Indy 500 - an irrelevance?

[JohnSSC]

IC, paul-collins, thank you for the good words.

luke, if you wish to debate the types of drivers who are "stars" that is one thing, but bear in mind that this is The 500, not an all-star game. I go the F1 forum a great deal and often read about how it was when Drver X, Y or Z was driving and how much "better" thigs were. Relatively speaking things were "better" for the writer as they like that driver or era. A careful reading of the entry lists for say Monaco or Spa in F1 over the years or LeMans or The 500 will show a lot of drivers who are only there because they were wealthy, connected or just plain lucky. They will also show a number of drivers who are extremely talented.

Take Kevin Cogan for example. Wicked quick, fell off the track or bumped into things a lot but on his day: good Lord! Danny Ongais, Sneva, Donohue either M. Andretti, pick an Unser, AJ Foyt, Graham Hill, Jim Clark - they all raced at Indy going back through the 60's. During that time and notably diring the "glory" years of CART you had Howdy Holmes, Pat Bedard and any number of field fillers.

My point? All venues wax and wane in the level of competiton and star power if you will. I remember a time in the 70's where the 24 hour race at Daytona was in jeopardy and the 12 Hours of Sebring almost went away due to lack of interest. LeMans had problems a number of times due primarily with difficulties engendered by the sanctioning bodies. Just as it would have been rather silly to write those venues off then, writing off The 500 now simply because in your humble opinion the field does not meet the standard of a particular year is just not sensible.

Face it. The field at The 500 may be suffering, but it is like blaming a gunshot wound victim for getting in the way of the bullet. Indy is suffering as is open-wheel racing in North America in general because of the split. We are way past the time when apportioning blame makes any sense. The patient (American open-wheel) is bleeding out and it needs to be stopped. That, though is a discussion for another thread!

The point here is that it is May. May means Indy. The 500. Pulling Jim Nabors out of the freezer, thawing him a bit and having him sing "Back home again, in Indiana." It means me setting the vcr if I have to and watching the race later if I have to. Why? Whether these drivers are lesser lights is not nearly as important as these drivers and owners and mechanics and fans still having the PASSION. Heck, I remember being at an autocross or race and tuning my car radio to hear it (in the days before VCRS/DVD players - God help us we listened on the Radio!). My heart beats a little faster, my BP goes up a bit and the adrenaline starts swirling around when I watch those warmup laps. Then when the Green Flag drops just for a second I wish it were me somewhere in the field, racing at a place that truly has been built on the shoulders of Giants.