|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
28 Jul 2004, 18:19 (Ref:1050160) | #1 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,125
|
Comparing the Crowds at Indy
I found this article to be rather interesting.
F1 fans refer to Indy as "not cultured enough", whereas NASCAR fans call it "too cultured"... |
||
|
28 Jul 2004, 18:53 (Ref:1050201) | #2 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
|
I read that big story when it was published....
I think it is inteesting how the "cultures" of the three crowds differ, and how the IMS manages to reach and to serve those three diverse crowds with big racing events that they come here to enjoy... BTW...when F-1 has been in town, we have had those visitors buy tickets to hear us perform Classical concerts.... we have even gotten e-mails from those who attended both during their F-1 weekend saying how much they enjoyed "both" expreiences for what they had to offeer during their race weekend here... But when the Brickyard 400 is here, we probably don't draw a single ticketbuyer... |
||
__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
28 Jul 2004, 20:07 (Ref:1050257) | #3 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 3,376
|
Interesting, and true IMO, mac! I think there is a very different culture between them, especially between NASCAR and F1.
Just turn on any NASCAR TV show on Speed Channel, and you think your watching a re-run of "Hee Haw". A real bunch of goobers just yucking it up. Compare a NASCAR telecast with DW and Larry McReynolds to an F1 telecast with Steve Windsor, Steve Matchett, and Bob Varsha, and it's like going from the Dukes Of Hazzard to Masterpiece Theatre. Compare the victory celebration of NASCAR, doing donuts and throwing Gatorade on your crew, and basically acting like an adolescent, to F1, and there well rehearsed and well behaved podium celebration. I think the Indy crowd is somewhere between the two. For me, I enjoy the F1 crowd. I like good resturants, nice hotels, the big Foster beers, and I love wearing all my overpriced Ferrari gear, right Tim? |
||
__________________
"I don't feel insecure about 'being girlie'. I do as much media as I can because I want this IRL series to be so kick-butt that NASCAR goes, 'Huh?'" Danica Patrick |
28 Jul 2004, 20:23 (Ref:1050267) | #4 | |||
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
|
Quote:
One thing I noticed about the F-1 Crowd... When the race was over, they picked up their "motor oil-sized cans" of empty Foster's beers and took them out of the stands to the nearest trash can... For the 500 and for the Brickyard, crews spend twice the time (about 5-7 days) to clean up the facility again... The NASCAR crowd is the worst when it comes to that.... |
|||
__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
28 Jul 2004, 20:25 (Ref:1050268) | #5 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
|
and yes...you were clearly decked out in red....
But I'm telling you...THE race at that facility takes place in MAY.... not June....nor August.... That is the one that you should experience.... Nothing like it on the Planet.... Nothing.... |
||
__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
28 Jul 2004, 21:59 (Ref:1050377) | #6 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 4,900
|
Ooops! we went a bit off topic :P
New thread created here http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...threadid=57602 |
||
__________________
I can't drive 55. |
6 Aug 2004, 16:49 (Ref:1058485) | #7 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 7,263
|
Dosent the US GP have the smallest crowd figure of the big trio events but the biggest on the f1 calendar
|
||
__________________
The thrill from west hill |
6 Aug 2004, 18:20 (Ref:1058573) | #8 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
|
Yes....that is correct, Luke....
Although the Indianapolis Motor Speedway does not release "official" figures, the estimates, based on Traffic, number of seats the facility has, how many people can fit into the infiled, etc., the following ar fairly accurate "estimates": Indy 500: 300,000-350,000 people (Race Day Only) Brickyard 400: 275,000-325,000 (Race Day Only) USGP: 125,000-150,000 (Race Day Only) I've been to all three, and these figures are pretty close.... The Grandstands alone hold about 250,000 people... |
||
__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
6 Aug 2004, 18:23 (Ref:1058577) | #9 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 7,263
|
Tim is f1 big over in the us!
|
||
__________________
The thrill from west hill |
6 Aug 2004, 18:28 (Ref:1058583) | #10 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
|
They have a core of fans that are really devoted to it....
But recent surveys show that NASCAR, NHRA Drag Racing, and the IRL all have more fans than F-1....it comes in a close fourth to the IRL OWRS (in the USA) has 1/4th the fans (via surveys anyway) that IRL or F-1.... For the USGP, a lot of Canadians and other internationals come here, but over half the crowd is still locals.... Indy has literally tens of thousands of hard-core "Gear Heads" that love anything fast on four wheels.... and I'm one of them (except NASCAR...I like clean racing) |
||
__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
6 Aug 2004, 18:28 (Ref:1058585) | #11 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 3,376
|
Yeah, thats true luke.
But that F1 crowd, is a quality crowd, flags, apparel, hats and horns. It looks great from the stands, colorful and loud. I don't think the locals "get" the whole F1 thing though. You pull up to park on their front lawn, and all you see is NASCAR stuff all around, and many will be tuned into the NASCAR race from wherever on radio and TV. There a block away from Indy, and they could care less about the USGP! They give you a look as if to say, "hey, I don't get it, but give me your ten bucks, and have a great day"! |
||
__________________
"I don't feel insecure about 'being girlie'. I do as much media as I can because I want this IRL series to be so kick-butt that NASCAR goes, 'Huh?'" Danica Patrick |
6 Aug 2004, 18:35 (Ref:1058593) | #12 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
|
That also is true, GP Racer....
They turn out in droves for IRL and NASCAR stuff.... But I will say that the NASCAR crowds wear their colors... I went to qualifying for the 1st Brickyard 400, and a guy sitting 10 rows in front of me had his shirt off (he had a hairy back) and he had the number "3" for Dale Earnhart shaved out in his back hairs!!! Guess you had to see it to believe it (don't try to imagine it on a full stomach), but they alos show up in their "colors"... At the Indy 500, most people wear "Indy 500" T-shirts, etc...they sell that licensed stuff all over town....and even the ou-of-towners who have come in the past wear their old "500" shirts... But you rarely see anyone in a "team Colors" or anything like that....they way you see the throngs in "Ferrari Red" at the USGP... GP Racer had his on when I met him here in June.... |
||
__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
6 Aug 2004, 18:38 (Ref:1058595) | #13 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 7,263
|
But when I saw the gp then compared it with the indy 500 there was hardly anyone there!
|
||
__________________
The thrill from west hill |
6 Aug 2004, 18:42 (Ref:1058600) | #14 | |||
Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 3,376
|
Quote:
Well, once a year, I play the fool! |
|||
|
6 Aug 2004, 18:55 (Ref:1058611) | #15 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 7,263
|
yeah but at every gp there is a sea of red apart from the spainish gp.
|
||
__________________
The thrill from west hill |
6 Aug 2004, 19:13 (Ref:1058635) | #16 | |||
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
|
Quote:
It is BY FAR the largest race track (for seating spectators) anywhere on the planet....it holds at least 75,000 more than the second largest...Daytona....and that is just the seating area...another 50,000 to 75,000 can fit on the large spectator mounds in the infield area.... TV doesn't even come close to showing you just how large this facility is....so looks can be deceiving.... From my many years of attending racing activities at Indy (since 1967), I can tell you that the estimated crowd for the USGP I posted before is a pretty accurate one.... |
|||
__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
6 Aug 2004, 19:44 (Ref:1058670) | #17 | |
Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 529
|
True, it is HUGE!
When you first go there, luke, it is truly mind boggling and with everything in the infield (museum, golf course,Gasoline Alley, etc...) it looks even more massive. People do get spread out at that facility. |
|
|
6 Aug 2004, 19:46 (Ref:1058673) | #18 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,215
|
125,000 people in a place that has stands that seat over 250,000 looks empty....but it has a "large" crowd by most race standards...
|
||
__________________
Finally... One American Open Wheel Series! |
6 Aug 2004, 21:07 (Ref:1058786) | #19 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 5,276
|
That's 17,000 more than all the people that attended the Spanish GP. (Counting pelouses and everything).
Needless to say I was one of them, in Jacques/BAR gear. i love the way the F1 people go dressed just like a team mechanic... it's a part of F1. It's expensive yes, but it's quality... (and the BAR shirt I have repelled the spots of rain that fell on the Friday at Spain, so yeah, it's quality) |
||
__________________
"Many people depend on motor racing for their livelihood, to them it is a business. To me, it is a sport." -Jim Clark |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Comparing Chassis: F1 vs CC | macdaddy | ChampCar World Series | 18 | 17 Feb 2005 00:04 |
Comparing Point Systems | macdaddy | ChampCar World Series | 19 | 13 Dec 2004 17:06 |
Comparing drivers by comparing career points scored | x_dt | Formula One | 8 | 12 Oct 2004 10:27 |
Anyone in daytona tell us about the crowds? | billnchristy | North American Racing | 46 | 15 Feb 2004 13:09 |
Touring Car Crowds | rdjones | Touring Car Racing | 17 | 9 Jul 2002 13:48 |