Please, keep your logic.

Just my HMO, but when are you ever close enough to an F1 car, to see in the car anyway, but in mdiget and sprint car racing, you are close enough, almost all the way around a race track to see their shoes, almost, I think this is what started this thread, sure, F1, IRL, Nicecar all have in car cameras, if they didn't, one might think they are remote controlled by the spotters, and sometimes I wonder about that! Bob

Is that why Indycar has gone from a month long and two weekends of qualifying to two weeks and no butts in stands except actual race day?

A couple of more to add. The World of Outlaws were at Chico, CA with 63 cars and Fremont, OH had 34 on September 12, 2009

It is obvious there are a lot more open wheel divisions available today than there were 30 or even 10 years ago. When I said the sport of short track open wheel racing was in decline, I was referring to the status of the sport and the ability for an owner, driver and/or promoter to make a living or profit at the sport of short track racing. Look at the coverage (or lack of) in local newspapers. In the 70's and 80's, a USAC show at Terre Haute got its own section in the local paper and at least a half page story in the Indy Star. Find the results in the Indy Star this year! Look at the butts in the stands, or more appropriately look at all the empty boards. Indiana is exceptionally fortunate in that there are a lot of tracks that run sprints, but now, they also run 2, 3, or even at times 4 other classes to get a crowd.

Indiana is a great place for racers of all ages, and is THE mecca for non-wing sprint car racing. IF the car owners, promoters, and sanctioning bodies would work together, they COULD make a difference in the sport of non-wing sprint car racing. I am NOT advocating a return to the "GOOD OLD DAYS". I AM advocating controlling costs with sensible, enforceable rules and having well run programs with good racing on well prepared racetracks so the owners, promoters and FANS all win. Then, these will be the "GOOD OLD DAYS" everyone wants.

This post is a good example of why fewer people are attending short track open-wheel racing lately... It's not the panels!

I kind of like the panels, but I also like seeing the drivers also.
I really like in car cameras so you can see the drivers work thier hands.
I would love to see some in car cameras looking at their feet.

I would also like to see some high tech videos showin infrared on the headers and seeing how the fuel burns in each header pipe.

The sprint racing seems good and you usally knows whose in those cars.

Interesting post.

Larry "O":2:

your right f-1 is really big in indy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nostalgia aside, taking body panels off of the modern sprints, midgets, Indy cars, etc will not put more butts in the stands. USAC, Indy and now NASCAR have lost touch with the common working stiff. There was a time when USAC had the tiger by the tale, but when the larger than life personas moved on, that you all seem fond of remembering, the connection to the next generation of fans was broken.

The same is true at Indy. There was a time when you could see your Saturday night hero have a genuine shot at Indy, but somewhere in the process, the sports car racers and international drivers crept in. For a while it was okay, because you still had your favorites that were holdovers, but now they are gone and Indy lost another generation. I think that NASCAR is teetering on this fence now. In the quest to appeal to everyone, they left behind their real fan base.

Racing is a sport with many components. It has to be part theater with some drama, you need characters that people love and hate that they can rally around and you need a product on the track that brings excitement. People also need to be able to relate to the drivers on the track somehow. The action on the track has to match this as well, you need cars slicing and dicing for positions on the track and someone that can tell that story with enthusiasm.

People may think that Madhouse on the History Channel is a joke, but there is a clear recipe for a successful race program in that show if you watch it.

Madhouse was quite an eye opener for me also. The narrow, flat pavement track seems to provide nose to tail racing with little passing and uninspiring lap times. Most any midwest 1/4 mile bull ring will provide side by side, sideways passing action with non wing sprints lapping about 1.5 seconds quicker than the pavement mods. Bowman Gray packs in 10,000 to 15,000+ screaming fans. The dirt tracks in my area do roughly 1/10 that.

There is a lot more going on there than I am smart enough to figure out. Those who have a handle on this, please do not waste your time trying to educate me. Go promote a dirt track or start a sprint/midget series.