Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Should Be The Least Of Everyone's Worries

With a shorten season, proposed international winter series that currently has no legs, no title sponsor,  low television ratings, modest attendance figures and a few other more pertinent issues, Indianapolis 500 qualifying changes are the last thing the people at 16th and Georgetown and IndyCar has to worry about.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the proposed switch of bump day to Saturday and pole day to Sunday but it's a change that would produce a minuscule change in results if any changes at all.

I get the switch. You have the field set on Saturday and give people a reason show up Sunday. But even that won't guarantee more people coming through the gates. Some people only care about the pole and if you set the field Saturday, they are only going to show up Sunday.

Regardless if bump day is Saturday or Sunday, what makes bump day something worth watching is WHEN THERE IS BUMPING! What a crazy thought. When only 33 cars show up, bump day is worthless. This year there was 34 entries but it became clear halfway through the day that the #17 of Michel Jourdain, Jr. wasn't going to come close to bumping his way into the field.

Want to make bump day a reason for people to show up: Make sure there are 36-40 cars trying to make the field of thirty-three. Plain and simple.

As for pole day, a lot people mention the fact that the cars aren't close to breaking the track record as the reason for low attendance. That might be the case. I'm not saying the cars have to be breaking the track record every year but the possibility of going to the track and seeing history is the intriguing part that draws people in. With the current car, the possibility of a track isn't there. If you had cars flirting with four-lap averages of 233 mph, you may turn a few heads but nothing is a guarantee for success. Remember, after Arie Luyendyk's track record of 236.986 mph, the second fastest four-lap average is a 233.718 mph set by the late Scott Brayton. So it's not like averages in 233 mph range should be that disappointing.

But Indianapolis 500 qualifying should be the least of everyone's worries. Changing it isn't solving any of the other problems listed above. It's a distraction from all the other problems IndyCar has to take care of. We all know there are bigger fish to fry.