A fall Indy 400?

[SarahFan]

how much would an additional event at INDY cost the league and teams?


I would assume that IMS would be in the black...

league and teams have already spread administrative costs over 17 events.....adding an 18th can't much more than travel and raceweekend expensives (tires, fuel, parts etc)

so how much?

[Mark in Oshawa]

I think it is a gamble fraught with peril. On the surface, it sounds great. Put over 150000 in there if they run the road course or maybe get 200000 plus for a 400 in the fall...BUT..what if it doesn't get the attendance? Then what?

This is a decision that will make or break the IRL in a serious way. Dilute the meaning and the impact of the 500 at your peril. It is your last jewel. The last bullet in the chamber. Put up another race on the same track later in the year...and you may or may not make the 500 less than what it is.

That said, NASCAR gets away with two dates at lot of its big tracks, so it CAN be done...but I just worry about diluting the jewel of the whole thing.

The 500 is the oldest and most special race maybe on earth. To run something similar just a bit shorter on the same track doesn't do it for me.......

[SarahFan]

I think it is a gamble fraught with peril. On the surface, it sounds great. Put over 150000 in there if they run the road course or maybe get 200000 plus for a 400 in the fall...BUT..what if it doesn't get the attendance? Then what?

This is a decision that will make or break the IRL in a serious way. Dilute the meaning and the impact of the 500 at your peril. It is your last jewel. The last bullet in the chamber. Put up another race on the same track later in the year...and you may or may not make the 500 less than what it is.

That said, NASCAR gets away with two dates at lot of its big tracks, so it CAN be done...but I just worry about diluting the jewel of the whole thing.

The 500 is the oldest and most special race maybe on earth. To run something similar just a bit shorter on the same track doesn't do it for me.......

it was diluted the day tony let the cabs in....

[ClarkFan]

I think it is a gamble fraught with peril. On the surface, it sounds great. Put over 150000 in there if they run the road course or maybe get 200000 plus for a 400 in the fall...BUT..what if it doesn't get the attendance? Then what?

This is a decision that will make or break the IRL in a serious way. Dilute the meaning and the impact of the 500 at your peril. It is your last jewel. The last bullet in the chamber. Put up another race on the same track later in the year...and you may or may not make the 500 less than what it is.

That said, NASCAR gets away with two dates at lot of its big tracks, so it CAN be done...but I just worry about diluting the jewel of the whole thing.

The 500 is the oldest and most special race maybe on earth. To run something similar just a bi't shorter on the same track doesn't do it for me.......

OK, run the season finale on the roval course. It can't possibly get any less attention than the IRL does now - 0 really is a lower bound for both attendance and ratings.

And if the race doen't perk up attendance and ratings, the IRL has really, truly failed. But where the IRL is today already represents failure. On its current trajectory, the series won't survive 2010, if it makes it through the full 2010 season.

ClarkFan

[Jag_Warrior]

it was diluted the day tony let the cabs in....

Yeah, that^. And especially considering that Indy ran F1, now runs motorcycles and pretty soon (I'm guessing) will run Grand Am cars, I really don't see the risk to the "good name" of the track by adding another race for the IRL. In fact, if the Grand Am race takes place, I'd be surprise to see the IRL not there that weekend for a road course race as well. It's just a question of whether they'll make it an EVENT or just another race.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Maybe so. As for letting the taxicabs into Indy being a bad idea, the IRL needed that revenue that that race generated. Ditto with the f1 experiment. Tony George let the barbarians in to get the money to finance his money losing IRL which at the time was being run with 2nd and 3rd rate CART equipment with drivers equally distinguished. It wasn't til 2000 that the tide turned....

[SarahFan]

Maybe so. As for letting the taxicabs into Indy being a bad idea, the IRL needed that revenue that that race generated. Ditto with the f1 experiment. Tony George let the barbarians in to get the money to finance his money losing IRL which at the time was being run with 2nd and 3rd rate CART equipment with drivers equally distinguished. It wasn't til 2000 that the tide turned....

Link

[champcarray]

I really like the proposed "speed week" concept. I think it would be great to have the Indy Cars AND Indy Lights race the road course in advance of the Indy 500. Wether that's the day before, a week before, or a month before is up to the powers that be.

[ClarkFan]

I really like the proposed "speed week" concept. I think it would be great to have the Indy Cars AND Indy Lights race the road course in advance of the Indy 500. Wether that's the day before, a week before, or a month before is up to the powers that be.

I think it makes more sense to use the IMS road track as a season ender. Right now, the season ends with an absolute whimper. The final race, the champion crowned, and no is watching in the stands or on TV. Putting the final race at IMS would give a better chance to draw a reasonable live crowd and move the ratings dial a little, so "Who won the IndyCar championship in 20xx?" isn't a question that only a select few can answer.

ClarkFan

[EagleEye]

I think it makes more sense to use the IMS road track as a season ender. Right now, the season ends with an absolute whimper. The final race, the champion crowned, and no is watching in the stands or on TV. Putting the final race at IMS would give a better chance to draw a reasonable live crowd and move the ratings dial a little, so "Who won the IndyCar championship in 20xx?" isn't a question that only a select few can answer.

ClarkFan

Adding another date (Fall) would depend on the cost to operate the speedway for the weekend versus the expected attendance.

There are two thoughts on this. Some say another event would not draw more than 50K-100k, based on the fact there are so many races within driving distance in the Mid West (Kentucky, Chicagoland, Mid-O). Others think it might draw more.

Why I like the "speedweek concept" is that you have a large crowd in town for the 500 weekend already. Other than the public driver's meeting (which is not the actual drivers meeting) there is nothing going on at the track.

Have an event Saturday, at a price where you can get 75% of those who will be there Sunday, and you have the second largest IRL race of the year!

Even doing something at the start of the month might attract more people to practice and quals. The two most well attended events during the month of May have been race day and carb day.

A fall race could work if they were able to get a large crowd, which seems to be a difficult task once Football starts. An early spring race might have weather issues.