Why do you think the Indianapolis 500 isn't the event it once was?

Question

Is it because the cars are slower? Lack of star power among the drivers? It is still a big event but it is no where near what is once was.

Answer 1

The downfall of CART and the CART split had a lot to do with it. Before the CART split and the problems in CART, the cars in CART during the turbo time were about as advanced an as F1 car and were probably closely matched in speed and handling (although the cart cars were larger and heavier). But, they were also very expensive and became too expensive for their own good and that partially led to downfall of cart. In order to keep costs down, both the current IRL cars and CART cars are far simpler now than the old ones and are light years less advanced than current F1 cars. As such, the racing is slower and the talent stays away. Plus, scheduling conflicts with nascar and F1 have made it more difficult for other drivers to practice, qualify and then seriously race. For many years the F1 schedule was always set up to allow for f1 drivers to go to indy. Plus, during the 1950's you could be awarded F1 driver's points for racing in the indy 500.

The vast amount of 500 mile races also hurts its standing. Until the 1980-1990's it was one of only a very few 500 mile races in the world. Nascar has tons of 500 milers and even the coca-cola 600.

The danger of the track had also kept non-IRL people away because many drivers have commented that Indy's layout, banking, etc make it a more difficult oval than say some of the nascar ovals. That combined with the sheer speed made it more dangerous.

Until daytona and talladega were built the indy oval was probably the fastest oval in the world.

Answer 2

Sad to say, Americans are quite parochial when it comes to sporting heroes. The history of the Indianapolis is dotted with American `name' drivers such as Foyt, Unser, Andretti, Unser, Bettenhausen, Sullivan, Mears, Johncock ... Today, there is only one `real' American name left, Andretti (ok, there is a Foyt, too), and that's really not enough to attract the peripheral racing fan, the one who only goes to a single race every year.

I might add, Italians are also parochial; for the most part they only support Ferrari.

As for the cars now being slower, that really isn't true. The pole times during the early 90's were in the low to mid 220's (although Roberto Guerrero claimed the top starting position with a lap of 232.482 mph in 1992), but Scott Dixon had a practice time of 227.167 today (May 11).

The demise and subsequent bankruptcy of CART and the formation of the IRL has also left the perception that the best drivers are not at Indianapolis and that many of the current drivers are just `field fillers' with a one-race budget. I would argue that the race has always had such drivers; names such as Dean Hall, Stan Fox, Dominic Dobson, Rocky Moran and Tero Palmrot come to mind. Of course, we shouldn't forget that the Indianapolis 500 was never a CART race. It counted in the CART driver standings, but it was sanctioned by USAC, with CART officials very much in the background.

It seems wall-to-wall TV coverage of taxis racing at places such as Talladega, Martinsville and Atlanta has gripped the imagination of American fans and, unlike the open-wheel contingent, the drivers are now more familiar to them.

Answer 3

Why isnt it the event it once was? Lets see it tops the list of the most attended sporting event in history, with over 400,000 people attending. Yearly it goes over 250,000 for attendance, which is more than the brickyard 400 draws. Yet you want me to believe it has lost its luster. Its still the greatest spectactle in racing, it will always be. I dont know what your judging attendance by, I know that it still outdraws the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, and the F1 race held there as well. There is no comparision, and thats not even getting into how many countries its broadcast in.

Answer 4

The Indy 500 was THE event of the sports year for many years.

The NBA got much bigger in the last 25 years, the NFL has gotten much bigger in the last 25 years. NASCAR has gotten HUGE in the last 25 years. The CART thing hurt also.

Indy cars are so much sexier than the NASCAR boxes. Danica Patrick added a lot of juice to Indy (no pun intended........well, maybe it was intended).

I love Indy car racing. I am a huge Danica Patrick fan. I love NASCAR, even though I like the Indy cars far better. I follow both, ..............

but, the Indy 500 remains the biggest event of the year for me. I grew up with the Indy 500 being the biggest event of the year, and I will always treat it as the same.

Answer 5

The Indy 500 is still the biggest race in the world on par with the 24 hrs of Le Mans. Most drivers would love to put this one on their resume. Nascar has marketed themselves extremely well, but the 500 is still the big one. Just ask anyone who has won it.

Answer 6

Indy was the event for years.Back in the early 1900's it started
and ran up to the war years, and then came back after the 2nd WW....Indy was KING race through the mid 80's early 90's.
Everybody wanted to race even the Europeans came over to try.
Nascar was still considered kinda second tier.Except for the Daytona 500.Indy had all the stars.FOYT/RUTHERFORD/UNSERS/
ANDRETTIS/SNEVA/JOHNCOCK/
BETTENHAUSENS/ MEARS/the list goes on.
The split between Cart and Tony George who formed the IRL
So he could have a payday every race day..was a deathblow.
Nascar easily passed in drivers/excitement/
marketing/gate take/...Tonys greed /diluted stars/weak schedule/infighting/
take your pick.I used to love going but havnt for a few years.

Answer 7

I know that this is an out of left field answer But maybe it's the 500 miles itself. The Indy 500 been run for about 100 years and when it was first run ,500 miles was this huge test of men and machinery; it no longer is. Maybe on the Centennial of the Indy 500 they should increase the distance to 1000 miles or maybe 1500 miles to get back to the spirit of the original race.
NASCAR has the same problem ; a large amount of their cars finish the 500 mile races . That may be OK for the weekly races But for Daytona they should also increase the mileage to 1000-1500 also .
I told you it was going to be an out of left field answer

Answer 8

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2002/05/26/castroneves020526.html

Go to that link and you'll see why..... eerily familiar to the Daytona 500 finish this year in NASCAR. However, there was plenty of footage to show NASCAR was correct in their ruling. Where is the footage of the even I linked to? It's very obvious that the IRL wanted a full-time loyal IRL drive to win and not a CART driver...

Answer 9

The IRL was suppose to be to allow AMERICAN DRIVERS a chance to progress to the BIG TIME. Now it's full of these foreign name drivers - many who speak NO ENGLISH! It also is competing with the ridiculous "CHAMP CAR SERIES" which also has FOREIGN DRIVERS in excess of AMERICAN. Unless they make these leagues MERGE -- return to AMERICAN DRIVERS -- they might as well shut it down. I sure do NOT want some foreign twit - butchering the ENGLISH LINGO - taking the checkered at ANY track i AMERICA! Let them stay in Formula 1 --- we don't need them! Either that or just let BOTH leagues fad away --- today they literall stink. Can't even get 33 cars in any race besides Indy! I won't pay to watch a field of 17 cars!

Answer 10

It all started when CART was formed and the best drivers stopped going to Indy. I watched it every year before that happened, and I have not watched it since.