Here’s a hypothetical: IMS reopens the snake pit, attendance is up 75,000; do you say these aren’t real race fans, or do you use that as proof to bolster your claim that oval racing is “where it’s at”? Say what you want, we both know which claim you’d make.

Indy isn’t, and has never been about pack racing, after turn one. It’s about tail gating a car at 200+ mph, and setting him up for a pass through the turns. So in what way are we supposed to build a series around that type of racing?

Millions of AOW fans in the midwest? Really dude? There’s probably several thousand, but millions?

I’d argue that people who would tune in to watch an oval race are already claimed. They’re either Nascar fans, or what’s left of Indycar fans. Furthermore, the people you’re refering to who would, apparently, suddenly start watching AOW if all they did was add a bunch of americans to the field, are all middle aged (no offense George), and ARE NOT coming back. I work with several males, ages 18-40, who when I talk about being excited about watching a race the coming weekend always say, unanimously, “What, we’re they drive in a circle for a few hours?” These are football, hocky, and MMA fans, so they’re no strangers to danger and action. So my question is, do you want to reclaim fans who have long since left the sport, or attract new ones? I’d argue any new fans you could hope for are already watching Nascar.

It’s also either incredibly disingenuous, or outright naive, to suggest that the people who go to ovals are actual race fans and not there to party. I’ve been to Nashville, MIS, IMS, and Kentucky (and provided a better income would gladly return to three of the four tracks…Nashville sucks, again, sorry George) and at theses tracks I saw plenty of people who were there for the tail gate, not the race, and at I’d wager this scenario is even larger at Nascar races. Furthermore, the attendance at Sonoma was up, not down. Barber sold more tickets than Chicago. There’s plenty of fans of road racing out there, and don’t be so arrogant as to declare them “not real racing fans” simply because they prefer a different style of racing than you. Incidenitly, resigning the series to the midwest will kill it quicker than any street/road course venue. If people were exclusively interested in Americans on Ovals, why didn’t the IRL garner a better rating than Cart in it’s formative years?

I’m not arguing to drop ovals, I’d welcome a return to MIS (and would attend annualy as I have family in Ann Arbor who would also attend annually). Nor, for that matter, am I defending the snoozer that was Barber. I want diversity (because what’s more American than diversity?), but I want a car that can pass on a diverse array of tracks, and this Dallara simply can’t do that. If the next car promotes passing on road/streets will you continue to lodge your complaints simply because it isn’t pack racing?

Why is it no one but me seems to find tail gating at 180+ into a brake zone as exciting as pack racing? There’s just as much danger involved. *side note: Robin Miller if you watch Texas with your eyes closed, save speed some money and quit going there ya damn wuss*

Why is it the fans seem more interested in waging this war now more than ever? It’s really turning me off of the series altogether.

Who cares if 40 or 70% of spectators aren’t race fans? They pay tickets, food, transport and hotels too and enjoy a weekend watching cars go fast.

I don’t dislike road courses (well, ok, I don’t like sonoma) and in fact Toronto and Long Beach (and previously Surfer’s) are great races that I look forward to on the schedule. BUT… races like that are why I love Texas & Chicago.

Now that cookie-cutters don’t make up a majority of the schedule, I don’t see the point in the disproportionate dislike for them. Saturday I got to attend a first-class show and I’m very sad if they don’t come back next year.

This, first and foremost, is supposed to be a RACING series.

And the racing at many, many tracks in Indy Cars SUCKS. Sucks out loud. Its a terrible TV product and draws nobody to the TV sets. And that terrible racing product, in the end, ends up rubbing off on the Indy 500 too. Because the Indy Car brand now, is thought of as a largely foreign, road racing series, with boring races.

The Long Beach “crowd” doesn’t show up at Fontana because most of those folks aren’t race fans. And you actually have to make the effort to go to Fontana. No party’s and beer gardens at Fontana.

Chicago is in the home of American Open Wheel Racing. The American Midwest. Instead of blaming the fans or ISC or everybody under the sun for why crowds have tuned out Indy Cars, when are people going to realize that its INDY CAR’S FAULT? There are literally millions of AOW fans in Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois that could go to Chicago. Maybe if instead of filling the field with F1 Flunkees, Euro Feeder Drivers and nobody’s from nowhere, we should try something else? Maybe those folks that pack shorttracks all accross the Midwest in this country, would be more inclined to follow the top rung of the sport, if it was more in line with the rest of AOW?

Hopefully Bernard’s plans to rectify this problem will be announced soon and some real progress will be seen. It can only help.

Indy is a oval. Its been a oval for 100 years. Its what this sport has been built on. Its the only race that gives the series relevence. Its the only race that sponsors care about. Its the only race that gets above a 1 rating today. Its the only reason why Indy Cars are still on network TV 4 or 5 times a year.

You wanna be a international road racing series, with foreign drivers? Fine. Just don’t lump the Indy 500 in with that stuff. For about 80 years, The Indy 500 and Indy Car Racing was about oval racing and American drivers and we saw the BEST American talent gravitate towards Indy Cars.

Only since CART took over things and pined to become F1 Lite, with their sports car/F1 bred owners, did the balance swing the other way. We lost our identity. The American talent left or didn’t even give them a look. We have no sponsors. No American interest. Nothing.

Pick what you want. Wanna be international, with road racing and foreign drivers? Wanna appeal to American folks, with American drivers and ovals? Can’t be both. Just quit screwing up the history and heritage of the Indy 500. I hate seeing the race continue to see record low ratings year in-year-out.

The funny part about your posts is your abundance of supposition. You’re making so many assumptions, it’s almost impossible to counter your argument. It’s impossible to tell a person they’re wrong (even if they are) if nothing about their argument is concrete.

In any case…

How are you going to make such a blanket statement about the Long Beach crowd? Even if your blanket generalization is true, how are you or anyone else above having an event/race that casual fans/party goers flock to? Explain to me how having a successful race in a major metropolitan area is a bad thing? What kind of high-horse do you ride upon to turn your nose up to that?

10′s of thousands ALL WEEKEND at Long Beach vs 8k on RACE DAY in [insert any oval with the exception of Iowa and maybe Texas].

The funny point you make is that the series should build the rest of the series around a track that people say has road course characteristics as much as it has oval ones. Hmm… And here we are, with a series that has road course characteristics and oval ones.

My point about the Chicagoland/Southern California crowd is that I simply think certain regions fit certain types of racing. My example, Long Beach/Fontana; people show up for Long Beach and no one shows up for Fontana (Cup, Indycar, whatever). What’s to say that the same is true for Chicagoland? Maybe the people of Chicago just don’t like oval racing? Is that wrong? No. It could just be a matter of tailoring your product to your area. The west coast simply isn’t an oval crowd, which is why there aren’t major oval events along the coast outside of Fontana.

Like he did at Texas, Marco had the drive of the race. Had he been able to clear Wheldon on the outside and take second in the last few laps he might have given Dario a drag race to the checkered flag. Marco continues to show he has the guts, setup, and talent to run better than anyone on the high line of the 1.5′s.
I’m an old Unser fan and Marco is not the most likable of an Andretti clan I’m not supposed to like, but darn if he isn’t the most exciting driver to watch on these tracks.

People show up at Long Beach FOR THE PARTY and its a tradition out there. Those aren’t race fans. Most probably couldn’t tell you who the hell is racing and don’t care who the hell is racing.

If you would actually READ what I wrote (and have the capability of understanding), I didn’t say we need ALL OVALS. What I said is that if your #1 race is the Indy 500, then you better cater your series AROUND that race. What Indy Car does, is assbackwards. They cater the rest of their series AWAY from the Indy 500. Maybe that’s why NOBODY cares about Indy Car racing anymore, except for one day a year.

The people in Chicago dont’ show up for the Indy Car race for the same reasons they don’t show up most places for Indy Cars….THE DRIVER LINEUP. Nobody knows or gives a damn about these drivers. They are nameless, faceless people, who cannot appeal to the American fanbase. People get into racing because of the DRIVERS. You go to Chicago or most ovals on the schedule and look and see how many driver SWAG you see on the fans in the stands. THAT is the problem.

CART went tits-up, didn’t they? They are dead. They killed themselves, because the only race that their teams competed in, went away and their house of cards was so fragile that it quickly blew down. Yes, that was a hell of a series. Diversity, my ass. They were somewhat popular because they had long-time American names in the series and the Indy 500. That is why. When they lost the American names, and replaced them with F1 Junior series flunkees and drivers nobody has ever heard of, they fell off the map. When they lost the Indy 500, they were toast.

Get a grip (and a clue) yourself, Chrissy.