@SuperMacGuy Not really. Pretty much everything else stops for the commercial. What doesn't besides Indycar and maybe Nascar? Dunno about Nascar tbh. All other sports and programming do as far as I can tell.
@@SuperMacGuy American TV is, over here in Europe the norm is like three ad breaks per f1 race, the last ad break usually in the down time between the post race interviews and podium. And obviously on F1TV it was none. When I tried to watch the indy 500 in 2022 I gave up before the halfway mark, absolutely unwatchable with what felt like 5 minutes of ads every 10 minutes, 2023 I watched a pirate stream thankfully and it was a lot of fun
Exactly. And with every ad break, there’s a minutes worth of bumper going to ads while the announcer screams at you about some other show coming up on Peacock while showing anything else except cars on track, then it’s the same thing coming back from the ad break. I calculated it one time and for an average Indycar race, only about 30% of the broadcast was full screen real time cars on track. Everything else was commercial, filler, Interview, or crowd shot.
The lack of ovals isn’t IndyCar’s fault, it’s NASCAR’s. They view IndyCar as their biggest competitor, and they own half of the big ovals in the US (the other half are owned by a company that is basically a NASCAR puppet), and they’re outright gatekeeping the ovals to monopolize them by ordering these tracks to give the IndyCar races the absolute bare-minimum marketing while going all-in on marketing NASCAR and ARCA races. They shut down Nazareth in 2004, sold Pikes Peak in 2005, and reconfigured many ovals with progressive banking, all with the express purpose of fucking over IndyCar.
Penske owned Nazareth and sold it to ISC. Penske owned Michigan and sold it to ISC. Penske owned California and sold it to ISC. The same Penske that bought IMS and IndyCar and fans believed would be The Great Savior. IndyCar kicked Pocono to the curb, not the other way around. And Pocono had good attendance. Really the problem is that the large ovals are too dangerous for these cars and spectators, and the small ovals are too small for them.
Progressive banking may be bad for Indycar, but it absolutely works for stock cars. And if stock cars is BY FAR your primary customer.... Progressive banking allows side-by-side racing on tracks that were previously single-line. There's far more side-by-side racing at Bristol now than there was prior to this banking.
Im from germany and I really started LOVING indycar back when it was still sponsored by Verizon. Then they stopped uploading videos to RUclips and I wasnt willing to pay monthly just for the indycar races. There is so much great motorsports to choose from, they really shot themselves in the foot with that decision.
Usually these headlines are pure click bait, but you’re spot on here, there needs to be way more innovation in indycar, they need to be at least 3-4 seconds per lap faster and lighter, a new chassis should be mandatory every 10 years at most and the teams should also be free to design their own suspension to help with development
As a 48 year fan and obviously an American, I’m dumbfounded that Penske would risk his legacy by letting Indycar fail. His Indy 500 wins are credited to his drivers first and the team owner second. Perhaps he doesn’t quite get that. He is old and has enough money to make it successful. Pay engine manufacturers, pay tracks, pay teams some of your wealth and he could die a king. Someone needs to remind him of the Mark Donahue days when racing was all that mattered. 😢
He's got the same problem Echlestone had. The guy is too old. But common now. Indycar isn't going to fail. It's just not living up to what it can be. Yet
1) The engine lease costs the teams a million dollars per year. Honda and Chevy loose money on each car in the series. 2) The engines are the same, the hybrid power units are coming out after INDY. 3) Ilmore does not build the Honda engines 4) Before the split Indycar had higher ratings than NASCAR and was seen as a threat by F1. Big Bill France and Satan, I mean Bernie Ecclestone, blew smoke up Tony George's backside until in a fit of ego he split American open wheel racing into CART and his IRL which basically gutted Indycar racing and caused the situation we have today. 5) The DW12 has had multiple upgrades and is easily the safest open wheel chassis in the world.
As stated by another RUclipsr, a quick and what I think would be a major step forward would be to build a chassis that engine manufacturers could drop their GT3 engines directly in to. That alone could turn the worlds eyes to Indycar. Let the engine manufacturers tweek their engines as they see fit.
Or do what Hypercar/LMDH did and give a set maximum horsepower and torque curve, external dimensions, and minimum weight for the drivetrain and then just let the manufacturers have at it. It's what got us Cadillac's screamer of a V8, Acura's totally-not-an-Indycar-engine, the _third_ coming of Porsche's RS Spyder engine, and BMW's old DTM engine all in a single category.
Agree! I think the way to get more manufacturers involved is to SIMPLIFY the engine specs. It costs way to much to develop the hybrid tech, and it doesn't add anything to the racing. Trying to out-green F1 just isn't going to work. I'm not even sure it's working for F1 actually.
came here to say something similar - GTP engines, not GT3 engines. Maybe that is what you meant? Surely that would get a 3rd manufacturer involved if not more.
I feel IndyCar and NASCAR would be close together due to the amount of road courses on the IndyCar schedule. IndyCar racing on ovals is the most entertaining shit ever, and I started watching in 2019, so I missed the big oval land-rush in the 2000s. I cant believe Texas is off the schedule but I’ll still be watching all the races. The management needs to get there shit together.
I would highly recommend going onto the IndyCar youtube channel and watching some of those early 2000's IRL races. They are truly entertaining for cars that Paul Tracy termed as crapwagons.
Yeah, Indy really needs more ovals. However, safety concerns keeps the big ones like Pocono and Michigan off of the schedule, as well as Nascar gatekeeping some of the other ones given that Nascar owns most of the big ovals in this country
Concerning hybrid engines: They vastly increase complexity and cost, but do not provide better racing. Unless engine manufacturers are actively interested in switching to hybrids, don't bother.
I love IndyCar and have followed it to some degree since the late '80s. However, it is obvious that ever since IndyCar first started regularly competing for a series championship, not just the Indy 500, in1920 it has put so many holes in its own feet that they are basically blown clean off at this point. It was the most popular racing series in the United States for decades, but constant mismanagement, bad sponsorship decisions and multiple splits have cost them untold attention and dollars. A couple of years into the most recent and damaging split I ended up losing most of my interest for nearly two decades as well. It is frustrating that they can't get out of their own way. Another criticism I have, which seems minor, but speaks do their apparent disinterest in optics is the podium ceremony. The IndyCar podium is way too chintzy. Obviously there is a lot more money in F1 for all of the post-race video boards, cooldown room and a podium that appears classy, well-built and permanent and I get that the whole vibe is wildly upper-crust European all the way down to the fanfare they play for the champagne spraying that would never fly in an American-based sports league. However, the IndyCar podium looks like someone found a couple cardboard boxes, painted them black and then had their kid assemble a backdrop with their Erector Set. It looks cheap and doesn't give the impression that this is a series that wants to be considered the highest rung of their motorsport. I would think there is a solution that isn't as hoity-toity as F1, retains the IndyCar fan-friendly, fan-accessible vibe, but at the same time doesn't look like the winners circle at the local dirt track.
What bothers me are the cheesy rules about yellow flags and the overblown attempt to make it all "fair". I started watching Indycar after falling in love with F1 and it seems like F2 or F3 level racing in comparison.
@@413TomaccoRoad It was sort of two comments in one and I see how the first paragraph was a little confusing. The early history of American Open-Wheel/IndyCar racing is a little fuzzy. AAA was the sanctioning body from 1905-1955. Many official records show 1905 and 1916 as the first two seasons with an official series championship. Other sources say the first IndyCar races took place in 1909, the same year that IMS first opened, but it doesn't appear that there was any officially sanctioned series that year. The first Indy 500 was in 1911, but it was not yet part of a series. The 1920 date is listed in the records as the third official National Championship season and included the Indy 500. An official championship season has existed every year since then in one form or another except for the WWII years. IndyCar officially dates its history, champions and race winners back to that 1905 season, but I feel like 1920 is the real start date since that's when it became a yearly series.
As an F1 fan but who also enjoys watching Indycar the podiums , cool down rooms etc are a requirement for F1 to use a circuit. The circuits pay F1 to come and have to meet minimum standards. The reason is maximizing the show for TV. The show doesnt stop with the finishing flag. The drivers are the stars and people want a behind the scenes listen in to the top three drivers talking about the race. They want to hear every driver being interviewed. F1 has its traditions and I think it started in Monaco with the podium but now world wide every podium is unique and the way it is done. Wildly upper crust European statement is silly and it simply isnt. However I do agree that after the race in Indycar it is all very underwhelming for a series that it supposed to0 be important. Why do I watch Indycar because the racing has more action. Why do I prefer F1 because its like the difference between playing chess and checkers. There is so much more to chess as an experience. However I do want Indycar to survive and flourish. Its not and has never been a threat to F1 and vice versa . F1 will never be much bigger than it is now in the US. It already has 24 races and is maxed out. The US is important but F1 is world wide so will never have more than three or perhaps four in the US. I think even four is too many. Indycar needs to fight Nascar and not worry about F1.
I've been a NASCAR fan for relatively long and for me it's always been the most interesting motorsport to watch. It's always a surprise to see who wins each week and there is a lot of close racing. It's a nice break from F1 where you basically know who will be fast going into a weekend. Indycar has gotten my interest lately as it's also not a given who is going to be fast in a weekend. NASCAR's early appearance on live television really helped it gain a big fanbase with a lot more people being introduced to it and getting interested in the sport in the early 80's.
NASCAR a big no me, after they introduced " play-off" system (especially after 2011). Racing is not a team sports (MLB, NFL... ) so "play-off" is just wrong. I do not care much about F1 as well, not just that you know who will win that week, but also very poor liveries - much too dark a lot of grey and black, unlike NASCAR and Indycar, F1 cars on TV are not easily recognizable (unlike 80, 90-ies, until ~2006), simply no F1 car is, for example, totally yellow (like Camel earlier, or Pennzoil entries in USA series). And - MotoGP series is simply the best for me (2 wheels though). There is Moto3 category (250cc bikes), where often 12 guys are within 2 seconds at the finish line - fantastic.
I feel the same about indycar. I don't care about hybrids, and I actually think the chassis (which are now LIGHTER than F1 chassis by almost 150lbs) make for really good, raceable cars on almost any track, from ovals to road courses to extremely bumpy street circuits. Because the chassis have been around for so long, they are relatively cheap to run, and I imagine it's easier for smaller teams to buy used from bigger teams than if they introduce a new chassis. Things aren't perfect, and safety is an issue, but I think Honda's problem of a lack of return on their investment comes down to Indycar's lack of exposure, and the fact that they don't race on circuits we want to see them race on. Less new street circuits and more of the classic big oval races would be good, as well as more classic road courses. It would be amazing to see them branch out to circuits outside of North America, also, like they've been talking about for over a decade.
David Land arguing for spec anything? You mean the David Land that celebrated Global Rallycross shutting down because they *thought* about going spec? Jesus it must have gotten really bad.
The CART split pushed me to F1. I don't follow Indy nearly as much as I used to. Too bad egos had to ruin, at the time, a pretty good trajectory for the series.
@@earlybirdearlybird1371 I'm not sure you understand what I'm talking about. But, that's OK. The fact is the CART/IRL split defined the collapse of American open wheel racing, at least at the time. Tony George's hubris, only based on the fact that his family owned IMS, was the culprit.
The problem is Nascar believes they're they F1 of America... So they don't see it like that at all... I'm honestly shocked the TV deal was as good as it was. The way Nascar keeps crapping all over their fans idk how anyone is left to watch... I used to ONLY watch Nascar but haven't watched a full race since probably like 2006. Once they went to stage racing and "playoffs" i was over it. Also the drivers are all copy pastes of each other and its just flat out boring now... My main grievance though is the fact that Nascar believes they're above their fans. They think they can expand in places like LA, New York, Chicago.... I say to that... Good luck... Sooner or later the fans will be tired of it all and leave...
How would redoing the chassis boost fans? The upside to near static changes is in costs and knowledge on what breaks and why. In the long run helping to keep costs down.
I have been to over 80 Formula One GP since 1982. Once the new hybrid era came in, I started attending local Indycar races. The racing is actually better and the entertainment value for the $ was much better. I have not been to an F1 race since 2014.
Ah my mistake, I worded it completely wrong. In 2016, the engines cost roughly $1,000,000 to provide for an entire season - I got my wording mixed up and said just for the indy500, my apologies!
I definitely agree with you on the Ovals. One thing that really sets Indycar apart from F1 or Nascar is are the top speeds. Lacking any big ovals other then Indy takes away the opportunity to showcase one of the things that makes the sport so special. As a fan and an Indianapolis native, I'm really hoping they get this figured out. I'm not sure what it would take (Andretti getting in on partial series ownership?), and I'm really hoping the new deal with Fox sports is a net positive, but only time will tell.
What brought me to indycar was the oval racing. I’ve watched that (Fontana 2015 the best oval race of all time) and some CART races which were absolute PEAK entertainment. Indycar need to go back to the foundations of CART. Bring more ovals back (Kansas, Michigan, Homestead, etc), put races on YT for us European watchers out there. Make the series more available outside the US too.
New chassis for 2026, and adopt engine from the IMSA/WEC LMDH class to open up options for the manufacturers and allow them to use the same power plants for both/all three series, keeping costs down but still promoting innovation and variety.
I agree completely with this. Take a spec Dallara chassis from a different series, and use a "plug-and-play" model for engines. How cool would it be to see the Arrow Mclaren cars powered by Mclaren engines?
im an outsider looking in, and everytime i see racing in indycar, it looks like the best racing out there, but there really is no easy way to watch indycar in australia like i can with f1, v8's and nascar, through KAYO, and to see all these issues in the series really sucks, because i feel like if it was on kayo aswell, then itd be a must watch week in week out for me hopefully the management issues are sorted soon because damn i wanna watch indycar more 😂
Moving to hybrids isn’t the solution. Listen to a stock car in NASCAR and it shakes the ground around you, listen to an F1 car and it sounds like a Honda motorcycle. The reality is in America we want V8s driven by local drivers. You can see this by how fast Sprint Car racing is growing. That’s the most exciting form of racing around and it’s based around tiny cars, big V8s, local tracks and local drivers.
@@ngc-fo5te and after decades of decline NASCAR is still significantly more popular than IndyCar drawing more than double the viewership. Hence the point of the video-IndyCar dealing with big issues.
Indycars biggest problem is they don't care what their fans want which is recognizable drivers and Less road/street courses. Noone like follow the leader driving. I refuse to call them races
I would be hurt if Indycar were to collapse but the Social media for the series isn’t that good, the TV coverage isn’t that good, and consistently losing tracks every year isn’t helping. I would rather they add 1-2 long term races overseas like in Australia or Japan and gain new fans than consistently losing tracks in the US and staying stagnant. The chassis does need to be updated but they really need a new engine manufacturer(s). This won’t happen but bring in the LMDH engine regulations, get a few chassis manufacturers signed up and let teams go at it.
Based on a Reddit post (yeah I know), ICS only employs one guy for their entire social media channels - not one team; ONE GUY to handle their Twitter, RUclips, Instagram, Tiktok. IDK if it's still true, but their post output still convinced me it still is.
What IndyCar needs is the open wheel version of what IMSA and WEC created with their rulebook for Hypercar/GT-P. Allow people apply their own designs around the IR-18 tub, with the current engine combos or, build your own chassis and engine and set a performance point that the cars must meet in downforce, drag, weight and power/torque of the engines... Giving people more options for entry will bring more to the fold. The only thing I would add to that, is there should be some kind of budget cap to keep development costs from spiraling out of control.
Honestly for me there are 2 reasons I don't watch indy car. For one they cut to commercials so many times during the race when I've seen it on TV and there nothing more that I hate than ads during a race. The second being I can't find anywhere to watch it since I don't live in the states and I can't buy the indycar equivalent of f1tv. However I do watch a lot of indycar content because I do have genuine interest in the sport.
Indycar's main problem is one no-one talks about:The racing isn't actually as good as the marketing makes it seems it is The cars are great looking and a challenge for the drivers, all things that should provide exciting racing Then the majority of races come down to who can drive around the track at the slowest pace to save the most fuel, and do 1 less pit stop than their rivals Unless you get a random yellow at a point in the race that throws off the fuel strategy, it's a procession 8/10, even at some of the best tracks in the world like Road America Race Control makes this worse by the extremely dangerous policy of, if a car crashes or breaks down while the leaders are hitting the pits, they leave the pits open for a lap or two so they can finish their pit cycle, meaning a car is literally left in harms way just so the leaders can run to their pit stop program without any dramas Pit stop strategy BEFORE driver safety? What is this? A car is either in a dangerous position or is isn't? It either needs a yellow straight away or not at all. So yeah, people are turning off due to the fuel saving filled, processional races, everything else about the hybrids coming in (good thing) or lack of Ovals (NASCAR bought up the oval tracks years ago, Texas was a track hire operation, they didn't give 2 shits about Indycar,you could tell that when they put that speedy dry down to make passing better for NASCAR that killed any chance Indycar would ever have a good race there again, they deliberately want Indycar out of their tracks) is just behind the scenes stuff that the hardcore fans worry about that the casual fans have no idea about when they put on a race They just want to be entertained, and Indycar has been lacking that recently, it seriously needs to work out banning refueling for the non-Indy races
All of this. You can only watch Dixon or Palou filter to the lead on strategy and just drive away so many times and tell the fans it's exciting. The ovals generally offer more excitement, but fans don't come to them. And the constantly, CONSTANTLY shifting calendar has made it impossible for more than a few events to become staples of their market's sports calendar. You can't expect tends of thousands of people to travel to each race and buy tickets, but events rarely get to stay on one weekend long enough for locals to make it an annual part of THEIR calendar.
@@EduardoBrito-hx7glToo slow and not safe enough. The road course package on an Indycar punches out over 700 horsepower and way more downforce, and the safety cell is arguably stronger than an F1 car to make catch fence impacts survivable at 200+ MPH.
Hard to tell if the problem is everything you said or just a lack of team diversity and funding pipelines. With so few teams each can only put all their eggs in one basket and it's up to us to guess which one has all the eggs😅
I think Indy should for tiny biofuel running V8s instead of hybrid V6s. That way it will be differentiated enough from F1 in terms of the PU while leaning further into the "motorsport for motorsport fans" identity, as well as creating a more environmentally friendly image (which is the sole purpose of hybrid power units).
I remember sitting on the golf course 15 years ago with two friends of mine, both IndyCar/CART series Champions. They were both still active drivers, Top 6 talent in the field capable of winning each race weekend. We lamented all day and many, many days since about all of these same issues. IndyCar wants the woman demographic, blacks, rock n' roll, country, NASCAR, F1, urban, rural, maybe next it will be tranny. Here are three facts: 1. I have been around professional sports teams & athletes my whole life. 2. I am on a first name basis with every IndyCar Champion since Jimmy Vasser. 3. I have virtually all of the same personal interests today in my 50's as I did when I was 10 years old. Excluding technology, nothing has changed. IndyCar needs to focus their marketing on 10 year-olds. Ask MLB, the NFL, & Disney how that model has worked.
People complain about how Dallara is the only manufacture and wished it was like the 90s but you have to remember Reynard is defunt and gone forever and LOLA is back hiwever they seem like they'll only focus on Endurance Racing
I watch being disciplines of motor racing, and Indycar missed one of the biggest ways of getting the brand out there: a game. It's cool that it's on iRacing and at least one other game, but a stand alone title like what you get with F1 every year and you have had a various points in time with NASCAR would have done a ton on getting the series out there. It doesn't help that there are a bunch of F2 castoffs with very little as far as unique drivers. F1 prospects and castoffs litter the grid. It might as well be F2 America instead of a stand alone series half the time.
I doubt each engine is 1 million out the door but I would believe thats relates to the cost of the program overall. There HAVE been changes to the chassis and aero but afaik the suspension is the same as its been since it was unveiled. They arent getting new engines only adding on hybrid. The new engine program for the 2.4L engine was cancelled.
I have been to over 80 Formula One GP since 1982. Once the new hybrid era came in, I started attending local Indycar races. The racing is actually better and the entertainment value for the $ was much more rewarding.
@@chrisccc22 that’s really cool, I haven’t been to either of them live as they don’t race in New Zealand. I’m hoping to be able to cross the ditch to watch f1 at Albert park one year and I’d love to go back to the states and watch some Indy and nascar live! Thanks for the tip! 👍
No innovation. No real danger. Too many foreign drivers. Indy car racing became big because of the innovation. And the danger of driving open wheel cars at high speeds. And American drivers the fans could relate too and admire. And could follow for decades. All of that is gone.
They should race with gasoline engines based on NASCAR long-blocks. They'd sound great, cost nothing compared to pointless turbo/hybrids and make for better racing. They also need to make Roger Penske stop running a team in his own series. I don't have any interest in watching the guy who killed Trans Am and Can Am, and whose success in NASCAR coincided with rapid growth being replaced by collapse; running a series where he controls all of the moving parts.
I mean F1 has a huge problem as much as Europeans think they have broken into the American market but they get trounced by NASCAR and there rating from drive to survive are slowly shrinking and I think if NASCAR does does do more international races it will do well. People in North America and guys and girl around the world like a little body work and beating and banging.
Texas was not a big hit with drivers or fans. Traction compound on the track for NASCAR created slick spots for the Indy cars. Ticket sales were so poor the only people who attended was due to the fact you got a free Indy car seat with your NASCAR ticket.
Indy cars problem started in the 70s. They stooped running dirt, with local drivers. Who cares whos racing, its not relatable, he didnt race the hoosier hundred the friday before the big one. Theres no connection to the people that truly built indy and the ones who race today.
Indy car should go back to manual shifting ,open tires,open engine manufacturers and chassis. Find they best combo like in the 90’s. With cart. The cars looked better too. Ditch the ugly screen and do the halo. Though I hate both driver safety is important. And add more horsepower. And bigger purses
Indy car racing lost the plot when the series split in the 90's. It wouldn't be a great loss to see the entire series simply fade into history. Bummer to lose the Indy 500 though- that's a pretty good show even if most of the action happens on the last few laps.
Interesting. Fans comment on the dated chassis and the engine issues. But I think that misses the point for getting people drawn in. First is how many people can look at a car anywhere in this video and tell me what the sponsor is? Darn few times unless you are a die hard. How would I as a potential sponsor look at that? Second is insert driver name for sponsor and ask the same question. Which makes a chicken and egg issue for promoters. Need the sponsor bucks to make a killer party to sell tickets to. Killer parties with people make sponsors want in. That simple/hard.
Part of the problem is Indycar hiring people that make stupid decisions like giving MSG an exclusive license for video games. Thankfully, iRacing got it back, but the damage has been done. Another problem is availability, while NASCAR doesn’t quite have the same problem. F1’s F1TV is by far the best bang for your buck and INDYCAR and NASCAR could benefit the same, but the money they get for television rights, trumps the need for viewers.
@@crazysoundmanwith lots of commercials. Screw that! Peacock use to be good when races didn’t have commercials on Peacock. I rather pay $70/yr for F1 and have more content than I can watch in a given race weekend and outside of race weekend all while being commercial free.
I was an Indycar fan back in the 80s and 90s but the "new" Indycar seems like they manufacture dumb rules to make it more "fair". I prefer F1 by a LONGSHOT.
American's love the oval it's that simple, why else would the Indy racing League have had more than double the weekend attendance compared to the CART series. When the two series re-joined what did they do? They started getting rid of the ovals in favor of the less popular race and street circuits. You went from like 30 races a year to what 14, and only because of the double weekends. Indycar is like America itself too self involved and fading into obsolescence due to stagnation and stubborn unwillingness to innovate. Now I'm an F1 guy, have been for 30 years, so I like all racing but the ovals are unique. The real problem in Indycar, amongst the many problems, is the idiotic regulations that are supposed to make the sport more competitive but do the complete opposite. Scott Dixon has been my boy since indy lights, and I know he's good, but no driver should be able to race from last place to first if the racing was truly competitive. It's not like a Lewis drive in F1 from last to first because he happens to have the fastest car. American racing strives for commonality of stockcar racing meaning the best should win but that's just not always true.
But it's also why I refuse to watch Indycar in the UK. Because it's on a channel that promotes the worst motorsport on earth aka F1. If I'm watching Indycar, it will not be on an F1 channel. Because if I was paying to watch Indycar or I watched it on there, I feel I'm promoting F1 and supporting F1's BS racing. Rather have had the option to watch Indycar online on their website.
As a viewer from across the pond, even I could see this has been on the cards. I'm a racing fan BUT also a car enthusiast, so I do enjoy the racing in Indy, but the WEC is where everyone wants to be in terms of showcasing engines, aero, development and brand names. This is why it surprises me that Roger Penske is so far behind with Indy vs WEC. I watched the entire LeMans 24 hour from the onboard camera of the Garage56 Cup car, blown away that it could hang with the LMP2 cars on the straights and was the best sounding car in the field by a mile. Sadly in the UK there is limited Nascar coverage unless you pay for 1 additional channel, but Indy is well supported (via BT Sport/ESPN). If Indy take a look at Australian Supercars they'll see just how bad things have gotten there with only 2 cars and "1 size fits all" engines, so I pray they don't go down this route.
@@williamford9564 every year I watch the first race hoping its better. Give up its so terrible and just watch the 500. Its been that way for a very long time and so many fans will have been lost. I have been a huge motorsport fan since the late 80’s and watch all disciplines. The Indycar coverage needs the whole team gone and a fresh start.
As a Canadian fan, I struggle every season with the “where will the coverage be this year?” problem. Also, someone needs to clue in that there are probably more fans outside the US, but none of the NBC crap is available outside US except the main network. Wake up, Penske.
Fancy technology is not what makes motorsports compelling, exciting and fun to watch... It's when the cars and drivers are matched evenly enough, and the circuit is challenging enough, that it boils down to the competitive skill and hard work of the teams and their drivers. That's what makes for good racing as a spectator sport. Sure, technological improvements are interesting, but they are not prerequisite for a viable or successful racing league.
One hundred percent agree with you. People that like technology side of things, aren't motorsport fans. They are fans of cars. They should go to a local garage for that crap. Fancy tech doesn't belong in motorsport, period. Technology is boring as fuck.
But was Texas a fan favorite?? I was there last year ..and I've watched the race there over the years. No one showed up to the track, crowds were embarrassing
sprint car racing is the most competitive open wheel racing... toyota and ford and chevy are all in the sport and wouldnt be shocked by honda coming into the sport
It would help a lot if they could have all of the races accessible from one place for one. ...like really fucking helpful!!! Secondly if they could just get the back of the cars to look like an open wheel car that would be pretty nice too. Not very deep thoughts here 🤔
"The chassis has not seen a major change barring the aeroscreen in over a decade." This is false. The chassis was overhauled in 2018(to the point where it is officially known as the IR18; DW12 is now just used for marketing) heavily to improve it's impact absorption and anti-intrusion capabilities. It was actually a bigger overhaul than the addition of the aeroscreen, as the aeroscreen is the closest thing to a bolt-on part you can add to a carbon fiber chassis design, whilst the only thing that didn't change in 2018 were the engines, nosecone, and front wing mainplane. More changed going into 2018 than changed in most seasons on the old CART cars. People would probably be more aware of this had they actually used the new official name instead of sticking with the old marketing name. As for the issues with IndyCar, the current situation is certainly not a good look for IndyCar, but its also not the disaster it looks like - though if this was going on just two years ago you'd have probably heard me say differently. The thing is that the wants of the modern prospective racing fan are very different from what they were in the past. Talk to an F1 fan who got into the series through Drive 2 Survive fan and they'll generally list the technology of the cars as 3rd or 4th, sometimes 5th, on their list of things they like about F1. They'll generally list the teams, drivers, and "action" well above anything about the cars. And while F1 action has quite improved the past couple of years(despite the lack of it at the front), you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who would call it better than IndyCar amongst those who actually give Indy a fair shake. Moreover, the D2S crowd has F1 and are likely not interested in "F1 Lite," so IndyCar should be striving to avoid anything that can generate that comparison. At the end of the day, despite the car with the six year old overhaul to a 12 year old design, despite the delays in adding hybrid tech, IndyCar honestly has everything they need to be successful and appealing to the current prospective fan. THEY JUST HAVE NO F***ING CLUE HOW TO MARKET TO THEM. But the series has time to figure it out. Despite the issues it has, it has over the past few years been reliably profitable(going on a decade of being so, I might add), posted small but consistent growth most of the past few years. As long as this continues, IndyCar is NOT in trouble, and if the trend begins to reverse itself they have time to try new things. It would take a sudden, immediate, and MASSIVE downturn for IndyCar to be in genuine trouble. And I don't see that happening - the most hardcore old-schoolers make up the vast majority of people who are bothered by the notion of IndyCar being a single-make formula(me, personally, I don't LIKE it, but I've seen the potential benefits of it enough times to not panic over it), and they're not the people IndyCar needs to attract for long-term success.
thats the aero kit or bodywork, the chassis is the structural carbon fibre tub that the aero , suspension , engine/gearbox bolt to . This is essentially the same since 2012 , minus some small updates that dallara have done mainly around safety. In fact most teams are still running some of their original 2012 chassis' , the first ones they bought from dallara back when they first changed to the dw12. they dont get replaced unless they are unrepairable after a major crash , or win a 500 and go to a museum . scott mac runs an original 2012 delivered chassis.
@@AlistairMaxwell77I've been through this elsewhere with countless other people elsewhere on the internet, but the tub WAS changed. Quite a bit. All the tubs run in 2018 were new due to the added crash structures, and if you see a photo of a bare tub you can actually see the added components. Most visibly, the leading edge of the sidepods are NOT separate bodywork, they're an integrated piece of the tub.
As a brazilian, i've had the luck to watch both f1 and indycar on the biggest tv chanels here. It helped that we had awsome brazilian drivers in both series. After the f1 battles became more "artificial" with the drs, indy became that more interesting for me. But I never understood the short callendar. I mean, how does a racing series makes it's last race of the year in middle september? Just to clarify, I think that the 24 race callendar of f1 is excessive, but the indycar is way to short.
I have been to over 80 Formula One GP since 1982. Once the new hybrid era came in, I started attending local Indycar races. The racing is actually better and the entertainment value for the $ was much more value. I don't know how old you are but I do remember both series racing in Brazil as far back as the early 90s for sure. Maybe even earlier. You have to admit, both of those series were in their prime when tobacco companies funded the sport.
@@chrisccc22 that's right. It bothers me a lot nowardays when mclaren does a event with an older car. They simply remove the tabaco logos from it. Sometimes they change the tone of the colour.
Have an open engine formula with the only rules being. 1. Engine must fit in this space in the car. 2. Fuel tank is this size. 3. Engine must be safe. 4. Maximum revs (Whatever is suitable that the car won't fly off the track at Indianapolis or any of the ovals). 5. Separate championship for best engine manufacturer with points for the top 3 finishes for each engine manufacturer at each race going towards their points tally. Have a sponsor for that championship and use that for prize money to go to the engine manufacturers. This would encourage engine providers as they could develop whatever engine they want and this will allow them to do R and D for their other car ventures. Too many racing championships struggle to get engine providers because the rules don't suit the types of engines they are trying to develop.
Very informative. My favorite series also, for 60 years. Sorry to see the continued decline in oval racing. Though the road and street courses are entertaining, wish INDYCAR would get closer to a 50-50 mix with more 1.5 mile or greater tracks. As I recall, when INDYCAR (USAC, CART) was 100% oval, it was more popular than NASCAR. Could it be that simple? Please keep us posted. Thx
IndyCar needs more ovals and needs... a highlight montage. A way to attract in new fans. Crazy overtakes, huge crashes, drivers showing emotion (Will Power with a double middle finger or someone cheering or both) and a reason to make fans tune in. It needs the hype back... and my hype was killed when Texas Motor Speedway was removed. IndyCar CANNOT allow for one of the best races of all time (PPG 375) to be removed the following year.
But nobody shows up to the oval races i'm sorry. Except for Indy there are no sold out ovals. Texas might have given good racing but what use is that if nobody shows up to the races at Texas. Name me the last time a crowd was sold out at Texas Motor Speedway in an IndyCar race
@@eggselent9814 and thats the problem... but try to think more about global appeal. if indycar had a program like F1TV attendance wouldnt matter nearly as much. advertisements and sponsors would be bringing in the money.
@@yhellohi have to agree with eggselent. I went to Texas 3 years in a row then they moved the date way up and it didn’t work for me anymore. And when i was going the crowds were sparse and if i didn’t tell people about the race, most didn’t even know it existed.
On the spec engine mention: instead of a spec engine (or worse, a single engine program) they should open up the rules to allow other manufacturers to build engines, either with their own badging on them or, as Cosworth did in 2003, with another company's badging on the side (remember the 2003 Chevworth engine?) I mean, for years Cosworth, for instance, worked with Ford on Indycar engines (the DF-series and XF-series) and if the rules were opened up (and a baseline of performance set so as to avoid 2012's Lotus disaster) the potential is there for another engine builder to come in and shoulder some of the load.
I've been an IndyCar fan since the mid 90s in Kindergarten, watching the CART ChampCars and IRL IndyCars, though it wasn't until I was older that I understood why there were two IndyCar Series at the time and only one raced at Indy. The league is underrated AF, but unfortunately there's too many people who don't know it's a series, instead of INDY 500!!!!! Then crickets... I enjoy series like IndyCar and ARCA with their heavily-varied schedules in a variety of atmospheres.
Start the season in Australia, like they used to in the early to mid 90s. If not Surfers Paradise, then join up with Supercars at Newcastle. That would benefit GM for marketing purposes. Finish the season in Japan with Super GT on the road circuit, oval or combo like Daytona. How could Honda not love that? IndyCar used to be a global series. It's become too stale (except the racing aspect) and dependent on domestic interest. All the other points you raised are spot on.
Newcastle is off the supercar calendar with little to no prospect of coming back, it was also far to narrow for Indycar to work, Supercars themselves were too big.
@@Loose89 That's sad to hear. I'm sure the drivers and fans would prefer Surfers Paradise anyway. More space there than that new Detroit street circuit.
@@toryrobinson8904 unfortunately when it comes to Surfers Paradise, the local state government who pays for it says the event is held at the end of October or not at all. And considering same state government is paying out billions for the 2032 olympics the event at Surfers might not even be around much longer itself.
I'm an US based F1 fan that has occasionally dipped his toes into Indycar. What makes American racing so difficult to watch on TV for me is the PIP or full breaks in the action for ads. I mean, the cars are covered in ads, the drivers are covered in ads, the track is covered in ads... Now let's take a break from a battle for the lead to run a 30 second spot for Dove body wash. But don't get it twisted, I fully understand that ads pay for the event and it's broadcast, and the way things are currently done are unlikely to change. I'm just saying an uninterrupted broadcast would do a lot to earn my viewership and my fandom. I would even pay a subscription to do so.
It is not a hardware problem. The current cars provide terrific racing and keep costs down compared to changing the chassis and motors. They need a Drive To Succeed.
Need a new car, half of the interest is the technology. I've been watching and attending since the 80's. Wouldn't need to keep costs down if ratings were good. Sponsors would be plentiful.
Honda is so fickle about racing. In F1 they come back with McLaren, switch to Red Bull, announce they're bailing then RB starts winning and they're like "ok we'll stay, sort of." Do you want to race or don't you?
Honestly, I think the big problem with INDYCAR rn, much like NASCAR in it's steep decline throughout the 2010's, is complacency. Everyone is too comfortable with how things are currently. No new chassis, no new engine and very few schedule changes year on year. And with Indy losing another fan favorite circuit in Texas, there's very little incentive for new viewers to come in and watch besides the Indy 500 every year. In recent years, we've seen new generations of cars and regulations in almost every other major motorsport: F1, NASCAR, IMSA/WEC, WRC, FE, ect. The racing is good, probably the best in any motorsports series out there right now, but that alone doesn't move the needle. Also, one more point, their social media is probably the worst out of the major motorsports as well. F1 and NASCAR have outshone Indy in this aspect, as well as WEC with their behind the scenes videos on youtube a week or so after every race. 100 days to Indy exists, but when compared to NASCAR's new series on Netflix along with DTS, they get outcompeted and upstaged despite their product being the most intriguing and competitive out of the 3 series.
Here’s the solution: 1. Homologate an price fix ALL aero & chassis packages 2. Freeze them after 2 years 3. Deregulate engine suppliers entirely. Allow run-what-you-brung so long as the following: - strict weight limits - homologate & make all engines available to all teams - price cap cost of engine that a team has to pay (mfgs are free to take a loss on each engine if they so choose) This will allow cars to get much faster/louder and create a spectacle.
If only Lotus' engine hadn't flopped. That would have solved the need for a third engine supplier. Also, there might be more OEM interest in joining IndyCar if there wasn't a clear example of a manufacturer joining, being uncompetitive, and losing all their customers before the halfway point of their first season.
The IndyCar Hybrid will have a paddle to activate charging manually. When you are drafting you can either lift off the throttle to save fuel or stay on the throttle and activate charging. The system uses a supercapacitor which will charge rapidly but have a short power boost. In theory it should work decently well at IMS with the long straights.
I disagree that technology improvements would boost viewership. The cars are close to perfect now, as the racing is top-rate. The problems in my view: 1) too many teams and liveries make it difficult to follow from a viewer's perspective; 2) the tv experience is sub-par, particularly versus F1; 3) everything looks low-rent versus F1 (tracks, podium ceremonies, etc.); 4) no "Drive to Survive" to fire people up.
Here's a solution for the engine situation - have a spec cost capped 2.65l V8 turbo like in the glory days of the 1980s/90s but connect that with an open hybrid system limited only by a cost cap and safety regs. Fans get the noise and spectacle, manufacturers get to develop the tech they want to develop for road cars, everyone wins. (For F1 replace the V8 with a naturally aspirated 3.0l V12)
Wouldn’t work, remember that the current OEMs have input on the engine formula. If the wanted large cylinder counts they would have advocated for them. They don’t want that.
@@rexthewolf3149 in the long term manufacturers don’t care about anything with cylinders. Letting them develop hybrid systems with few restrictions is what would get them on board and the spectacle of the engines is what will attract the fans. Remember the internal combustion engine in my proposal would be a spec part made by Ilmor or whoever.
The Split still shows its damage
The original.......77.
I love the racing in Indycar, but it's basically unwatchable on TV because of commercial after commercial after commercial.
Yeah they act like you gotta be on the edge of your seat and don't miss a second then cut to a 5 minute commercial break
Isn’t all TV like this?
@SuperMacGuy Not really. Pretty much everything else stops for the commercial. What doesn't besides Indycar and maybe Nascar? Dunno about Nascar tbh. All other sports and programming do as far as I can tell.
@@SuperMacGuy American TV is, over here in Europe the norm is like three ad breaks per f1 race, the last ad break usually in the down time between the post race interviews and podium. And obviously on F1TV it was none. When I tried to watch the indy 500 in 2022 I gave up before the halfway mark, absolutely unwatchable with what felt like 5 minutes of ads every 10 minutes, 2023 I watched a pirate stream thankfully and it was a lot of fun
Exactly. And with every ad break, there’s a minutes worth of bumper going to ads while the announcer screams at you about some other show coming up on Peacock while showing anything else except cars on track, then it’s the same thing coming back from the ad break. I calculated it one time and for an average Indycar race, only about 30% of the broadcast was full screen real time cars on track. Everything else was commercial, filler, Interview, or crowd shot.
The lack of ovals isn’t IndyCar’s fault, it’s NASCAR’s. They view IndyCar as their biggest competitor, and they own half of the big ovals in the US (the other half are owned by a company that is basically a NASCAR puppet), and they’re outright gatekeeping the ovals to monopolize them by ordering these tracks to give the IndyCar races the absolute bare-minimum marketing while going all-in on marketing NASCAR and ARCA races. They shut down Nazareth in 2004, sold Pikes Peak in 2005, and reconfigured many ovals with progressive banking, all with the express purpose of fucking over IndyCar.
Penske owned Nazareth and sold it to ISC. Penske owned Michigan and sold it to ISC. Penske owned California and sold it to ISC. The same Penske that bought IMS and IndyCar and fans believed would be The Great Savior.
IndyCar kicked Pocono to the curb, not the other way around. And Pocono had good attendance. Really the problem is that the large ovals are too dangerous for these cars and spectators, and the small ovals are too small for them.
I’m aware off nascar owning a lot off oval tracks and screwing indycar over but Why is progressive banking ovals bad for indycar?
Progressive banking may be bad for Indycar, but it absolutely works for stock cars. And if stock cars is BY FAR your primary customer.... Progressive banking allows side-by-side racing on tracks that were previously single-line. There's far more side-by-side racing at Bristol now than there was prior to this banking.
@@discodavid26 Las Vegas 2011. That’s why.
Yes, and Bristol SUCKS now. In the late 90's you could not get a ticket to Bristol, today even the night race is maybe 40% attendance.@@gearhead366
Im from germany and I really started LOVING indycar back when it was still sponsored by Verizon. Then they stopped uploading videos to RUclips and I wasnt willing to pay monthly just for the indycar races. There is so much great motorsports to choose from, they really shot themselves in the foot with that decision.
Usually these headlines are pure click bait, but you’re spot on here, there needs to be way more innovation in indycar, they need to be at least 3-4 seconds per lap faster and lighter, a new chassis should be mandatory every 10 years at most and the teams should also be free to design their own suspension to help with development
Exactly. The room for innovation is what I like most about F1.
As European and F1 fan, I remember CART series in 90' and i was enjoying that version the most.
CART was awesome, yeah.
As a 48 year fan and obviously an American, I’m dumbfounded that Penske would risk his legacy by letting Indycar fail. His Indy 500 wins are credited to his drivers first and the team owner second. Perhaps he doesn’t quite get that. He is old and has enough money to make it successful. Pay engine manufacturers, pay tracks, pay teams some of your wealth and he could die a king. Someone needs to remind him of the Mark Donahue days when racing was all that mattered. 😢
Tony Hulman knew Roger Penske, did business with Roger Penske, never trusted Roger Penske
He's got the same problem Echlestone had. The guy is too old. But common now. Indycar isn't going to fail. It's just not living up to what it can be. Yet
People do the dumbest stuff when they're senile
His legacy is secure…
What if I tell you what to spend your money on
1) The engine lease costs the teams a million dollars per year. Honda and Chevy loose money on each car in the series.
2) The engines are the same, the hybrid power units are coming out after INDY.
3) Ilmore does not build the Honda engines
4) Before the split Indycar had higher ratings than NASCAR and was seen as a threat by F1. Big Bill France and Satan, I mean Bernie Ecclestone, blew smoke up Tony George's backside until in a fit of ego he split American open wheel racing into CART and his IRL which basically gutted Indycar racing and caused the situation we have today.
5) The DW12 has had multiple upgrades and is easily the safest open wheel chassis in the world.
As stated by another RUclipsr, a quick and what I think would be a major step forward would be to build a chassis that engine manufacturers could drop their GT3 engines directly in to. That alone could turn the worlds eyes to Indycar. Let the engine manufacturers tweek their engines as they see fit.
Or do what Hypercar/LMDH did and give a set maximum horsepower and torque curve, external dimensions, and minimum weight for the drivetrain and then just let the manufacturers have at it. It's what got us Cadillac's screamer of a V8, Acura's totally-not-an-Indycar-engine, the _third_ coming of Porsche's RS Spyder engine, and BMW's old DTM engine all in a single category.
Agree! I think the way to get more manufacturers involved is to SIMPLIFY the engine specs. It costs way to much to develop the hybrid tech, and it doesn't add anything to the racing. Trying to out-green F1 just isn't going to work. I'm not even sure it's working for F1 actually.
came here to say something similar - GTP engines, not GT3 engines. Maybe that is what you meant? Surely that would get a 3rd manufacturer involved if not more.
I feel IndyCar and NASCAR would be close together due to the amount of road courses on the IndyCar schedule. IndyCar racing on ovals is the most entertaining shit ever, and I started watching in 2019, so I missed the big oval land-rush in the 2000s. I cant believe Texas is off the schedule but I’ll still be watching all the races. The management needs to get there shit together.
I would highly recommend going onto the IndyCar youtube channel and watching some of those early 2000's IRL races. They are truly entertaining for cars that Paul Tracy termed as crapwagons.
Yeah, Indy really needs more ovals. However, safety concerns keeps the big ones like Pocono and Michigan off of the schedule, as well as Nascar gatekeeping some of the other ones given that Nascar owns most of the big ovals in this country
I really want Indycar to get better in the future
But not with Roger Penske - The captain with a sinking boat !
Concerning hybrid engines: They vastly increase complexity and cost, but do not provide better racing. Unless engine manufacturers are actively interested in switching to hybrids, don't bother.
I love IndyCar and have followed it to some degree since the late '80s. However, it is obvious that ever since IndyCar first started regularly competing for a series championship, not just the Indy 500, in1920 it has put so many holes in its own feet that they are basically blown clean off at this point. It was the most popular racing series in the United States for decades, but constant mismanagement, bad sponsorship decisions and multiple splits have cost them untold attention and dollars. A couple of years into the most recent and damaging split I ended up losing most of my interest for nearly two decades as well. It is frustrating that they can't get out of their own way.
Another criticism I have, which seems minor, but speaks do their apparent disinterest in optics is the podium ceremony. The IndyCar podium is way too chintzy. Obviously there is a lot more money in F1 for all of the post-race video boards, cooldown room and a podium that appears classy, well-built and permanent and I get that the whole vibe is wildly upper-crust European all the way down to the fanfare they play for the champagne spraying that would never fly in an American-based sports league. However, the IndyCar podium looks like someone found a couple cardboard boxes, painted them black and then had their kid assemble a backdrop with their Erector Set. It looks cheap and doesn't give the impression that this is a series that wants to be considered the highest rung of their motorsport. I would think there is a solution that isn't as hoity-toity as F1, retains the IndyCar fan-friendly, fan-accessible vibe, but at the same time doesn't look like the winners circle at the local dirt track.
I feel like the simple answer would be to just have a victory lane type celebration/ending same as nascar.
What bothers me are the cheesy rules about yellow flags and the overblown attempt to make it all "fair". I started watching Indycar after falling in love with F1 and it seems like F2 or F3 level racing in comparison.
What a disjointed post. 1920? Huh?
@@413TomaccoRoad It was sort of two comments in one and I see how the first paragraph was a little confusing. The early history of American Open-Wheel/IndyCar racing is a little fuzzy. AAA was the sanctioning body from 1905-1955. Many official records show 1905 and 1916 as the first two seasons with an official series championship. Other sources say the first IndyCar races took place in 1909, the same year that IMS first opened, but it doesn't appear that there was any officially sanctioned series that year. The first Indy 500 was in 1911, but it was not yet part of a series. The 1920 date is listed in the records as the third official National Championship season and included the Indy 500. An official championship season has existed every year since then in one form or another except for the WWII years. IndyCar officially dates its history, champions and race winners back to that 1905 season, but I feel like 1920 is the real start date since that's when it became a yearly series.
As an F1 fan but who also enjoys watching Indycar the podiums , cool down rooms etc are a requirement for F1 to use a circuit. The circuits pay F1 to come and have to meet minimum standards. The reason is maximizing the show for TV. The show doesnt stop with the finishing flag. The drivers are the stars and people want a behind the scenes listen in to the top three drivers talking about the race. They want to hear every driver being interviewed. F1 has its traditions and I think it started in Monaco with the podium but now world wide every podium is unique and the way it is done. Wildly upper crust European statement is silly and it simply isnt. However I do agree that after the race in Indycar it is all very underwhelming
for a series that it supposed to0 be important.
Why do I watch Indycar because the racing has more action. Why do I prefer F1 because its like the difference between playing chess and checkers. There is so much more to chess as an experience. However I do want Indycar to survive and flourish. Its not and has never been a threat to F1 and vice versa . F1 will never be much bigger than it is now in the US. It already has 24 races and is maxed out. The US is important but F1 is world wide so will never have more than three or perhaps four in the US. I think even four is too many. Indycar needs to fight Nascar and not worry about F1.
I'm not too much worried about Indycar's future. A spec engine may well be the way to go. But i do think it is time for a new chassis...
I've been a NASCAR fan for relatively long and for me it's always been the most interesting motorsport to watch. It's always a surprise to see who wins each week and there is a lot of close racing. It's a nice break from F1 where you basically know who will be fast going into a weekend. Indycar has gotten my interest lately as it's also not a given who is going to be fast in a weekend. NASCAR's early appearance on live television really helped it gain a big fanbase with a lot more people being introduced to it and getting interested in the sport in the early 80's.
NASCAR a big no me, after they introduced " play-off" system (especially after 2011). Racing is not a team sports (MLB, NFL... ) so "play-off" is just wrong. I do not care much about F1 as well, not just that you know who will win that week, but also very poor liveries - much too dark a lot of grey and black, unlike NASCAR and Indycar, F1 cars on TV are not easily recognizable (unlike 80, 90-ies, until ~2006), simply no F1 car is, for example, totally yellow (like Camel earlier, or Pennzoil entries in USA series). And - MotoGP series is simply the best for me (2 wheels though). There is Moto3 category (250cc bikes), where often 12 guys are within 2 seconds at the finish line - fantastic.
I feel the same about indycar. I don't care about hybrids, and I actually think the chassis (which are now LIGHTER than F1 chassis by almost 150lbs) make for really good, raceable cars on almost any track, from ovals to road courses to extremely bumpy street circuits. Because the chassis have been around for so long, they are relatively cheap to run, and I imagine it's easier for smaller teams to buy used from bigger teams than if they introduce a new chassis.
Things aren't perfect, and safety is an issue, but I think Honda's problem of a lack of return on their investment comes down to Indycar's lack of exposure, and the fact that they don't race on circuits we want to see them race on. Less new street circuits and more of the classic big oval races would be good, as well as more classic road courses. It would be amazing to see them branch out to circuits outside of North America, also, like they've been talking about for over a decade.
I really like David Land's idea of turning Indycar into the anti-F1 if it goes spec by adopting an 8cyl
It would be a good idea but it would result in OEMs completely abandoning the sport.
@@rexthewolf3149 I mean yeah that was sort of a given
You can’t be the anti f1 if you’re slower
David Land arguing for spec anything? You mean the David Land that celebrated Global Rallycross shutting down because they *thought* about going spec? Jesus it must have gotten really bad.
The CART split pushed me to F1. I don't follow Indy nearly as much as I used to. Too bad egos had to ruin, at the time, a pretty good trajectory for the series.
That was the goal and the trap of Ecclestone ! Shame you´re not a real fan.
@@earlybirdearlybird1371 I'm not sure you understand what I'm talking about. But, that's OK. The fact is the CART/IRL split defined the collapse of American open wheel racing, at least at the time. Tony George's hubris, only based on the fact that his family owned IMS, was the culprit.
I think that both Indycar and NASCAR should recongnize that if they support each other, they would greatly benefit from it
The problem is Nascar believes they're they F1 of America... So they don't see it like that at all... I'm honestly shocked the TV deal was as good as it was. The way Nascar keeps crapping all over their fans idk how anyone is left to watch... I used to ONLY watch Nascar but haven't watched a full race since probably like 2006. Once they went to stage racing and "playoffs" i was over it. Also the drivers are all copy pastes of each other and its just flat out boring now... My main grievance though is the fact that Nascar believes they're above their fans. They think they can expand in places like LA, New York, Chicago.... I say to that... Good luck... Sooner or later the fans will be tired of it all and leave...
How would redoing the chassis boost fans?
The upside to near static changes is in costs and knowledge on what breaks and why. In the long run helping to keep costs down.
I have been to over 80 Formula One GP since 1982. Once the new hybrid era came in, I started attending local Indycar races. The racing is actually better and the entertainment value for the $ was much better.
I have not been to an F1 race since 2014.
Where in the world do you get a $1,000,000 for each engine? Each engine can cost between $125,000 and $225,000, nowhere NEAR $1,000,000...
Ah my mistake, I worded it completely wrong. In 2016, the engines cost roughly $1,000,000 to provide for an entire season - I got my wording mixed up and said just for the indy500, my apologies!
I definitely agree with you on the Ovals. One thing that really sets Indycar apart from F1 or Nascar is are the top speeds. Lacking any big ovals other then Indy takes away the opportunity to showcase one of the things that makes the sport so special.
As a fan and an Indianapolis native, I'm really hoping they get this figured out. I'm not sure what it would take (Andretti getting in on partial series ownership?), and I'm really hoping the new deal with Fox sports is a net positive, but only time will tell.
Fans don’t want hybrid technology. Nor do they care about updating the design of the car.
What brought me to indycar was the oval racing. I’ve watched that (Fontana 2015 the best oval race of all time) and some CART races which were absolute PEAK entertainment. Indycar need to go back to the foundations of CART. Bring more ovals back (Kansas, Michigan, Homestead, etc), put races on YT for us European watchers out there. Make the series more available outside the US too.
New chassis for 2026, and adopt engine from the IMSA/WEC LMDH class to open up options for the manufacturers and allow them to use the same power plants for both/all three series, keeping costs down but still promoting innovation and variety.
I agree completely with this. Take a spec Dallara chassis from a different series, and use a "plug-and-play" model for engines. How cool would it be to see the Arrow Mclaren cars powered by Mclaren engines?
💩 … 🤮
im an outsider looking in, and everytime i see racing in indycar, it looks like the best racing out there, but there really is no easy way to watch indycar in australia like i can with f1, v8's and nascar, through KAYO, and to see all these issues in the series really sucks, because i feel like if it was on kayo aswell, then itd be a must watch week in week out for me
hopefully the management issues are sorted soon because damn i wanna watch indycar more 😂
Moving to hybrids isn’t the solution. Listen to a stock car in NASCAR and it shakes the ground around you, listen to an F1 car and it sounds like a Honda motorcycle. The reality is in America we want V8s driven by local drivers. You can see this by how fast Sprint Car racing is growing. That’s the most exciting form of racing around and it’s based around tiny cars, big V8s, local tracks and local drivers.
So why is NASCAR on a two decade downward spiral? Almost no one in the seats for their races either.
@@ngc-fo5te and after decades of decline NASCAR is still significantly more popular than IndyCar drawing more than double the viewership. Hence the point of the video-IndyCar dealing with big issues.
@@eleanmendoza I don't disagree with that - but it isn't the first time utter crap is inexplicably more popular.
2:57 wrong dude - entirely new aero in 2018, later joined by the aeroscreen in 2020.
Indycars biggest problem is they don't care what their fans want which is recognizable drivers and Less road/street courses. Noone like follow the leader driving. I refuse to call them races
I might be one of the few,but I’ll watch Indy Car over NASCRAP any day.But then again I’d watch kids race tricycles over NASCAR.
All I see is a whinny old geezer
I would be hurt if Indycar were to collapse but the Social media for the series isn’t that good, the TV coverage isn’t that good, and consistently losing tracks every year isn’t helping. I would rather they add 1-2 long term races overseas like in Australia or Japan and gain new fans than consistently losing tracks in the US and staying stagnant. The chassis does need to be updated but they really need a new engine manufacturer(s). This won’t happen but bring in the LMDH engine regulations, get a few chassis manufacturers signed up and let teams go at it.
Based on a Reddit post (yeah I know), ICS only employs one guy for their entire social media channels - not one team; ONE GUY to handle their Twitter, RUclips, Instagram, Tiktok.
IDK if it's still true, but their post output still convinced me it still is.
What IndyCar needs is the open wheel version of what IMSA and WEC created with their rulebook for Hypercar/GT-P. Allow people apply their own designs around the IR-18 tub, with the current engine combos or, build your own chassis and engine and set a performance point that the cars must meet in downforce, drag, weight and power/torque of the engines... Giving people more options for entry will bring more to the fold. The only thing I would add to that, is there should be some kind of budget cap to keep development costs from spiraling out of control.
Usain Bolt with ankle weights …
@@Clyde-2055
Indy car coming back to iracing was a small step forward. Now they just need some quality marketing.
Honestly for me there are 2 reasons I don't watch indy car. For one they cut to commercials so many times during the race when I've seen it on TV and there nothing more that I hate than ads during a race. The second being I can't find anywhere to watch it since I don't live in the states and I can't buy the indycar equivalent of f1tv. However I do watch a lot of indycar content because I do have genuine interest in the sport.
Spec racing has ruined most forms of racing. Lets let the teams get creative and let's see some real competition.
Indycar's main problem is one no-one talks about:The racing isn't actually as good as the marketing makes it seems it is
The cars are great looking and a challenge for the drivers, all things that should provide exciting racing
Then the majority of races come down to who can drive around the track at the slowest pace to save the most fuel, and do 1 less pit stop than their rivals
Unless you get a random yellow at a point in the race that throws off the fuel strategy, it's a procession 8/10, even at some of the best tracks in the world like Road America
Race Control makes this worse by the extremely dangerous policy of, if a car crashes or breaks down while the leaders are hitting the pits, they leave the pits open for a lap or two so they can finish their pit cycle, meaning a car is literally left in harms way just so the leaders can run to their pit stop program without any dramas
Pit stop strategy BEFORE driver safety? What is this? A car is either in a dangerous position or is isn't? It either needs a yellow straight away or not at all.
So yeah, people are turning off due to the fuel saving filled, processional races, everything else about the hybrids coming in (good thing) or lack of Ovals (NASCAR bought up the oval tracks years ago, Texas was a track hire operation, they didn't give 2 shits about Indycar,you could tell that when they put that speedy dry down to make passing better for NASCAR that killed any chance Indycar would ever have a good race there again, they deliberately want Indycar out of their tracks) is just behind the scenes stuff that the hardcore fans worry about that the casual fans have no idea about when they put on a race
They just want to be entertained, and Indycar has been lacking that recently, it seriously needs to work out banning refueling for the non-Indy races
All of this. You can only watch Dixon or Palou filter to the lead on strategy and just drive away so many times and tell the fans it's exciting. The ovals generally offer more excitement, but fans don't come to them. And the constantly, CONSTANTLY shifting calendar has made it impossible for more than a few events to become staples of their market's sports calendar. You can't expect tends of thousands of people to travel to each race and buy tickets, but events rarely get to stay on one weekend long enough for locals to make it an annual part of THEIR calendar.
@@fluffskunk adopt s5000 car ?
@@EduardoBrito-hx7glToo slow and not safe enough. The road course package on an Indycar punches out over 700 horsepower and way more downforce, and the safety cell is arguably stronger than an F1 car to make catch fence impacts survivable at 200+ MPH.
Hard to tell if the problem is everything you said or just a lack of team diversity and funding pipelines. With so few teams each can only put all their eggs in one basket and it's up to us to guess which one has all the eggs😅
@@nighttrain1565 Trans Am Series in TA2 are living the golden era of privateer teams
I think Indy should for tiny biofuel running V8s instead of hybrid V6s. That way it will be differentiated enough from F1 in terms of the PU while leaning further into the "motorsport for motorsport fans" identity, as well as creating a more environmentally friendly image (which is the sole purpose of hybrid power units).
OEMs aren’t interested aren’t interested in building new race engines that have more that 6 cylinder.
As a NASCAR fan, hearing people miss Texas Motor speedway is weird
Crazy aint it😂
It’s weird when Texas sucks in nascar.
I remember sitting on the golf course 15 years ago with two friends of mine, both IndyCar/CART series Champions.
They were both still active drivers, Top 6 talent in the field capable of winning each race weekend.
We lamented all day and many, many days since about all of these same issues.
IndyCar wants the woman demographic, blacks, rock n' roll, country, NASCAR, F1, urban, rural, maybe next it will be tranny.
Here are three facts:
1. I have been around professional sports teams & athletes my whole life.
2. I am on a first name basis with every IndyCar Champion since Jimmy Vasser.
3. I have virtually all of the same personal interests today in my 50's as I did when I was 10 years old. Excluding technology, nothing has changed.
IndyCar needs to focus their marketing on 10 year-olds.
Ask MLB, the NFL, & Disney how that model has worked.
People complain about how Dallara is the only manufacture and wished it was like the 90s but you have to remember Reynard is defunt and gone forever and LOLA is back hiwever they seem like they'll only focus on Endurance Racing
I watch being disciplines of motor racing, and Indycar missed one of the biggest ways of getting the brand out there: a game. It's cool that it's on iRacing and at least one other game, but a stand alone title like what you get with F1 every year and you have had a various points in time with NASCAR would have done a ton on getting the series out there.
It doesn't help that there are a bunch of F2 castoffs with very little as far as unique drivers. F1 prospects and castoffs litter the grid. It might as well be F2 America instead of a stand alone series half the time.
I doubt each engine is 1 million out the door but I would believe thats relates to the cost of the program overall.
There HAVE been changes to the chassis and aero but afaik the suspension is the same as its been since it was unveiled.
They arent getting new engines only adding on hybrid. The new engine program for the 2.4L engine was cancelled.
That guy in the middle of the video really makes his points eloquently doesn’t he 😁
Shut up James
James ur fucked 2 hours in and already 250 likes
@@emillulic7387yeh I might actually have to do this now 😭
I might start watching. As a big time f1 fan, close aggressive driving and some kiwi drivers to support sound like a pretty good option.
I have been to over 80 Formula One GP since 1982. Once the new hybrid era came in, I started attending local Indycar races. The racing is actually better and the entertainment value for the $ was much more rewarding.
@@chrisccc22 that’s really cool, I haven’t been to either of them live as they don’t race in New Zealand. I’m hoping to be able to cross the ditch to watch f1 at Albert park one year and I’d love to go back to the states and watch some Indy and nascar live! Thanks for the tip! 👍
No innovation. No real danger. Too many foreign drivers.
Indy car racing became big because of the innovation. And the danger of driving open wheel cars at high speeds. And American drivers the fans could relate too and admire. And could follow for decades.
All of that is gone.
I’m genuinely not joking last years 500 might be the best motosport race of the last 10 years only thing it needs is for more exposure
NO, it was a FAKE Race !
They should race with gasoline engines based on NASCAR long-blocks. They'd sound great, cost nothing compared to pointless turbo/hybrids and make for better racing. They also need to make Roger Penske stop running a team in his own series. I don't have any interest in watching the guy who killed Trans Am and Can Am, and whose success in NASCAR coincided with rapid growth being replaced by collapse; running a series where he controls all of the moving parts.
I mean F1 has a huge problem as much as Europeans think they have broken into the American market but they get trounced by NASCAR and there rating from drive to survive are slowly shrinking and I think if NASCAR does does do more international races it will do well.
People in North America and guys and girl around the world like a little body work and beating and banging.
Texas was not a big hit with drivers or fans. Traction compound on the track for NASCAR created slick spots for the Indy cars. Ticket sales were so poor the only people who attended was due to the fact you got a free Indy car seat with your NASCAR ticket.
Indy cars problem started in the 70s. They stooped running dirt, with local drivers.
Who cares whos racing, its not relatable, he didnt race the hoosier hundred the friday before the big one.
Theres no connection to the people that truly built indy and the ones who race today.
Indy car should go back to manual shifting ,open tires,open engine manufacturers and chassis. Find they best combo like in the 90’s. With cart. The cars looked better too. Ditch the ugly screen and do the halo. Though I hate both driver safety is important. And add more horsepower. And bigger purses
Indy car racing lost the plot when the series split in the 90's. It wouldn't be a great loss to see the entire series simply fade into history. Bummer to lose the Indy 500 though- that's a pretty good show even if most of the action happens on the last few laps.
Interesting. Fans comment on the dated chassis and the engine issues. But I think that misses the point for getting people drawn in. First is how many people can look at a car anywhere in this video and tell me what the sponsor is? Darn few times unless you are a die hard. How would I as a potential sponsor look at that? Second is insert driver name for sponsor and ask the same question. Which makes a chicken and egg issue for promoters. Need the sponsor bucks to make a killer party to sell tickets to. Killer parties with people make sponsors want in. That simple/hard.
at least its shown on sky sports now most of the time which is something for us in the UK, i do like f1 Indy and Nascar and try to watch all the races
Part of the problem is Indycar hiring people that make stupid decisions like giving MSG an exclusive license for video games. Thankfully, iRacing got it back, but the damage has been done. Another problem is availability, while NASCAR doesn’t quite have the same problem. F1’s F1TV is by far the best bang for your buck and INDYCAR and NASCAR could benefit the same, but the money they get for television rights, trumps the need for viewers.
Video on that EXACT topic coming tomorrow!
Dude peacock is 4.99, and you get to watch every race, quali and practice! It’s a great value
@@crazysoundmanwith lots of commercials. Screw that! Peacock use to be good when races didn’t have commercials on Peacock. I rather pay $70/yr for F1 and have more content than I can watch in a given race weekend and outside of race weekend all while being commercial free.
Good Job Dylan. A upload that is at a good time for most of Indycars fan base
I was an Indycar fan back in the 80s and 90s but the "new" Indycar seems like they manufacture dumb rules to make it more "fair". I prefer F1 by a LONGSHOT.
they need to fire their social media team
American's love the oval it's that simple, why else would the Indy racing League have had more than double the weekend attendance compared to the CART series. When the two series re-joined what did they do? They started getting rid of the ovals in favor of the less popular race and street circuits. You went from like 30 races a year to what 14, and only because of the double weekends. Indycar is like America itself too self involved and fading into obsolescence due to stagnation and stubborn unwillingness to innovate. Now I'm an F1 guy, have been for 30 years, so I like all racing but the ovals are unique. The real problem in Indycar, amongst the many problems, is the idiotic regulations that are supposed to make the sport more competitive but do the complete opposite. Scott Dixon has been my boy since indy lights, and I know he's good, but no driver should be able to race from last place to first if the racing was truly competitive. It's not like a Lewis drive in F1 from last to first because he happens to have the fastest car. American racing strives for commonality of stockcar racing meaning the best should win but that's just not always true.
If they go to speck engines can drivers move around more freely? Instead of being stuck only driving a Honda or Chevy ?
Cars are ugly, one brand championship. Bring back it to 90 era of CART.
Has the indycar viewing figures not increased since being on sky sports F1 channel? Certainly got me viewing for that reason
But it's also why I refuse to watch Indycar in the UK. Because it's on a channel that promotes the worst motorsport on earth aka F1. If I'm watching Indycar, it will not be on an F1 channel. Because if I was paying to watch Indycar or I watched it on there, I feel I'm promoting F1 and supporting F1's BS racing. Rather have had the option to watch Indycar online on their website.
As a viewer from across the pond, even I could see this has been on the cards. I'm a racing fan BUT also a car enthusiast, so I do enjoy the racing in Indy, but the WEC is where everyone wants to be in terms of showcasing engines, aero, development and brand names. This is why it surprises me that Roger Penske is so far behind with Indy vs WEC. I watched the entire LeMans 24 hour from the onboard camera of the Garage56 Cup car, blown away that it could hang with the LMP2 cars on the straights and was the best sounding car in the field by a mile. Sadly in the UK there is limited Nascar coverage unless you pay for 1 additional channel, but Indy is well supported (via BT Sport/ESPN). If Indy take a look at Australian Supercars they'll see just how bad things have gotten there with only 2 cars and "1 size fits all" engines, so I pray they don't go down this route.
Only a matter of time til NASCAR buys IndyCar
The TV coverage is atrocious and that is the root of all the problems.
EXACTLY!!! NBC is why I stopped watching during 2022 and this year I may even skip the Indy 500.
@@williamford9564 every year I watch the first race hoping its better. Give up its so terrible and just watch the 500. Its been that way for a very long time and so many fans will have been lost. I have been a huge motorsport fan since the late 80’s and watch all disciplines. The Indycar coverage needs the whole team gone and a fresh start.
NBC IndyCar somehow has more energy than NBC NASCAR. And it eviscerates Fox NASCAR
As a Canadian fan, I struggle every season with the “where will the coverage be this year?” problem. Also, someone needs to clue in that there are probably more fans outside the US, but none of the NBC crap is available outside US except the main network. Wake up, Penske.
Fancy technology is not what makes motorsports compelling, exciting and fun to watch... It's when the cars and drivers are matched evenly enough, and the circuit is challenging enough, that it boils down to the competitive skill and hard work of the teams and their drivers. That's what makes for good racing as a spectator sport. Sure, technological improvements are interesting, but they are not prerequisite for a viable or successful racing league.
One hundred percent agree with you. People that like technology side of things, aren't motorsport fans. They are fans of cars. They should go to a local garage for that crap. Fancy tech doesn't belong in motorsport, period. Technology is boring as fuck.
New engines and race cars cost more. Good to have new but, same helps.
I’m a cardboard box sleeping in a back of a liquor shop, spending every dollar in
Really love this channel, keep up the consistent uploads. You will return to the indycar RUclips throne with these high quality uploads regularly.
Thanks man, I'm coming to take over!!
But was Texas a fan favorite?? I was there last year ..and I've watched the race there over the years. No one showed up to the track, crowds were embarrassing
sprint car racing is the most competitive open wheel racing... toyota and ford and chevy are all in the sport and wouldnt be shocked by honda coming into the sport
Sprint car racing ? Where ? I´m German.
@@earlybirdearlybird1371 USA mainly but AUS too
It would help a lot if they could have all of the races accessible from one place for one. ...like really fucking helpful!!!
Secondly if they could just get the back of the cars to look like an open wheel car that would be pretty nice too.
Not very deep thoughts here 🤔
"The chassis has not seen a major change barring the aeroscreen in over a decade."
This is false. The chassis was overhauled in 2018(to the point where it is officially known as the IR18; DW12 is now just used for marketing) heavily to improve it's impact absorption and anti-intrusion capabilities. It was actually a bigger overhaul than the addition of the aeroscreen, as the aeroscreen is the closest thing to a bolt-on part you can add to a carbon fiber chassis design, whilst the only thing that didn't change in 2018 were the engines, nosecone, and front wing mainplane. More changed going into 2018 than changed in most seasons on the old CART cars. People would probably be more aware of this had they actually used the new official name instead of sticking with the old marketing name.
As for the issues with IndyCar, the current situation is certainly not a good look for IndyCar, but its also not the disaster it looks like - though if this was going on just two years ago you'd have probably heard me say differently. The thing is that the wants of the modern prospective racing fan are very different from what they were in the past. Talk to an F1 fan who got into the series through Drive 2 Survive fan and they'll generally list the technology of the cars as 3rd or 4th, sometimes 5th, on their list of things they like about F1. They'll generally list the teams, drivers, and "action" well above anything about the cars. And while F1 action has quite improved the past couple of years(despite the lack of it at the front), you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who would call it better than IndyCar amongst those who actually give Indy a fair shake.
Moreover, the D2S crowd has F1 and are likely not interested in "F1 Lite," so IndyCar should be striving to avoid anything that can generate that comparison. At the end of the day, despite the car with the six year old overhaul to a 12 year old design, despite the delays in adding hybrid tech, IndyCar honestly has everything they need to be successful and appealing to the current prospective fan.
THEY JUST HAVE NO F***ING CLUE HOW TO MARKET TO THEM.
But the series has time to figure it out. Despite the issues it has, it has over the past few years been reliably profitable(going on a decade of being so, I might add), posted small but consistent growth most of the past few years. As long as this continues, IndyCar is NOT in trouble, and if the trend begins to reverse itself they have time to try new things. It would take a sudden, immediate, and MASSIVE downturn for IndyCar to be in genuine trouble. And I don't see that happening - the most hardcore old-schoolers make up the vast majority of people who are bothered by the notion of IndyCar being a single-make formula(me, personally, I don't LIKE it, but I've seen the potential benefits of it enough times to not panic over it), and they're not the people IndyCar needs to attract for long-term success.
thats the aero kit or bodywork, the chassis is the structural carbon fibre tub that the aero , suspension , engine/gearbox bolt to . This is essentially the same since 2012 , minus some small updates that dallara have done mainly around safety. In fact most teams are still running some of their original 2012 chassis' , the first ones they bought from dallara back when they first changed to the dw12. they dont get replaced unless they are unrepairable after a major crash , or win a 500 and go to a museum . scott mac runs an original 2012 delivered chassis.
@@AlistairMaxwell77I've been through this elsewhere with countless other people elsewhere on the internet, but the tub WAS changed. Quite a bit. All the tubs run in 2018 were new due to the added crash structures, and if you see a photo of a bare tub you can actually see the added components. Most visibly, the leading edge of the sidepods are NOT separate bodywork, they're an integrated piece of the tub.
As a brazilian, i've had the luck to watch both f1 and indycar on the biggest tv chanels here. It helped that we had awsome brazilian drivers in both series.
After the f1 battles became more "artificial" with the drs, indy became that more interesting for me. But I never understood the short callendar. I mean, how does a racing series makes it's last race of the year in middle september? Just to clarify, I think that the 24 race callendar of f1 is excessive, but the indycar is way to short.
I have been to over 80 Formula One GP since 1982. Once the new hybrid era came in, I started attending local Indycar races. The racing is actually better and the entertainment value for the $ was much more value.
I don't know how old you are but I do remember both series racing in Brazil as far back as the early 90s for sure. Maybe even earlier. You have to admit, both of those series were in their prime when tobacco companies funded the sport.
@@chrisccc22 that's right. It bothers me a lot nowardays when mclaren does a event with an older car. They simply remove the tabaco logos from it. Sometimes they change the tone of the colour.
Well seeing as it’s only in the US, weather plays a big impact of length of season and when certain races can happen
Have an open engine formula with the only rules being.
1. Engine must fit in this space in the car.
2. Fuel tank is this size.
3. Engine must be safe.
4. Maximum revs (Whatever is suitable that the car won't fly off the track at Indianapolis or any of the ovals).
5. Separate championship for best engine manufacturer with points for the top 3 finishes for each engine manufacturer at each race going towards their points tally. Have a sponsor for that championship and use that for prize money to go to the engine manufacturers.
This would encourage engine providers as they could develop whatever engine they want and this will allow them to do R and D for their other car ventures. Too many racing championships struggle to get engine providers because the rules don't suit the types of engines they are trying to develop.
Very informative. My favorite series also, for 60 years. Sorry to see the continued decline in oval racing. Though the road and street courses are entertaining, wish INDYCAR would get closer to a 50-50 mix with more 1.5 mile or greater tracks. As I recall, when INDYCAR (USAC, CART) was 100% oval, it was more popular than NASCAR. Could it be that simple?
Please keep us posted. Thx
IndyCar needs more ovals and needs... a highlight montage. A way to attract in new fans. Crazy overtakes, huge crashes, drivers showing emotion (Will Power with a double middle finger or someone cheering or both) and a reason to make fans tune in. It needs the hype back... and my hype was killed when Texas Motor Speedway was removed.
IndyCar CANNOT allow for one of the best races of all time (PPG 375) to be removed the following year.
But nobody shows up to the oval races i'm sorry. Except for Indy there are no sold out ovals. Texas might have given good racing but what use is that if nobody shows up to the races at Texas. Name me the last time a crowd was sold out at Texas Motor Speedway in an IndyCar race
@@eggselent9814 and thats the problem... but try to think more about global appeal. if indycar had a program like F1TV attendance wouldnt matter nearly as much. advertisements and sponsors would be bringing in the money.
@@yhellohi have to agree with eggselent. I went to Texas 3 years in a row then they moved the date way up and it didn’t work for me anymore. And when i was going the crowds were sparse and if i didn’t tell people about the race, most didn’t even know it existed.
@@Mortimuss and there’s the problem. not attendance. advertisement. read my previous comment. :)
@@yhelloh i did.
On the spec engine mention: instead of a spec engine (or worse, a single engine program) they should open up the rules to allow other manufacturers to build engines, either with their own badging on them or, as Cosworth did in 2003, with another company's badging on the side (remember the 2003 Chevworth engine?)
I mean, for years Cosworth, for instance, worked with Ford on Indycar engines (the DF-series and XF-series) and if the rules were opened up (and a baseline of performance set so as to avoid 2012's Lotus disaster) the potential is there for another engine builder to come in and shoulder some of the load.
I've been an IndyCar fan since the mid 90s in Kindergarten, watching the CART ChampCars and IRL IndyCars, though it wasn't until I was older that I understood why there were two IndyCar Series at the time and only one raced at Indy. The league is underrated AF, but unfortunately there's too many people who don't know it's a series, instead of INDY 500!!!!! Then crickets... I enjoy series like IndyCar and ARCA with their heavily-varied schedules in a variety of atmospheres.
Start the season in Australia, like they used to in the early to mid 90s. If not Surfers Paradise, then join up with Supercars at Newcastle. That would benefit GM for marketing purposes.
Finish the season in Japan with Super GT on the road circuit, oval or combo like Daytona. How could Honda not love that?
IndyCar used to be a global series. It's become too stale (except the racing aspect) and dependent on domestic interest. All the other points you raised are spot on.
Newcastle is off the supercar calendar with little to no prospect of coming back, it was also far to narrow for Indycar to work, Supercars themselves were too big.
@@Loose89 That's sad to hear. I'm sure the drivers and fans would prefer Surfers Paradise anyway. More space there than that new Detroit street circuit.
@@toryrobinson8904 unfortunately when it comes to Surfers Paradise, the local state government who pays for it says the event is held at the end of October or not at all. And considering same state government is paying out billions for the 2032 olympics the event at Surfers might not even be around much longer itself.
I may say this in sarcasm, BUT this is still a fear to me….. I swear Roger will turn the Indy 500 on the oval into the Indy 500K on the road course
I'm an US based F1 fan that has occasionally dipped his toes into Indycar. What makes American racing so difficult to watch on TV for me is the PIP or full breaks in the action for ads. I mean, the cars are covered in ads, the drivers are covered in ads, the track is covered in ads... Now let's take a break from a battle for the lead to run a 30 second spot for Dove body wash. But don't get it twisted, I fully understand that ads pay for the event and it's broadcast, and the way things are currently done are unlikely to change. I'm just saying an uninterrupted broadcast would do a lot to earn my viewership and my fandom. I would even pay a subscription to do so.
It is not a hardware problem. The current cars provide terrific racing and keep costs down compared to changing the chassis and motors. They need a Drive To Succeed.
Need a new car, half of the interest is the technology. I've been watching and attending since the 80's. Wouldn't need to keep costs down if ratings were good. Sponsors would be plentiful.
So glad you're back!
I really appreciate you making these informational videos! I also want to thank you for including some of my clips!
Honda is so fickle about racing. In F1 they come back with McLaren, switch to Red Bull, announce they're bailing then RB starts winning and they're like "ok we'll stay, sort of."
Do you want to race or don't you?
If Indy car used Australasian
Sustainable fuels in a V-10 they would be back on top!!!
Bro, so happy uir back! Literally thought about you the other day! Keep killin it!
Honestly, I think the big problem with INDYCAR rn, much like NASCAR in it's steep decline throughout the 2010's, is complacency. Everyone is too comfortable with how things are currently. No new chassis, no new engine and very few schedule changes year on year. And with Indy losing another fan favorite circuit in Texas, there's very little incentive for new viewers to come in and watch besides the Indy 500 every year. In recent years, we've seen new generations of cars and regulations in almost every other major motorsport: F1, NASCAR, IMSA/WEC, WRC, FE, ect.
The racing is good, probably the best in any motorsports series out there right now, but that alone doesn't move the needle. Also, one more point, their social media is probably the worst out of the major motorsports as well. F1 and NASCAR have outshone Indy in this aspect, as well as WEC with their behind the scenes videos on youtube a week or so after every race. 100 days to Indy exists, but when compared to NASCAR's new series on Netflix along with DTS, they get outcompeted and upstaged despite their product being the most intriguing and competitive out of the 3 series.
Here’s the solution:
1. Homologate an price fix ALL aero & chassis packages
2. Freeze them after 2 years
3. Deregulate engine suppliers entirely. Allow run-what-you-brung so long as the following:
- strict weight limits
- homologate & make all engines available to all teams
- price cap cost of engine that a team has to pay (mfgs are free to take a loss on each engine if they so choose)
This will allow cars to get much faster/louder and create a spectacle.
If only Lotus' engine hadn't flopped. That would have solved the need for a third engine supplier. Also, there might be more OEM interest in joining IndyCar if there wasn't a clear example of a manufacturer joining, being uncompetitive, and losing all their customers before the halfway point of their first season.
What about Mazda, the Brits or European auto motors ? Is there a source there ?
Oh, you back here too
Cool
I was following your stuff on Instagram
Nice songs too Man, you are a hella good musician
Ay thanks man appreciate that, hope you enjoy the new vids!
@@DylanJamesGP for shure, at work now, but afterwards i Will watch for shure
idk man, it might be because of Stingray. I mean his name is fucking Stingray.
David Land said that Indy’s best route to Hybrids is to pay a finders fee to IMSA and use the Hypercars engine formula.
How do you charge a hybrid system on a oval ?? 🤔🤓 No breaking etc to charge the battery ? 🤔
The IndyCar Hybrid will have a paddle to activate charging manually. When you are drafting you can either lift off the throttle to save fuel or stay on the throttle and activate charging. The system uses a supercapacitor which will charge rapidly but have a short power boost. In theory it should work decently well at IMS with the long straights.
I disagree that technology improvements would boost viewership. The cars are close to perfect now, as the racing is top-rate. The problems in my view: 1) too many teams and liveries make it difficult to follow from a viewer's perspective; 2) the tv experience is sub-par, particularly versus F1; 3) everything looks low-rent versus F1 (tracks, podium ceremonies, etc.); 4) no "Drive to Survive" to fire people up.
5:10-5:11 I liked Texas Motor Speedway but it has been hated since its introduction in 1997 that place is being by life support
Here's a solution for the engine situation - have a spec cost capped 2.65l V8 turbo like in the glory days of the 1980s/90s but connect that with an open hybrid system limited only by a cost cap and safety regs. Fans get the noise and spectacle, manufacturers get to develop the tech they want to develop for road cars, everyone wins.
(For F1 replace the V8 with a naturally aspirated 3.0l V12)
Wouldn’t work, remember that the current OEMs have input on the engine formula. If the wanted large cylinder counts they would have advocated for them. They don’t want that.
@@rexthewolf3149 in the long term manufacturers don’t care about anything with cylinders. Letting them develop hybrid systems with few restrictions is what would get them on board and the spectacle of the engines is what will attract the fans.
Remember the internal combustion engine in my proposal would be a spec part made by Ilmor or whoever.
What's a Honder?
Car company, what you never seen a Honda in your life???