Seems like the Daytona 500 is being blown way out of proportion. Yes, it's the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500. The Indy 500 has had a much bigger impact on motorsport and America over the years IMVHO. Note that the Indy 500 is almost 100 years old (1911). the Indy 500 has become a much more internationally known race. Foreingers participated and won in Indy in the early years and the last 20 years (the first Emerson Fittipaldi). Can't think of a foreigner who has won the Daytona 500 (enlighten me). Also, automotive technology has been imporved due to Indy. For instance, the rear view mirror was invented and first used at an Indy 500 race. Mario Andretti was on TV this morning (he is being honored as a past winner of race #9) and said that the Daytona 500 ranks ritht up there with Indy 500 and the Kentucky Derby as a top American sporting event. I will admit that NASCAR has become popular in the last several years (40% of its fans are women!) but it just isn't in the same league as the Indy 500 IMVHO.
The market has already spoken on that...NASCAR is Big Business funded by a fanatical fan base. The amount of money is mind boggling. A recent article in our local rag said that the Atlanta 500 NASCAR race alone brought more money into the Atlanta area economy than all the Braves, Falcons and Hawks games per year COMBINED! I'm sure the same applies to most if not all other race venues. A lot of people love it, spend lots of money on it and even live a "life style" around it . It's fun to watch, the cars look like ones they can commute to work in...kinda...at least more so than F1...the drivers are much more accessible and more like them which has all resulted in it becoming our National sport surpassing baseball in dollars spent.
NASCAR has been huge for over a decade now, it's here to stay. Also you left out the stats for viewer ship. <<< That will tell the tale.
True. The NASCAR organization doesn't have to pay teams to show up for it's big race, unlike the IRL. The Indy 500 used to be the big dog. The open wheel split finished that era, and now it's a shadow of what it used to be. If the open wheel series reunite the race may rise in stature again, but it's lost a LOT of momentum and relevance.
NASCAR is the biggest sport in America that involves cars. Anyone who doesn't acknowledge that is fooling himself. Nothing else comes close. The closest relation that I can see is professional wrestling. Same fan base. Same agenda. Big crashes and body slams sell tickets. Actual racing is not popular. Never has been. Get over it.
It used to be that the Daytona 500 and NASCAR were relatively unknown compared to the Indy 500. Tony George had the lead and lost it to NASCAR. The France family apparently are better marketers and businessmen than the Georges. Deal with it.
Waltrip: there will be more Indy 500 winners in the Daytona 500 than in the Indy 500 this year. Amazing. Tony George are you listening?
Mario's right. As a "sporting Event" it is bigger. Of course bigger doesn't mean better. Far too much hype IMHO.
I have had the same seats for both the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500 for the last 30 years (got them when I was 13 ;} ). There is no comparison between the two. The Indy 500 is one of life's spectacles, like the Derby, Mardi Gras, Times Square at New Year's, you have to be there to appreciate the feeling. Even today, the event is special. It is and always will be the number one auto race in the world. LeMans being second, the Daytona 500 third. I have not gone the last few years opting to go the F1 race instead. I would agree with Mario, Daytona is right up there, but it is still not the spectacle of Indianapolis. And LeMans has a special feeling, history, that Daytona can not surpass. Daytona is much different. The racing is usually much more exciting than at Indy. I would like to have gone this year, but I am still not well enough to climb the grandstands. When I have taken first timers to the race, especially the ladies, they leave wanting to see more. It is that exciting. I find the COT to be absolutely ugly, even uglier than the NASCAR road racing series, but when the green flag drops and you watch the surealism of a 43 car mechanical snake go around the 2.5 miles for the first 10 laps, you find yourself speechless.
Your sentiments would be spot on if this were 1993. Indy's stature, sadly enough, has taken a significant hit due to the rift in American open wheel racing. Whether it's because you're not a NASCAR fan, or if you're one of the shrinking legions still clinging to the false belief that American open wheel racing still has a pulse, the plain reality is that NASCAR has far surpassed Indy racing, and the Daytona 500 has placed the Indy 500 in its Harroun-inspired rear view mirror. Had to add a little sarcastic irony.
At one time Sports Illustrated reported, and this is before NASCAR became so popular, that the #1 spectator PAID ATTENDANCE sport was parmutual horse racing. #2 two was all of the different auto racing venues combined. World wide #1 was soccer, #2 was auto racing. Wrestling is way down in like 20th.
My 2-Cents, My impressions are: NASCAR is for everyday folk; Indy, American elitist; F1, beyond elitist (if there is such a thing). Allow me to address them in reverse order. F1- I have been to a European F1 race and it was fun, had a great time, but never again. E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E! Everyone there seemed to be playing to some imaginary paprazzi somewhere. It was freaking goofy! Too few real people for my tastes. F1 races are often over in the first turn of the first lap. 1st one in that turn often charges across the finish line. Kind of boring IMVHO. Indy - Never been to an Indy Car event but in the marketing dept they royally blew it when they split years ago. The drivers are not normally as accessable as NASCAR and they just don't come across as real people on TV half the time. The cars (land-bound pieces of aircraft) are just not relatible to anything. Although for speed, nothing (almost) touches them and that is part of the alure. I will always watch the Indy 500 on TV and do hope to attend in person some day, though. It is a "must-do" in my book. NASCAR/Daytona - Just comes across as a REAL family event. Nothing more and nothing less. "Come on out ya'll, and have some good fun and catch a race while your at it." Keep the tickets reasonable (comparatively speaking) and the crowds will come. The sport came from humble, every day roots. Heck, they are (were) real cars (sort of) at one time. Every day people can relate to that stuff. I think NASCAR is going to continue to grow and grow whereas Indy car and F1 (in America) will fade further and further into obscurity over time. And then you have the Daytona track itself. It is (?) the world's fastest race circuit where the start and finish lines were one in the same. Americans love flat out speed and Daytona delivers-- in spades. Haven't been to Daytona but have been to a NASCAR event. Just pure fun, with no hang-ups. Many Europeans don't like the roundie-rounder racing style of Indy or NASCAR. They say it is not auto racing. I just ask them when was the last time they saw, after 499.5 miles, 3 or 4 cars coming out of the final turn, doorhandle to doorhandle at 180 mph and accelerating toward the finish line. That almost never happens in F1 and happens frequently in American racing. Now that my friends, that, IS RACING! Usually shuts em up, but good. But if I could go to just one more race in my life, it would be an NHRA Top-Fuel event, no question. For me, nothing on this earth even comes close to comparing. If you haven't heard the sound and felt the ground tremble when 7000+ horses are unleashed with one tromp on ONE gas pedal ........
I like all forms of auto racing to some degree, my favorite being F1. Lately I've become really interested in DTM and Aussie V8s. But I also really like ALMS and think prototype-style cars are the bomb, all the way down to the Sports Racers in SCCA. As for NASCAR, I really only watch the super speedway races. But I don't understand why so many so-called racing fans spend so much energy trying to slam NASCAR. All forms of racing have their downsides, but most of the comments intended to insult NASCAR are cliche, out of date and often times false. The equipment is much more technical than it gets credit for and the racing fields are deeper in talent than any other series. We are seeing more and more how difficult the transition to NASCAR can be. So many drivers from the "superior" series are finding the learning curve to be steep, reinforcing that high-speed oval racing is intensely difficult. I'm not a huge fan of NASCAR, but I respect the sport and its drivers. I've been to Daytona a few times, and the Indy 500 several times. If anyone even pretends that one of those crowds is any more/less civilized than the other, they need to sit farther away from the exhaust fumes.
That was really good Jack. Well said. There are illiterate fans at F1 races so the fried chicken comment about NASCAR only comes from someone that has no idea what they are discussing. The only difference is they speak a different language so somehow we think F1 fans are a better class of race fan. That is BS. Those moron British soccer fans from Manchester and Liverpool that start fights go to F1 races also. Give me a southern gentleman any day.
I have a friend that lives in a village an ohour south of London, that used to own the Darrell Waltrip Western Auto Chevy. I would not completely agree with you as to your comment about Europeans and NASCAR. Those that have been exposed to it, love it. And yet, you want to go to an NHRA event? Now that is contidictory. Is that even racing ?? (I am joking, it only lasts as long as most men having sex, but it is fun to watch)
Growing up in Orlando, I always watched the Daytona 500 and then later the Pepsi 400 (or whatever it's called). This was along with the Sebring 12 hours and Rolex 24. I was honestly never that much into the Indy 500 and I'm not sure why.
They are trying to make NASCAR Daytona into the Super Bowl. I watched part of the race, and I like the 24 hours race much more
Daytona has definitely piled on the hoopla. At least their pre-race show had relevance. The Super Bowl pre-game has turned into a 6-hour Ryan Seacrest "Meet the stars--watch their TV shows" shill.
