Takuma Sato took a surprise IndyCar victory at Portland while Scott Dixon had the day from hell, still finished in the top five and somehow extended his championship lead. It was a chaotic day from Monza. Haas has to check its floors. Champions were crowded in Portland and Watkins Glen and a popular podcast host took home some silverware. J.R. Hildebrand had one of his records matched. Ross Chastain is not happy with Kevin Harvick. Team Penske is two victories away from 500 victories as an organization and it has two dates scheduled next weekend at Indianapolis. Lando Norris will be a McLaren F1 driver in 2019. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
Barnstorming the Short Tracks
There are motorsports fans out there but even in this highly connected world sometimes the message does not get through. Even in 2018, some people are out of the loop. I think every series is looking for ways to get more people out to the track. Some are looking for those who were never interested and others are looking to get those back that were once regular attendees.
We think social media is the answer. You can put it on anyone's plate. You can show a kid in Taipei a race car zooming around a track at 200 MPH and he or she has never driven an automobile in their own right. Someone in a town of 300 people can watch races from the metropolis of Singapore and the inverse can happen where a dirt race from Iowa can be watched from a penthouse apartment Paris.
But the issue with motorsports is you need to see it firsthand. It is a difficult commodity to get. It isn't music. You don't need to see someone strumming a guitar or banging on drums or blowing into a trumpet to get it. Music travels so well. Motorsports is constrained. It can't pop up anywhere despite what some series want you to believe. It can only be performed in a few areas and some of those may be miles away. But there are people in those rural places.
Something could be written each week about what IndyCar could do to grow the fan base. Everyone has an idea and every idea is the golden ticket. It is the one that will get the ball rolling and open the floodgates.
I think about what Indianapolis Motor Speedway is doing this week. It built a dirt track in the infield and about 118 midget cars have entered, a USAC record. It is an opportunity of a lifetime for these drivers. It might not be the century-old 2.5-mile oval but it is on the property. It is where millions of people have watched races. It is where people have gotten drunk, found Jesus, lost virginities and burned skin. It is something drivers couldn't give up the shot at attempting.
At times I think motorsports, especially the top levels, do not realize what is special and do not realize what will get the attention of the viewing public. Sometimes races can be too static. They can be to status quo. Some series have gotten hung up on all they have to do is show up and people will fill grandstands and pay $4 for a hot dog. But motorsports fans need something different. They need those "I was there" moments just as much as any other sport. The only problem is races at the top levels are too far and few between for those to be a regular occurrence.
This midget race is one of those few "I was there" moments for motorsports. How many times will Indianapolis Motor Speedway hold a dirt race? Only a million people will claim to be there but really it might be closer to 10,000 that can hold that honor.
Maybe IndyCar needs to create those "I was there" moments but not at one of 16 venues the series goes to, not at Indianapolis Motor Speedway or Portland but elsewhere.
There are many tracks IndyCar can never race at for a variety of reasons. The track is either too short or it isn't safe or the facilities are not of the standard necessary. That is part of life. But what if some of these places weren't holding races but demonstrations? How many people don't follow IndyCar or don't bother because they don't know what it is and it is foreign to them and they can't relate? There is only one way to connect and that is by bringing it to them.
IndyCar drivers do many public appearances. They throw out first pitches at major league ball games, they go to grocery stores and Verizon stores, they go to schools and visit local television and radio stations. Those are all great ways to get the message out and hope a few thousand people are entice to head to a racetrack and see for themselves but in all these polo shirt events something is missing. A driver is great but the car is the other half and having one sit silent as a display isn't that thrilling. Sure, you can't take an IndyCar and unleash it through the aisles of a Kroger or the hallways of an elementary school but there are plenty of places in overlooked places where an IndyCar can stretch it legs and turn some heads.
There are short tracks throughout this country that have local shows and get a few thousand people. The general sense is these are the people IndyCar are missing and these are the people IndyCar should be getting. IndyCar is not going to pack up the series and head to Salem or Madison or Oswego or Kalamazoo but the series could bring a car or two and have a demonstration event and just have a car or two run in anger at a place where the locals likely never thought they would see an IndyCar run at full song. It would become an "I was there" moment for them and it might wet their whistle and make them want to tune in next week on television or maybe even drive two or three hours and attend a race.
Think about what Porsche has been doing with the 919 Hybrid EVO. It has gone to Spa-Francorchamps and the Nürburgring Nordschleife and broken track records (yes, the Formula One cars were faster in qualifying a week ago but that's not the point). Other track records are likely to be challenged. It has become an exciting event when it is rumored to happen and millions flock to the video of a record-breaking attempt. Why couldn't IndyCar do the same with local short tracks? Why couldn't it send a car or two out in an attempt to run a lap faster than any local has ever seen?
In turn, IndyCar gets to run in front of a group of people who otherwise would never see it and the series gets to put on an event. It allows spectators to say "I was there" and it allows a driver to say "I did that."
For all the promotional efforts that are done, this might be the one that people can get really excited about. IndyCar can only benefit from taking a race car or two to a short track and showing a group of motorsports fans the car in action. It would be a great chance to be accessible to a group of people who otherwise would view IndyCar as inaccessible. The series would get to bring out a driver or two and show they are racers and will go to a short track in the middle of a small town and spend a night among the moths and the Mountain Dew.
It would be a great way for IndyCar to tie into an event. Give the locals a taste and tell them where they can find more. Hell, sell tickets on the spot.
IndyCar can only benefit from reaching out and it might seem futile and there might be cheaper options but sometimes what turns heads is flashiness. Sometimes what people need to see is a race car flying on a racetrack with their own eyes. It has to become something they never want to look away from and want to see again very soon.
Champions From the Weekend
Patricio O'Ward won the Indy Lights championship after sweeping the weekend from Portland.
Rinus VeeKay won the Pro Mazda championship after a pair of runner-up finishes at Portland.
Toni Vilander won the Pirelli World Challenge GT Overall championship.
Scott Hargrove won the Pirelli World Challenge GT Sprint championship.
James Sofronas won the Pirelli World Challenge GTS Overall and Sprint championship.
Ryan Eversley won the Pirelli World Challenge TCR championship after sweeping the weekend at Watkins Glen.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Takuma Sato, Patricio O'Ward and company but did you know...
Lewis Hamilton won the Italian Grand Prix.
Tadasuke Makino and George Russell split the Formula Two races from Monza. David Beckmann and Pedro Piquet split the GP3 races.
Oliver Askew and David Malukas split the Pro Mazda races from Portland. Kyle Kirkwood swept the U.S. F2000 races and in doing so matched J.R. Hildebrand's record for most victories in a U.S. F2000 season with 12 victories.
Brad Keselowski swept the weekend as he won the Southern 500 and the Grand National Series race at Darlington.
Rodrigo Baptista swept the Pirelli World Challenge GT races from Watkins Glen. Jade Buford and Ian James split the GTS races.
The #63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti and Christian Engelhart and the #88 AKKA ASP Team Mercedes-AMG of Raffaele Marciello and Michael Meadows split the Blancpain Sprint Series races from the Hungaroring.
Coming Up This Weekend
NASCAR will run the Brickyard 400.
MotoGP will be in Misano.
The Nürburgring hosts the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
IMSA has its penultimate round of 2018 at Laguna Seca.
Super Formula has its penultimate round of 2018 at Okayama.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
