View Full Version : 2014 BY400 Lap 1 pictures
WickerBill
07-27-14, 01:28 PM
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Someone needs to go get Al Unser Jr. Lots of people seem to no longer know what Indy means.
I was just thinking that a lot of aluminum people brought their aluminum families.
Mary
BTW, I wonder what FTG would do now if NASCAR had taken him up on his pitch years ago to make the BY NASCAR's biggest purse race?
Mary
That's awesome. :thumbup: I love it!
Looks like :tony:'s business decision to bring the cab's to Indy is paying off in spades.
The mystique that was Indy is long gone.
Look around...It's happening most everywhere. Today in Hungary, for example. Very evident in Germany. Even F-1 is seriously worried about it. Let's take a close look at Austin, too. Pretty soon some promoters may be ASKING out...instead of begging/buying in!? That Indy "crowd" was way worse than I anticipated. Lots of happy Indy/Gordon fans, good result. Lord, TWENTY years already!:(
Tifosi24
07-28-14, 09:53 AM
You forgot to point out that a vast majority of the North stands were covered with advertising banners and they have removed two very large sections of grandstands on the Northside as well (Michigan has done the same). I also noticed that a great deal of low shots and close ups of the action was what the director was focusing on during the little bit of the Brickyard that I saw; clearly to avoid showing the lack of attendance.
I hate to say it, but across the board auto racing is in trouble from a fan perspective. NASCAR overbuilt many of its tracks and now it looks terrible, and with the Indy, I don't know much about what goes on there because I have never so much as visited, but they need to seriously consider tearing down a great deal of the facilities just to save on maintenance. The on-track quality from CART peaked in the late 1990s, but open wheel and road racing popularity looks to have peaked about 20ish years ago, and NASCAR popularity peaked about 10 years ago and now it is a slow burn. The biggest place where I have seen the decrease in popularity is at the local tracks. I don't regularly attend because late models and the like aren't my cup of tea, but I regularly drive past a rather large facility in Eastern Iowa heading to the in-laws. The stands were always packed when I stared dating my wife in the early 2000s, but now, over the past couple years, I will drive past on a Friday night and there is maybe 50 people in the crowd.
Look around...It's happening most everywhere. Today in Hungary, for example. Very evident in Germany. Even F-1 is seriously worried about it. Let's take a close look at Austin, too. Pretty soon some promoters may be ASKING out...instead of begging/buying in!? That Indy "crowd" was way worse than I anticipated. Lots of happy Indy/Gordon fans, good result. Lord, TWENTY years already!:(
How much effect did the weather have on the walk up crowd in Hungary? :gomer:
cameraman
07-28-14, 02:30 PM
The stands were always packed when I stared dating my wife in the early 2000s, but now, over the past couple years, I will drive past on a Friday night and there is maybe 50 people in the crowd.
Once upon a time people could work on their own cars and there were huge numbers of driveway mechanics. They were gearheads and were a perfect racing audience. Now cars are rolling computers and you realistically can't do too much beyond changing the oil. Kids today don't grow up working on cars and the interest in cars and racing has gone away.
Racing Truth
07-28-14, 02:51 PM
Look around...It's happening most everywhere. Today in Hungary, for example. Very evident in Germany. Even F-1 is seriously worried about it. Let's take a close look at Austin, too. Pretty soon some promoters may be ASKING out...instead of begging/buying in!? That Indy "crowd" was way worse than I anticipated. Lots of happy Indy/Gordon fans, good result. Lord, TWENTY years already!:(
I agree w/ everything but that it was worse than anticipated. The Nationwide crowd told me the 400 crowd would be awful.
In today's racing worlds, the driveway mechanic has about as much leeway with his car as the teams do with theirs. ;)
Racing Truth
07-28-14, 03:01 PM
Once upon a time people could work on their own cars and there were huge numbers of driveway mechanics. They were gearheads and were a perfect racing audience. Now cars are rolling computers and you realistically can't do too much beyond changing the oil. Kids today don't grow up working on cars and the interest in cars and racing has gone away.
Right, which is why I'm skeptical about the whole "Abolishing spec racing will fix it" argument. Doing so might be a good idea on merit, but the notion that it will bring back the fans is silly.
Tifosi24
07-28-14, 03:41 PM
Right, which is why I'm skeptical about the whole "Abolishing spec racing will fix it" argument. Doing so might be a good idea on merit, but the notion that it will bring back the fans is silly.
I agree. On the whole a more casual fan, which is what you are looking for in terms of growth, is less interested in the ins and outs of a particular sport, they want to be entertained. I haven't watched many races this year, but from my personal feeling I would rate F1 over the past 5-8 years more entertaining from a casual standpoint than the 5 years before that period. That being said, even if it is the greatest race in the world, spec or otherwise, a casual fan isn't going to bother to tune into a Grand Prix in Azerbaijan.
Right, which is why I'm skeptical about the whole "Abolishing spec racing will fix it" argument. Doing so might be a good idea on merit, but the notion that it will bring back the fans is silly.
While opening up rules isn't all that can happen, it will bring back fans. Nothing attracts eyeballs like a good story. And frankly, there are none these days. Sponsors have drivers on their best behavior, and teams can't do anything interesting with their cars. What is the press left to talk about? The standings? There are no storylines. "Watch the guy who won some dance off" is not a storyline.
Remember all the sharkfin nonsense back in 1994? Every team was doing something new every week, most also said that they gave little to no advantage. But it was something interesting for the press to talk about that was directly related to the racing. When the media are talking about interesting things, the fans get more interest.
During the season, virtually nothing changes from week to week except the standings. And holy moly are numbers boring. Almost as boring as the personalities of most of the drivers.
Racing Truth
07-28-14, 08:13 PM
While opening up rules isn't all that can happen, it will bring back fans. Nothing attracts eyeballs like a good story. And frankly, there are none these days. Sponsors have drivers on their best behavior, and teams can't do anything interesting with their cars. What is the press left to talk about? The standings? There are no storylines. "Watch the guy who won some dance off" is not a storyline.
Remember all the sharkfin nonsense back in 1994? Every team was doing something new every week, most also said that they gave little to no advantage. But it was something interesting for the press to talk about that was directly related to the racing. When the media are talking about interesting things, the fans get more interest.
During the season, virtually nothing changes from week to week except the standings. And holy moly are numbers boring. Almost as boring as the personalities of most of the drivers.
It's not 1994. The general public is considerably less interested in "car culture." It's not a storyline that will interest anyone but the converted.
Sadly, all motorsports have plateaued. It's far worse for IndyCar, thanks to the split, but no one's thriving like they were.
Right, which is why I'm skeptical about the whole "Abolishing spec racing will fix it" argument. Doing so might be a good idea on merit, but the notion that it will bring back the fans is silly.
No, you're silly. :p
Car culture is alive and well, it's just different than what us old %$#@s are used to.
The car culture is Fast, and dare I say, Furious.
How many male 20-something's do you see driving around in an UNmodified car these days?
The interest in cars is still there, but auto racing hasn't quite tapped the right spigot for this generation.
Losing the spec crap at least has a damn good shot at it.
Edit: I am NOT saying that drifting or X games is the answer.
Rogue Leader
07-29-14, 12:07 AM
Not to toot IndyCar horn, but there were WAY more people there for the 500.
Racing Truth
07-29-14, 08:10 PM
No, you're silly. :p
Car culture is alive and well, it's just different than what us old %$#@s are used to.
The car culture is Fast, and dare I say, Furious.
How many male 20-something's do you see driving around in an UNmodified car these days?
The interest in cars is still there, but auto racing hasn't quite tapped the right spigot for this generation.
Losing the spec crap at least has a damn good shot at it.
Edit: I am NOT saying that drifting or X games is the answer.
This will look odd, but my sense is that, yes, there's still a desire amongst a certain subset to go fast. That doesn't mean any true appreciation for the machine and technology. Plus, there's a "douche factor" involved when it comes to aesthetics.
On the other end are hipsters who will avoid cars when they can
Racing Truth
07-29-14, 08:27 PM
Not to toot IndyCar horn, but there were WAY more people there for the 500.
Small victories, but still...
Ten yrs. ago, I never would have expected this. Back then, the 400 was the bigger race... in Indy. Not anymore.
NASCAR's is past it's high-water mark as regards popularity, and once the novelty wore off, NASCAR fans figured out that Indy is not really a good stage for them.
Edit: I am NOT saying that drifting or X games is the answer.
Actually, that is the answer.
Why do you think the Olympic Games, especially the Winter Olympics, have been adding all these "X-Games" sports to their mix? Because they feared losing the younger audience.
Like it or not, the younger racing audience is at Drifting and X-Games events. The "older" racing disciplines need to figure out how to get them over to their events. The Olympics figured it out.
opinionated ow
07-30-14, 01:42 PM
Actually, that is the answer.
Why do you think the Olympic Games, especially the Winter Olympics, have been adding all these "X-Games" sports to their mix? Because they feared losing the younger audience.
Like it or not, the younger racing audience is at Drifting and X-Games events. The "older" racing disciplines need to figure out how to get them over to their events. The Olympics figured it out.
I wouldn't be so confident about that. There are no gimmick sports at the Commonwealth Games and just about every seat at every event has been filled and the open road events have had massive crowds. It doesn't seem to matter if it is Athletics, Swimming, Diving, Track Cycling, Boxing, Weightlifting or even bloody Lawn Bowls. They promoted the crap out of that 'slope style' stuff in Sochi. Nobody I know enjoyed more than the first three runs and were desperate for anything else.
Tifosi24
07-30-14, 02:34 PM
I am with ow on this one, X-Games events (Global Rallycross for racing) don't feel like the future of sport to me. I am still relatively young (31) and these events do nothing for me. There are also a great deal of younger kids in my neighborhood and town, and I don't hear them talking amongst themselves about how awesome random "X-Game Type" event is. Redbull Crashed Ice would be the only really popular event of that ilk that happens in the Twin Cities, but thousands of people show up because Redbull pays for it and it is free, free, free.
stroker
07-30-14, 03:29 PM
My $.02 is that it's a compound problem.
The first is cost. Motor racing used to be comparatively cheap to get into at the grassroots level. NOTHING is cheap any more, even Hobby Stock. Secondarily motor racing used to be attainable. It didn't require a mechanical engineering degree and sophisticated diagnostic technology to get on the grid. As soon as you remove the sport from being "attainable" to the base then the ultimate erosion of support was inevitable.
The classic example is slot cars. A raceway would start with 500 customers with $20 cars. Then they shrunk to 10 customers at $500 cars. Half the revenue = defunct raceway.
Tifosi24
07-31-14, 12:01 PM
I will second the cost of entry. When I was in college 10-12 years ago, I was seriously considering getting into rally. After going back and forth about buying a car, I eventually decided it wasn't worth it. With zero prospect of making any money, and an upfront investment in the thousands (not even factoring in spares, travel, logging, entry, etc.) for an old worn out car that I would have the opportunity to race maybe four times a year, it just wasn't worth it. Sure, it would have been a great hobby, but you have to have some serious disposable income to stay in the game. I should have got into cycling, same prize potential, but significantly lower cost of entry and you don't need a trailer and tow vehicle.
I wouldn't be so confident about that. There are no gimmick sports at the Commonwealth Games and just about every seat at every event has been filled and the open road events have had massive crowds. It doesn't seem to matter if it is Athletics, Swimming, Diving, Track Cycling, Boxing, Weightlifting or even bloody Lawn Bowls. They promoted the crap out of that 'slope style' stuff in Sochi. Nobody I know enjoyed more than the first three runs and were desperate for anything else.
Look at the US TV ratings for the various Winter Olympic sports, outside of Figure Skating and the ice hockey gold medal game.
And, like it or not, US TV ratings dictate what takes place at the Olympics, because US TV rights fees dwarf all the other countries' rights fees put together.
Now, having said that, I have wondered whether this extreme sports fad is just that, and it is starting to fade away from the younger generations consciousness.
TKGAngel
07-31-14, 01:01 PM
Look at the US TV ratings for the various Winter Olympic sports, outside of Figure Skating and the ice hockey gold medal game.
Look at the US TV ratings for Olympic sports outside of those 2 weeks every four years and you'll really see a drop.
Cost is an issue. Every time NASCAR goes to Bristol, the story gets written about how the area prices out fans with hotel room rates that are anywhere from 3-4x the usual rate. If you want affordable, you're staying far, far away and getting jacked on parking.
I actually thought ESPN wasn't really hiding the empty seats on either Saturday or Sunday. I chalked it up to not really giving a flip since their portion of the NASCAR TV deal expires at the end of the year.
cameraman
07-31-14, 01:30 PM
I went to a sold out RSL Salt Lake/New York Red Bulls game last night, granted a sell out is only 20,213 but it was still sold out. Not that it holds a candle to an NFL crowd but some non X-sports are actually growing.
You're looking at a stadium where the cheapest seats behind the goal with the lunatics with the drums cost $20 and the shaded midfield seats cost between $65 and $125. The seats directly across the field from the $125 seats (which are in the direct setting sun) are $40. That's right, an $80 markup for shade. And the shaded seats sell out - every single game.
If you do the math on that Real Salt Lake is grossing close to $900,000 a game on tickets alone plus the store selling all the team gear is absolutely packed for the entire game.
Now, having said that, I have wondered whether this extreme sports fad is just that, and it is starting to fade away from the younger generations consciousness.
I think so, but have zero data to back that up with.
Someone needs to correctly tap that marketing segment for auto racing to survive.
The kids want it, they just don't know it.
stroker
07-31-14, 09:22 PM
The problem is that racing is no longer a learning experience. The rules need to start with as close to a blank sheet of paper as possible then allow the participants to solve the problem whichever way they want, within the constraints of expense and attainability (as I mentioned above). Whoever taps into that wins.
I wouldn't be so confident about that. There are no gimmick sports at the Commonwealth Games and just about every seat at every event has been filled and the open road events have had massive crowds. It doesn't seem to matter if it is Athletics, Swimming, Diving, Track Cycling, Boxing, Weightlifting or even bloody Lawn Bowls. They promoted the crap out of that 'slope style' stuff in Sochi. Nobody I know enjoyed more than the first three runs and were desperate for anything else.
Track and Field and the other Olympic sports don't get much of an audience in the USA outside the Olympics. If you have Michael Phelps at a swimming meet, it will draw some people, but it won't be a big event. America is still decent in the T&F sprint events, but Usain Bolt isn't American, so no one here cares at all. When we are not the absolute best, then we don't care. I won't even start on distance running. Even when we are the "best" we only care during the Olympic games. I saw an interview with some MMA guy and he was talking about how it is outshining boxing in just about every measure now. Except in one measure, nobody in MMA has ever gotten the sort of payday that Floyd Mayweather routinely gets for fighting some schmuck.
The two points I see in all this: 1) even though there is no money in it for the vast majority of participants, athletes still want to compete at the highest levels in Olympic sports and compete for their countries (and thanks to Europe, Asia & Australia some of them can at least earn a living), and 2) lots more people may be in to MMA, but they don't have as much money as those still into boxing.
Mary
Andrew Longman
08-03-14, 02:46 PM
Meanwhile ISC just keeps adding grandstands at The Glen (removed from overbuilt ovals). And they sell every seat - which they didn't used to do.
I don't know what to make of that except it is always a good race
Ticket prices are out of control, period. My interest in the sport has waned considerably of the last 10 years, but when I think about going to an event in hopes of rekindling the old flame, I look at the expense involved (including the price gouging of motels), and it's a nonstarter.
stroker
08-05-14, 04:37 PM
I went to my first actual racing event in probably close to 20 years last weekend. Saw some mini-sprints at Sweet Springs raceway with my 6 and 4 year old girls. The 4 year old was ready to go home instantly (doesn't like loud stuff) but on the way back I asked Eva the 6 year old if driving a sprint car looked like something she'd like to do. She immediately responded "Yes!". I said, "But it costs a LOT of money..." to which she said, "So?"
A born racer, apparently... :)
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