I continue to believe that the majority of the buying/paying public prefer a "winner" with personality to a generic "american" that is neither. All else being equal, I am sure the American audience would prefer an American winner But I think we are sophisticated enough to put personality and talent above nationality....

Also, (please play as though you do not already know who these people are) pick the American from the following list:

Scott Dixon
Justin Wilson
Roger Yasukawa
Paul Tracy

Unless you are a hard core fan, you have no idea where the driver came from until and unless you hear them speak and even then you could be mightily confused (Dario Franchitti). So, I do not see how a lack of Americans is a deterrent to the casual fan.... It may upset the mid-west core fanbase and it is certainly a good thing to aspire to (to have a greater number of excellent American drivers in the Indy 500)... but I think it is very wide of the mark to focus on that as a key issue in the failure of the sport to thrive since the split....