IndyCar fans have to be the most negative fans of the lot. For them, everyday is a dark and rainy Wednesday that never ends. They are never happy with the tracks on the schedule, the engines in the cars, the drivers behind the wheel or anything else to do with the series. It's kind of depressing to follow the series but if you can get through that thick cloud of negativity, you will find a racing series that produces one of the best racing packages on the planet with a talented field of drivers and a diverse schedule that goes to some of the best parts of the Americas.
IndyCar fans will complain the cars are too slow and they need more horsepower. But they forget to mention that through twelve race weekends, the series has set new track records at four tracks (one-third of the tracks visited to date), two ovals (Iowa and Pocono), a road course (Barber) and a street circuit (São Paulo) and came within thousandths of a second of breaking the track record at Mid-Ohio last weekend, set by one of the power Reynards from the late 1990s that so many clamor for. Other tracks the series has been within an eye lash of breaking the track record include St. Petersburg (0.279 seconds off) and Long Beach (0.3519 off).
Surprisingly, this year IndyCar fans cannot complain about the lack of depth in the field. Fourteen races have seen nine different winners, four first time winners from seven different teams, three of which either picking up their first win ever or first win in over five years. Not to mention the grid is getting deeper round-to-round with sports car champion Lucas Luhr joining the grid for Sonoma, talented Italian Luca Filippi raced at Mid-Ohio and I would expect him to return for more rounds. Drivers from the ladder system such as Tristan Vautier, James Davison, Stefan Wilson and Carlos Muñoz have or will make their IndyCar debut this year with Vautier and Davison each racing in multiple steps of the defined Mazda Road to Indy ladder system on their path to IndyCar.
But despite these positives, some will point out that the four-lap average for the Indianapolis 500 pole position was only 228.762 MPH and the pole speed at Milwaukee was fifteen miles an hour off the track record set in 1998 by Patrick Carpentier. The fans will not be satisfied with the likes of Luhr and Filippi on the grid. They want more. I am not sure who they want to join the grid but a class winner at Le Mans who also has many sports car championships across a few different series is apparently not good enough for some and a talented driver who was at the top in GP2 but was not able to find the funding for Formula One is not good enough either. It's a two way street though. For all those who say Luhr and Filippi don't belong, there were just as many saying Bryan Clauson did not deserve a ride in the Indianapolis 500 last year and IndyCar wasted it's time on a USAC driver.
I disagree with all account. If anything IndyCar should be a place open to drivers from all backgrounds. It's unrealistic to believe a driver from American Le Mans or USAC that comes to IndyCar will all of a sudden bring an extra seventy thousand people to a racetrack on Sunday or two million people to NBCSN or ABC to watch but if a driver can put his foot down and hold his or her own, who is to say they don't belong? And whatever fans those drivers may bring to an IndyCar race, how few or many there may be, should be welcomed with open arms and respected.
There is a lot that IndyCar fans should be happy about. Sure, there aren't as many ovals on the schedule as desired and a few great road courses such as Road America, Watkins Glen, Austin and Laguna Seca aren't featured on the IndyCar schedule but the ovals currently on the schedule have not been a disappointment by any means (including Texas, though many complained this year, even though it was practically the same race we saw and everyone loved in 2012) and we have seen good races at street courses that haven't produce good racing in the past.
Things might not be as ideal as some desire but IndyCar has been anything but a disappointment this year. The teams and drivers are still as fan friendly and engaging as they have ever been. Leigh Diffey and Townsend Bell have been a great duo in the booth with whomever is put in the third commentator seat (Wally Dallenbach, David Hobbs, Steve Matchett or Ryan Briscoe) fitting in naturally and each adding their own perspective to the broadcast. With five races to go, IndyCar has had a great season and as it comes down the stretch, all signs to it not letting the fans down.
IndyCar fans, smile for once. It won't kill you.
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