I think some of the poorer crowds at the non-500 races is partially down to dreadful promotion and poor / indecisive management of the series. Hopefully this is something Randy Bernard can help rework; otherwise the series may continue to struggle.
I am adamant that the series will not fix itself overnight – despite what many think. It will take time…

I must have missed where I said that Indy stands are empty. In fact, my point was that Indy is a phenomenal draw (both in attendance and television ratings) despite the fact that few other IRL races do well in either category.

My point is that the 500 is the only thing keeping the series afloat. Most of the sponsors are in it for Indy but the owners have to spread that money through 16 other races. The Hulman family has to take their massive revenue from race day and blow it on running the other 16 events. If they dumped the series the business of running the Indy 500 would suddenly be booming from a financial perspective.

If Indy sponsorship only had to cover 3 weeks of running in May there wouldn’t be any need for ridiculous cost controls that took away the spirit and the intrigue of the event.

As far as Nascar owners go… of course they don’t have to run the whole season. The only problem is that unless you do you simply cannot compete against the teams that do because you can’t overcome the experience gap. The difference between fielding a competitive car and a backmarker is a big deal to them.

Tiger Woods would never have participated in a long drive competition despite the fact that he is a far better golfer than the long drivers. He just don’t have the specific skill and experience required to win such an event. Not only would he not want to look bad when he was beaten by the regulars… the fact that they beat him would damage his overall image and hurt his endorsements (not that he hasn’t done that to himself).

Nascar guys love the fact that open wheel stars are embarrassed by driving in nascar. Make no mistake that the owners know that they would look just as silly after a one off attempt at Indy versus the big guns.

If you eliminate the series…. things change in a big way.

It was built in 1995 by IMS Events, Inc., a subsidiary of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, and was designed primarily as a venue for the Indy 200 at Walt Disney World, an Indy Racing League event. They actually had races there and it was too dangerous but that was before the safe barrier…Now you can do the Indy experience there but doubt that Disney would buy the brickyard when they already had the Mickyard. When Sam Shmodt ws paralyzed they stopped racing and have made a “family friendly” racing experience.
No one died on that track, but Disney is already doing the Indy-Petty race experience

(“The Sisters” deference has a negative tone BTW) and really as of late, it seems that they are very in touch with “their reality.” The Team Owners have a tougher job now and the transferring all of the negativity to “the sisters.”… well that is just kind of offensive in this economic melt-down.

Have to say that Scott makes sence, but when the economy turns around in ten years, maybe the race will be different. The original Formula-one style with real engineering and real auto brands is still appealing. (The pinewood-derby model for cub-scouts is probably the straw that broke the camel’s back for “the sisters.” Engineering innovation on the back of one or two highly skilled individuals is not an easy task…The “bad news” was really evident when Roger Penske walked away from Saturn…George is ROFL, but a new race car could have been viable then, with his manufacturer and under his leadership. People aren’t giving Roger this negative tone because he is a smart guy and I’m sure that “the sisters” watch every business move he makes. No negativity there…just smart.
The last few years have been tough on “the sisters” as the finanial world has shrunk in half, so give them some credit for trying to “manage.”

The Brickyard 400, USGP, & the Moto GP events can not say that.

Also, if these NASCAR owners want to participate in the Indy 500 now or in the future… they are NOT required to run the full Indycar season There are quite a few part-time & Indy Only teams curently in the series

The Indycar series / IRL is dead. It is floundering on life support provided by the 500 and the series is a massive anchor holding the Indy 500 down.

There aren’t enough fans to support a series, but there are more than enough fans to support the 500. If you remove the financial drain that the series puts on the family, servicing the debt is no longer an issue.

Furthermore, while the series cannot support multiple chassis and engine providers, the 500 could. If they only had to build equipment that would last for the month of May and perhaps one other race in Long Beach the cost of running would drop tremendously while sponsorship interest would not change because most sponsors are primarily only interested in Indy anyway. Even further, many Nascar drivers and OWNERS would be highly interested in participating in Indy if it did not require running a full season in order to gain the experience and technical knowledge necessary to be competitive.

If they let the series die today and opened the 2011 Indy as a fairly wide open spec race they would see an immediate change for the better in almost every way. From there a new series could ORGANICALLY develop just as it did in the past.