Originally Posted by illiNOISE:
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All of this road racing on the schedule is a complete turn off for me. I watch the ovals only. They've absolutely ruined the sport. Until they started adding the road courses (again) you couldn't pry me away from and Indy car race....[/QUOTE]
Although I've come to embrace the mixture of circle track and road courses on the IRL slate, I can't stand these idiotic street courses. Nothing like watching drivers in cars capable of 200+ mph "racing" single-file at less than 50 mph under green flag conditions thru some of these narrow corners.
Now, I could care-less which foreigner or rich-kid/female wins one of those parades.[/QUOTE]
This is where we're just going to have to agree to disagree. If folks are going to call drivers like Dario Franchitti or Tony Kanaan (who also have homes in Tennessee and Florida, respectively) "foreigners", then don't go trying to claim Mario Andretti as an Italian-American just because he ran sprint cars.
And why do you feel the need to take a shot at female drivers? I'd be willing to bet you didn't have a problem with Sarah Fisher running at Indy, so why do you have issues with someone like Simona De Silvestro? Because she left what happens to be her home in Switzerland, where racing isn't even legal?
Like pretty much everyone on here, I'd love to see more dirt track racers get a shot at Indy. But I'd also like to see them get that shot along with racers from other disciplines and series, say Formula 1, Australian V8 Supercars, etc.[/QUOTE]
I admire your open-mindedness, illiNOISE, but the fact is, American race fans could care less about all of these obscure foreign drivers who have been given preference over American talent for all of the decent rides in the sport. The grandstands, TV ratings and, the lack of TV coverage (and a decent TV package) prove it. Until the geniuses up on 16th St. and the car owners figure this out, it's just going to be you and a hand full of other "open minded" fans watching this cr@p. They have to develop American stars in the sport from the grass roots level or it is doomed. The American public just hasn't warmed up to even the most successful of the foreign drivers. Case in point, Helio. He is more famous in this country for being Julianne Hough's winning partner on Dancing With the Stars than he is for being a 3-time Indy winner. This is a lot different than back in the 60's-80's when the best of Europe and South America came over here to compete against the established American Stars. I'm glad that you enjoy it, illiNOISE, but enjoy it while you can because if they continue to ignore the "American Factor" that puts fans in the seats and in front of TV sets, you won't get to enjoy it much longer....
