Is it better?

[Captain Chaos]

Is the Indy 500 better than NASCAR?

[utvol0427]

Yes.

Overall, Indycar is better than Nascar.

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[Captain Chaos]

I can think of some good reasons why so, but what are your reasons?

[R.Lee]

Food for thought, you are asking this question on an indy car forum, populated largely by fans of that series/form of racing. It stands to reason that if you ask fans of this series/form of racing which is better, you are pretty much guaranteed to get the answer that indy car is better. If you were to ask the same question on a forum that is populated largely by NASCAR fans, what do you think the answer would be? The exact opposite, that NASCAR is better than indy car. I'm a NASCAR fan and I believe NASCAR to be far better than indy car, what answer would expect from a NASCAR fan? Your poll here, will likely show that indy car fans think that indy car is better than NASCAR. Therefore, you poll really doesn't show allot, other than the obvious, that fans of indy car think it is better that NASCAR. My vote kind of throws your poll off. But I am the only one that has voted so far, so in the end, I imagine that, on this forum, my vote will be the only one that reflects opposite of what the overall results will show at the conclusion of this poll. I'm not trying to be disagreeable, trying to cause you a problem or mess up your poll, just giving you something to think about. If you wish, remove my vote, if you do not like what it represents, a flow against the grain on this forum. BTW, love your AVATAR. Those were hilarious movies. Regards.

[Rex Monaco]

Is a racing series better than a race? Is that really the question?

That's like asking if sand is better than the beach.

[Captain Chaos]

Well I still thought it wouldn't hurt to ask since NASCAR and Indy 500 fans are both on this site, and they're free to interact with each other in their respective forums.

[garyshell]

Does the poll REALLY have a point other than to stir up an argument? Indycar fans vote yes, NASCAR fans vote no. Outcome totally predictable. But then again, Captain Chaos you knew this when you created the poll, no?

Yawn....

Gary

[Captain Chaos]

No, I didn't, I just wanted to hear people's opinions on something.

But after getting to see the 2013 Indy 500 yesterday I now believe the Indy 500 to be much better than NASCAR.

The cars are faster, they're not as clunky looking or as asymmetrical, the sound of the engine is more powerful, and the winner gets to drink milk from a glass bottle. :D

[Granatelli]

The 500 was great. Check out the rest of the season. Detroit next weekend is a double header. The racing this season has been outstanding. If you are new to indy car it's worth checking out more races. You won't be disappointed.

[Jag_Warrior]

I won't answer the poll because I don't want to contribute to any foolishness that might ensue. But there was a time when I would have been part of the mad mob that would have stormed in here and ripped a new one in anyone who'd even suggest that the (once) sacred Indy 500 could even be compared to a NASCAR race... or that entire series. Sorry, but those days are gone now. :( Indy is no longer sacred to me - I didn't even watch the race this year. I just found out that Kanaan won late this morning. I've been super busy since going with a new company earlier this year. But once upon a time, that wouldn't have mattered. I would have found time for the Indy 500! This year (as always), I did find time for Monaco. And I caught about 25 laps of the Coke 600 last night (Mad Men sucks now!). But I had no desire to watch Indy this year. I want to remember it for what it was - not for what it has become.

For those who are still into the race, I envy your enjoyment. So just enjoy. Don't try to get confirmation from polls and such. Because really, odds are, the polls won't give you the results that you'd like to see, if they are at all representative of the population:

Indy 500: Race Earns Lowest Overnight Rating on Record (http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2013/05/indy-500-race-earns-lowest-overnight-rating-on-record/)

Overnight ratings sank to a record-low for the 2013 Indianapolis 500.

Sunday’s IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500 drew a 3.8 overnight rating on ABC Sunday afternoon, down 7% from last year (4.1), and down 12% from 2011 (4.3).
The 3.8 overnight is the lowest for the race portion of the Indianapolis 500 since the race began airing live in 1986. The previous low was a 4.0 overnight in 2010.
This marks the fifth straight year the Indy 500 has earned less than 4.5 overnight.
Pre-race coverage earned a 2.0 overnight on ABC, up a tick from last year (1.9).
(Sunday’s numbers from ESPN)

[Granatelli]

That's too bad. Was better than Monaco IMHO. What put u off of indy car?

[LaFerrari]

The real question that I'm wondering is why NASCAR has received so much funding and has become so popular despite Indy almost being equal in performance.

[Starter]

The real question that I'm wondering is why NASCAR has received so much funding and has become so popular despite Indy almost being equal in performance.
1) The France family are marketing geniuses compared to anyone connected to IndyCar.

2) NASCAR didn't have a fifteen year civil war, driving all but the most devoted fans away.

[Nem14]

Is the Indy 500 better than NASCAR?
Better than which NASCAR? The Brickyard 400?

The Brickyard 400 qualifying record is - Casey Mears, 186.293 mph, 48.311 seconds.

The Indy 500 qualifying record is - Arie Luyendyk, 237.498 mph, 37.895 seconds

Arie Luyendyk would pull away from Casey Mears by 10.4 seconds every lap Arie runs.

Arie would lap Casey every 4.65 laps Casey runs.

So driving his Indy car and assuming each runs every lap at the record speeds (no pit stops), Arie would finish the 400 mile Brickyard 400 race
> 36 LAPS < (90 miles) in front of Casey Mears.

[mr nobody]

I saw ***** circling the toilet bowl and it was better racing then anything NASCAR has had in 20 years. Yes Indy 500 is wat better then anything NASCAR can even hope to ever have.

[mr nobody]

^ Sad, very sad.

[Rex Monaco]

The real question that I'm wondering is why NASCAR has received so much funding and has become so popular despite Indy almost being equal in performance.

There was a time, before the megalomaniac ruined the sport, when Indycar was mentioned in the same sentence as Formula One and not NASCAR.

Now the series, and many of the fans, seem to have given up hope that it can ever return to the top rung of motorsports. Their lack of vision doesn't allow them to see a pathway out of spec racing.

[zako85]

To be honest, the timing of the Indy 500 to be on the Memorial weekend is kind of unfortunate. Therefore, I would take the TV ratings with a grain of salt. A lot of Americans travel on weekends. I visited the gulf coast, and it was hard to book a room in some places. I spent the Sunday at a beach as many other people. The way I watched Monaco GP and Indy 500 is have both recorded on my DVR, and then not checking any news media for a couple of days until I watched them, which was hard.

[Jag_Warrior]

All of the comparative Nielsen data for the Indy 500 ratings are from Memorial Day weekends or that Monday. So the comparison from one year to another is valid. And there's no reason why the Memorial Day weekend would affect Indy and not Monaco or the Coke 600 - both of which either got the same or higher ratings compared to previous years. Monaco posted some very good numbers, especially when you consider that a large portion of the F1 fan base is on the West coast.

When sponsors begin doing their annual budget reviews in about 5 months, it's almost assured that they will not be taking these declining Indy numbers with a grain of salt. And that is too bad. But it is what it is.

For the people who have been here about as long as I have been (when CART still existed even), what have I said over & over & over when teams and these various series would whine about only costs? Value! It's fine to get your costs in line. But you should not be obsessed with cutting costs at the expense of delivering a product that has value to the market and consumers. I won't rehash the past (again). But remember when I posted the ratios of sponsor $ spent to $ returned (sponsor exposure value)? Just like with stocks or anything else, people often get too enamored with the number and ignore the percentages. Why do people sponsor NASCAR when Indy Car is "cheaper"? Would you rather invest $10 mil and get a miniscule return or invest $20 mil and get a return of 400% (Mars, Inc. (http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2012/11/15/nascar-sponsor-mars-inc-thrilled-with-partnership-boasts-4-to-1-return-on-investment/) in NASCAR). From the one sponsor event I was able to attend in Charlotte years ago, I came away with the knowledge that these guys aren't just winging it. Sponsors expect the teams and the series to deliver the eyeballs if they expect to keep getting the checks. And they don't want excuses about the weather, holidays or sunspots.

[musyarofah]

I think Tony George was sent by NASCAR to ruin CART, just like Gary Bettman did with NHL by NBA's order :vader: :alien:

LOL just kidding :p : :laugh:
well I'm a big fan of Indycar no matter how boring they are so, obviously... :beer:

[bugeyedgomer]

Better than which NASCAR? The Brickyard 400?

The Brickyard 400 qualifying record is - Casey Mears, 186.293 mph, 48.311 seconds.

The Indy 500 qualifying record is - Arie Luyendyk, 237.498 mph, 37.895 seconds

Arie Luyendyk would pull away from Casey Mears by 10.4 seconds every lap Arie runs.

Arie would lap Casey every 4.65 laps Casey runs.

So driving his Indy car and assuming each runs every lap at the record speeds (no pit stops), Arie would finish the 400 mile Brickyard 400 race
> 36 LAPS < (90 miles) in front of Casey Mears.

Arie was driving a real car 17 years ago


TV ratings down 45% from 2011

TV ratings have been trending down in recent years. DOWN 27% from 2011 to 2012, DOWN 24% 2012 to 2013

[R.Lee]

You know Captain Chaos, you should have handled this poll in a better way. You should have placed the poll in both the NASCAR and indy car forums, stating that members were allowed to respond only once, in one or the other forum, not both forums. State that responses in both forums would be thrown out. Plus narrow the poll topic further, "which is better, NASCAR or indycar?" Not, as you seem to have done, one race against a sanctioning body. I still say, regardless of what you might do, the results would be that NASCAR fans will say NASCAR is better and indy fans will say that indy car is better. The word fan, after all, is derived from the word, fanatic and an honest/true fan, of one thing is not going to say that something else, other than what he/she is a fan of, is better. Kind of make this a moot point of discussion/poll, if reality is looked at.

[zako85]

Arie was driving a real car 17 years ago


TV ratings down 45% from 2011

TV ratings have been trending down in recent years. DOWN 27% from 2011 to 2012, DOWN 24% 2012 to 2013

Perhaps, as unemployment falls, people work more, have more money to travel on Memorial day and other weekends, and hence less time to watch TV ;p

[Starter]

Arie was driving a real car 17 years ago


TV ratings down 45% from 2011

TV ratings have been trending down in recent years. DOWN 27% from 2011 to 2012, DOWN 24% 2012 to 2013
The only "real" road racing cars were the old CanAm, (early Indy cars don't count as were not road racing machines) and, to a much lesser extent, F1 and certain classes in endurance racing. Even those had/have fairly restrictive rules. The nostalgic dreams of Indy cars are just that, dreams. The only real difference today is the mandating of a single chassis. The engine specs are nothing more than a set of specifications which have been different over time.

Your second too points are, sadly, true.

[Jag_Warrior]

Perhaps, as unemployment falls, people work more, have more money to travel on Memorial day and other weekends, and hence less time to watch TV ;p

Perhaps. But to test that theory, all one has to do is look at other "big event" sports programming. On the same day that Indy was on, the Coke 600 and Monaco ran their races. F1 has never posted big ratings numbers in the U.S. But NBC's telecast of Monaco was the most watched F1 race here since 2007. And the Coke 600:


In addition, the Coca-Cola 600 defeated the Indianapolis 500 yet again, topping the IndyCar race by 16% in ratings (4.3 to 3.7) and 24% in viewership (7.1M to 5.8M).

The 24% viewership gap is the largest advantage the Coca-Cola 600 has had over the Indianapolis 500 since 2004, when NASCAR won the head-to-head battle by 37% (8.3M to 6.1M). The gap is significantly larger than it was last year, when NASCAR won by only 9% (7.4M to 6.8M).

In terms of raw numbers, the Coca-Cola 600 outdrew the Indy 500 by almost 1.4 million viewers, the third-largest gap since FOX began airing the race. NASCAR beat Indy by over 1.4 million viewers in 2011 and by 2.2 million in 2004.

Again excluding 2009, the Coca-Cola 600 has drawn more viewers than the Indianapolis 500 every single year since the race moved to FOX in 2001. In all but two of those years, NASCAR had a higher final rating as well (fueled by Danica Patrick, the Indy 500 won the ratings battle in 2005; Indy also won in 2001).

Overall, the Coca-Cola 600 was the top draw on a busy day of racing. In addition to topping the Indy 500 on ABC (3.7, 5.8M), the race also outdrew the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco on NBC (1.0, 1.5M).


I see no special cause which explains the Indy 500's continuing ratings issues. Other races in other series are holding their own. Even the Preakness horse race topped 10 million viewers this year, up 20%+ from last year, roughly a week before Indy was run. 16.2 million watched the Kentucky Derby. But only 5.8 million watched Indy to give it a 3.7 rating.

I have no dog in the fight. But I have found that in order to fix a problem, it is first necesary to admit that one has a problem. And it looks to me like Indy has (and has had) a problem. Yet IMS continues to fiddle while Rome burns.

[bugeyedgomer]

Perhaps. But to test that theory, all one has to do is look at other "big event" sports programming. On the same day that Indy was on, the Coke 600 and Monaco ran their races. F1 has never posted big ratings numbers in the U.S. But NBC's telecast of Monaco was the most watched F1 race here since 2007. And the Coke 600:




I see no special cause which explains the Indy 500's continuing ratings issues. Other races in other series are holding their own. Even the Preakness horse race topped 10 million viewers this year, up 20%+ from last year, roughly a week before Indy was run. 16.2 million watched the Kentucky Derby. But only 5.8 million watched Indy to give it a 3.7 rating.

I have no dog in the fight. But I have found that in order to fix a problem, it is first necesary to admit that one has a problem. And it looks to me like Indy has (and has had) a problem. Yet IMS continues to fiddle while Rome burns.

NASCAR on FOX concluded its 2013 portion of the season as the highest-rated and most-watched sport in-season for the 13th straight season, according to figures released today by Nielsen Media Research.

[bugeyedgomer]

Quote:
"NASCAR has been a bedrock of consistency in an unpredictable media environment"

Source: TVbyTheNumbers.com

[jamesbrighton]

Well, INDY 500 and NAScar both are good, if we compared via racing section, then i choose INDY 500 than NASCAR