What happened to RC Enerson?

RC Enerson

A reader writes, Dear AR1.com, Whatever happened to RC Enerson? Do you think he has a future in IndyCar? It looked like he had some talent – as he smoked teammate Conor Daly badly when he arrived at Dale Coyne last year as a 'green' rookie? Dave Masters

Dear Dave, With the TV ratings IndyCar gets on NBCSN (way below 1 million viewers per race) sponsors don't give IndyCar much of a look, hence teams owners struggle to land good sponsor deals. As a result talented drivers have to buy their ride, which of course demeans IndyCar as a sport. It sometimes (not always) results in less talented drivers getting rides because daddy can write a big check or daddy has connections for a B2B sponsor deal for his son.

F1 was built into a mega sport because Bernie Ecclestone did individual TV deals in most countries and grew the sport on the back of huge global TV viewership. IndyCar thinks they can grow the sport on the back of social media, and have failed. Social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) brings $0.00 into the sport and drives down TV ratings. We are waiting to see if Mark Miles has 1/10th the business acumen of Bernie Ecclestone to put together proper global TV deals for IndyCar starting in 2019 when this horrible NBCSN deal ends, or whether he signs a similar deal that will ensure declining growth for IndyCar. Mark C.