Tuesday, May 02, 2006
The Indy 500 I Knew And Loved Is Dead.
The Indianapolis 500 is NO LONGER the premier motorsports spectacular it once was. It breaks my heart to write that, because I've been following the race since the early sixties. I've seen the traditional front engined roadster replaced by the rear engined cars. I saw the arrival, and just as quickly the disappearance, of the turbine cars. I've seen the arrival, and retirement, of racing greats such as Rick Mears, Gordon Johncock, the Gurneys, and, of course, the legend A. J. Foyt.
But the race simply hasn't been the same since the CART people and Tony George got into their spat, and took their balls and bats home to play in their own games. CART had most of the big name drivers, and George, with his IRL organization had the venue and a bunch of no-name drivers, and the race simply hasn't been the same since. It's no longer a race for the best and the fastest. The cars are tightly controlled spec cars, and many of the drivers are there not because they're the best, but because they were able to put together a sponsorship package to "buy" themselves a ride. The end result is an inferior brand of racing compared to races from years past before the IRL/CART split. CART is dead now, replaced by an owners group running under the name of "Champ Car." They're not having much more luck than CART did in battling Tony George. The overall effect has been a huge degradation of the quality of the sport, including a diminishing fan base, and a reduction in advertising revenues for the TV broadcast.
The funny thing is, CART was formed when the owners of the teams rebelled against the all-powerful USAC in 1979, forming their own series, and running in competition with USAC, which folded their National Championship tent in 1980, leaving CART in total control of United States open wheel racing.
I will watch the race again this year. I've never missed it since buying a video recording device. But, loath to waste a nice holiday weekend day inside watching TV, I rarely watch it in real time any more, preferring to zip the commercials.
All because of egos.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
