Indycar News & Rumors.

[bjohnsonsmith]

The racing is very good this season and I would say better than last season, which in itself was a vast improvement on what was going on before but unfortunately, this is not translating into increased TV viewing figures and therefore increased sponsorship revenue. I don't live the States anymore, so I have no idea how much advertising and promotion of the series there is but the drop in attendance and TV viewing figures would suggest that advertising and promotion is not good.

There is an excellent driver field but if no one is watching, it's not surprising there isn't any star power and there should be.

[D.R.T.]

Is attendance down for 2013?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Is attendance down for 2013?

You'll have to check with FordCosworthPanoz, he seems to be one with his finger on attendance and the TV ratings.

I know it was down for the 500.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

You'll have to check with FordCosworthPanoz, he seems to be one with his finger on attendance and the TV ratings.

I know it was down for the 500.

But it was your statement?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

But it was your statement?

At the end of every race, so far this season, the figures for TV audience and track attendance, have been posted on the respective thread, usually because I've asked for them. I suggest you go back towards the end of each thread, for every race this season so far and check them out.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

At the end of every race, so far this season, the figures for TV audience and track attendance, have been posted on the respective thread, usually because I've asked for them. I suggest you go back towards the end of each thread, for every race this season so far and check them out.

So you are confident then with the above information or do we need to confirm it with someone else

I wonder if these posts are confirmed, sourced attendance figures or just observations via television screens from certain posters with track records

As always look forward to factual discussion rather than propaganda

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

So you are confident then with the above information or do we need to confirm it with someone else

I wonder if these posts are confirmed, sourced attendance figures or just observations via television screens from certain posters with track records

As always look forward to factual discussion rather than propaganda

Instead of wondering about it, find out the facts for yourself.

[FAS33]

indycars attendance? go watch a street race, they are packed to the rafters, this series dying a slow and agonising death.

[formerf1champ]

When reading the comments from the article NaBUru linked, what stood out to me was...

1) The offence at the use of "IRL". Somehow, because you call it "Izod Indycar", it seperates itself from the IRL. You can call the series whatever you want, even CART, but series is the continuation of the IRL.

2) The supposed interference from Nascar. I don't know if it's as thorough as what some of those blokes were saying. But if it was like they were saying, I don't see how it'll work for nascar in the long term. Motor racing, as a whole, is a niche sport/competition, and nascar is even further of a niche, it's a niche in motorsport. It's popularity is/will be limited. It will end in tears for them. More gimmicks from nascar to come.

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

If the racing is so great and the championship so competitive, then why is the interest in American Open wheel racing the lowest it's ever been?

When you break down the culture of American motorsport (which is what Tony George did) it is impossible to do something that has an impact.

[Paradise City]

NASCAR isn't a niche sport but a major national one in America.

The split demolished the Indycar fanbase. It doesn't matter if tomorrow AJ Foyt reemerged from retirement to pilot the 14 and Schumacher wanted a crack at the series, it's an uncertain game of roulette to claw any of your fanbase back once the bottom has fallen out - even if the series does all the right things.

[HJJ]

First of 3 parts.

http://www.indystar.com/article/2013...ing-Mark-Miles

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

The racing is very good this season and I would say better than last season, which in itself was a vast improvement on what was going on before but unfortunately, this is not translating into increased TV viewing figures and therefore increased sponsorship revenue. I don't live the States anymore, so I have no idea how much advertising and promotion of the series there is but the drop in attendance and TV viewing figures would suggest that advertising and promotion is not good.

There is an excellent driver field but if no one is watching, it's not surprising there isn't any star power and there should be.

Advertising and promotion? There is none. Your average American has no idea this series exists because it is almost nonexistent in the media or anywhere else.

Panica was the last "name" driver they had.

Essentially the series is not innovative or interesting enough to attract any press coverage or public interest at all.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Early Texas Ratings show where Indycar is struggling the most, 18-49s, the key U.S. demographic. The race's 18-49 demographic ratings on network tv got a 0.3, shocking. Full rating will likely be 0.8-1.0.

[Paradise City]

I hope the Texas race did better than the Nationwide slot that was rained out.

[Jonerz]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

Early Texas Ratings show where Indycar is struggling the most, 18-49s, the key U.S. demographic. The race's 18-49 demographic ratings on network tv got a 0.3, shocking. Full rating will likely be 0.8-1.0.

Who was turned off most by the split? The kids that should have been brought on as hardcore IndyCar fans during that time, now the 18-49 demo. How can IndyCar win back a lost generation? And are we a generation away from IndyCar getting any forward progress?

Chris

[formerf1champ]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

NASCAR isn't a niche sport but a major national one in America.

A purple patch in tv viewing figures doesn't mean it's a major national sport in America. A purple patch is all that it is.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by formerf1champ

A purple patch in tv viewing figures doesn't mean it's a major national sport in America. A purple patch is all that it is.

It's a major national sport in America. It's one of the top three or four national sports in America. That's not niche.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by formerf1champ

A purple patch in tv viewing figures doesn't mean it's a major national sport in America. A purple patch is all that it is.

You have no idea how wrong you are.

[Yannick]

The driver market is still interesting:

Who will run the other oval races in the 2nd Coyne car #18?

Will Allmendinger get another race in the #2?

Who else will Panther Racing audition in their #4?

What do you think?

[mythoughtsareracing]

I'm not going to touch the TV/attendance/resurgence of AOWR. I see better racing than the old crap-wagon, and that's good.
I'm in it for the racing, and the racing is usually damn good in IndyCar currently.

In somewhat related news, I hear that IndyCar may be seeking a new marketing & PR person. Amy Konrath is obviously not living up to expectations, either by the corporate entities involved (including sponsors, teams and IndyCar itself) and the fan base.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Briscoe gets Milwaukee drive for Panther.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108039

[HJJ]

Team Penske and driver Helio Castroneves were the big winners in Texas on Saturday night. But that victory--the team's first of 2013--was tainted on Tuesday when the IndyCar Series released a bulletin announcing Castroneves' car spent the night at Texas Motor Speedway racing with the rear of its underwing out of specification.

Rule 14.6.6.14, which states "The exit of the underwing height is 7.600 inches with a tolerance of plus 0.050 inches and minus 0.000 inches" was violated by an unspecified amount.

The infraction was met with a slap on the wrist by the series. Castroneves was allowed to keep his win and did not lose any points. The Penske team, however, was fined $35,000 and lost 15 entrant points.

The value of running with the tunnel exits higher than permitted is certainly an advantage, according to one veteran engineer I spoke with.

"If you alter that exit height--if you raise it--you can definitely pick up extra downforce," he said. "There's a reason they define its height very tightly. Move it up even a little bit, and there's definitely a performance gain to be had."

On a night where the entire field struggled mightily with insufficient downforce and tires that degraded heavily towards the end of a stint, Castroneves' AAA-sponsored No. 3 entry was the only car capable of overcoming those limitations.

Running markedly faster than the competition, and also able to use a higher lane to motor past his rivals, the Penske driver looked like he was on rails, lapping all the way up through sixth place.

Castroneves entered the race on the 1.5-mile oval tied for the championship lead with Marco Andretti, moving out to a 259-237 lead with his dominant performance under the lights.

A similar technical violation occurred at TMS in 2012 after the car of race winner Justin Wilson was found to have a pair of aero pieces that were leftover from Indy (but disallowed for Texas) installed for the entire event. Like Castroneves, Wilson kept the win but he lost five driver points and his Dale Coyne Racing team was penalized $7000 for the offense.

Why a similar, and possibly more egregious aero illegality carried no penalty for Castroneves is rather curious.

.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

I'm sure Roger ''cleared things up'' with the sanctioning body just like he did with the 1994 traction control allegations and the 2007 Milwaukee still unexplained rear wing malfunction. Or of course those issues in early 2011.

[SimonY]

A bit of selective coying there, the SPEED articles also says this between the 5th and 6th paragraphs:

Running with the tunnels exits lower than allowed would reduce downforce--something that was already in short supply--and would have made the car more unstable. According to Penske Racing president Tim Cindric, that's exactly what happened.

“Obviously we are very disappointed that the No. 3 car did not pass post-race inspection after Saturday’s race at Texas," he said. "The rule in question (14.6.6.14) states that the diffuser exit must measure 7.600.” After the race, ours was 7.575” because we neglected to tighten the braces that position the rear of the diffuser following pre-race inspection. The way Helio’s car raced did not provide any advantage as a lower diffuser height actually adds drag and reduces downforce.

"To ensure this is the case, we ran this configuration in the wind tunnel on Monday morning and found that the No. 3 car actually raced with three pounds less downforce and one pound more drag than what it would have had if we tightened the underwing braces properly.”

[Paradise City]

Not impressed with Castroneves keeping that win at all, at all. Unfair advantage most probably gained so you punish the driver and the team.