ABC dumps Page from Indy 500

ScienceDaily ^ | 5/23/05

[Ed_From_Ohio]

The lack of interest in Indy is a direct result of Tony George's actions. All you have to do is look at the drop in qualifying attendance after 1995. You're correct that Tony George claimed to be concerned about the lack of Americans in IndyCar. But look at his league now. Most of the competitive drivers are foreign. I'm the type that wants the best driver racing regardless of nationality, but I see the importance of having Americans racing in strong roles. Tony George has not provided on that promise. He could have been much more effective in starting his own team for American drivers with the money he's sunk into the IRL (which he finally did now to provide his stepson a ride, since no one else would hire him).

The race got a big boost this year because of Danica. However, the race was not a sellout. In 1995 the race sold out almost a year before. I would like to know what you think has been accomplished by starting the IRL. He hasn't been succesful in reviving openwheel oval racing (ask the folks in Nazarath or Phoenix and then the people in St. Pete about that), he hasn't been succesful in keeping American Sprint car drivers from going to NASCAR, Indy has been devalued considerably (no one would care about the race this year if Danica wasn't racing). So what did George accomplish?

[Publius Valerius]

I said that Tony George hasn't done everything right (I'm especially irked about the change in qualifying this year which allows a car to make multiple attempts--that's NOT how we do it at Indy!), but there was a festering problem in open wheel racing that needed addressed in 95 and George had the guts to do it--and I appreciate that.

I think that the IRL didn't turn out as well as it could have, but I don't necessarily think George deserves the entire blame for that. I think the folks at CART are equally, or maybe more, to blame for the decline after the split for their stubbornness in trying to destroy the IRL. Roger Penske tried his hardest to destroy IRL (getting CART to boycott the 500), and I think in the process he may have nearly destroyed open wheel racing. But, at least Penske admitted that he was wrong and eventually came back into the fold, bringing a lot of the CART folks with him--but those years in which Penske was stubbornly sticking with CART were particularly damaging.

I agree that there are mostly foreign drivers in the IRL now, and I think that is out of necessity--the rift between the two series caused major problems on both sides, and both sides had to do what it had to do--that includes the IRL getting the best drivers that it can find.

As far as The Race being a sellout, there was still some 250,000 folks packed into the IMS last Sunday, making it the largest single-day sporting event in the world. Moreover, while I think Danica certainly contributed to a lot of the hype surrounding this year's race, attendance at the Speedway during May was up all around, not just when Danica was racing--attendance was up at the final two qualification days (when Danica wasn't racing, of course), we had some bumps and qualifications were, by and large, pretty exciting. I think having 45-50 teams at Indy would be better, but I lay that on the feet of the folks at CART, who, for the last ten years, stubbornly refuse to make the switch to the IRL--you can't have open wheel racing without Indy, and that is just all there is to it. Nitwits like Paul Tracy and Paul Newman who say things like "I'm never going to Indy again!" and then pout and moan about the IRL are just plain stupid. Indy is what gives them a job. Newman's sponsor flat out told him that his team would race at Indy or it wouldn't sponsor him, and again, without Indy, there is no open wheel racing--Paul Tracy would do well to remember that. Make no mistake about it--CART still exists because of Indy, not in spite of it.

Ask Michael Andretti if he thinks his five year boycott of Indy was worth it. Five years he missed Indy. Five more chances to win. Five years to get his face on the Borg-Warner trophy. Tell me if you don't think Andretti wished now that he never would have anything to do with CART and stuck with IRL. Nobody will remember anything about those five years he spent in CART, but a 500 winner--now, that's something that no one can ever take away. I'm sure that this year's win was nice, but when he wakes up at night dreaming about drinking milk and the Borg Warner trophy, he knows he's still 0-for-Indy and I bet he'd do anything to have five more chances at Indy and those five years back.

I've been spending the month of May at the IMS for a long time; the racing is still good, it's still fun to be there, it's still a great month. I don't think Indy has been devalued considerably; I think that if you ask any race car driver if they could only win one race, what would it be, I think the answer for the vast majority of them would be the Indy 500. That's obviously pure speculation, but Indy is Indy, and it's still The Race. Attendance is probably down, but, as I've said before, I think that is more a product of oversaturation of motor sports on television than anything else--you can get your racing fix on TV 40 some-odd weeks of the year; you don't need to spend every day from the second week of May to Memorial Day at the IMS to get your fill of racing. Other things, like the tobacco settlement, sure haven't helped things either.

But all in all, Indy is still Indy and a million folks or so pour through those gates walking down Georgetown Road or driving underneath the track off 16th Street every May--and that don't happen anywhere else.

[Publius Valerius]

I think having 45-50 teams at Indy would be better

Drivers, not teams.