2017 IndyCar Stuff

Kiante said:
I think Portland is in discussion if WG is not on the schedule.

Let me find the source...
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That would be great if Portland International Raceway and the PNW got a larger event again like an IndyCar race, but a lot of serious upgrades would need to come with it. It's a very primitive facility to be hosting a race of that size. A promoter would be taking a big risk initially. The city owns the track and the city government likely doesn't give a hoot enough to spend money building more modern fan and team accommodations.
 
Kiante said:
I think Portland is in discussion if WG is not on the schedule.

Let me find the source...
Click to expand...
http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/144856-will-portland-replace-the-glen-on-indycar-calendar

I guess Nashville means the proposed street circuit that was brought up earlier this year.

I'm all for adding back Portland but it'd be much better if it were in conjunction with The Glen. Two chances, neither of them in the best of circumstances, isn't exactly a fair shake.

I'm typically against the season moving into football season but if a few weeks need to be added to spread things out to accommodate The Glen I'd be fine with that.
 
Robin Miller is reporting that Watkins Glen leased the track to IndyCar... so I guess that means that IndyCar was basically self-promoting the two races there, at least in terms of taking the financial risk of crowd size and spending levels? It implies to me that IndyCar had to guarantee a certain profit to WGI. And maybe IndyCar has no appetite for round 3 of a loss-making deal?

http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/144856-will-portland-replace-the-glen-on-indycar-calendar
 
FLRacingFan said:
I'm typically against the season moving into football season but if a few weeks need to be added to spread things out to accommodate The Glen I'd be fine with that.
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Football is shooting themselves in the foot every weekend. Their TV ratings are down 25% from last year and many sponsors are wanting to renegotiate their contracts as a result. Another week or two of those pampered, overpaid primma donnas squatting during out national anthem is going to do permanent damage to pro football. They have certainly seen my last dime.
 
Away from the world of alternative facts and straining outrage, the reality is that NFL ratings are off about 7% across the board vs. 2016. The biggest decline has been among viewers 18-34, i.e. cord cutters. The smallest decline has been in viewers over 50, or those one might assume are most concerned with the anthem drama. These actual facts do not support the narrative some are eager to push.

Not even NASCAR ratings are off 25%, except over multiple years, from 2014 to 2017 for instance. Or one could accurately say that NASCAR ratings are down by close to 50% over the past decade. The NFL's ratings are higher than they were a decade ago.

Major auto racing series would be wise to avoid direct competition with the NFL and college football.
 
Sorry. Got my figures mixed up. Attendance is what's really down. I forget where I got that 25% number, but it appears a lot of stadiums are doing even worse than that. It's hard to know what to believe because the NFL is claiming hundreds of thousands are showing up when photos clearly prove otherwise. People are claiming all sorts of numbers, but you can just as easily look up into the stands for yourself.

Business Insider is generally considered to be a credible source: http://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-attendance-down-2017-9

I'm sure the NFL will be fine because Americans have a short memory. The whole thing will blow over and be forgotten almost as soon as the NFL finds a way to stop the protests without anyone losing face. Who cares if they took a dump on the flag last week as long as your team can win next week? Remember all those American flags that were on every car in the weeks after of 9/11? See one in the last five years? Yeah, me neither.
 
I shouldn't let this get hijacked much further, but the article you posted is from September 27 and using data through Week 3. Some of the Week 4 ratings were up, I've seen different figures floating around for the season as it is always evolving. If we were to accept 11%, I was a tad closer ;) . There is no widespread evidence that attendance is way down across the league either. There are obvious issues in three or four markets including Los Angeles. The vast majority of teams are at over 90% capacity.

Also, the NFL TV audience is so large that the 7% or 11% or whatever that aren't watching is more people than tune into any IndyCar race that isn't the Indy 500. That's just the way it is. I used to watch probably 60 NFL games a year, this year I may watch a dozen. I'm not an NFL advocate, I'm an advocate for living in reality. The point that auto racing on TV cannot compete with football is true and will continue to be. They would do better to end the season earlier, as @FLRacingFan stated.
 
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I would be very pleasantly surprised if Portland got a date back. But surprised indeed. I live about 5 minutes from the track and drive or jog by it most days. The track management stated on Facebook a few months back when asked that there is definite interest, but 2018 was a no because a promoter needs to be found. That's what it will take, a private local promoter or IndyCar deciding to promote it themselves, as @LewTheShoe outlined above regarding Watkins Glen. That would be a significantly larger undertaking than the Glen, because there are much less in the way of permanent facilities on site at PIR. The track surface itself is in fine shape. It depends on how much IndyCar wants back into the northwest. It will need to be a lot.
 
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LewTheShoe said:
Robin Miller is reporting that Watkins Glen leased the track to IndyCar... so I guess that means that IndyCar was basically self-promoting the two races there, at least in terms of taking the financial risk of crowd size and spending levels? It implies to me that IndyCar had to guarantee a certain profit to WGI. And maybe IndyCar has no appetite for round 3 of a loss-making deal?

http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/144856-will-portland-replace-the-glen-on-indycar-calendar
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The 2016 race was announced four months before it happened. The 2017 race had poor weather. It's Labor Day weekend, the last weekend of summer up there. Cutting the event already would be, in my opinion, short-sighted which bothers me because this really seems like something that would've happened under the previous management instead. Pocono started out as a holiday weekend event, got moved around, and had its best year yet this season.

Maybe it is harder to work around dates with IMSA and NASCAR going there in a pretty short time span but if you're already talking about extending the season for Mexico City...
 


I'll be honest, I'm pissed. Maybe unjustifiably so, with no financials to look at, but not a good look for IndyCar IMO.
 
I'm glad the new gen Indy Cars have gone back to a somewhat more traditional look, but why those rear fenders/deflectors in front of the rear tire/wheels.. The last gen cars look like they were designed by Hot Wheels.

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IndyCar is brutal.

Sucks to see IMHO, I think Daly should get another shot. He had the new branch of the team in Indiana and it took the guys time to find speed, but I guess ABC did not want to sponsor a second car again.

Foyt needs consistency and the potential that Munoz and Daly had I think the team could have really been something. It sucks to see, but I guess City might be getting something in return of funding with Kaanan and Leist.
 
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Kiante said:
IndyCar is brutal.

Sucks to see IMHO, I think Daly should get another shot. He had the new branch of the team in Indiana and it took the guys time to find speed, but I guess ABC did not want to sponsor a second car again.

Foyt needs consistency and the potential that Munoz and Daly had I think the team could have really been something. It sucks to see, but I guess City might be getting something in return of funding with Kaanan and Leist.
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Foyt hasn't done anything since late 90's/early 2000's IRL. It's not the drivers (even though I like Leist and think he will eventually be good if given time). My hope is that his sponsorship money goes towards bringing in improved engineers. Of course, it could just go towards writing TK a bigger check than Conor or Carlos were getting.

Splitting two cars into shops in two separate states is still mindnumbingly stupid.
 
I'm wondering where Carlos Sainz jr is going
 
 
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