I wonder if Robin is still celebrating????

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

Put the 500 under lights on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend....THAT is the kind of radical change I would go for.

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1. The ratings would go in the tank even more.

2. No way in hell IMS has the money to light 2.5 miles worth of track. They are in supreme MONEY SAVER mode right now. Its why the track looked so dirty this year (there was trash everywhere after Pole Day on Sunday; which NEVER used to happen). There were glitches in the public address. Fewer days of practice saves IMS money (but doesn't save the teams any). The IMS staff is now bare-bones, compared to last year at this time. The Indy 500 program was made cheaply this year and was a lot thinner then usual.


And if you continue to trot out just a handful of American drivers and this sport continues to be more and more "un American", its not going to matter what they do or try. People aren't going to watch.

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

Put the 500 under lights on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend....THAT is the kind of radical change I would go for.

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I still can't wrap my head around Saturday night racing or for that matter, Saturday night football. I guess I'm the wrong demographic but ever since my mid-twenties Saturday nights is usually tied up with dinner and\or movies out or movies in or some combination there of to keep all happy. It's a lot easier to steal a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.

Indy is for Sunday @ 11:00 a.m. preferably. Not change for the sake of change.

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Originally Posted by Scotty G.

1. The ratings would go in the tank even more.

2. No way in hell IMS has the money to light 2.5 miles worth of track. They are in supreme MONEY SAVER mode right now. Its why the track looked so dirty this year (there was trash everywhere after Pole Day on Sunday; which NEVER used to happen). There were glitches in the public address. Fewer days of practice saves IMS money (but doesn't save the teams any). The IMS staff is now bare-bones, compared to last year at this time. The Indy 500 program was made cheaply this year and was a lot thinner then usual.


And if you continue to trot out just a handful of American drivers and this sport continues to be more and more "un American", its not going to matter what they do or try. People aren't going to watch.

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So Americans don't really want to watch the best drivers then, they just want to watch Americans? I think Scott you have lost it....

As for your assertion the IMS is in money save mode, yes, I can agree there, they likely wouldn't light the track. That said, to shake up the lethargy and really think outside the box, it is an option. People seem to forget, no one WANTS to sit inside all day watching racing on a beautiful weekend. Put on a Saturday night and people will tune in because they are in from being out all day, and THAT will factor in. I also think Saturday night gives you no competition whatsoever from NASCAR. They are the 800 lb gorilla competing for race fans. ON Sunday, watching racing from Noon to 11pm means people might pick and choose. Race on Saturday, you get them that first night and they are not thinking about the race coming up.

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

So Americans don't really want to watch the best drivers then, they just want to watch Americans? I think Scott you have lost it....

As for your assertion the IMS is in money save mode, yes, I can agree there, they likely wouldn't light the track. That said, to shake up the lethargy and really think outside the box, it is an option. People seem to forget, no one WANTS to sit inside all day watching racing on a beautiful weekend. Put on a Saturday night and people will tune in because they are in from being out all day, and THAT will factor in. I also think Saturday night gives you no competition whatsoever from NASCAR. They are the 800 lb gorilla competing for race fans. ON Sunday, watching racing from Noon to 11pm means people might pick and choose. Race on Saturday, you get them that first night and they are not thinking about the race coming up.

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Put the race on at night and it would be a disaster.
Many people have to drive a long ways after the race and don not want to get home at five A.M.
I used to drive home from Road America every race, and getting home at one A.M. and going to work the next day, sucks.

Night racing is a gimmick (excluding short-track events where it can control dust, the fair grandstand is not available till then, or back when they had huge events and the final simply came about at twilight, or there abouts) with few good reason, other than the above.

I am a big baseball fan, and have no love for night games.
There are many things to do in the evening that do not fit well in moring to after-noon; racing is not one or them.

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Originally Posted by Bob Riebe

There are many things to do in the evening that do not fit well in moring to after-noon; racing is not one or them.

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I'll make sure that LeMans, Sebring, Singapore and pretty much all short tracks across the US get your message.

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Originally Posted by anthonyvop

I'll make sure that LeMans, Sebring, Singapore and pretty much all short tracks across the US get your message.

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Twelve or 24 hr. races are not in the same category as short distance races held
held at night.
If you are going to make an analogy try to keep-up with the subject

What used to, or still does, make very long time based races interesting was their unique concept.
Their are other 24 hr. races, Nelson Ledges had/has one, as do other triacks in other countries.
Only Daytona, due to Bill France's hard-nosed skill, ever became more than a regional item.
Sebring, even though it has been around a long time, never came close to the national new story Daytona was.
It has it own unique charm, party-on!
day
You forgot the Paul Revere race at Daytona. I do not remember it ever becoming anything special, and it was held at night.

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Originally Posted by Bob Riebe

Sebring, even though it has been around a long time, never came close to the national new story Daytona was.

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the 12 hours of Sebring is the single most important race in North America.

Who says? The manufacturers do.

When you have a company like Peugeot spending millions to race there when they don't even sell cars here it speaks volumes.

BTW I didn't miss how you ignored the Singapore GP!

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Originally Posted by Bob Riebe

Put the race on at night and it would be a disaster.
Many people have to drive a long ways after the race and don not want to get home at five A.M.
I used to drive home from Road America every race, and getting home at one A.M. and going to work the next day, sucks.

Night racing is a gimmick (excluding short-track events where it can control dust, the fair grandstand is not available till then, or back when they had huge events and the final simply came about at twilight, or there abouts) with few good reason, other than the above.

I am a big baseball fan, and have no love for night games.
There are many things to do in the evening that do not fit well in moring to after-noon; racing is not one or them.

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Night racing has become more popular because At-Track attendance is no longer king, TV ratings are. If IMS had the choice of 50k less attendees and another point or two in the ratings, my gut tells me they would definitely choose the latter. Attendance is important, but selling tv commercials for ABC is more so. A Saturday night 500 race may very well have fewer in attendance, but better TV ratings.

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Originally Posted by NickFalzone

Night racing has become more popular because At-Track attendance is no longer king, TV ratings are. If IMS had the choice of 50k less attendees and another point or two in the ratings, my gut tells me they would definitely choose the latter. Attendance is important, but selling tv commercials for ABC is more so. A Saturday night 500 race may very well have fewer in attendance, but better TV ratings.

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If the IRL or Indy is dependant on TV, it deserves to die.

As I wrote in a different thread; the series that CART turned into, was kicked out of Road America for lack of spectators.
It was allowed back on probation, that if enough boots were not on the ground, they would be kicked out again.
Of course CCW went belly-up anyway, but to race tracks spectators are every thing.

I find saying the Indianapolis 500 is dependent on TV ratings to a bit of a stretch, at best.
Remember NASCAR has its own brown-nosing network, the IRL does not.

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Originally Posted by anthonyvop

the 12 hours of Sebring is the single most important race in North America.

Who says? The manufacturers do.

When you have a company like Peugeot spending millions to race there when they don't even sell cars here it speaks volumes.

BTW I didn't miss how you ignored the Singapore GP!

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The Singapore race is important to those in Singapore. Not hard to ignore.
What TV rating did it have in the U.S., if nightime TV rating are so important.

Even in the hay-days, Sebring was the little brother to Daytona.
Now as IMSA brown-noses the ACO, it is simply a test for LeMans, Peugot spends millions to race THERE, otherwise Peugot would be contesting the whole 2010 season, which they are not.

Now, except for road racing aficionados, it is barely on the racing map, of course that can be said about road-racing as a whole in the U.S.
It is great it still exists, but right now, the future of the IMSA is not guaranteed.