TrackForum - Blogs

TrackForum - Blogs http://www.trackforum.com/forums/blog.php The number 1 IndyCar discussion forum en Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:13:39 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg TrackForum - Blogs http://www.trackforum.com/forums/blog.php <![CDATA[Dr. Strangesport (Or "How I learned to stop worrying and love IndyCar")]]> http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?193-Dr-Strangesport-(Or-quot-How-I-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-IndyCar-quot-) Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:07:59 GMT Remember how, a season or two ago, we were going to race in China?

I don't remember the name of the town and don't feel inclined to look it up, but it was all set to go until the government there changed hands and flaked out on us. Suddenly here we were with a huge hole in the schedule, and our CEO at the time floundering about looking for tracks to fill it, getting our hopes up for places like Pocono and Road America only to watch them be shot down by the cruel reality that you just can't make a top-level race track ready for a major event in a month or less, especially if you're unwilling to pay for it.

It's been weird ever since. That CEO's gone, replaced by someone with a much better resume--whom apparently no one thinks can get the job done. The new season has had rousing racing successes, yet fewer people are watching. Our TV ratings can best be described as "craptastic." There were empty seats in the stands at Indianapolis--Indianapolis!!--even after a fair number of seats were removed. Don't even get me started on the mood at TrackForum lately. You should see the fascinating PM's I get from one of its moderators on occasion. They're not hostile, nor derogatory, but also not pretty.

"May you live in interesting times," says the famed Chinese curse. These times are plenty interesting, aren't they? What the hell?

I don't pretend to know anything someone else hasn't posted at TF already, but these three things seem to make the most sense, and may even provide the ticket out of our funk:

* The potential audience has changed, the product has not. Several posters, me included, bring up how our kids just don't seem to give a crap about cars anymore. My stepson was in no major hurry to get his driver's license. My boss's oldest son didn't even want to bother. This is in Kansas City, folks. You know what "mass transit" is in the Kansas City metro? Crappy bus service or a friend's SUV. To get anywhere significant around here you have to drive to it--and even our kids don't want to drive. If they don't want to drive, why should they want to watch other people drive? What's the point? Boring.

* The competition for eyeballs is fierce and does not favor the "old" (unless it's NFL football). You could make a decent argument this is why NASCAR, even though it's not "challenging" the NFL anymore, still gets the lion's share of racing ratings. It's the "newer" sport with the "newer" drivers racing the "newer" cars. Logically, the second two of those can be refuted instantly; the first one is technically true but c'mon, 1910 vs. 1950? But we're not talking logic here. We are not a logical people. We're talking perception, and NASCAR is perceived as "younger" than IndyCar. That said, check out NASCAR's demographics sometime and see how old the majority of its audience is, and understand why all auto racing ratings are basically flat to falling: The "kids" don't care. They have plenty of other things to do they consider better use of their time than watching cars go round and round for hours. Like watch NFL football, the perceived top level of a game they themselves still play for fun (but keep an eye on those demos, too--this is the same generation that grew up with "soccer moms").

* The sport itself has become too manufactured and micromanaged. Recently Mark Miles and Derrick Walker held a press conference announcing their intent to bring back speed records to Indianapolis, in effect laying out a multi-year plan for doing so. Be honest--were you excited? Were you thrilled that the "good ol' days" were coming back at last? Or did you resent the hell out of how they spelled out every step of how this was to be done, wondering whatever happened to good ol' innovation? Mark's resume is top-notch, and Derrick is well known for his willingness to take risks (this is the man who brought Sarah Fisher to the old IRL, after all), but neither of them are God. Neither of them can say "Let there be drama!" and behold, there is; no more than Randy Bernard ever could--and Lord, did he try--or Tony George ever could or even Tony Hulman ever could. For there to be excitement, they have to allow the conditions for others to make it. You can't do that with a whole bunch of rules and regs designed at heart to keep everybody exactly the same. Not with IndyCar-style racing, anyway, built on a legacy of creative thinking and "what happens if we try this?" No. Within reason, within the framework of a basic set of rules focused equally on safety and affordability, you've got to get out of the teams' ways and let them try something different.

So what we need is to create a series that appears new and exciting to younger fans that's affordable to get into yet allows its players to be innovative.

Sounds good to me. When do we get started? ;) ]]> skypigeon http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?193-Dr-Strangesport-(Or-quot-How-I-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-IndyCar-quot-) God luv ya roger http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?192-God-luv-ya-roger Sun, 02 Jun 2013 00:13:08 GMT ---Quote (Originally by paper)--- but ditch the martini party at that track,, after indy the oval would have kept the beat going,, I so hate being a bitcher , but if a new fan watched indy and tuned in today, oy,, I find a way to like any race,, but they have me, a new viewer would truly...

Originally Posted by paper

but ditch the martini party at that track,, after indy the oval would have kept the beat going,, I so hate being a bitcher , but if a new fan watched indy and tuned in today, oy,, I find a way to like any race,, but they have me, a new viewer would truly ask,, what the hell was that,, the Michigan oval would have continued a great beat,, cant go there now.. then wait for texas. thanx roger.

Originally Posted by paper

I enjoy twisties, but I totally hear what you're saying. This is a fine race, but needs to be placed somewhere else on the schedule. ]]> Gabbahey http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?190-God-luv-ya-roger Rain and Racing http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?189-Rain-and-Racing Mon, 13 May 2013 06:11:07 GMT Rain. To a race fan this word is dreaded as much as fire to a paper mill worker. A race fan of any length of time has had to deal with it. One of my very first brushes with the weather was the first Indianapolis 500 I ever attended. That was back in 1967. We heard of the unbelievable track... Rain. To a race fan this word is dreaded as much as fire to a paper mill worker. A race fan of any length of time has had to deal with it.

One of my very first brushes with the weather was the first Indianapolis 500 I ever attended. That was back in 1967. We heard of the unbelievable track record the Speedway had with running races, so unbelievable that they would refer to it as “Hulman Weather” because at the time Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman never had a rain out of the Indy 500 in his tenure as owner. Well, the 1967 Indy 500 got under way as scheduled. It ran 18 laps before rain rudely interrupted the proceedings and decided to stay for the afternoon. I was bitterly disappointed. Day 2 turned out to be worth the wait. One of the celebrities, Frank Sutton did a quick interview over the PA. When asked if he would like to say anything to the clouds that continued to hang around the speedway, Sutton said, in typical Sargent Carter fashion, “OUT! OUT! OUT!” and like Gomer Pyle, Mother Nature seemed to obey. One of the great legends of the track Parnelli Jones dominated the race in a turbine engine car before an inexpensive bearing betrayed him. Another legend A. J. Foyt would take over and win but not before sensing danger and at a reduced speed he weaved his way past several wrecked cars as they were sliding to a stop. I guess that is one reason I think he was the greatest racer I’ve ever seen.
The Hoosier Grand Prix, a USAC Indy Car race the summer before, the race was run in three intervals punctuated by rain showers but the show was run to completion. Earlier in the year the family planned to see the USAC Sprint Cars run at Eldora Speedway. The weather forecast looked much too threatening and my dad reluctantly vetoed the trip to Eldora. The rain held off and the race was run but not before one of my favorite drivers, Johnny Rutherford took a spectacular spill and the resulting injuries sidelined him for over a year. Maybe that race should have been a rain out.

Like that race in Eldora you took your chances in the 1960s – 1980s. No internet, no cell phones or no I-Pads you were left with the non-Doppler radar weather forecast and a decision to forgo the race or take a leap of faith when the weather looked iffy. If you gambled and lost as I seemed to do several times at scheduled races at New Breman Speedway you sucked it up and made the best of a dreary ride home. Looking back the cost of gasoline which was 1/8 to 1/10 of the price as it is now it was much more time consuming than costly. Sometimes these “rain out” trips were discovery trips as well. One such trip we tried a Dutch Pantry restaurant. It became a family favorite for many years.

Today race fans have it good. All have the internet and most have the electronic devices and the networking to go with it. Promoters have the courtesy to cancel races when a rain out looks imminent. This lets race fans as well as car owners and drivers exercise a Plan B, Plan C or wait ‘til tomorrow or next week. Last year my home track, Lawrenceburg Speedway cancelled early because rain hit that morning and the weather radar was promising more of the same. Plan B became the MTQRL three quarter midget race at the Shelbyville Fairgrounds. I had a great time, saw an excellent race and my racing season hardly skipped a beat.

This brings me to my latest brush with racing and the weather. Lawrenceburg Speedway in 2013 has been enjoying a weather (rain) break that hasn’t been seen there in quite a while. A couple of weeks in April this became the only place in the region to see a sprint car race. On April 27th there was a light sprinkle during portions of the evening but all races were run without interruption. This week there was a threat of a shower but overall the forecast was better than the one a week prior. But as feature time approached the threat of a shower was very real and forthcoming. Kevin Thomas Jr., the hottest driver in the early season started on the pole and took the lead right away. As the clouds gave us a prelude of what was to come, our feature had the short track equivalent to “the big one.” Several cars were involved including heavy hitter Hunter Schuerenburg. About 5-10 minutes later the skies ratcheted up the moisture ten-fold and sent everyone scrambling for cover.

After five minutes of this some of us left including myself. I headed for home but turned around and headed West . I went to the Aurora Dairy Queen to settle my lifelong addiction to ice cream. Then I headed home again but as I headed back I noticed an absence of haulers on the road. As I drove past the track I noticed the bulk of the cars still in the lot were not moving. I turned around once again and headed West, this time I headed to the track. As I suspected Dave Rudisell, the track promoter, stubbornly refused to throw in his somewhat soggy towel. In fact, he was on the track in the familiar New Holland Tractor pulling the sheep’s hoof around the track. Other track vehicles were circling the track as well. Eventually they were joined by a handful of pure stocks and almost two hours after the rains came sprint cars were on the track to finish working the track in. Danny Burton and I thought Thomas would be tough to beat especially with the track changing to heavy and fast, more to Thomas’s liking. Both of us thought the only ones who had any shot at a win at all was second generation driver C. J. Leary and current track champion Logan Hupp. Sometimes heavy and fast means one-groove and KT Jr would by the beneficiary, but Leary, Hupp and Brett Burdette were able to advance a few position. Thomas opened more than a straightaway advantage until the 17th lap then Garrett Abrams stopped on the track with engine troubles. When the green flew again KT Jr started to open up a lead but when Leary passed Josh Clemons for second he would reel Thomas in four laps later. After a couple of failed tries to take the lead Leary tried one last time on the final lap and did a slide job in the third turn that worked. Thomas tried to battle back to the checkers but fell a half car length short. Kevin Thomas Jr. led every lap of the race but the most important one.

Sometimes Mother Nature wins and sometimes the race fans wins. Sometimes Mother Nature works her fury with ease and sometimes she finds a stubborn promoter or track owner that won’t give up. With several of the latter I find the racing worth the wait. ]]> grogg http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?189-Rain-and-Racing Kurt Busch To Likely Attempt The 2013 Indy 500 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?188-Kurt-Busch-To-Likely-Attempt-The-2013-Indy-500 Thu, 09 May 2013 05:34:41 GMT

Originally Posted by Supernova

You know(don't want this to go into the NASCAR forum), I remember reading about Michael Andretti saying he was considering creating a NASCAR team. I think that story was about a year or so ago? Could be a lucrative postion for Michael. Who knows...

MA seems willing to risk his chances to win for the betterment of the league. I mean, a crashed car from Busch could set back a team that has Marco in the catbird seat. I am nervous about that as a fan of Marco and wanting Andretti justice from IMS (track at least owes that family one win). However, I admire that MA puts the league above his team often. Not all owners do that, looking at Ganassi and past behaviour from Penske.. ]]> J1mmyJam3s http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?188-Kurt-Busch-To-Likely-Attempt-The-2013-Indy-500 25.00 to park in North 40 now. http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?187-25-00-to-park-in-North-40-now Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:00:31 GMT

Originally Posted by frif20

For the last (oh quite a few years actually) our group has parked in the handicap lot on 16th St across from south chute. And we've had to pay in advance to park in that lot. just fyi.

It sounds like the bulk of the North 40 will still be free parking (with paid admission to the day's event). ]]> Ren Butler http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?187-25-00-to-park-in-North-40-now 2013 Pocono Tire Test http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?185-2013-Pocono-Tire-Test Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:35:06 GMT It was really great to see the Indy Cars back a Pocono this past Weds. We were there and I have to say there was a decent amount of fan's in the stands, as well as in the paddock area. I was lucky enough to spend time with Mario, Marco, Dario, and Will Power. While walking in the garage area I ran into Rick Mears and had a very nice conversation with him. He was always a favorite and he is a true gentleman. I put together a little video from the day's events. Please excuse the glitch about 3 minutes in, I was in a rush to get the movie out and didnt QC it before posting on youtube/facebook. Other than that, I just wish we had "smell-a-vision"...it was delightful!.
Karl (the MoonRacer1 Network)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpjcbn0PVnM ]]> MoonRacer1 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?185-2013-Pocono-Tire-Test 2013 *MOCK* Indy 500 Entry List http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?184-2013-*MOCK*-Indy-500-Entry-List Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:28:13 GMT ---Quote (Originally by Grizzlor)--- On Trackside, Cavin repeated that Bell likely will be with ECR, and Rice sounds like will be with Panther. Says teams feel Pippa Mann has the money in full, Jay Howard in part. Thinks Stefan Wilson/Coyne is a possibility though lesser. Kevin mentioned the drop...

Originally Posted by Grizzlor

On Trackside, Cavin repeated that Bell likely will be with ECR, and Rice sounds like will be with Panther. Says teams feel Pippa Mann has the money in full, Jay Howard in part. Thinks Stefan Wilson/Coyne is a possibility though lesser. Kevin mentioned the drop in purse for the 500 as well (225K base).

So should we expect Pippa Mann to get a ride & most likely Jay Howard as well? ]]> EricW89 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?184-2013-*MOCK*-Indy-500-Entry-List 2012 Indianapolis 500 Start Via Fan Cams Around The Track http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?183-2012-Indianapolis-500-Start-Via-Fan-Cams-Around-The-Track Sun, 24 Mar 2013 02:34:28 GMT A look back at the start of the 2012 Indianpolis 500 as seen by fans around the track. 2012 Indianapolis 500 Start Via Fan Cams Around The Track (http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?174303-2012-Indianapolis-500-Start-Via-Fan-Cams-Around-The-Track) A look back at the start of the 2012 Indianpolis 500 as seen by fans around the track.

2012 Indianapolis 500 Start Via Fan Cams Around The Track ]]> STAND E http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?183-2012-Indianapolis-500-Start-Via-Fan-Cams-Around-The-Track 2011 Indianapolis 500 Start Via Fan Cams Around the Track http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?182-2011-Indianapolis-500-Start-Via-Fan-Cams-Around-the-Track Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:07:30 GMT Here is the start of the 2011 Indianapolis 500 as seen by fans around the track. http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?151255-Fan-Cam-Views-of-the-2011-Indianapolis-500-Start Here is the start of the 2011 Indianapolis 500 as seen by fans around the track.

http://www.trackforum.com/forums/sho...olis-500-Start ]]> STAND E http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?182-2011-Indianapolis-500-Start-Via-Fan-Cams-Around-the-Track 2011 Indianapolis 500 Finish Via Fan Cams Around The Track http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?181-2011-Indianapolis-500-Finish-Via-Fan-Cams-Around-The-Track Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:03:54 GMT Here is the finish of the 2011 Indianapolis 500 as seen by fans around the track. http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?151351-Fan-Cam-Views-of-the-2011-Indianapolis-500-Finish Here is the finish of the 2011 Indianapolis 500 as seen by fans around the track.

http://www.trackforum.com/forums/sho...lis-500-Finish ]]> STAND E http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?181-2011-Indianapolis-500-Finish-Via-Fan-Cams-Around-The-Track 2012 Complete INDYCAR Season - Race Videos http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?180-2012-Complete-INDYCAR-Season-Race-Videos Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:58:30 GMT Here are complete broadcast videos for the 2012 INDYCAR season, most provided by IndyCars. http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?167240-INDYCAR-2012-Season-Race-Videos Here are complete broadcast videos for the 2012 INDYCAR season, most provided by IndyCars.

http://www.trackforum.com/forums/sho...on-Race-Videos ]]> STAND E http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?180-2012-Complete-INDYCAR-Season-Race-Videos Indianapolis 500 Race Starts Throughout History Via Fan Cams http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?179-Indianapolis-500-Race-Starts-Throughout-History-Via-Fan-Cams Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:52:24 GMT Here are Indy 500 race starts as recorded by fans throughout the years. This starts with the 1934 race. http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?150830-Indianapolis-500-Starts-Via-Fan-Cams Here are Indy 500 race starts as recorded by fans throughout the years. This starts with the 1934 race.

http://www.trackforum.com/forums/sho...s-Via-Fan-Cams ]]> STAND E http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?179-Indianapolis-500-Race-Starts-Throughout-History-Via-Fan-Cams 2012 Indianapolis 500 Finish Via Fan Cams Around The Track http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?178-2012-Indianapolis-500-Finish-Via-Fan-Cams-Around-The-Track Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:36:55 GMT 2012 Indianapolis 500 Finish Via Fan Cams Around The Track (http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?171645-2012-Indianapolis-500-Finish-Via-Fan-Cams-Around-The-Track) Started by STAND E (http://www.trackforum.com/forums/member.php?1502-STAND-E), 12-21-2012 06:54 PM 2012 Indianapolis 500 Finish Via Fan Cams Around The Track
Started by STAND E, 12-21-2012 06:54 PM ]]> STAND E http://www.trackforum.com/forums/entry.php?178-2012-Indianapolis-500-Finish-Via-Fan-Cams-Around-The-Track