Miller seems to imply that it's the fault of open wheel racing that the BY 400 is "bigger" than the Indy 500.
But I think that this would be the case no matter what. Remember the buzz back when stock cars first tested at Indy? Indy is a track steeped in history and the stock car drivers love the opportunity to run there.
Right now NASCAR is auto racing in this country. Any track with a Winston Cup date and an OW date sees the Cup date as a much more popular race. I am not sure we should expect anything different at Indy.
This isn't the fault of Indy (Miller also seems to imply that stock cars shouldn't have been allowed to race at Indy) or the fault of open wheel racing or a concequence of the split.
Instead this is just a funtion fo the popularity of NASCAR.
Miller indicates how far behind NASCAR open wheel racing is in terms of driver recognition (by citing the number trailers during the BY 400 weekend vs month of May). Well duh! NASCAR keeps it's popular drivers for 20+ years. Only Mario, AJ, and Al Sr had such long careers. Open wheel racing is a young man's sport and the turn over is to be expected.
I suspect Miller understands this and is just taking the opportunity to take shots at Tony George.
But I think that this would be the case no matter what. Remember the buzz back when stock cars first tested at Indy? Indy is a track steeped in history and the stock car drivers love the opportunity to run there.
Right now NASCAR is auto racing in this country. Any track with a Winston Cup date and an OW date sees the Cup date as a much more popular race. I am not sure we should expect anything different at Indy.
This isn't the fault of Indy (Miller also seems to imply that stock cars shouldn't have been allowed to race at Indy) or the fault of open wheel racing or a concequence of the split.
Instead this is just a funtion fo the popularity of NASCAR.
Miller indicates how far behind NASCAR open wheel racing is in terms of driver recognition (by citing the number trailers during the BY 400 weekend vs month of May). Well duh! NASCAR keeps it's popular drivers for 20+ years. Only Mario, AJ, and Al Sr had such long careers. Open wheel racing is a young man's sport and the turn over is to be expected.
I suspect Miller understands this and is just taking the opportunity to take shots at Tony George.

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