Commentary on Mark Miles

A reader writes, Dear AR1.com, When reading Mark Miles account of the low attendance at Auto Club Speedway in the Sports Business Daily, I didn't know if I should be amused, bemused or confused. In part he stated as to the attendance at Fontana, "There seems to be some sort of inverse correlation between ovals and crowds."

Having been involved with Forsythe Racing in the 90s & 00s the continuous press statements from Tony George and the purported ever present hammer to place the final nail in the CART/Champ Car coffin, NASCAR took advantage of the war by improving the entertainment value of oval racing in America.

Currently, motorsports for a variety of reasons, to include F1, IndyCar and Sprint Cup is in a decline for many documented opinions. Even though Sprint Cup is losing customers on ovals, there not migrating to IndyCar as the new series of choice.

But the man in the big chair in IndyCar racing should understand why oval racing is declining in spite of the popularity of the Indianapolis 500. Very simple answer Mark…ask any American non-racing enthusiasts about racing, and the answer will be NASCAR on an oval. NASCAR, not IndyCar, NASCAR owns the ovals. Period. With the marketing and competitive racing of the 90s, NASCAR's Winston and Sprint Cup series became America's racing of choice. Before the IRL vs CART battle, the series still had the household names of Unser and Andretti, IndyCar had good attendance off the back of the "500", sadly those days have passed.

Mr. Miles…the inverse correlation between ovals and crowds is, American Racing is ovals which is owned and operated by NASCAR. Thomas Soltis