Was IRL such a bad thing to the hater's?

You should see some of the pic I have of the TOTUS

 

More butts is a positive - certainly ending the split has to have an effect. But the OP's question was the IRL a bad thing - I answered..."YES".

I'm pretty much an old timer with respect to Indy Car (or however we want to refer to it). I used to go to Trenton (if anyone here is old enough to remember that) to watch the races back in the day. I've been to races like the Meadowlands GP during the heyday - it had a vibe that rivaled F1. I don't think that's ever coming back.

Again, to be fair - the IRL isn't the sole culprit. But it was the catalyst for the collapse, and I believed then - as I do now - forming it was a bad move.