Editorials IndyCar

The Indy 500 is too good to not do it again

Posted by AR1 staff

The famous Borg Warner trophy
The famous Borg Warner trophy

IndyCar put on another great show last Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Like last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, IndyCar had almost 300,000 fans screaming on the top of their lungs as the top drivers in the world put on a race to remember.

For most of the year IndyCar gets beaten up in the media for low attendance, low car counts, low TV ratings, ride-buying and the like, and a lot of it is deserved.

But every Sunday on Memorial Day weekend that’s all forgotten as IndyCar puts on the best racing on the planet. Period.

Longtime NASCAR journalist Monte Dutton put it best when he wrote – "In Sunday's Indianapolis 500, a race of automobiles more aerodynamically and technologically advanced than those racing in NASCAR, the racing was extraordinary. For practically the entire distance, at least three cars dueled for the lead.

"They looked like earthbound fighter jets engaging in spectacular dogfights. They made NASCAR look bad. They made fans dread the Coca-Cola 600 that followed it on Sunday night, and, while the Charlotte race was a little better than the previous year, it required several cups of coffee to stay awake and sit through it.

"The Indianapolis 500 required a glass of milk – and, yes, for the winner, a quart – to settle one's nerves.

"In front of their TV sets, many NASCAR fans were pumping their fists the same way Juan Pablo Montoya was when he crossed the finish line. Their second emotion was fear, and embarrassment, that Charlotte was going to pale in comparison, and, sure enough, it did.

"Carl Edwards won Charlotte on strategy. Juan Montoya won Indy on guts."

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway defines IndyCar.

The IndyCars race so well on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, and fans love it so much, why only do it once a year?

Eight reasons for an Indy 400

As I have written on these pages many times, there are many reasons why IndyCar should end their season every year with a 400-miler on the 2.5 mile oval. Sure it would take a few years to build it into something big, and certainly it would never rival the Indy 500, nor should it, but without a doubt it would quickly become the 2nd biggest race on the schedule.

Montoya battles Dixon at over 220 MPH inches apart
Montoya battles Dixon at over 220 MPH inches apart

Let’s examine the reasons:

  1. The racing is the best on the planet and IndyCar needs more of it
  2. The racing gives the fan a visceral experience – The cars are so fast, and the drivers so brave as they speed through the corners at over 220 MPH, it leaves no doubt that what these athletes are doing on the track is extraordinary and brave. It makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck and no other IndyCar venue leaves the fan as breathless. In the media center you can even hear the journalists gasping for air.
  3. Indianapolis is the home of IndyCar racing. It is where it all started over 100 years ago and the IndyCar fan base is strongest in that part of the country
  4. Revenue for the Hulman George family would increase significantly by adding a 2nd IndyCar race on the oval – it would dwarf the poorly attended GP of Indianapolis
  5. IndyCar controls their grand finale and doesn’t leave it in the hands of someone else to end their season in spectacular fashion. Boston may end the IndyCar season next year and I’m sure it will be a nice event, but the racing will never come down to the last lap like it does at Indy that has fans jumping up and down. And street courses have a history of failing so there is no guarantee IndyCar won’t be forced to change their grand finale once again in a few years. Many IndyCar races have no date equity and that includes the season finale. It has moved to many venues over the years, each one more disappointing than the next – failure after failure. The constant changing of their season finale makes IndyCar look like rank amateurs.
  6. If NASCAR can do it, so can IndyCar. The NASCAR venues that put on a good show have fans coming back for more. 2/3 of NASCAR tracks support two successful races a year, can’t IndyCar even support one venue with two races? Indy is special and it’s easy to argue that because the racing is so good, many of the Indy 500 fans would buy a ticket for the 400-miler, maybe all of them.
  7. IndyCar needs more oval races – Many argue that the IndyCar schedule is weighted with a disproportionate number of street and road courses. The problem with many of the ovals IndyCar has tried, and that includes Fontana, New Hampshire, Michigan, Phoenix, Dover, Atlanta, etc. – I could go on – is that the grandstands are largely empty. Those events are so poorly attended IndyCar looks like a loser and it destroys their credibility. Attendance for an Indy 400 would dwarf any other oval, and it would dwarf Boston.
  8. IndyCar teams are based in Indianapolis so the cost for the teams to race at Indy versus another venue is reduced.

The naysayers

Fans love IndyCar racing on the flat 2.5-mile oval and they show up in droves
Fans love IndyCar racing on the flat 2.5-mile oval and they show up in droves

The naysayers will claim that a 2nd IndyCar race will take away from the tradition of the Speedway and jeopardize the Indy 500’s attendance.

Hogwash!

The Hulman George family have diluted the Indy 500 by bringing in NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Xfinity, Grand-Am, Formula 1, and MotoGP.

The only thing they have not tried is Swamp Buggy racing in the infield, but it’s likely they have considered it.

And still the Indy 500 excels.

All of those other series have either failed or are failing. Even the NASCAR Sprint Cup race attendance has fallen dramatically.

And of course it would.

While IndyCars look like earthbound fighter jets engaging in spectacular dogfights on the flat 2.5-mile oval, watching the NASCAR Cup cars parade around strung out in single file is like watching paint dry.

Defining tracks for NASCAR are Daytona and Talladega – high banked, high speed ovals. On the flat Indy oval they are just painful to watch and the fans agree by staying away in droves.

The defining track for IndyCars is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

I dream of the day when only two races are run each year at Indy – the Indy 500 and the Indy 400 – both played out before sellout crowds on ABC TV.

IndyCar needs it.

The IndyCar teams need it.

The IndyCar fans need it.

See related article "Indy 500 Postscript"

Mark Cipolloni is the founder and President of AutoRacing1.com, and has studied IndyCar Racing for 51 years.

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