A short write-up about the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the issues Indycar faces trying to gain new fans.

http://www.wfopenwheel.com/2014/05/0...ing-oblivious/

After calling out short track fans in my last article I meant to write one about all the problems Indycar has and how they have done wrong by short track people, but with the baby coming this weekend I simply didn't have time. Rest assured, that will come soon.

Maybe they (IndyCar) should focus some attention on the old fans who have lost interest in the series too!

Outside the Indy 500 I really don't see much to get excited about anymore. And that's not even closed to were it used to be. Sad to think that they might not even get 33 cars for this years race.

Pretty sure this will happen but it wouldn't surprise me to see the Grand Prix of Indianapolis as the start of converting the Indy 500 to the Indy 500km road course race. If that happens the Indy 500 will be yet another Indy Car race that won't interest me.

Don't believe that will ever happen!

As of now, my plan is to leave the Philadelphia area at 2:30--3:00 pm on Friday, buy a ticket for a grandstand seat sometime Saturday, or I might just get a general admission ticket and use one of the viewing mounds in the infield. I am quite intrigued about this race. On one hand, the month of May is reserved for the greatest race in the world, on the other hand something has to be done to grow the sport of Indy Car Racing again. I have always felt for every street race on the schedule there should be a race on dirt for the other racers. There should be an overall champion based on all races, a true road course champion, you may want to put the street races in this group or keep them on their own and a dirt champion. I know it will never happen, but a lot of people never thought the old CART teams would come back either. As long as there is an Indy 500 there is hope. I truly believe the sport can be saved by bringing back the grass-roots dirt racer along with a mix of the open wheel road racer and the speed of the Speedway. I am coming out, I hope the race is a success. In any case I and two of my friends will be back out for the Silver Crown at the fairgrounds, Carb Day, Bloomington, Lincoln Park, the 500 and perhaps Kokomo before we head back home

They lost me years ago when they tossed out the turbos and brought in the stock blocks. I check in from time to time, and when I did last summer, I was shocked at what I saw. What the hell is up with those triangle body panels in front of the rear tires?? Boy do they make for ugly cars! Back to watching F1. I'll check in again in a year or two...

Bill

Q: What do they call a driver in IndyCar that races ovals only?

A: Almost retired.

They've brought back turbos. I thought it was interesting back in the day when there were actually stock block based engines competing against purpose built racing engines. Remember Roger Rager and the school bus engine?

I am actually quite happy with the new cars. Even though the asthetic is different, I think they are good looking cars. They lost a lot of short track people and the problem is they simply do not care. I think this is ridiculous, but they feel like they can take their product to the mainstream public and get more fans than short track racing can offer. Is it possible? Maybe, but talk about difficult! For years they have gone about marketing the series the wrong way, which has led to complete indifference for many fans. This race is the first true good move they have made on the promotional front in a long time, which is why it moved me to write about it. Thanks for reading guys!