an IndyCar fan base that lost interest or switched allegiance to other forms of motorsport in the past 20 years.
But ultimately, series management hopes -- and needs -- that large influx of fans that turns out or tunes in once a year for the Indianapolis 500 to become IndyCar Series fans year-round.
"We plan to leverage the absolutely unique, important, pivotal 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, and to draw connections to that legend and that history, to that epic moment, to all our races," said Mark Miles, CEO of the Hulman Motorsports company that operates the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series.
"We intend to use that historic moment, for the benefit of the promotion of our drivers and our promoters and events throughout the year."
IndyCar responded to input from fans and competitors and moved the season opener at St. Petersburg two weeks earlier than its traditional late March date. The end of the campaign has also been extended into mid-September.
The cars should demonstrate increased speed this year, with updated aero kits and modest engine upgrades from Chevrolet and Honda. In race trim, the push-to-pass function that briefly increases turbocharger boost will increase from approximately 40 to 60 horsepower.
"There's lots of things like that that we think are improvements and part of the steady progress of making IndyCar more compelling and more safe," Miles said. "We're looking forward to seeing how it all rolls out this year."
On the track, the story should be similar to recent years, with the championship fought out between the four-car Ganassi, Penske and Andretti superteams, challenged by the likes of smaller-scale efforts from Rahal, Carpenter, and Schmidt.
Team Penske, which saw the 2015 IndyCar championship slip through Juan Pablo Montoya's hands in the season finale at Sonoma Raceway, returns the same stacked driver lineup that, in addition to two-time Indy 500 winner Montoya, includes former series champion Will Power, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and rising star Simon Pagenaud. They are again backed by Chevrolet.
Ganassi Racing -- another Chevy team -- counters with four-time titlist Scott Dixon, along with fan favorite Tony Kanaan and race winner Charlie Kimball. But Ganassi has made a change in its fourth car, with British ex-Formula One driver Max Chilton in and Sage Karam out.
Andretti Autosport -- running Honda engines and aero kits -- also returns three-fourths of its lineup, with Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and Carlos Munoz and the addition of another F1 refugee -- American Alexander Rossi. How quickly and how effectively Rossi adapts to the heavier Indy cars and takes to oval racing will be one of the season's most interesting storylines.
Driving for his father's one-car team, Graham Rahal emerged as Honda's most consistent challenger in 2015. He and all of the other Honda drivers are hoping that special dispensation for additional aero changes outside the regulations will put them on more level terms with the Chevrolet teams and drivers this year.
Honda is also counting on the return of James Hinchcliffe to Schmidt Peterson Motorsports after he missed most of the 2015 campaign due to injuries suffered at Indianapolis.
On the Chevrolet side, Ed Carpenter Racing and KVSH Racing won races in 2015 and move forward with the same driver lineups. Four-time Champ Car series champion Sebastien Bourdais continues to make an impact on the IndyCar Series, winning two races last year for KVSH, a number matched by ECR's Josef Newgarden.
All of the teams will be governed in race conditions by a new three-steward team featuring Dan Davis, Arie Luyendyk, and Max Papis, and for the first time, the series will publish a table of on-track infractions and penalties so competitors will have a better idea what to expect in advance.
"In the past, the drivers didn't receive this table; it was top secret up in Race Control," Miles said. "How would they know if we were being consistent, if we followed our own plan?
"Of course, this year the stewards will have it and they'll be expert in it with the drivers and the team personnel, and the public and media can have this table. The people can hold us accountable as to whether we're all following how we view how it all ought to work -- and we will."
With Formula One and NASCAR losing fans at the track and on television, the IndyCar Series has a golden opportunity to capture their interest and attention -- especially with the additional upcoming draw of the 100th Indianapolis 500.
Keeping fans captivated 365 days a year is a challenge for any sport, but for IndyCar, that commitment is more important than ever.