Indycar, do better. That’s what a lot of Indycar fans are saying. We are only one race into the 2024 season and now we experienced the Thermal Million Dollar Challenge experiment. Granted, the format failed miserably, but it did tell us one thing and that there is a desire from race fans for an “All Star” event. Will it work in Indycar’s current landscape? No, it needs to be at the end of the season. Why would drivers, and their teams, take an extra chance of damaging their racing equipment? With Thermal being a road course and the next three races on the calendar being road courses it makes no sense whatsoever to put your car in harm’s way. Obviously, it really makes sense why Romain Grosjean was so angry after being taken out on the first turn of the first lap of his heat race.
Indycar really needs to focus on finding more venues to put on a show. Michael Andretti is right. The organization needs to be spending a lot of money on itself. They will need to lose money before they can make that money back. That is economics 101. They need to believe in their product. Six weeks is a HUGE gap in the schedule. How can you stay relative when NASCAR and Formula One are racing every week or every other week in that time? Indycar could be racing at Homestead, Phoenix, heck even Sears Point. Please spare me the “fans won’t travel to a racetrack out in the middle of nowhere” excuse. One only must look at crowds at Mid-Ohio and Barber to put that excuse to sleep.
Indycar will have to self-promote. Go race in Homestead; they are going to have to put a lot of money into promotion. It is not 1985 where you can just show up at a racetrack, do a few radio spots, and expect a sold out venue. It’s hard to understand. The Indianapolis 500 promotes their races all year round. We are always seeing IMS President Doug Boles at various conferences, trade shows, and other racetracks. He is always promoting the events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the Indianapolis 500 getting most of the promoting attention. Maybe Doug Boles should be running Indycar.
Yes, Indycar needs more manufacturers and a new chassis- that is blatantly obvious. Maybe running that whole “spec” era that Tony George started in 1997 is not such a great idea. Sure, have a chassis that can last teams for a few years; I get that. Every race fan gets that. I just believe that race fans want the rule book to be loosened up a little bit. Allow a little bit of innovation both from multipe chassis manufacturers and OEM’s as well. Manufacturers are flocking to sports car racing either in IMSA or the WEC so maybe Indycar should study their playbook.
Indycar needs to believe in themselves and their product. The worst thing the company did was get an assessment from the Boston Consulting Group. In fact, what genius ever believed that it was smart to stop racing prior to the start of the NFL season? There is no other form of racing that does this. NASCAR and Formula One race in November. IMSA stops racing in October and I don’t think dirt track racing ever stops racing. They just move to warmer climates.
Here are excuses given as to why the Indycar TV ratings stay status quo. March Madness, The NBA playoffs, NCAA football, the NFL. I understand that Indycar doesn’t want to compete, but it is a sports entity. There will always be something else on. Instead, stop running away from the competition. Why aren’t you doing your best to beat that competition? One only needs to go to an AMA Supercross event. They don’t care. In fact, they are a niche sport, yet they sell out football stadiums every single year and have a loyal following. Plus, the show is good, and the racing is exciting.
The NFL is the juggernaut. But, IMSA, NASCAR, and Formula One don’t seem to care. Maybe Indycar should focus on their own product and not care either. Be relevant. Be out there for the public to see. Furthermore, stop closing shop early and throwing your hands in the air and doing nothing because you are afraid of your competition. In the past, Indycar did not care. Will they ever get back to that, or just slowly go away with an aging specmobile?