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The Indy 500 USED to be a big deal growing up. Now, barely a mention...

Has any formerly big sporting event ever dropped off the radar so quickly?

Very sad. That used to be a HUGE day growing up. When CART and Indy split, it was the end. That single event may not have done it itself, but it was the final nail. The popularity of NASCAR and the fact that most people have 3-6 sports channels 24/7 probably have more to do with it.

dbackjon wrote:The Indy 500 USED to be a big deal growing up. Now, barely a mention...

Has any formerly big sporting event ever dropped off the radar so quickly?

If the Eastern Conference and Western Conference of the split up, would anyone care about the finals of either of the leagues?

The split of IRL and CART killed the sport in the US.

Not to mention that the IRL and/or CART series are both really the minor leagues of open wheel racing in the world. F1 is the cream of the crop. F1 still draws incredible crowds and incredible sponsorship money.

danefan wrote:Not to mention that the IRL and/or CART series are both really the minor leagues of open wheel racing in the world. F1 is the cream of the crop. F1 still draws incredible crowds and incredible sponsorship money.

F1? That's a distant 84th in the US. Right behind cheerleading competitions.

It didn't used to be that way - Indy Car racing was at one time equal to F1.

The split, rise of NASCAR, etc all contributed.

89Hen wrote:

danefan wrote:Not to mention that the IRL and/or CART series are both really the minor leagues of open wheel racing in the world. F1 is the cream of the crop. F1 still draws incredible crowds and incredible sponsorship money.

F1? That's a distant 84th in the US. Right behind cheerleading competitions.

In the US that's true because of the time differences of the races in Asia and Europe. But not worldwide. IRL has the same problem the MLS has in the US. The best of the best go overseas where the real money and fame is.

danefan wrote:

dbackjon wrote:The Indy 500 USED to be a big deal growing up. Now, barely a mention...

Has any formerly big sporting event ever dropped off the radar so quickly?

If the Eastern Conference and Western Conference of the split up, would anyone care about the finals of either of the leagues?

The split of IRL and CART killed the sport in the US.

Not to mention that the IRL and/or CART series are both really the minor leagues of open wheel racing in the world. F1 is the cream of the crop. F1 still draws incredible crowds and incredible sponsorship money.

I loathe car racing...but I saw a Formula One race in Monte Carlo years back. Fucking awesome.

BTW, one of the most spectacular crashes at the end of the race.

[youtube][/youtube]

danefan wrote:IRL has the same problem the MLS has in the US....

an inferior sport. Agreed. But soccer and open wheel are inferior to begin with.

There was a time when virtually all of the drivers were Americans. Now it seems that the majority are foreign. To be sure they speak almost perfect English and all seem to be nice guys but foreign just the same. I don't like seeming xenophobic because I am not but I'd bet their nationality is a factor. Then again, who cares?

Wasn't the race Sunday???

UNHWildCats wrote:Wasn't the race Sunday???

See?? That shows how little anyone cares...

UNHWildCats wrote:Wasn't the race Sunday???

Exactly the point.

dbackjon wrote:It didn't used to be that way - Indy Car racing was at one time equal to F1.

The split, rise of NASCAR, etc all contributed.

I think you're right, though. The ugly split was a huge problem, and it happened right when NASCAR started its meteoric rise. I doubt that F1 will ever be anything special here in the US, but it certainly is tremendously popular overseas. But then again, motorcyle racing is hugely popular overseas too so it's hard to take them all that seriously.

GannonFan wrote:

dbackjon wrote:It didn't used to be that way - Indy Car racing was at one time equal to F1.

The split, rise of NASCAR, etc all contributed.

I think you're right, though. The ugly split was a huge problem, and it happened right when NASCAR started its meteoric rise. I doubt that F1 will ever be anything special here in the US, but it certainly is tremendously popular overseas. But then again, motorcyle racing is hugely popular overseas too so it's hard to take them all that seriously.

I'll take motorcycle racing over LameCar any day. Seriously, what is the appeal of watching rednecks drive souped-up sedans in circles??

Grizalltheway wrote:Seriously, what is the appeal of watching rednecks drive souped-up sedans in circles??

What is the appeal of watching multi-millionaires racing the streets of Monaco where you can pass at one or two points on the course in cars that don't look like anything you see on the road?

To each his own.

Grizalltheway wrote:

GannonFan wrote:
I think you're right, though. The ugly split was a huge problem, and it happened right when NASCAR started its meteoric rise. I doubt that F1 will ever be anything special here in the US, but it certainly is tremendously popular overseas. But then again, motorcyle racing is hugely popular overseas too so it's hard to take them all that seriously.

I'll take motorcycle racing over LameCar any day. Seriously, what is the appeal of watching rednecks drive souped-up sedans in circles??

Ah yes, there comes the tired cliche. I knew it would arrive eventually. To a NASCAR fan, that one raises about the same emotion as when a "bigtime" college football fan says something like "Montana (or insert your favorite FCS school), they're Division 2, right?"

By the way, for those of you referring to the meteoric rise of NASCAR, that rise peaked in 2001 and has been steadily declining the past nine years.

I've been going to every race at Dover since 1976 (when my dad deemed me old enough to go), save for my years in the military, and I can safely say the sport is in significant decline right now. Dover seats 140,000+ in the stands and they used to fill them. I'd guess we had 75,000 tops at the spring race this year. This has been the case at pretty much every track on the schedule, even Daytona, Bristol, Charlotte and the other biggies. Here are the turn 1 and 2 stands during the flyover. Sad:




And they've completely covered over turn three stands with advertising tarps:

It means a ton to me. Yet ANOTHER Top 5 finish for my favorite driver, who YOU ignoramuses claim sucks....

SuperHornet wrote:It means a ton to me. Yet ANOTHER Top 5 finish for my favorite driver, who YOU ignoramuses claim sucks....

Scott Dixon?

Look at my sig, Jon.

Never been a fan of Dixon, can't stand Wheldon, M. Andretti, etc.

SuperHornet wrote:Look at my sig, Jon.

Never been a fan of Dixon, can't stand Wheldon, M. Andretti, etc.

Danica finished 6th. She was penalized for illegal pass during caution

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/in ... id=5234788" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Danica drops out of Top 5 after review

Marco Andretti earned his first podium finish of the season at Sunday's Indy 500 following an extensive video review that showed three cars illegally passed the 23-year-old under caution in the race's final yards.

The unofficial results showed Andretti finished sixth behind winner Dario Franchitti. He was moved up to third more than two hours after the race when IndyCar officials ruled Alex Lloyd, Scott Dixon and Danica Patrick did not have the right to pass Andretti as the field strolled to the finish.

Lloyd moved down one spot to fourth. Dixon moved from fourth to fifth, and Patrick dropped from fifth to sixth after the league nullified the passes they made after the caution flag came out on Lap 199.

That's jacked up. I was going off of what was published in the paper. While I saw SOME of the race, I spent most of the afternoon getting literally baked at the final UOP baseball game of the season. My favorite player was playing his last game as a collegian. (I wasn't prepared for the heat and STILL sport a blinking burn. Ugh!)

Andretti seems to have sneaky ways of getting bailed out. I really don't like Wheldon, but his results are come from hard work. Andretti seems to be relying on his name. I can't stand the jerk....

Indy 500 = ZzzzzZzzzZzzzzzzzzzzz

Not that the 600 was much better. NASCAR really needs Junior to start winning some races.

Mountaineer wrote:NASCAR really needs Junior to start winning some races.

That's the elephant in the room. Only problem is, I don't think Junior is going to win many races any time soon. With the exception of JJ, HMS isn't putting out a winning product this year. The other three teams have 0 wins so far. I always hear people saying "why did Hendrick get rid of Kyle Busch", but the fact of the matter is, he only won 4 races in 114 starts in the car Junior is driving now and never really challenged for a championship. It's never been a very successful stall in the HMS stable.