The Good, the Bad and the Ugly-2010

[SarahFan]

Indy 500, 1995...all tickets offered by the speedway were sold out in June, 1994. Indy 500, 1997.....tickets available the day of the event....which is still the case today.
!

ive attended two 500's...

in 1993 and 2009

I paid more for my 1993 ticket (inside of turn 3) than i did for my front stretch under the canopy at pit entrance ticket in 2009..

I booked a hotel in Kokomo 3 months inadvance (my mother was a travel agent)....I found a hotel 5 minutes from the track 2 weeks before the race in 2009....

Im sure there are multiple factors involved....one of the reasons is relative popularity

[Scotty G.]

ive attended two 500's...

in 1993 and 2009

I paid more for my 1993 ticket (inside of turn 3) than i did for my front stretch under the canopy at pit entrance ticket in 2009..

I booked a hotel in Kokomo 3 months inadvance (my mother was a travel agent)....I found a hotel 5 minutes from the track 2 weeks before the race in 2009....

Im sure there are multiple factors involved....one of the reasons is relative popularity

There was only one race at IMS in 1993. And there was very little TV coverage outside the big 3 networks. And no internet. And...

Its a completely different world today, then 1993. And those imaginary 15 million fans Randy keeps talking about, aren't ever going to be back either.

[Easy Drifter]

The title of this thread refers to 2010. I do not give a pile of stinking brown stuff from the 90's.
We have gone through this same BS umpteen times. It happened. It is over.
Delete the posts that are not relevant and there is not much.
What happened happened. The trick is learn from the mistakes and not repeat them praying to whatever diety you wish for a different result.
Unless people address the thread title this should be shut down.

On a slightly positive note Ma Bell satellite in Canada is going digital. That means I and many thousands more will get TSN2 if we subscribe to get the main sports package which includes Speed and TSN. However to do this we have to take 3 'packages'. I am having a problem trying to pick a 3rd bunch of crap. Even a second 'package' has only about 3 channels I am interested in at all.
My Satellite box is also now junk. Rent or buy basic digital box cheap. Rent or buy HD box expensive. Technoligy costs just pennies. Bent over and not enjoying it.

[Scotty G.]

1. No IRL driver has won a 500 since the top CART teams started running the Indy 500, and (Robby Gordon should have won in 1999...'nuff said.)

2. But I have to fill in some facts from your IRL induced amnesia, I think those drivers did run into each other with devastating results (check youtube of the last lap crash of the 1996 500) which is something that is missed by most IRL homers, er, devotees.

3. True, CART had many ride buyers and hacks in the day. Hated it! Speed covered it well with the top ten list of all time worst drivers for both the IRL, CART, Indycar by several diffferent writers. I agree with every one, though they left off Mack.

4. There is a good reason (and support) that RB is kicking the IRL name to the curb.

5. There is also a good reason why RB hangs out with Robin....and not just for the fine food at the 'mug-n-bun.

First off, I appreciate your contributions here EE. I just didn't like the tone you took to disparage the IRL (which you obviously never held in high regard). I get you were a CART homer. That's the way most of them thunk. But its been proven, that more then 7 or 8 drivers were "capable" of being in the 1996 Indy 500. There were 7 or 8 that didn't belong. The rest? Good enough for then and good enough for races BEFORE the 1996 Indy 500. If all of those guys and gals weren't deemed "good enough" for 1996, what kind of field would the 1995 or 1994 Indy 500 have had? A 18 car field?

But to comment on 6 of your thoughts:

1. Sam Hornish Jr never ran in CART. Neither did Dan Wheldon. Neither did Buddy Rice. They were all IRL drivers.

2. The "mess" in 1996 happened coming to the green up at the Boycott 500 in Michigan. After all the bluster and hot air coming from the "cars and stars" side, seeing half the field in a wad was a tad humerous. Big difference then the 3 or 4 car wreck coming to the CHECKARDS at the Indy 500. That was a typical racing accident that happens almost every year at Indy. You know, sorta similar to the racing accident we saw at the end of the 2010 Indy 500. The Michigan crash-em up derby on Lap 0, was a case of the racing gods deciding to show whose side they were on. Karma got em'.

3. Then why not use those names? There have been a ton of ride-buying hacks in CART and Champ Car over the many years. Some just as bad as Milka or Marty.

4. Because he thinks he can "woo" 8 or 9 disgruntled CW fans back to the sport? Because he thinks changing the name means something? Because he is ignorant? There is no good reason for this. Just some PR hot air, that in reality means nothing. Great the Indy Car series (which most folks have always referred to this style or racing as being anyway) is now the Indy Car series. Whoopty do! Now what? USAC, CART, ICS, IRL? Who cares? Its not a big deal.

5. He wants to keep his enemies close? Randy knows Robin can ruin you, if you get on his bad side. Just look at the personal vendetta he has with Barnhart. The drivers don't have much problem with Barnhart. But its guys like Miller and Oreo, who have wanted Barnhart out for years and hated everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) about the Indy Racing League, that want another "figure" of the IRL gone.

Guess what? Cotman isn't a savior either. He'll be derided just like the many other steward's and race directors have before him. These car owners and higher ups in Indy Car won't ever change. Most still slither from race to race.

[SarahFan]

There was only one race at IMS in 1993. And there was very little TV coverage outside the big 3 networks. And no internet. And...

Its a completely different world today, then 1993. And those imaginary 15 million fans Randy keeps talking about, aren't ever going to be back either.

Did you read the last line

[SarahFan]

Is this a discussion forum or a debate forum?