The sale of part of Indy and the series

[Used to be Starter]

Now that a little time has passed since the announcement of the sale perhaps its time to take a look at it. There has been a lot of positive reaction to Fox being a partner in both the series and Indy going forward. Possibilities including better TV coverage; more and better promotion of events; access to more sponsors; etc.

Personally and after taking time to consider the current situation I have to disagree. There are too many negatives that are going unaddressed. I say this as a long time supporter of the series from the beginning of the "modern" era and the formation of CART. The on track product is good with large and competitive fields. The down side is, in racing terms, ancient cars. A new chassis was needed years ago in order to remain relevant. The old one has been kept because the dollars needed and available to most of the teams would bankrupt them if they had to buy new cars. That's how low the series has sunk. Almost having to beg, or at least self promote to host a race.is another factor. True that there are still a few events that pay for themselves, but too many don't.

Penske's absolute refusal to adopt modern concepts from other series, notably F1, such as timing - its so much easier to track battles between cars with F1's system than going through a 27 car field and doing all the math in your head while watching to figure out where the battles in the field are. Another, for me, is the essentially closed cockpits on the cars. It's no safer than the "halo" used in most other open wheel series that road race. It also divorces the driver from the spectator or viewer. If you're going to totally enclose the driver you might as well put fenders on them too. A third issue is the handling of full course yellows that drag on for seemingly forever and the ridiculous timing of when the pit lane is open. This is fine if its a six hour race, but these are still mostly done in two hours or less (except for Indy of course). Long drawn out yellows detract from the show for sure.

So that's my take on the new situation. What are my qualifications for having an opinion? A long (long) time racing fan and corner marshal - now retired -who still loves the sport. There was a time when having to choose whether to go to an island race held on the same weekend (Ile Notre Dame or Belle Isle) it was the Indy Car race that was a must. Now I don't miss an F1 event on TV, but often don't even think about the IndyCar event. Unfortunately, there are many other people who feel the same way. Despite what I've said I hope the new effort with Fox works out.