I attended my first IndyCar race since Chicagoland last year this past weekend at Milwaukee. There was more passing at this race than either of the previous two aero drag-outs at Kansas and Indy, but mostly just lapping traffic and not much in the way for position.
The pass for the win, Scott Dixon over Ryan Briscoe, was not shown on ABC though Marty Reid inexplicably said it was because he thought they were on "side-by-side" coverage when they were not, but instead in local ads.
MyNameIsIRL noted there were 65 laps missed by commercials and only one stretch of more than 12 laps before darting to ads. It was another poor rating, down from last year to .6, only barely beating Long Beach which was shown on VERSUS. A ho-hum race weekend with Ganassi and Penske once again sweeping the podium while Rahal, Danica and Matos finished top six.
But the mood around the paddock was one of uncertainty. Mid-week Robin Miller reported on SPEEDTV.com that Tony George had been removed as CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, insinuating his family wanted the IRL to sink or swim as a separate entity not entirely driven by the Speedway's reserves.
A non-denial denial statement from the Speedway said TG was likely to take on more of an active role within the IRL. The team owners issued a collective statement they were supporting TG during the weekend.
It all has undertones of Champ Car's undoing, all over again. The IRL has been a financial loser each year of its existence but has basically survived off of Speedway profits. The Indy 500 has been reduced to a shadow of itself and everyone agrees it will take innovation and diversity (no, not an old wooden ship) to bring back new interest.
Miller has then asked the necessary question - does IndyCar need the Indy 500 more than the 500 needs IndyCar? The obvious answer is yes - there's been championship open-wheel racing in this country under various iterations since 1909 but no doubt a century later, IndyCar is in roughly the worst shape of any top-flight open-wheel division.
There are serious problems with the product this year. There's no diversity in the cars, a lack of passing thanks to the current aero package on 1.5-mile or larger ovals, the ratings are crap on a non-existent network (again, the VERSUS dilemma. It's better coverage but it matters not if nobody's watching), and the same teams win every week.
I think people dismissed the flaws last season while still on the post-unification high, but really IRL is no different from what it was two years ago, pre-unification. It just maybe has two or three more cars on a regular basis but the same issues.
In other words, it's the same old IRL, only surviving because it made fewer catastrophic business and personnel decisions than Champ Car did. That's not saying much.
Reports from this weekend:
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=330362 (IndyCar race)
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=330346&FS=INDYLIGHTS (Indy Lights race)
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=330289&FS=INDYCAR (Saturday notebook)
I have also decided to make this blog the focus of my time in Le Mans, France, covering this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Time permitting, I plan a daily update with photos, track news and notes, links to articles, and perhaps a daily wrap-up video. I couldn't be more excited about this opportunity to cover what promises to be an epic race.
Out for now, cheers.
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