The Starting Grid for the 92nd Indianapolis 500 (Race thread)

[JohnSSC]

As an equal opportunity realist, I can see some truth to what mountainstar is saying and some to what Dutton is saying.

For the most part though, I have to say that very few people here or elsewhere believed that the result of having one series would be Immediate Panacea. Rehashing whatever problems the IRL had before CC folded or for that matter the problems that caused CC to fold really serves no useful purpose unless done as a serious exercise in how to right the ship.

There are things that need improvement, such as (to my mind) the purse for Pole and the Win at Indy. There are issues regarding equipment both current and future. There are issues regarding the fans and how to translate an increase in attendance into an increase in viewership.

However, holding the IRL responsible for the interview with Mrs Dana (which I did not see and therefore won't comment on until I do) is a bit much. Over the years I have suffered through many a mindless ABC "feature" where the talents of Sam Posey or Bobby Unser were typically wasted, so this is nothing new. Looking at TV in general these days is an exercise in selecting the least tasteless of the choices, but that is a rant for another day...

To Dutton's point there are many positives. Not the least of which is that I do not have to try to explain for the umpteenth time what the difference is between the CIRCL Series' or have to watch guys like RHR on the sidelines, helmet in hand. Better still, my thoughts are or can be focused on making forward progress which is where we need to be right now.

Rome was not built in a day. Heck, neither was Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. You have to start somewhere though and as imperfect as things seem to be right now the pieces are there for the building of a new series (not CART II or IRL-redux) that we all can enjoy and most importantly attract new fans to.