1100 Miles

The Sunday before Memorial Day is a race fan's dream. On network TV alone is 1100 miles of racing. The crown jewels of two series are raced, Forumla 1's Grand Prix of Monte Carlo and the IRL's Indianapolis 500. F1 is only seen on cable, for the most part, due to all but one race being on other continents. As far as the races available on network television, the greatest spectacle in motorsport, the Indy 500, and NASCAR's longest race, the Coca-Cola 600, keep race fans on their couch for most of the day.

This year's Indy500 was anticipated by open wheel fans because of the newly re-joined series. There is also the hype of Danica Patrick's first win. Of course Danica supporters were disappointed when she was knocked out of the race by Ryan Brisco in the pits. I can't say I agree with Ryan when he stated that she had plenty of room to maneuver around him. She did veer to the right to avoid him, and I can't say I would like to get much closer to that wall than she did. I can't say it is completely his fault either though. Someone in his pit did make a bit of a mistake. Whether it was the crew chief on the pit box or the spotter on the main straight, someone didn't let him know that Danica was there and he had to stay right to get around her by speeding up or slowing down. Danica's reaction might had been over the top, but she had finished in the top 10 since her rookie year and the first DNF had to hurt.

Tony Kanaan also had some bad luck. His teammate, Mario Andretti, tried a late pass going into the corner while both were in the front of the pack. Kanaan slowed to avoid a collision and go into the greys and I believe he kept it off the wall (or at least did not cause any major damage). He came off the wall in an odd way and right into Sarah Fisher. Wrong place at the wrong time hurt both teams. Sarah was understandably emotional afterwards. Unlike most of the rest of the field, Sarah was driving a car that she, herself, was the owner of. She had to procure all of the funds to field the team. Even to the point were her fans started contributing to her team. There will be the standard "There's no crying in racing" quotes on the net. In Sarah's case, she is right to be emtional over the accident. It will be hard for her to enter another field. The sponsors for the 500 only got 'half' the exposure they hoped they paid for. Sponsors go into this field knowing that this is very possible. I hope she can make it back into another race this year. The more cars in the field the better.

Scott Dixon and Ganassi Racing dominated from the first of the month until the end. Dixon won the pole and won his first Indy.Ganassi seems to be the top team this year. Dixon seems to be the man to beat for the championship also. More on this later.

The Coca-Cola 600 was a very good race from beginning to end. The final laps contained most of the drama. Kasey Kahne swept the spring races at Lowes this weekend. He took the All-Star race after the fans voted him in (I am sure Kasey would like to thank all the soccer moms out there). Some luck gave him the 600. Fuel strategy put him in a good position to win and Tony Stewart had a tire failure that gave him the win. Junior was forced into the wall late in the race otherwise he was looking as a contender for the win. I had not watched much NASCAR racing this year and am will have to say I am impressed with the toughness of the new car (COT). The old car would have relegated Junior to the back of the pack, not a top ten placing.

Indy use to be the biggest race of the year. Now not only Daytona but also the Coke 600 seems to be much bigger than Indy. The first reason for this would be the open wheel split. Sponsors couldn't decide on which series would be better to market in so they went to one that didn't have a direct competitor. American drivers seemed to find seats easier in NASCAR. The fame was found in NASCAR like it was in the early 90s in CART. Household names changed from Unser, Andretti, and Foyt to Gordon, Johnson, and Kahne. IRL brought in Dixon, Kanaan, Castroneves, and Wheldon, great racers but foreigners. Even more so, companies were leaving IRL. Chevy and Oldsmobile couldn't keep up with Honda and Toyota. Even Toyota left for the green pastures of NASCAR. Only one company provides tires for both series - IRL runs Firestone while NASCAR runs Goodyear. In order for the IRL to come back to promince I believe they need to have manufacturers come back in and complete like NASCAR. Race fans are not only loyal to a driver but to also a manufacturer. Much of this can be seen in Toyota's arrival in the Sprint Cup. I also believe NASCAR should open up the tires available to other manufacturers. Anything to create more competition.

Even with all the difference and disparity in popularity both series are making new fans and keeping old ones. Racing in America is increasing in popularity. Now if only F1 could get a race or two back in the States.