Indy 500 ***SPOILERS*** | Page 5 | FerrariChat

Indy 500 ***SPOILERS***

Discussion in 'Other Racing' started by 4re Nut, May 26, 2013.

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  1. RP

    RP F1 World Champ

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    How can anyone possibly compare the Indy 500 to the Kentucky Derby? That is ridiculous.

    You still do not make any valid points, you were not at the 500, and probably have not attended an IndyCar event for some time.

    The Derby is controlled by a single organization, is a single event that you enter and if accepted you compete. The Indy 500 is part of a series, that faced multiple politics, an attempted and failed control by team owners, and those same team owners finally bending and joining the IRL. You enter, you have an opportunity to compete. Not the same as the Derby.

    The damage done during that CART/IRL war will take a long time to be overcome. Myself, when CART decided to hold their first event the same day as the 500, they lost me and a lot of other fans. No professionall racing series that is successful has been controlled by the teams. NASCAR, F1, the teams do what their czar decides.

    IndyCar is on an upswing despite what some here what to imagine with eyes closed. The fan response Sunday was simply exciting.

    So all of the BS statistics presented here mean nothing. I do not understand the negativity. Why not be happy the finally USA open wheeled racing is making a come back?

    The negativity has no credibility. The current state of competition in IndyCar is 100% better the the elitist F1 parade, even on road courses.
     
  2. Turbopanzer

    Turbopanzer F1 World Champ

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    Respectfully disagree. If the racing is on an "upswing" , please explain the lack of viewers via TV and radio. Both articles presented stated exactly as to why people have left with no return in sight. While you may have enjoyed the festivities this past Sunday ( and I am glad for you) the facts don't support your claim. This product is not what people want to see. Could you offer a viable alternative that supports it. I am willing to listen like most, but I have heard this for the last 16 years and no improvement has been made. Albert Einstein once said...."Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result". I think after 16 years it is time to admit that this just isn't working.
     
  3. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    Ron, thanks for offering up the seat; I enjoyed myself immensely up there. But the view from your 2013 seat looks pretty good as well, and of course, you were able to get some images that I had to shoot off of the big screen, or not at all!
     
  4. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    #104 TheMayor, May 28, 2013
    Last edited: May 28, 2013
    I think the ones who's eyes are closed are the ones who say things are on the upswing when the ratings are the worst ever.

    2013 Indianapolis 500 draws lowest overnight rating ever | May | 2013


    Despite a record 68 lead changes, the 2013 edition of the Indianapolis 500 didn't draw viewers. The race's 3.8 overnight rating on ABC was its lowest ever, down 7% from 2012 and 12% from 2011. Since the race began to be broadcast live starting in 1986, this year marks the first year where the overnight has dipped below a 4.0, the previous low set in 2010. This also is the first time in history that the race has drawn under a 4.5 rating in five straight years.


    http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2013/03/hot-start-for-indycar-series-depending-on-your-perspective/
    The 2013 IndyCar Series opener was either a major success or failure, depending on how one chooses to spin the numbers.

    Sunday’s IndyCar Series Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg drew 388,000 viewers on NBC Sports Network, up 78% from the season’s first race on the network last season, the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama (218K). The race also marked the most-viewed IndyCar season debut on the network in three years.

    However, viewership declined by 70% compared to the same season-opening race last year — which drew 1.3 million viewers on broadcast network ABC.

    Excluding the rained out 2010 race, Sunday’s telecast ranks as the least-viewed edition of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg since 2009, the last time it aired on NBCSN (then Versus).

    The IndyCar race did manage to outshine other open wheel racing action, topping NBCSN’s March 17 Formula 1 series debut (124K) by 213%. Keep in mind the F1 race aired in the middle of the night, and earned 138,000 viewers for an afternoon re-air.




    LOOK: I WANT Indy to succeed. But it cannot continue like this or its going to become the MTV music awards of sports.
     
  5. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    I asked a number of race fans here at work why the TV ratings would have gone down in spite of a great race last year and again this year, and the opinion was unanimous: the lousy ABC coverage.

    It's unfortunate, because I always thought that ABC did a good job back in the days of Jim McKay, Keith Jackson, Roone Arledge, etc. Since I was at the race in person, I didn't get to see this year's TV coverage, but I haven't read anything really positive about it.

    I think that IndyCar needs to find a way to fire ABC and make NBC the full-time broadcaster. But NBC needs to work harder to make NBC Sports Network as readily available on all mainstream cable systems as are the ESPN networks. I haven't seen much improvement in NBCSN availability since they took over Versus.
     
  6. GuyIncognito

    GuyIncognito Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    ABC is really bad. like, I wish Paul Page was back bad. it's almost painful to watch.

    NBC is okay, I like that they are trying to get younger guys with more current experience (Townsend Bell) and better personalities (Robin Miller) on air. hopefully they figure it out.
     
  7. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    #107 TheMayor, May 29, 2013
    Last edited: May 29, 2013
    I'm sure in it's defense ABC would say: Always blame the messenger, never the event itself.


    I don't think you can blame a talking head for people not being interested in the content. It's still the content.

    However:

    I think the way they do side-by-side is a total waste. The picture is so small, you can't see anything anyway. They should just run the commercial and get it over with. Or, let people actually watch instead of this postage stamp image with cars 2 pixels tall going 200 MPH around it.

    One thing that REALLY surprised me is they don't do what Fox does with the arrows pointing to the cars drivers. As you really can't tell which car is what driver, they should have used Fox's arrow system. 95% of the drivers I didn't know and really care about because of it. All I saw where colors blotches moving right to left. "Is that blue car catching up? Hmmm..... or is it THAT blue car?"

    They should use color coded bars between cars to show if they are catching up or falling back from the car ahead or behind. It's too hard to tell from the images alone what the progress is. The NFL has done fantastic real time graphics to help understand what's going on in the field and in instant replay.

    Also, the ticker tape scrolling running order is terrible compared to F1 where you can see the numbers at a glance.

    They lost the "gearheads" with all the "storyline stuff". I'm sure ABC had a real tear jerker lined up if Marco won or AJ's car came home.

    For some reason, Roger Penske never gets any respect. Maybe it's because he doesn't like the press.

    There are true fans like us out there. But, we won't be here forever. If Indy doesn't start to attract younger people, they'll be cutting the weeds in turn 3 again one day.
     
  8. Bill in Atlanta

    Bill in Atlanta Formula Junior

    Nov 22, 2004
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    "Storyline stuff"....had to laugh at that
    The horrible "Field of Dreams" intro had to be the worst thing I've ever seen on an auto racing telecast.

    Bill
     
  9. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    #109 Gatorrari, May 29, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Here are some more assorted images from my Sunday morning at the Brickyard, including my views of downtown Indianapolis, Gasoline Alley (and in the distance, the turn 3 grandstands), and the mob scene which moved from pit lane to the front stretch when the cars were rolled out there.

    An interesting parade lap featured the eleven Corvettes that had been pace cars before. Noteworthy is that this all began on the 'Vette's 25th anniversary in 1978! Note the winning cars of Jones, Johncock and Sneva parked; they evidently did a parade lap while I was downstairs buying lunch.
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  10. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    #110 Gatorrari, May 29, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Throughout the morning, there were interviews on the big screen; the young man in the first photo is Matthew Brabham, son of Geoff and grandson of Jack, who will almost certainly drive in the 500 eventually.

    You can see more of the pageantry that makes this the "greatest spectacle in racing". The helicopter that landed right in front of us contained Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, who brought the official green flag with him. Of course, former champions were taken around in the Camaros, starting with A.J. and Mario as can be seen here.

    When the cars were finally pushed off for their parade laps, they were preceded by Mario, giving some lucky fan a ride in the two-seater (which, you will note, is using road-course wings).

    I'll post some more images from the race itself tomorrow.
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  11. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Aweome pics. The lucky guy in the 2 seater!
     
  12. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    #113 Gatorrari, May 30, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Here are more of my shots from above turn 1 during the race, presented chronologically. I tried to choose shots that were not repetitive to the ones I posted earlier in this thread. Sorry the shot of T.K. isn't sharper, but when you're shooting cars going over 200 MPH, even a shot like this is one I consider successful!
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  13. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    #114 Gatorrari, May 30, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I'll admit I didn't pay much attention to the focal length I was zooming to, which explains why some of the images vary in size. My equipment, by the way, is a Canon EOS Rebel XTi and I was using a 70-300mm Canon zoom (equivalent to 112-480mm in 35mm format).

    Note that I got pretty decent shots of both of the three-time winners in the field. That "snake" coming out of turn 4 and down the front straight didn't vary much from lap to lap, even after over 100 continuous laps of green-flag racing!
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  14. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    #115 Gatorrari, May 30, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  15. Heat Seeker WS6

    Heat Seeker WS6 Formula 3

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  16. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    That's cool...good eye.
     
  17. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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  18. Heat Seeker WS6

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    Great pics Gatorrari!
     
  19. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    Hey, I try. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised with a lot of my on-track photos. Of course, I only posted the better ones! :D:D:D
     

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