Indy was sold out (or damn close) on a 90+ degree day. I think it says more about people not watching live sports on TV anymore than anything specific about the 500 or Indycar.
HERE is the reason. Because she was a "marketable woman" and not a great driver, she had advantages of sponsorships and better equipment than most others in their Indy 500 attempts. Even this last race she was given "a fast car" and fell backwards the entire event until finally spinning out. I'll give her credit. But let's not forget that the eyeballs that went to see her were not for her performance on the track but because she was "different" than all the men.
The 500 isn't marketed the same as it used to be. If it were not on Memorial day, would it really be today "special" anymore to watch on a Sunday morning for 3 hours?
I finally made it there in 2013, and also went to the Legends day the day before (and got Parnelli's autograph!). To me it was definitely special, and it seemed to be to most of the people who I encountered there. Consider the fellow sitting next to me in the turn 1 penthouse: I believe he said that it was his 52nd straight 500!
From way back when Lyn St. James and Bobby Rahal took her under their wings she became a manufactured product - a very marketable product. She played the sex / beauty card for all it was worth - and got away with it thanks to an army of stylists and some really good photoshop skills - and in the process may have hurt the chances for other women. When the going got rough her poor attitude came shining through but somehow she persevered - getting deals that kept other more skilled drivers out of seats - but getting eyeballs on screens and butts in seats from a public who just didn't know they were being led by the nose.
I keep going back to Danica's brief forays in sports car racing. Notably, when Rahal got her a two or three race deal with the Care Racing/Prodrive Ferrari 550 GT Maranello team in ALMS. Her performance was underwhelming given she was teamed with some top drivers of the time and it was considered a washout. Then, when she was still with Andretti Autosport, they tried her out in their P2 car in a test at Sebring alongside Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti and her times were way off their pace. They blamed this on her not fitting the car correctly, all this, but the fact was she simply couldn't adapt to the Acura P2 car. BHW
For all my distaste over the current state of IndyCar racing, I did visit the Speedway a few years back, and I was in awe. I was blown away by the ambiance and history...it is indeed hallowed ground from my POV.
I have zero issue with her being "manufactured". I've raced and I wasn't very good at it, so I acknowledge she has skills - probably better than most of us to be honest.
That is a good way to put it. Some race sites, like Monaco, Monza and Le Mans, will always be in that category regardless of the level of the racing. After having attended the Finali Mondiali event at Daytona a couple of years ago, I'm inclined to put it in the same category.
And what about those that were good at it? It's ok to let a lesser driver in a top level sport when other with superior skills won't be ? MONEY does more to wreck things than it does fix things.PSP is a product of marketing and no more. I don't think the NBA,NHL,MLB or NFL would be supported if similar circumstances were permitted. Do you?
No, but unfortunately that train left the station long before Danica was on the scene. I hate pay for play, but the list of drivers in that category is VERY long!
Right. The phrase "Cubic inches and cubic money are what wins races" is as old as the hills and still true.
Absolutely right. In (most) of our lifetimes, we may name literally dozens of drivers who ascended the ranks of every form of racing because they brought a boat load of cash to the deal. Either this, or via a convenient tie-in with a team's sponsor(s), nationality or otherwise. You can't blame Danica Patrick for taking advantage of what has been a fact of racing from its very beginnings. The fact that she's a woman with some looks simply goes along with what has been happening in racing for 100 years now. We may point to NASCAR however and their incessant need to be in the headlines by bringing in new "savior" drivers year in, year out and hyping them constantly through the media. Danica's transition to NASCAR was intersting to watch. When she started in the Grand National Series (whatever they're calling it now), the media went nuts to the point where local news stations went with live reports, following her every move through the paddock at her debut at Daytonner. When Danica finally made it to "Cup", (or whatever they're calling it now), it was more of the same. Think we may all agree that her winning pole position for the Daytonner 500 in 2013 was a farce meant to go along with the NASCAR narrative and create even more media hype. And, man, did the media fall for it. The fact that NASCAR is willing to sacrifice what little shred is left of the sport in favor of hype should be indicative of their business model. The sad thing is, the NASCAR teams don't put their balls on, stand up and tell NASCAR enough is enough. BHW
Rather than get sucked into a critique of driver worthiness or lack thereof (I think i is a dead end, talent will out, as in the words of Willie P post-race: "show some respect..."), the big problem with racing in the US these days is that the TV coverage SUCKS. IndyCar has a good product, with a host of excellent skilled and brave drivers and (like the one design class or not) a challenging and powerful car (someone noted that the current Dallara IndyCar is lighter than the F1 minimum, which seems like the right direction to me). It is a good, competitive series generating exciting racing, but until the TV package can be responsive to only going side by side during commercials, we're going to suffer from the idiotic coverage we continue to see, which is not going to compel new viewers. My girlfriend was interested in seeing Indy, as she is a history buff and the sport has lots of links to American history, but after the first 20 minutes, 10 of which were side by side, she went outside to read a book. Side by side does not work much better than total breaks, aside from letting you know to hit "pause" and do something else for a few minutes. Nor do endless "race recaps" while actual racing is going on. We need coverage that respects the work the teams and drivers do to play strategy across time. Hell, there was a story in the in and out laps of the leaders in this 500 that could have been monitored and reported, but instead we got a sort of "oooh, look at em go!" mentality. I don't often watch NASCAR but I think it is even worse there: stage races, "competition cautions", honestly glad to see it's not working, restores some of my faith in humanity... The sponsors and broadcasters have to learn to respect their product and then I think that we might see better ratings and growing audiences. Given the skill and dedication of the drivers and crews in this series, I think we have a failure of communication about what makes it compelling that has led to this situation. Maybe NBC will take it to another level.
Interesting tidbit floating around on the whole Alonso/McLaren Indycar effort on another forum I read. There was supposedly a rumor last weekend at Indy that McLaren wants a two car team and Gil de Ferran (assuming he will be the Indycar team boss) wants Helio to roll along Alonso. We all know Helio wants back in Indycar and he would be very worthy asset to an "upstart" team, plus he's friends with Gil. The hardest part would be he would have to tell Roger he's moving on. Besides being a huge part of Helio's career and Helio repaying with 3 Indy 500 wins, I believe Roger set him up in the car dealership game so he's set for the rest of his life.
New Holland Auto Group, you won't see Helio's name on their site, but he's got a big chunk of it. It's a partnership between Roger and Helio. If you go on Helio's twitter/instagram you'll see Helio bring up New Holland Auto Group all the time.
Hence the reason why the sport is in decline. When talent is discarded in favor of financial considerations, you simply have rich kids playing with their toys. Under today's environment, Foyt Gurney, Andretti, Rutherford, Unser and such would never even get the chance. Roger has only so many seats. And if it wasn't for Sarah Fisher....Newgarden who?
What's Montoya's future in IndyCar for 2019? Does he really wants to leave Penske because it looks like his opportunity to run the 500 is over with Roger, but I'm sure he'd get picked up by another team such as Ganassi?
Montoya? I figured he was forced to retire at the end of 2017...I don't see him getting a ride anytime soon.
More rumors on McLaren/Alonso/Indycar situation. A two car team may partner Alonso with teammate Nicolas Latifi (currently in F2), he's the son of the guy that just invested $250+ million into McLaren Group
Latest action in Detroit/McLaren Indy situation. Surprised to see Eric Boullier here too, but Montreal is next week so not too far a stretch. I had mentioned that Helio rumor earlier in this thread, and it's hard to tell, but that could be him with his back to us in this photo as he's running there this weekend with the Acura. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Marco Andretti gets the pole in Detroit, moves backwards in a hard-to-pass street race to finish 4th in the race, and hasn't won a race in 7 years. Sorry --- in any other motorsport someone else would be in that seat. In Indycar, its more the norm.
