IndyCar: Five reasons destroying Walt Disney World Speedway was a mistake
By Asher Fair
Popular destination
Walt Disney World is one of the if not the most popular tourist destinations in the world. So obviously having an IndyCar race there would have benefited the sport. But not only would it have benefited both the sport; it actually would have benefited Disney itself.
Some people just don’t like racing. But more people than you’d think have simply never been exposed to it, and even if they have, they are probably more likely to refer to IndyCar as NASCAR than they are to tell you who won last year’s IndyCar championship.
Because non-IndyCar fans are composed of not only people who don’t care about IndyCar but people who simply have never been introduced to it as well, Walt Disney World Speedway hosting an IndyCar race would have exposed the Disney parkgoers to competitive racing action that they otherwise simply may not know about, thus benefiting the sport.
As far as benefiting Disney World itself goes, Walt Disney World Speedway hosting an IndyCar race would have shown IndyCar fans that there is more to Disney World than kiddie rides and people dressed up as movie characters, thus making one of the if not the most popular tourist destinations in the world even more popular.
All in all, Walt Disney World Speedway hosting an IndyCar race would have been a win-win for both the sport and Disney itself. Sure, IndyCar isn’t the most popular sport in the United States, much less in the entire world, while Disney World is one of the if not the most popular tourist destinations in the world.
But there is no doubt that it is not just popular but growing in popularity, so associating it with Disney World would have been, without a doubt, a win-win for both the sport and Disney itself in both the short run and the long run.