Racing To The Flag: Motorsports Hot Topics – Edition No. 3
By Matt Lovisa
Each week Beyond the Flag will tackle the motorsports hot topics with Racing To The Flag. Each writer will give their opinions and open the floor for debate.
This week the Beyond the Flag crew discusses NASCAR racing on intermediate tracks, TV ratings from the Indy 500 and Alexander Rossi’s surprise win.
Like always, not every topic is going to have the same opinions from writer to writer. If your opinion differs from those of our writers, make sure that you share it with us. You can share your side of the debate by commenting below. You can also reach out to us and share your thoughts via our various social media platforms.
Now, let’s get on with edition No. 3.
Green Flag: NASCAR has openly stated they are looking at improving the racing on 1.5 mile tracks. Do you think the racing needs to be improved, and if so, what would you do?
Martin Feigen: Yes, because the attendance has fallen so far at those tracks and fans openly say how much they do not like them. The television ratings at the mile and a half tracks is lower as well and that can’t be ignored. The problem is the teams have out engineered the tracks themselves. They need to cut off the spoilers, get rid of the splitters and the side skirts to bring the throttle back into play. Make the drivers drive the car, that is the only way to get real excitement back at those facilities.
Mike Hutton: Martin is right on point. Richard Petty has said that getting the cars up off the ground so that the clearance is 6-7 inches (similar to your passenger car and stock cars back in the day) is what’s needed and will solve the aero-dependency problem and bring driver talent back into play.
Matt Lovisa: Everything that has already been said above me plus…shortening the races!
Caution Flag: What do you make of the low TV ratings for the 100th running of the Indy 500?
Martin Feigen: Auto racing in this country has lost an entire generation of fans. Between the races being run at night and the costs eliminating the families being able to come, IndyCar and NASCAR have cut their fan bases so badly. Until there is a fundamental change in course I am afraid it will continue to decline.
Mike Hutton: Looking just at IndyCar and open wheel racing, this all goes back to the CART / IRL split, which was 20 years ago. There was no viable reason at all to become a fan of this type of racing during that time, and as such, anyone who is 5-20 years old now isn’t a fan, and convincing them to become one is a tall task. Beginning now, there are American drivers putting on competitive races again. It will take a while, but when toddlers of today are 20-30 years old, we might see it back where it was.
Matt Lovisa: I was really surprised by the TV ratings when they came out. I thought for certain that the Indy 500 would perform not only better than last year’s race but previous ones before. Some pointed fingers towards the live-streaming option but those proved to not help close the gap. At the end of the day there was a sold out crowd so if you can’t have both, I rather see fans in the stands.
White Flag: Biggest surprise from the Monaco Grand Prix: Red Bull’s failed pit attempt with Ricciardo, Sergio Perez finishing third, or Nico Rosberg a non-factor as the three time defending race winner?
Martin Feigen: The Ricciardo pit issue just caught me so off guard. Everything in F1 is so scripted for there to be a situation like that is really shocking. Hamilton was my pick to win, so everything else kinda went to plan for me.
Matt Lovisa: Sergio Perez for me and for that matter, Force India Mercedes as a team. I didn’t think they would put two cars inside the top ten at Monaco let alone one on the podium.
Checkered Flag: Was Alexander Rossi’s Indy 500 win good for IndyCar?
Martin Feigen: If he becomes a player in the series then yes, it is a good thing that he was introduced in front of the largest audience the series has. If he just stays a middle of the pack driver and cannot repeat his success it actually is a negative as people will think the Indy 500 is fluky and not pay as much attention. The big fear would this would lead Rossi back to F1 and they lose and any fans they might have gained.
Mike Hutton: I’m afraid not. So far, he doesn’t seem to respect or understand what he’s just accomplished. He’ll use this to leverage a return to F1. Carlos Munoz showed more emotion in his 2nd-place finish because he was so upset he didn’t win than Rossi did in victory.
Matt Lovisa: It is kind of like when Trevor Bayne one the Daytona 500 in 2011. The biggest difference there was that he was driving for famed Wood Brothers Racing. I think if Rossi was driving for Team Penske or Chip Ganassi Racing, most would be feeling different about it.