A few weeks ago when Indy Racing Series officials announced their scheduling plans over the next few years, Bruton Smith of SMI offered a proposal that included Indy Car races at five of his company’s ovals, including Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The ‘new blood’ former cart/champcar agenda seekers currently in charge at 16th & G-town basically dismissed the oval idea, particularly in Las Vegas, citing worries about negative publicity over struggling to fill a third of the NASCAR-sized grandstands and potentially suffering negative criticism afterward. As we all know, there are depraved, childish idiots out there who live for posting pictures of sparsely populated grandstands after any race that is sparsely attended. The IRL brass wants to instead pursue one of those God-awful temporary gypsy street parade carnivals instead.
Given that edict, why would Indy Racing choose to return to Sonoma for three more years after dropping an artistic failure turd like yesterday?
I am as happy as the next guy that Helio overcame a charred trailer, won his first race in the last 30, made the points chase a little less of a snoozer and got to hug a hefty, tattooed gal after climbing over a rail. That does not change the fact the television audience again had to wait on female golfers for twenty minutes, did not see any on track passing, and watched a single file parade in front of a very few people on a track that is cool for basically only the drivers. I enjoyed the palpable tension between Dan Wheldon and Chip Ganassi, both of whom looked like they were part of a staged hostage video confession.
I do not remain happy when the people in charge talk to me out of both sides of their mouths. I spend thousands of dollars a year on this difficult to justify hobby and I do not need to have it made even more difficult to enjoy. Why do these people not hesitate to drop poorly attended ovals but extend contracts for poorly attended non-ovals? I get the B-to-B aspects, geographic attractiveness and all that. If that is supposed to work, why is it so difficult to populate small stands?
How long will it be before the DP-01s are taken off the shelves and positioned as the Indy Racing ‘car of tomorrow?’
Next ‘race:’ The temporary Belle Isle bendover for manufacturers not even involved.
Inhabitants of Belle Isle Prepare for the Big Event
