IndyCar Consulting firm agrees with AutoRacing1.com

UPDATE #2

Turn 1 for the road course as proposed by AR1.com would not be here like it was for the F1 Cars. Turn 1 would be the oval Turn 4 and the cars would not enter the infield until they also traversed turn 3 of the oval and reached the back straight.

A reader asks, Dear AR1.com, Why did you originate the idea of using the Indy Road Course as a season finale IndyCar race? Isn't that one heck of a boring road course? Bob Dole

Dear Bob, As for the road course being boring, it can easily be reconfigured to 'speed' it up by eliminating a couple of Mickey Mouse corners. The road course for the Indy Cars should not turn in before what is Turn 4 on the oval, but instead should use Turns 4 and even Turn 3. Remember the IndyCars are built to race on the oval, whereas F1 cars are not, so they never used that part of the track. As for why Labor Day weekend, it is simple really, IndyCar needs to finish its regular season before Football begins and Labor Day weekend can be another big holiday weekend at the Speedway. It is a long 3-day weekend and people can travel. And in most cases kids are not back to school yet.

The race would be so much different than the Indy 500 it would be an entirely new experience for IndyCar fans. Besides running on the road course, they would be running in the opposite direction, should be using entirely different body kits, will be shifting, braking and accelerating, use a standing start, and the event could even be under the lights on Saturday night. It would be spectacular and would silence the critics who also said our idea of standing starts would not work for Champ Car, our idea of push-to-pass would not work and who maintain IndyCar should not race overseas. Absolutely they should and we like the consultants idea of making the international races part of the off-season to keep fan interest. The opportunities there are endless including crowning a separate 'international IndyCar champion', paying special prize money and allowing 'guest' drivers who have a sponsor for a race in their country.

And lastly we would kick NASCAR out of the Brickyard. We don't care if they make money for the family. They should focus on making the two IndyCar races sellouts and cementing the idea that IMS is the Mecca of IndyCar. It will be a cold day in hell before the France family will allow IndyCars to race at the Mecca of stock cars – Daytona. The Hulman-George family should return the favor. Instead they pay millions in prize money to NASCAR and its teams instead of paying those same millions to IndyCar teams for the Labor Day IndyCar road race weekend. Mark C.

03/02/13 A statement from Mark Miles, chief executive officer of Hulman & Company, the parent company of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and INDYCAR:

"Late last year, Hulman & Company hired the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to assist in developing a long-term strategic plan for the growth of its motorsports business. Since then, BCG has produced many documents, including an early version of a document that is the subject of several news reports today, that include suggested elements for the plan. BCG examined many important questions throughout this process, including how to define our overall brand, how our motorsports properties can attract more fans, how we can make our races more appealing to television viewers and live audiences, and how we can help our teams, partners and other stakeholders be more financially successful because of our relationship.

"The work BCG has done provides conversation points around several important areas of our business as we shape our thinking about the future, but our strategy has not yet been finalized. As part of finalizing our strategy, we will be sharing information with our stakeholders and listening to their feedback and ideas before we come to any final conclusions. We are in the early stages of this process and will be communicating to our stakeholders and fans as we define our strategy for the future."

No quick fixes for a sport destroyed by the man who sold "I am Indy" hats, the silliest most ridiculous campaign slogan in the history of mankind

03/01/13 The Hulman-George family should retain ownership of the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, according to a report from a consulting group it hired to evaluate business operations, including running the Indianapolis 500. That is the only part of the report we are in disagreement on. AutoRacing1.com has recommended they sell it because they have not proven they know how to make it successful again after family member Tony George destroyed it.

The Boston Consulting Group offered a wide array of suggestions on how to better position the troubled open-wheel series and historic speedway in a 115-page report, reports The Associated Press, but no quick fix ideas, no silver bullet to save the series that Tony George ran into the ground when he created the IRL, split the Indy 500 from the very successful CART IndyCar Series, and sent open wheel racing in the USA into a downward spiral from which it has not been able to recover.

Among the ideas:

1. 15-race IndyCar schedule in major American cities held over 19 weeks; a three-race playoff with a season finale on the road course at Indy. The report recommends IndyCar should split the schedule into two seasons — a 15-race U.S. calendar from April to August (AutoRacing1.com has recommended for years that the IndyCar season end on Labor Day weekend with an event on the IndyCar road course) and an international series during the offseason (another AutoRacing1.com proposal).

   The championship would be decided during the U.S. season, and the hypothetical schedule proposed by BCG included seven cities not currently visited by IndyCar. It opened at Houston, then Phoenix, the Indy 500, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Pocono, Toronto, Seattle, Sonoma and Fontana. The "playoffs" portion included Texas, Long Beach and the Indy road course. BCG argued for a playoff because "the current IndyCar schedule lacks consequence and the television ratings are at the lowest at the end of the season because the series does not have a mechanism to create suspense."

2. Focus groups suggested that marketing strategies should be geared to "positioning IndyCar as having the most skilled, daredevil drivers and not theatrical off-track personalities."(an AutoRacing1.com idea for many many years – it's all about the best drivers, not playboys and sex symbols on the cover of men's magazines like Danica Patrick);
3. Using just one U.S. television partner ABC/ESPN and dumping NBC Sports Network (an AutoRacing1.com idea for many years whereby we recommended they get out of the NBC Sports contract because it is a noose around their neck).

One television partner, preferably ABC/ESPN, or placing as many races as possible on ABC. The report also suggested the NBC Sports Network may be in violation of its contract with IndyCar if it promotes any other motorsports series more than IndyCar. NBCSN will broadcast Formula One this year, but the promotional clause in the contract pertains only to the cable channel and not network television. The report said NBCSN has indicated it would "release the series from the deal" because the rights fees increase from $5.5 million this year to $10 million in 2018 when the contract expires. But NBCSN has indicated it's happy with the IndyCar deal and wasn't interested in ending the relationship early.