Indy 500

[RC Vikings]

Has any other event lost so much luster. This was huge as a kid but who really cares about it anymore.

[Babs]

Has any other event lost so much luster.

The Miss America pageant. It used to be a huge draw - now they can't even bribe the networks to air it. At least Indy still makes the network schedule (although at this point that may be strictly due to the Danica draw).

[scottie]

I think you're right. I've never watched more than maybe 10 minutes of it in the past, but today watched the first 100 laps before we went out to dinner and I enjoyed it. There was a driver from Nampa, ID (Dave Hamilton); he crashed about a third the way thru.

[pellegrino]

nascar has become the king of racing in America.

[Babs]

I don't imagine anyone else watched this today, but it was positively epic.

Every memorial day when I was a kid, we'd go to grandpa's farm and all the guys would watch the race together. The guys would all make picks and the rest of us were treated to a chorus of groans every time one of the favorites hit the wall.

My grandpa would have loved this one. I sure hope he could see it.

[smokymountainrain]

I don't imagine anyone else watched this today, but it was positively epic.

Every memorial day when I was a kid, we'd go to grandpa's farm and all the guys would watch the race together. The guys would all make picks and the rest of us were treated to a chorus of groans every time one of the favorites hit the wall.

My grandpa would have loved this one. I sure hope he could see it.

I don't think I'd ever watched it before today. Today I must have seen 190 of the 200 laps. I don't like Indy cars and I don't like stock car racing. It bores me to tears. Today I thoroughly enjoyed that Indy 500 - couldn't take my eyes off it. Dixon led most of the way, I felt throughout most of the race that Franchitti would win it and while it was a shame the way it ended, it just added to the excitement of a very good race.

I have no idea if this one was better than others because I never stick around to watch them, but I can sincerely say that was fun to watch. I was in the racing mood and started to watch the CocaCola 600...lasted about 3 laps before I got bored. I guess I'm still not a race fan.

[happyone]

Has any other event lost so much luster. This was huge as a kid but who really cares about it anymore.

Heavy weight boxing championship fights - I don't even know who the reigning champs are now.

[Uncle Ted]

nascar has become the king of racing in America.

There was an idea kicked around at one time to make the Coca-Cola 600/Indy 500 a double event with a $20M bonus payout...

Bruton Smith has put an actuary to work figuring out the probability that one driver could win the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day in 2011 in order to purchase an insurance policy that would pay a $20 million bonus.

The premium would likely be worth it, given the increased revenues in ticket sales and television viewers.

Grand idea, Bruton, but the plan needs some revisions for there to be enough drivers and teams willing to undertake the time, expense and effort involved. They need to have a legitimate chance at winning both races to fully buy into what would be the largest payday in auto racing history.

I guess Bruton couldn't get enough racing teams to buy into the idea. Tony Stewart did both races a couple of times and finished in the top 10 both times in both races.

The Coca-Cola 600 had a great finish this year...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/video/nascar/2011/05/30/cup_cha_high_final.SportsIllustrated/index.html

Bummer for Dale Jr. I didn't bother watching the Indy 500 other than about 10 minutes.

[Flattop]

I have always loved Indy car racing and the Indy 500. It started losing its luster when the Indy Racing League was created to compete with the existing Indy car series known then as CART. IRL wanted a large number of guaranteed spots in the Indy 500 for its drivers; in fact, only 8 spots would be left for drivers of the original series. Naturally CART decided to boycott the Indy 500 and Team owner Roger Penske helped create the U.S. 500 which was run in Michigan on the same day the the Indy 500 in 1996.

The IRL clearly had inferior drivers and after the first season the league had to limit the cars speed for safety reasons -- new rules required less expensive cars with "production based" engines. With different cars, no CART drivers competed at Indy for three years.

I viewed the IRL as a minor league; CART had better cars and better drivers, but IRL had Indianapolis. in 2001, Penske returned to the Indy 500 along with a few other CART owners. These owners defected permanently to the IRL in 2003. CART went bankrupt that same year and the remaining owners created the Champ Car series. In the end, IRL survived while the Champ Car series failed and in 2008 two leagues merged.

I got home from church on Sunday in time to catch the last 70 laps of the race and saw the exciting finish. Wow! You have to feel for Hildebrand for slamming into the wall on his way to the finish line. Dan Wheldon has to be the luckiest driver ever. Interestingly, Danica Patrick led several laps of the race this year; the last time she did that was in 2005, when Wheldon also won the race.

Next year will see the introduction of new cars that should be faster. Perhaps the new cars will be the quickest since 1995, before the creation of the IRL and introduction of the slower cars for safety reasons. Still, Indy car racing has a long way to go. Just when the Indy leagues split, NASCAR really started taking off. I have not been able to get into NASCAR; for some reason stock cars do not capture my imagination the same way open wheel cars do.