Motorsports Could Be Part Of The 2028 Olympics, And Here’s How It Could Work

I know we're all counting the days, but we're about 5 years away from the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. It'll be the first time the Olympics are held on American soil in over 25 years, and believe it or not, some kind of motorsports competition could be part of the Games.

According to Reuters, motorsports joined the likes of flag football, cricket, baseball, softball, lacrosse, and breakdancing (seriously; get your cardboard ready) that could be considered by Los Angeles Olympic organizers.

If they decide they want to hold competitions for any of those sports, it will need to be ratified by the IOC when it meets in Mumbai later this year.

I'd love to see some racing in the Olympics. I'm sure most fans would zero in on any number of reasons why the finished product would be terrible. Still, It'd be cool to try it at least once and Los Angeles would be as good a place as any. The way I see it there are two ways Olympic racing could go.

The Olympics could get a bit louder if motorsports are part of the festivities. (Photo by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Formula Olympic

The first way I can see this sort of thing going down is with something I'm calling Formula Olympic (Hey, IOC; you can have that name for the right price or a deal on tickets... or merch).

This would work a lot like Formula 1. The organizers cook up a set of regulations and then each country builds a car that adheres to those regulations. Then they throw some homegrown drivers into the cars and race for medals.

Simple. Beautiful.

Making each country build a car would make things interesting. The US, Germany, Italy, and Japan would all be the favorites competing, but hey you never know. Maybe Croatia would build a rocket that no one would see coming.

Although, one thing I do know is that this would quickly become the most corrupt sport in the Olympics. That's saying something, especially when soccer is an Olympic sport.

You'd have countries poaching top talent and miraculously dredging up a distant relative who traveled through another country by train decades ago and then qualifies for citizenship.

Still, I think it would be interesting to see Ford or GM represent the US while Honda or Toyota represents Japan.

Plus, the liveries would be sick.

But there's another — more practical —way motor racing could be in the Olympics.

IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward competes in the 2019 Race of Champions in Mexico City. (Photo by Humberto Romero/Getty Images)

Race Of Champions Clone

The previous idea would require a lot of work. No one likes work, so why not just rip off something that already exists?

I gotcha, IOC: say hello to the Race of Champions.

This event is usually held annually and pits teams of two drivers representing their home countries in head-to-head races.

For the last few years, the event has been held in Sweden on ice for a bit of rally flavor. However, in the past races were held on pavement.

Here's Michael Schumacher vs. Sebastian Vettel racing a pair of KTM X-Bows at the Race of Champions 2010 in Dusseldorf.

Tell me that wouldn't be a hot ticket at the Olympics.

Countries could send their best drivers from various disciplines and they would race in identical machinery. This way, it's all about the driver.

I'm not holding my breath to see some Olympic racing in 2028, but there are certainly ways it could be done.

Follow on Twitter: @Matt_Reigle