View Full Version : 3 lead-up weekends: what would YOU do?
Ok, there are 3 weekends in May leading up to a "big race" on the 4th weekend. What would YOU do in those 3 weekends to get maximum exposure and publicity for that 4th May weekend race?
Here's what Nascar does:
1. Sat night race at Richmond
2. Sat night race at Darlington
3. Sat night "All star" race at Charlotte
Here's what Indy does:
1. Nothing
2. Pole Day
3. Bump day
So is it any wonder the 600 beats the 500 in the TV ratings?
As and example, here's a suggested list I've posted a few times over at TF... although stuff like this doesn't go over too well there. :rolleyes:
1. Sat 8hr ALMS race (IMS roadcourse - be sure to include many ICS drivers)
2. Indy car race on the road course
3. Pole/Bump day
OK, it's not as good as Nascar, but IMO it would be more interesting than what IMS does now. It's using the first 2 weekends of May on the roadcourse, and concentrating all qualifying to the weekend before the 500.
What sorts of things would you folks suggest for IMS for those 3 lead-up weekends?
The difference is NASCAR doesn't need another series to piggyback off of to promote one of it's many big races.
Why can't the IRL cars race the Indy road course?
My suggestion for the IRL
They race somewhere else every weekend leading up to their 500. They qualify the Friday and Saturday before the race. They race on Sunday.
opinionated ow
05-18-08, 10:42 AM
The difference is NASCAR doesn't need another series to piggyback off of to promote one of it's many big races.
Why can't the IRL cars race the Indy road course?
My suggestion for the IRL
They race somewhere else every weekend leading up to their 500. They qualify the Friday and Saturday before the race. They race on Sunday.
I don't agree. Open up the rules, put it up to 10M to win and make it actually possible to be bumped. Go back to old qualifying rules. No need to race every week if you get your act together and rebuild the race.
matthole
05-18-08, 10:44 AM
My suggestion for the IRL:
Fold. Cease. Die. :thumbup: :tony:
Insomniac
05-18-08, 10:46 AM
Weekend 1: Race somewhere else.
Weekend 2: Race somewhere else.
Week 3: Indy 500 Practice
Weekend 3: Full field qualifying, bump day
Week 4: Indy 500 Practice
Weekend 4: Carb Day, Indy 500 Race
The more they hype this race, the more pathetic it seems. They need to start treating it like just any other race (which it essentially is) and worry about building a series that is worthwhile.
Insomniac
05-18-08, 10:52 AM
So is it any wonder the 600 beats the 500 in the TV ratings?
It has nothing to do with the lead up. NASCAR is more popular than OWR. That's it. Changing the May schedule won't make the IRL more popular than NASCAR. It will take years, if it's even possible.
Insomniac
05-18-08, 10:54 AM
As and example, here's a suggested list I've posted a few times over at TF... although stuff like this doesn't go over too well there. :rolleyes:
1. Sat 8hr ALMS race (IMS roadcourse - be sure to include many ICS drivers)
2. Indy car race on the road course
3. Pole/Bump day
OK, it's not as good as Nascar, but IMO it would be more interesting than what IMS does now. It's using the first 2 weekends of May on the roadcourse, and concentrating all qualifying to the weekend before the 500.
What sorts of things would you folks suggest for IMS for those 3 lead-up weekends?
They can't go from the road course configuration to the oval configuration in 1 week. You also forget about practice time.
Weekend 1: Race somewhere else.
Weekend 2: Race somewhere else.
Week 3: Indy 500 Practice
Weekend 3: Full field qualifying, bump day
Week 4: Indy 500 Practice
Weekend 4: Carb Day, Indy 500 Race
Yep... there are sooooo many posts all over calling for qualifying to be the weekend before The 500, that I almost could have made this post: "First 2 weekends of May, what would YOU do?"
(I agree that it'll take years for ICS to get anywhere near close to Nascar, but improving May is one of many tiny steps)
They can't go from the road course configuration to the oval configuration in 1 week. You also forget about practice time.
Somehow, someway, I doubt that Nascar would have this problem.. they ALWAYS seem to find a way to make things work. The roadcourse races on the first 2 weeks idea was to at least have a full months of activities at IMS as always... but something more interesting than now.
At the beginning of the month, or the last weekend of April, run an endurance race, and some other lower tier series. Hell, run the IRL cars on the road course too.
On the first weekend: Qualifying and sprint race for points. Make it 250-300 miles.
IF it's possible, put a vintage race in there.
Make qualifying fit over 2 days instead of 4. (One weekend)
Double the points value for Indy.
Insomniac
05-18-08, 12:14 PM
Somehow, someway, I doubt that Nascar would have this problem.. they ALWAYS seem to find a way to make things work. The roadcourse races on the first 2 weeks idea was to at least have a full months of activities at IMS as always... but something more interesting than now.
They've said this before when changing from the oval to the road course after the Indy 500 to the USGP, it was a big task. They were happy to pull it off in a little less than 3 weeks last year. If they wanted to run the road course (which I think would be a good idea) they should do it at another time, probably before or after the Moto GP. There will be less changes needed to get it to the F1 USGP course from the Moto GP course.
You should be asking the Indiana residents what they want. I doubt many people travel to Indy for the entire month of May. What would entice them to come out to more activities. There is so much competition for your time and money now. Indy has to compete to get it back. Starting out small (needing less time) would be a better way to start IMO.
What would I do? Leave it as is, permanently irrelevant.
My suggestion for the IRL: Fold. Cease. Die. :thumbup: :tony:
This is the correct answer. The fact Mr. George invented the legacy known since 1996 as the "IRL" has dropped Indy in status on the radar screens all over the world ever since. Doesn't make it less dangerous or challenging, BUT the IMPRESSIONS left with the race fan world-wide about Indy have suffered irrepairable damage by the IRL.
Dig a big hole and bury it. Start fresh with a new direction....not this NASCAR wannabe horseshiet or local yokel racer BS. How can you soar with eagles on the world stage when you're run by a bunch of Indy turkey's?
Andrew Longman
05-18-08, 01:05 PM
Dig a big hole and bury it.
Given that the series is added three temporary road courses this year with more to come, granted unprecedented power to the owners who happen to control those races, are actually talking about turbos and have welcomed engine leases for years, I'd say the IRL was actually buried long ago.
As for Chris' ideas, I don't see an ALMS support race as a good idea. I'd enjoy it, but it should be a formula series.
The month used to make sense when people were really innovating and searching for speed and reliability. And it made sense when there wasn't much of a season schedule or opportunities to test. The time could be well used and it actually held some interest.
Using the road course has some interest, but I'm having a hard time figuring objectively why it shouldn't be the headliner over the oval. Why would it inherently be less important to the oval?
Rather, the real issue is attracting competitors, manufacturers and sponsors. The purse has to be much, much larger and the technical challenge greater. Limit total BTUs allowed to cover the 500 miles. Starting with a spec tub for safety, make it a requirement that you have manufacture your own chassis and/or power plant. Stuff like that will greatly increase the value of participating and create story lines all month long. And it will differentiate it from NASCAR and other racing.
Twin 125s. Boogity, boogity, boogity. :gomer:
Now that the racing, cars, and engines have all been homogenized, there just isn't anything compeling about quals. I just can't see any amount of lipstick being put on this pig to make any more attractive than it is, which it ain't. :irked:
-Kevin
Nothing they can do at Indy is going to rebuild what Tony destroyed. The best they can hope to do is condense it enough that it's not so obviously a farce.
They could probably get away with opening on Sunday of the second weekend in May for parades and the cerimonial avoiding of the topic of the empty stands.
Rookie tests and practice Sunday afternoon and Monday. Practice Tuesday-Friday. Qualifying Saturday, Bump Day Sunday. "Carb Day" Friday or Saturday, Race Sunday.
It occurs to me that "Bump Day" is rapidly becoming as anachronistic as "Carb Day". I won't be long before only the old farts and historians know why it's called "Bump Day". "Is that the day they check the track for bumps?"
eiregosod
05-18-08, 01:45 PM
What would I do? Leave it as is, permanently irrelevant.
holding on, holding on, still there, still there, inside inside, holding on....
Rookie tests and practice Sunday afternoon and Monday. Practice Tuesday-Friday. Qualifying Saturday, Bump Day Sunday. "Carb Day" Friday or Saturday, Race Sunday.
This is prolly the ideal format but the weather is so damn fickle during May in the midwest, it's prolly not realistic. You almost have to have a cushion in there to make sure quals can happen before race weekend. They were darn lucky this year that the rain happened when it did.
-Kevin
This is prolly the ideal format but the weather is so damn fickle during May in the midwest, it's prolly not realistic. You almost have to have a cushion in there to make sure quals can happen before race weekend. They were darn lucky this year that the rain happened when it did.
-Kevin
Maybe they should consider moving it to another month. :laugh:
You should be asking the Indiana residents what they want.
Well, considering that most of TF *is* Indiana residents, I already sorta have :) One common response is "if you don't like it, don't watch" ...which MANY race fans have apparently taken up on :rolleyes:
As for Chris' ideas, I don't see an ALMS support race as a good idea. I'd enjoy it, but it should be a formula series.
Well, I got that idea from Daytona's Speedweeks (ironically was probably loosely based on Indy's May) which starts off with a 12hr sports car race, featuring a lot of the Nascar regulars as drivers in it. I figured starting May with ALMS on the IMS roadcourse would kinda be similar.
I guess another advantage of having the first 2 May weekends running on the roadcourse is that they can be run in the rain, which is common there that month.
extramundane
05-18-08, 03:26 PM
Well, I got that idea from Daytona's Speedweeks (ironically was probably loosely based on Indy's May) which starts off with a 12hr sports car race, featuring a lot of the Nascar regulars as drivers in it. I figured starting May with ALMS on the IMS roadcourse would kinda be the same thing.
Except that the "sports car race, featuring a lot of the Nascar regulars as drivers in it" (24hrs, not 12) has a long storied history of its own and, at one time, was as notable and relevant (perhaps moreso) as the Daytona 500 itself. It's always drawn significant drivers from across the motorsports world, not just a handful of NASCAR drivers. Point being, it's not some thrown-together sideshow attraction trying to mask the failings of the main event.
And while a race on the IMS road course may or may not be good for the ALMS, a race on the IMS road course during Fi-Hunnert month would be utterly foolish.
Point being, it's not some thrown-together sideshow attraction trying to mask the failings of the main event.
While I agree the Daytona24 is not trying to mask any failings of the main event (Daytona 500) it does appear that it was created as a sideshow to augment/enhance the Daytona 500 crowd. ... the first version of the race (3hr race) was held the week before the 1962 Daytona 500. With very few exceptions it has always been held 1-3 weeks just before the 500.
a race on the IMS road course during Fi-Hunnert month would be utterly foolish.
Why?
SurfaceUnits
05-18-08, 05:34 PM
1) Go to the beach
2) Go to the beach
3) Go to the beach
cameraman
05-18-08, 05:46 PM
While I agree the Daytona24 is not trying to mask any failings of the main event (Daytona 500) it does appear that it was created as a sideshow to augment/enhance the Daytona 500 crowd.
Rubbish. 99.9998% of the Daytona 500 crowd could not care less about the 24 hours of Daytona.
extramundane
05-18-08, 05:59 PM
While I agree the Daytona24 is not trying to mask any failings of the main event (Daytona 500) it does appear that it was created as a sideshow to augment/enhance the Daytona 500 crowd. ... the first version of the race (3hr race) was held the week before the 1962 Daytona 500. With very few exceptions it has always been held 1-3 weeks just before the 500.
Regardless of the time of year it's held, the Daytona 24 is clearly an event that (despite the tomfoolery that's occurred over the last few years) runs on its own merit. As Mr. Cameraman said, there are two very distinct audiences with very little overlap.
a race on the IMS road course during Fi-Hunnert month would be utterly foolish.
Why?
The ALMS has a very good chance to move ahead of the AOW trainwreck and become "the best of the rest" regarding exposure, attendance, ratings, etc. They're already risking that by playing 2nd fiddle to the IRL on several shared weekends; playing the role of dancing monkey during Fi-Hunnert Month wouldn't do anything to shake the perception that they're a support series.
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