2012 season in review - IMHO

[Chris R]

I just wanted to say that 2012 has to be the best full season of racing I have seen in Indycar in a long time - perhaps ever.

Each race was among the best relative to itself

There were multiple "surprise" winners

It was a fairly safe season

There was plenty of intrigue on and off the track

The rookies and young guns did well for themselves

The championship was decided in the final laps of the final race and it was between two very deserving contenders driving for two great teams.

Sure we still have spec cars and they are not lookers (although the Indy/Fontana package comes darn close to having serious wow factor)

Yes, there could have been a few more races

Lotus was a disappointment - but then again they sure added to the intrigue

Overall, if you could not find something to love about this season I think it may be time to search for a new sport....

BUT, here is the kicker - the season finale features a 500 mile race, it concluded as great season of close racing with often unpredictable results, it is apparently well promoted, it is on a Saturday evening in the third largest market in the country. and THE PLACE APPEARS TO BE NEAR EMPTY....

What on earth can Indycar do to earn some new fans??? I do not see how they can deliver the goods much better than they have in terms of product. They easily outraced NASCAR. The drivers are no less interesting that NASCAR drivers on the whole. As spec as Indycar is, NASCAR is even more so.... I just don't get it......

[FIAT1]

Indycar needs better product for wow factor when it comes to cars and speed. Racing was good. Tv was not. Promotion of the series was 0. Open f competition or die.

[Chris R]

Indycar needs better product for wow factor when it comes to cars and speed. Racing was good. Tv was not. Promotion of the series was 0. Open f competition or die.

But if they really improve the wow factor they won't be able to race on ovals anymore - they'll be too fast... no matter what they do, they have pretty much hit the max for oval lap speeds and safety (maybe they could push up to 250 average at Indy and Fontana if they braked massively into the corners) - but I am not sure that would add to the show. I am all for variety and would love more horsepower etc. - but I am unsure what that brings to "the show" - the racing is pretty much as good as it gets.....

[FIAT1]

But if they really improve the wow factor they won't be able to race on ovals anymore - they'll be too fast... no matter what they do, they have pretty much hit the max for oval lap speeds and safety (maybe they could push up to 250 average at Indy and Fontana if they braked massively into the corners) - but I am not sure that would add to the show. I am all for variety and would love more horsepower etc. - but I am unsure what that brings to "the show" - the racing is pretty much as good as it gets.....

To fast? Faster than 240? No problem ,small wings, Show? If I want a show than I will go to circus.

[Chris R]

ok, maybe "the show" is the wrong word (I too am not a huge fan of over-managed racing). however, even if the rules were opened up, I don't think the racing itself would necessarily improve (this year they raced close, in different lines, had to demonstrate obvious car control, the winner was often not a foregone conclusion etc.)- I think the technical side would be vastly more interesting if they opened up the rules (which is a huge part of it for us hardcore fans) - but I don't know if it would improve attendance or tv ratings... When you look at modern top tier racing - all the series are largely "spec" (even F-1 cars have to conform to rules that are so tight it is hard to distinguish one car from the other and would be darn near impossible to tell one from the other at speed if they had the same mono-color paint job...). I find the details fascinating - but I kind of doubt the majority of the people watching on TV or in the stands do (at least not enough to make a difference).... Our drivers are just as skilled as Cup drivers and 90% of the F1 field. Even if you factor in personalities, you cannot tell me the Scott Dixon is more boring that Kimi Raikkonen or Jimmie Johnson.

As far as too fast, in our litigious society I just don't see them allowing a car to head down the straight at 270 even if they slowed to 200 for the corners - the consequence of failure would be devastating...

I would very much like a more open formula, more interesting cars, faster speeds and more technology - I just wonder if that will actually help the series get more fans.....

[FIAT1]

I would very much like a more open formula, more interesting cars, faster speeds and more technology - I just wonder if that will actually help the series get more fans.....

That's Indycar! Build it !!! They will come!!!

[heliocastroneves#3]

IndyCar needs a balanced schedule, maybe a little bit more horse power, double file restarts on super speedways as well and better promotion. I'd love this series already since it's begin and it has been improving every single year but one thing is sure and that's that the series needs a bigger fan base in order to get more people showing up on oval races in the middle of nowhere.

[Nikki Katz]

Other than the Wheldon incident last year, the biggest problem seems to be the TV coverage. In the UK the Sky presenters that do the introduction regularly have to fill in the gaps of what's actually been happening while the commentators plug other shows and go to endless ad breaks.

The infighting this year hasn't helped matters, it just makes the series look flimsy and somewhat shambolic. I don't really see what was wrong with having a spec series, though I do see why they needed to bring in a new car, but the constant power struggle when really what they need is consistency isn't good.

But the races have been good this year, it's just a shame that the main talking point is how nobody's watching any more.

[heliocastroneves#3]

It's also very annoying that some people, which do call theirselves a AOWR or IndyCar fan, are doing nothing but complaining about the series rather than visiting an event. That's why I left the most IndyCar related forums anyway. The series is getting better and better as I said but the fan base is the only real problem at the moment... Not because many people don't like IndyCar, no because a lot of motorsport fans don't even know what IndyCar is. Another point is that IndyCar fans from outside the U.S. are sometimes forced to watch the races on a livestream because it's not televised. This also has a huge influence on the TV ratings because when I'd watch IndyCar, I'm not one of the "viewers" as I'm watching it via a livestream which means I'm basically watching it on "somebody elses' TV". I know that I'm not the only one and that a lot of other people are also doing that here in The Netherlands and Belgium at least.

I'm 100% sure that the countries above are not the only ones watching IndyCar that way and if it would be televised in all those countries, they will get more viewers + they will probably get a lot of new fans from outside the U.S. Many people do love oval racing I can tell you, so getting more fans from outside the U.S. would also mean a better attendance for the oval races I think. Many road/street races are successful, we don't have to worry about those.. The ovals need a lot more success because there should be A LOT more ovals on the schedule than we have now. Of course we have to leave the history for what it is but the most important race of the world is on an oval and especially the current series is build for 100% on ovals..

[FIAT1]

[quote="heliocastroneves#3"] That's why I left the most IndyCar related forums anyway. QUOTE]

I don't know if you got lost and this might come as shock to you, but this is Indycar forum also.

[heliocastroneves#3]

That's why I left the most IndyCar related forums anyway.

I don't know if you got lost and this might come as shock to you, but this is Indycar forum also.
As I said, "That's why I left the most IndyCar related forums anyway." At this forum there's still space for someones' opinion and a discussion without it becoming a war between members, that's why I'm still enjoying my stay here at this forum. As I said, I left the most IndyCar related forums, not all IndyCar related forums. ;)

[wedge]

I'd give the season a B+

There's room for improvement but I've really enjoyed this season. I've been gripped when I've got the chance to watch it live and make more of an effort to watch full races.

[anthonyvop]

To fast? Faster than 240? No problem ,small wings, Show? If I want a show than I will go to circus.

If you don't think that IndyCar as well as all other professional racing series then you just don't get it

[zako85]

To tell the truth. IndyCar is a sport that almost no one pays attention to except for Indy500 weekend. One year of exceptionally good IndyCar racing could not have changed that. A lot more time is necessary to build the rebuild the brand and the fan base. I disagree with the notion that having an open formula would have somehow changed this.

The path to success is not entirely clear to me. I can only guess that IndyCar should use social media to connect with its fans. IndyCar also needs more.. ahem glamour .. more outrageous promotions. Think of something like RedBull's outrageous Formula 1 car videos, Formula 1 "demonstration" visits, a new Danica Patrick, new outrageous racetracks (outrageous not only in configuration but also decor, facilities, surroundings, etc). Most importantly, IndyCar DOES NOT need internal bickering between teams and IRL. I think IndyCar has been on that path before.


Also, there are somethings that IndyCar can do not to lose its current customers. For example, I am quite sick of NBC's TV coverage. This is the most distracting display I have seen in ANY motor sport coverage. They use up like 20% of display to convey no real information. At the bottom there is often a scrolling feed showing the results of some football games and other sports. At the top, they constantly scroll the driver positions. It's extremely distracting to have that scrolling area at the top. Moreover, for some reason the scrolling feed is not at the very top of the screen wasting more space above it. Why can't they adopt the display format from F1?

Another thing that drives me crazy is inconsistent car liverys. One weekend, Dario's car is blue, then it's black, then it's red. It also would have been a lot better if same team cars had the same or similar liveries. Every other race, it takes like like half of the race time to figure out and memorize who is driving which car. Having consistent liveries would also help to promote the sport, teams, and brands better. Right now, I see almost no reason to care for IndyCar teams if they can't provide their way to identify all of their cars on the track. I think everyone is familiar with Ferrari's red cars, Lotus black and gold, and McLaren's "Marlboro" pack cars from F1. I wish IndyCar cars were trying to achieve this sort of visual fame and recognition. Todays F1 is no different. Heck, even Australian V8 Supercars have more consistent liveries than Indycar.

[SoCalPVguy]

the fan base is the only real problem at the moment... .

Do NOT blame the fans.


fans don't even know what IndyCar is. .

And just who's fault is that ???????????????

[heliocastroneves#3]

Do NOT blame the fans.



And just who's fault is that ???????????????
They need to go international... Many people here in The Netherlands do love IndyCar but cannot watch it in the "legal way" which means IndyCar won't get all those viewers while they are watching for sure. The Netherlands is not the only country full of IndyCar fans. I never said that it's the fault of the fans, IndyCar should get more options for people outside the U.S. and promote the series a lot better. C'mon, last year I had to watch the Indy 500 via a livestream because it wasn't even televised here, and that's a SHAME!

[NY2IA]

I went to the qualifying races at Iowa in June. They were very exciting. I wonder if Indycar would consider expanding the number of qualifying races to other weekends?

[djparky]

leaving aside the series owners desire to ruin the series again (or some of them anyway), I thought this was the best year since 1999/2000 CART seasons. As a former CART fan I've never really been able to watch the old IRL on a regular basis without wondering what might have been- but now the stench of that era has largely gone I've been able to enjoy it again. Not that it will ever happen but it would be nice to see them back at Rockingham again

Ok the car looks a bit odd- but the racing has been good, great to see RHR win the series and the grid has been pretty strong this year. Since Princess Sparkle Pony moved to the tin-tops I don't have to endure the commentary team wittering on about who good she's running in 18th place