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Also born in 51. By the late 50s my dad showed me how to listen to the 500 and score it myself from the radio broadcast. My dad and uncle became short track modified owners in the early 60s and I read the NSSN religously for all kinds of racing where ever they raced. My first love is open wheel dirt short track racing, followed closely by short track pavement racing, but I enjoy superspeedway racing both stock cars and Indy cars. I even enjoy road racing, drag racing and tractor pulls.
But by the early 90s, my interest in Indycars was almost gone. For mostly the same reasons others have suggested here and elsewhere. The IRL revitalized my interest in Indycars. And as much as I love the short tracks, some of the IRL races at TMS in the late 90s and early 00s were the BEST races of any kind I had ever seen anywhere. But around 2005 something changed or perhaps changes that were in process early came to be and I quit going to TMS for the IRL and quit watching them on TV. 18-20 cars on a superspeedway was either a joke or an insult. Last year I decided to go back to an IRL race at TMS mostly due to a large number of my internet friends coming in from out of state. I got tickets for me and my brother who is not as rabid a fan, but a lifelong fan just the same. We both agreed afterwards or actually during the race, that we would never attend another IRL race without some drastic changes. As suggested though, I can take it as it is or leave it. My choice is to leave it. I can see more great short track races than my budget allows and I can still take in the trucks, ARCA and Nationwide out at TMS when they don't conflict with a short track race. That's good enough for me, although I miss those great IRL races of a few years back.
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