No loss of momentum...the Indy 500 PR juggernaut rolls on....

Brian Williams will broadcast the NBC Nightly News program LIVE from the front straight at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 23.

"Live from IMS: It's Brian Williams

"NBC Nightly News" will be broadcast live from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday when anchorman Brian Williams comes to town.

The Indianapolis NBC affiliate, WTHR (Channel 13), will host Williams at a luncheon that afternoon.

And here we thought Indiana was off the news map after the May primary.

Also, ESPN's morning sports show, "Mike & Mike in the Morning," is broadcasting from the Brickyard. The sh`ow can be heard on WFNI-AM (1070) from 6 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday."

Indystar.com (May 21, 2008)

Also... McDonald's is now sponsoring the Pit Stop Competition taking over from long time sponsor Rally's.

USA Today has also consistently run at least one article about the Indy 500 every day this week.

After just getting out of twelve years of the split that literally started because some team owners wanted to cut the month of May because because they didn't feel Indy was that important I find it hard to believe that some hear are saying it again.

Are you guys serious or do you just like to stir up ****? : )

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Originally Posted by downtowndeco

Are you guys serious or do you just like to stir up ****? : )

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Totally serious.

The biggest race over the Memorial Day weekend will take place over 4 days.

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Originally Posted by downtowndeco

After just getting out of twelve years of the split that literally started because some team owners wanted to cut the month of May because because they didn't feel Indy was that important I find it hard to believe that some hear are saying it again.

Are you guys serious or do you just like to stir up ****? : )

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One race don't make a series.You can jump up and down about the 500 but what about the other races.I don't care about the 500.I want a strong racing series

NBC, Mike & Mike can all be their but I bet they can't name any drivers outside of Danica & Helio.I know that wasn't the case 12 years ago

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Originally Posted by CARTDM15

One race don't make a series.You can jump up and down about the 500 but what about the other races.I don't care about the 500.I want a strong racing series

NBC, Mike & Mike can all be their but I bet they can't name any drivers outside of Danica & Helio.I know that wasn't the case 12 years ago

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You sure about that?

Lets look at all of the big stars that retired from 1990 - 1996;
Mario Andretti, Gary Bettenhausen, Emerson Fittipaldi, A. J. Foyt, Gordon Johncock, Rick Mears, Johnny Rutherford, Tom Sneva, Danny Sullivan, Al Unser.

21 Indy 500 wins between them all, and they were all gone with no one to replace them who won anything that mattered.

So who could the mass media name 12 years ago? Mikey Andretti & Little Al?

It's amazing to me how people fail to see that the health of open wheel racing in America is forever tied to the health of the Indy 500. To the casual race fan, open wheel racing IS the Indy 500, not Long Beach, not Texas, not Milwaukee.

The Indy 500 is, was, and always will be the catalyst for open wheel racing in North America and that's a good thing.

I have always said... if CART/CCWS had the Indy 500 I would have been a CART/CCWS fan. I'm sure I'm not alone in that sentiment.

They just don't know what Indy means.......... ;)

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Originally Posted by CARTDM15

One race don't make a series.You can jump up and down about the 500 but what about the other races.I don't care about the 500.I want a strong racing series

NBC, Mike & Mike can all be their but I bet they can't name any drivers outside of Danica & Helio.I know that wasn't the case 12 years ago

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Well, you fail to see what has always and will always drive Open wheel racing in this country. It supported a lame series for over ten years, just as it's absence from the CART schedule led to it's demise. twice.

Take the Indy 500 out of the equation and absolutely NO ONE with as much as a nickle of sponsorship money to spend will care about open wheel racing in the US. There is no possibility of a strong open wheel series in this country without the 500.

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Originally Posted by nigelred5

Take the Indy 500 out of the equation and absolutely NO ONE with as much as a nickle of sponsorship money to spend will care about open wheel racing in the US. There is no possibility of a strong open wheel series in this country without the 500.

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I am/was as dedicated a CART/CCWS supporter as is possible but I agree with Nigel on this. All the new sponsorship announcements were made during the month of May, many just for the 500. The TV contract is for Indy first then all the others were negotiated in later. Honda would leave for sure without Indy as they use Indy internationaly in their advertising. I traveled with CART/CCWS everywhere they raced and to get most fans not already connected to a series to understand the differences during the split all I had to say was "we are guys that don't go to Indy" and most would understand.

That said, I still think INDY is very expensive for the teams that have a home base outside of Indy. Holding costs down for teams during the time of rebuilding will be important for good car counts outside of Indy. There is a conflict here in that the spokespeople say unification is great for growth (butts in the seats / increased revenue) yet the decision makers at Indy increase the costs for everything the teams need (greed / incresed revenue). They should use the increased revenue from ticket sales to decrease maybe even subsidize the costs for teams. There really needs to be an honest discussion between the ICS, the Indy 500 staff and the teams on how costs can be decreased during rebuilding.

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Originally Posted by nigelred5

Well, you fail to see what has always and will always drive Open wheel racing in this country. It supported a lame series for over ten years, just as it's absence from the CART schedule led to it's demise. twice.

Take the Indy 500 out of the equation and absolutely NO ONE with as much as a nickle of sponsorship money to spend will care about open wheel racing in the US. There is no possibility of a strong open wheel series in this country without the 500.

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AMEN BROTHER !!!