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Eight freakin' years, and we've still got armed factions of bitter fanatics battling over ancient history. It's like a Middle East political forum, minus the real-world dead bodies.
The short-track set thinks the fans left Indy car racing because of the lack of down-home American stars. And they aren't completely wrong. The roadracing set thinks the fans left the sport because the IRL kicked the road-racing stars out of Indy. And they aren't completely wrong, either.
But I've talked to literally hundreds of Indy locals on this subject over the last few years, and I can assure you that the #1 reason why Indy cars keep losing market share to NASCAR is because of all the nasty politics. For years, most news items about the Indy 500 had nothing to do with racing. Casual fans had no idea who was going to show up at any given race. And they were compelled to listen to mind-numbing explanations of political BS in order to figure out what was going on. NASCAR gave them household names, intriguing storylines, and an infinitely higher racing to politics ratio. Now explain to me why anyone who isn't a hard-core OW junkie wouldn't rather watch NASCAR? On NASCAR boards people argue Jeff vs. Dale Jr. People get into that. Indy car boards argue cr*pwagons vs. foreign ride buyers. My special market research has concluded that this sort of discussion appeals to exactly 187 people on planet earth.
You want to blame somebody for the decline of Indy car racing? Let's all look in the ****ing mirror.
As for the "original vision"? For five years, Tony tried his best to bring in the short-trackers. Owners balked, sponsors stayed away in droves, and other than Mr. Stewart, the USAC drivers who did get through the door had more excuses than results. CART teams showed up and stole the Borg-Warner without breaking much of a sweat. Ratings declined. Mr. George spent large amounts of his family fortune. We never saw more than 10 races per year. Tracks dropped IRL races from their schedule. And when the economy tanked, the fields would have become microscopic had the big manufacturers not brought in some hard cash.
The racing? It was excellent. But that isn't always enough. The realities of the sport all drove Tony George into the difficult decisions he's made. He's a businessman... what's he supposed to do? Run his family business into the ground to stay loyal to the cultists? I'm fairly sure he wouldn't have split the sport if he had known how long it would take, and how much damage would be done, before the CART owners fell into line. But what's done is done. In a sport that depends entirely on corporate cash, which lacks the massive following that NASCAR has, the sponsors and manufacturers hold all the cards, and they always will. And all the whining in the world won't change that. You want American drivers in top rides? Talk to Target and 7-11.
Tony George busted his butt for the original vision, AND IT FELL APART. Maybe, just maybe, the vision was a tad unrealistic in the first place. And as more and more of the original IRL die-hards reveal their true colors and are shown to care more about their political agendas than about the fact there's some pretty ****ing good racing going on, the less I care what they have to say. We've got 16 high-quality OW oval races per year, a major young American star who has wowed NASCAR fans one city at a time... and who may actually stick around awhile, we now once again have fairly equally competitive equipment. And very soon there may not even be a "split" anymore. There's endless room for improvement, but there's also ****loads of potential.
I, for one, ain't going to spend the next eight years arguing about ratings and attendance. I'm going to encourage friends to watch IRL races and write everyone I can think of to support the drivers I want to see in sponsored rides. And I'm just simply going to enjoy my favorite sport, like I have since I was 6 years old. I hope some of you feel the same way.
The short-track set thinks the fans left Indy car racing because of the lack of down-home American stars. And they aren't completely wrong. The roadracing set thinks the fans left the sport because the IRL kicked the road-racing stars out of Indy. And they aren't completely wrong, either.
But I've talked to literally hundreds of Indy locals on this subject over the last few years, and I can assure you that the #1 reason why Indy cars keep losing market share to NASCAR is because of all the nasty politics. For years, most news items about the Indy 500 had nothing to do with racing. Casual fans had no idea who was going to show up at any given race. And they were compelled to listen to mind-numbing explanations of political BS in order to figure out what was going on. NASCAR gave them household names, intriguing storylines, and an infinitely higher racing to politics ratio. Now explain to me why anyone who isn't a hard-core OW junkie wouldn't rather watch NASCAR? On NASCAR boards people argue Jeff vs. Dale Jr. People get into that. Indy car boards argue cr*pwagons vs. foreign ride buyers. My special market research has concluded that this sort of discussion appeals to exactly 187 people on planet earth.
You want to blame somebody for the decline of Indy car racing? Let's all look in the ****ing mirror.
As for the "original vision"? For five years, Tony tried his best to bring in the short-trackers. Owners balked, sponsors stayed away in droves, and other than Mr. Stewart, the USAC drivers who did get through the door had more excuses than results. CART teams showed up and stole the Borg-Warner without breaking much of a sweat. Ratings declined. Mr. George spent large amounts of his family fortune. We never saw more than 10 races per year. Tracks dropped IRL races from their schedule. And when the economy tanked, the fields would have become microscopic had the big manufacturers not brought in some hard cash.
The racing? It was excellent. But that isn't always enough. The realities of the sport all drove Tony George into the difficult decisions he's made. He's a businessman... what's he supposed to do? Run his family business into the ground to stay loyal to the cultists? I'm fairly sure he wouldn't have split the sport if he had known how long it would take, and how much damage would be done, before the CART owners fell into line. But what's done is done. In a sport that depends entirely on corporate cash, which lacks the massive following that NASCAR has, the sponsors and manufacturers hold all the cards, and they always will. And all the whining in the world won't change that. You want American drivers in top rides? Talk to Target and 7-11.
Tony George busted his butt for the original vision, AND IT FELL APART. Maybe, just maybe, the vision was a tad unrealistic in the first place. And as more and more of the original IRL die-hards reveal their true colors and are shown to care more about their political agendas than about the fact there's some pretty ****ing good racing going on, the less I care what they have to say. We've got 16 high-quality OW oval races per year, a major young American star who has wowed NASCAR fans one city at a time... and who may actually stick around awhile, we now once again have fairly equally competitive equipment. And very soon there may not even be a "split" anymore. There's endless room for improvement, but there's also ****loads of potential.
I, for one, ain't going to spend the next eight years arguing about ratings and attendance. I'm going to encourage friends to watch IRL races and write everyone I can think of to support the drivers I want to see in sponsored rides. And I'm just simply going to enjoy my favorite sport, like I have since I was 6 years old. I hope some of you feel the same way.
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