sundaydriver2
05-16-06, 07:41 PM
http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/24295/
It must be the weather because suddenly a lot of people at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are making comments like their brains are water-logged.
To quote the late, great Slim Pickens: "What in the wide, wide world of sports is a goin' on here?"
ROGER PENSKE: "You can't say the creation of the Indy Racing League wasn't a good idea because, at the end of the day, there was some concern by Tony (George) whether there would be cars or a series that would run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway."
Really Roger? The IRL was a good idea and TGeorge was worried that nobody was going to show up in May?
Gee, that's not what you said every time I saw you at a CART race in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000. Back then you weren't very complimentary of Tony Hulman's grandson. You ranted on about how he'd ruined the month of May and when was his family going to do something. And even though you tried to make 11th-hour peace with him in April of '96, you still staged a 500-mile race at your track (Michigan) the next month up against Indianapolis because you and your CART brethren were understandably upset about 25 of the 33 starting spots being saved for IRL members.
Funny, I don't remember anybody threatening not to run the Indy 500 after the 1995 race (I believe that's the one you missed). Sure, owners always bitched and moaned about spending a month at one track, a third of their budget and the purse needing an upgrade but they all showed up every year and ran and ran and ran. As for CART's unholy desire to reduce the schedule, didn't that happen in 1999 when qualifying was cut to one weekend because of the lack of action?
As I recall, the IMS spin doctors spread the story in '96 that CART had threatened to boycott Indianapolis unless the purse was increased and the schedule decreased so Tony had to start his own series.
But that never happened. Did it Roger?
Tony George (LAT photo)
TONY GEORGE: "You cannot begin to compare the Nielsen ratings from 2005 to 1995 to 1985. In each 10-year span, the nature of television changed so dramatically, it is hard to even chronicle. The explosion of cable, the way television consumers' viewing habits have changed, etc."
It's true, viewing habits of racing fans began to change in 1996. Ironically, so did the attendance habits of racing fans that same year. Could there be a correlation?
Was there a reason that 62,000 people showed up at Phoenix to watch the CART race in '95 and only 10,000 turned out to see the IRL in '96? Or that 50,000 attended the CART show at Loudon, New Hampshire in '95 and only 5,000 made it to the IRL race there in 1996? Or that 40,000 people showed up on Bump Day at Indy in '95 but 4,000 weren't there the next May?
Why Indy went from an 8.4 rating in '95 to a 4.4 by 2000? Or why CART drew 2s and 3s in '95 and now those numbers are achieved by adding IRL and Champ Car races together.
Maybe the fact Andretti, Unser, Rahal, Fittipaldi, Tracy, Vasser and Gordon had been replaced by Racin' Gardner, Marco Greco, Jack Miller and Bronco Brad Murphey had something to do with this alarming trend. Or that two open wheel series confused and angered the viewer?
Naw, doubtful. But, amazingly, the Kentucky Derby has retained its traditions during this same time period and maintained its crowds, appeal and even seen its TV ratings go up.
Probably just lucky.
Michael Andretti (background) and son Marco. (Photo: Getty Images)
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: "The field is as deep as it's ever been."
Yeah, there are six former Indy winners. Of course one of them (Cheever) hasn't driven an Indy car since 2002, another since 2003 (Andretti) and another since 2004 (Al Unser Jr.).
There are Indy veterans like Airton Dare (last IRL start was in 2003), Jon Herb (last raced the Indy 500 in 2001) and Stephan Gregoire (last Indy 500 start in 2001) with a lot of rust, as well as Jeff Bucknum (Indy rookie last year) and Max Papis (one Indy start in 2002).
Those five guys have yet to turn a lap this month, along with P.J. Jones and Jacques Lazier, while Thiago Medeiros and Arie Luyendyk Jr. have only been out long enough to pass their rookie tests and Larry Foyt ran his refresher.
And don't forget Marty Roth, who took 12 years off before deciding to stage a comeback at age 44 in 2002.
Of course there's always last-minute deals but this year's overall lack of experience, preparation and track time makes this field one of the shallowest in terms of depth.
But we know what's deep Mikey, get out the shovel.
Brian Barnhart (LAT photo)
BRIAN BARNHART: "There were a number of factors in postponing qualifying to next weekend but the fans were most important."
The Speedway made the right call in having qualifying this Saturday and Sunday instead of Monday and Tuesday, like Barnhart had told the teams earlier last weekend.
But let's be realistic here. ABC and ESPN were most important and ruled, as they should in this situation.
MARTY ROTH: "I'm still shooting for the front row."
That's what Mad Dog told ABC/ESPN last Saturday. Maybe he meant the Little 500 or the IPS race next Friday.
Or maybe he's hoping to buy a ticket in the Penthouse.
TONY GEORGE: "I agree that attendance for the race itself is about the same as it was 12 years ago."
Hmmm, obviously TG did not major in math at Indiana State.
Twelve years ago a ticket to the Indy 500 was still gold. Scalpers got 3-4-5 times face and even Roger Penske advertised in racing publications he needed tickets and was willing to pay top dollar because he couldn't buy enough at IMS.
Back then, the Speedway never had to advertise or market the race because it would sell out almost as soon as it was over.
Last May, there were big gaps of empty seats around the track and, judging by all the promotion this year (buy tickets, get an Indy DVD and even reports of group discounts) there are still several thousand available for May 28.
Make no mistake, it's probably still the largest one-day sporting event in the world, but the old girl ain't what she used to be.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SpeedTV.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel
Robin Miller covers open wheel racing for SPEEDTV.com, SPEED News and WIND TUNNEL. A lifelong resident of Indianapolis, an 18-year-old Miller stooged for his hero Jim Hurtubise at the Indianapolis 500 in 1968 and began covering motorsports for The Indianapolis Star in 1969. Besides working on Indy pit crews from 1968-78, Miller also competed on the USAC midget circuit from 1975-83. During the past 35 years he's also been a contributor for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver, ESPN The Magazine and several publications that folded and still owe him money. He is single, a degenerate gambler and despises the NASCAR phrase, "We had a Top 20 car today."
It must be the weather because suddenly a lot of people at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are making comments like their brains are water-logged.
To quote the late, great Slim Pickens: "What in the wide, wide world of sports is a goin' on here?"
ROGER PENSKE: "You can't say the creation of the Indy Racing League wasn't a good idea because, at the end of the day, there was some concern by Tony (George) whether there would be cars or a series that would run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway."
Really Roger? The IRL was a good idea and TGeorge was worried that nobody was going to show up in May?
Gee, that's not what you said every time I saw you at a CART race in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000. Back then you weren't very complimentary of Tony Hulman's grandson. You ranted on about how he'd ruined the month of May and when was his family going to do something. And even though you tried to make 11th-hour peace with him in April of '96, you still staged a 500-mile race at your track (Michigan) the next month up against Indianapolis because you and your CART brethren were understandably upset about 25 of the 33 starting spots being saved for IRL members.
Funny, I don't remember anybody threatening not to run the Indy 500 after the 1995 race (I believe that's the one you missed). Sure, owners always bitched and moaned about spending a month at one track, a third of their budget and the purse needing an upgrade but they all showed up every year and ran and ran and ran. As for CART's unholy desire to reduce the schedule, didn't that happen in 1999 when qualifying was cut to one weekend because of the lack of action?
As I recall, the IMS spin doctors spread the story in '96 that CART had threatened to boycott Indianapolis unless the purse was increased and the schedule decreased so Tony had to start his own series.
But that never happened. Did it Roger?
Tony George (LAT photo)
TONY GEORGE: "You cannot begin to compare the Nielsen ratings from 2005 to 1995 to 1985. In each 10-year span, the nature of television changed so dramatically, it is hard to even chronicle. The explosion of cable, the way television consumers' viewing habits have changed, etc."
It's true, viewing habits of racing fans began to change in 1996. Ironically, so did the attendance habits of racing fans that same year. Could there be a correlation?
Was there a reason that 62,000 people showed up at Phoenix to watch the CART race in '95 and only 10,000 turned out to see the IRL in '96? Or that 50,000 attended the CART show at Loudon, New Hampshire in '95 and only 5,000 made it to the IRL race there in 1996? Or that 40,000 people showed up on Bump Day at Indy in '95 but 4,000 weren't there the next May?
Why Indy went from an 8.4 rating in '95 to a 4.4 by 2000? Or why CART drew 2s and 3s in '95 and now those numbers are achieved by adding IRL and Champ Car races together.
Maybe the fact Andretti, Unser, Rahal, Fittipaldi, Tracy, Vasser and Gordon had been replaced by Racin' Gardner, Marco Greco, Jack Miller and Bronco Brad Murphey had something to do with this alarming trend. Or that two open wheel series confused and angered the viewer?
Naw, doubtful. But, amazingly, the Kentucky Derby has retained its traditions during this same time period and maintained its crowds, appeal and even seen its TV ratings go up.
Probably just lucky.
Michael Andretti (background) and son Marco. (Photo: Getty Images)
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: "The field is as deep as it's ever been."
Yeah, there are six former Indy winners. Of course one of them (Cheever) hasn't driven an Indy car since 2002, another since 2003 (Andretti) and another since 2004 (Al Unser Jr.).
There are Indy veterans like Airton Dare (last IRL start was in 2003), Jon Herb (last raced the Indy 500 in 2001) and Stephan Gregoire (last Indy 500 start in 2001) with a lot of rust, as well as Jeff Bucknum (Indy rookie last year) and Max Papis (one Indy start in 2002).
Those five guys have yet to turn a lap this month, along with P.J. Jones and Jacques Lazier, while Thiago Medeiros and Arie Luyendyk Jr. have only been out long enough to pass their rookie tests and Larry Foyt ran his refresher.
And don't forget Marty Roth, who took 12 years off before deciding to stage a comeback at age 44 in 2002.
Of course there's always last-minute deals but this year's overall lack of experience, preparation and track time makes this field one of the shallowest in terms of depth.
But we know what's deep Mikey, get out the shovel.
Brian Barnhart (LAT photo)
BRIAN BARNHART: "There were a number of factors in postponing qualifying to next weekend but the fans were most important."
The Speedway made the right call in having qualifying this Saturday and Sunday instead of Monday and Tuesday, like Barnhart had told the teams earlier last weekend.
But let's be realistic here. ABC and ESPN were most important and ruled, as they should in this situation.
MARTY ROTH: "I'm still shooting for the front row."
That's what Mad Dog told ABC/ESPN last Saturday. Maybe he meant the Little 500 or the IPS race next Friday.
Or maybe he's hoping to buy a ticket in the Penthouse.
TONY GEORGE: "I agree that attendance for the race itself is about the same as it was 12 years ago."
Hmmm, obviously TG did not major in math at Indiana State.
Twelve years ago a ticket to the Indy 500 was still gold. Scalpers got 3-4-5 times face and even Roger Penske advertised in racing publications he needed tickets and was willing to pay top dollar because he couldn't buy enough at IMS.
Back then, the Speedway never had to advertise or market the race because it would sell out almost as soon as it was over.
Last May, there were big gaps of empty seats around the track and, judging by all the promotion this year (buy tickets, get an Indy DVD and even reports of group discounts) there are still several thousand available for May 28.
Make no mistake, it's probably still the largest one-day sporting event in the world, but the old girl ain't what she used to be.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SpeedTV.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel
Robin Miller covers open wheel racing for SPEEDTV.com, SPEED News and WIND TUNNEL. A lifelong resident of Indianapolis, an 18-year-old Miller stooged for his hero Jim Hurtubise at the Indianapolis 500 in 1968 and began covering motorsports for The Indianapolis Star in 1969. Besides working on Indy pit crews from 1968-78, Miller also competed on the USAC midget circuit from 1975-83. During the past 35 years he's also been a contributor for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver, ESPN The Magazine and several publications that folded and still owe him money. He is single, a degenerate gambler and despises the NASCAR phrase, "We had a Top 20 car today."