Do you miss drivers running the double?

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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IMO, that did peak more interest in both races. I'd like to see them be able to do this again some day.
 
That was always interesting to follow. It was tough too do and run up front at both. One or both efforst usually suffered.
 
Yes I do miss it.
I for the life of me can not understand why IRL would do this, it would appear it was shooting themselves in the foot as far as interest and viewership.
 
I used to watch the Indy 500 most every year growing up. As I got more into NASCAR, I started to get away from watching the 500 until the first time that a NASCAR driver decided to run in both races on the same day. That started to peak my interest in that race again. When our NASCAR drivers lost that opportunity to do both, I found myself not as interested in watching the 500. I'm sure that there are others that feel the same. I think that the IRL is losing out on this deal.
 
Driver's running the double gave me the one and only reason to watch an IRL race. Now that nobody does it anymore, I couldn't care less.
It will be interesting to see the TV ratings after the weekend.
 
Being a Hoosier native it is a mandatory see. I think it is even state law. ;)
 
I grew up in a household that my mom was a super race freak. :D
My first live race I attended was with my aunt and uncle in Unity ME., I was 4 1/2 and was completely hooked.
During the mid 50's - late 60's we went to 4 - 5 races per week in New England, Waterford Speed Bowl, Riverside Park, Stafford Speedway, Plainville, Thompson, CT Dragway (when ever they ran) were regulars but we'd travel to RI & MA to tracks for specials too. We took annual vacations south to different tracks over the years for races, mom, dad and 6 kids packed in a station wagon
We listened to every race broadcast on the radio regardless of the series. In fact as a young guy I didn't understand about different sanctioning bodies it was all racing. I loved those days when guys would race USAC Sprint cars, Indy cars and stock cars, those guys were all my heroes.

Now I still watch them both, It is my favorite race weekend of the year. Especially when you throw in the WoO in Charlotte and the F1 GP.
 
Eagle1 said:
Yes I do miss it.
I for the life of me can not understand why IRL would do this, it would appear it was shooting themselves in the foot as far as interest and viewership.
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i will still watch both of them but i really enjoyed drivers attempting the double. it made absolutely no sense for the IRL to change starting times. growing up in the midwest it was local tracks, Indy and USAC. no NASCAR races here at the time.
 
No, I don't. I always thought it might to kind of cool is somebody actually won both races in the same day.

However, it seems a lot more like a publicity grab anymore. It's just another way for some driver's to get more attention than they deserve.
 
I miss it. But, I'm still one of those people that still feel that the Indianapolis 500 is stilll the most important race in the world.

But there never have really been that many people doing both. Stewart, Robby Gordon and John Andretti are the only ones in recent memory. In fact, I remember the last time there was a possibilty (before the time change) where Stewart was actually sitting in one on AJ's cars on the second weekend, and looked like he might have tried it again. Not sure what happened, but probably some sort of contractual thing put the kybosh on it.

Quite frankly, I'd sooner go out of my way to watch the 500 than the 600...
 
Bucky Badger said:
Sorry, I don't watch the foreign 500 anymore:rolleyes:
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That's the very thing in my mind, that has always elevated the Indy 500 over any race NASCAR has is that it is recognized world wide and almost every serious racer would love to run and win the Indy 500.
There are a few races world wide drivers admire and would like to be part of, Monaco GP, LeMans, Indy 500 are a few of the big ones.
Personally I like watching the best of the best competing for the wins, I don't care where they were born.
 
I miss the double, but it really doesn't matter to me. Other than the local racing, the Indy 500 is the very first race that I can remember and to this day, I will not miss that race, even if I have to listen to it on the radio. I'm a fan of racing, no matter what type of cars or boats. If it's got an engine, I'm watching it. But the Indy 500 has a lot of history behind it and all those great drivers that drove and won and those that tried and tried, but could never win. At heart, I'm a stockcar fan and that is what I prefer to watch, but that Indy 500 is just too special. Mind you, it isn't the track so to speak, it's the race. I hate it that NASCAR is trying to make their race there tops in the series when it has to be the Daytona 500.
 
Offenhauser too would join forces with a European maker, McLaren, obtaining three wins for the chassis, one with the Penske team in 1972 with driver Mark Donohue, and two for the McLaren works team in 1974 and 1976 with Johnny Rutherford. This was also the last time the Offy would win a race, its competitiveness steadily decreasing until its final appearance in 1983. American drivers kept on filling the majority of entries at the Brickyard for the following years, but European technology had taken over. Starting in 1978, most chassis and engines were European, with the only American-based chassis to win during the CART era being the Wildcat and Galmer (which was actually built in Bicester, England) in 1982 and 1992 respectively. Ford and Chevrolet engines were built in the UK by Cosworth and Ilmor, respectively.


[edit] World Series
After foreign cars became the norm, foreign drivers started showing up at the Indianapolis 500 on a regular basis, choosing the United States as their primary base for their motor racing activities. Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, Italian Teo Fabi and Colombian Roberto Guerrero, were able to obtain good outings in the 80s. However, it wasn't until 1993 that reigning Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell shocked the racing world by moving to the United States, winning the CART PPG IndyCar World Series Championship and only losing the 500 in his rookie year because of inexperience with green-flag restarts. Foreign-born or, at least, -bred drivers became a regular fixture of Indianapolis in the years to follow.
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i don't really see the point here bucky. are you suggesting teams should use inferior american technology? nada, they will and should always use the best available. same goes for drivers. if foreign drivers are good enough and can and want to race here then why shouldn't they?

if america wants to be the best in technology and have the best drivers then they have to compete against the best.
 
I very much miss drivers doing the double! I really hope IndyCar moves the race back to it's original start time so we can see the double again.
 
It was a very interesting feat. Tony was the best at It, I think the only one to score 2 top tens in 1100 miles of racing. I liked the idea, but as
a purist, when Andretti first did this, I scoffed at it. Heck, I scoffed when Andretti decided to go NASCAR racing.

It would be neat if someone could continue doing the "Double".

I think because of the ability to do the "Double", NASCAR guys got the idea to incorparate flying from track to track to try win Busch series races when they were at different venues from the cup cars.

I am a NASCAR fan from early on, but there was time when wall to wall coverage and 10 hour pre-race shows did not exist. The only race we saw live on Memorial day weekend was the 500. No cable, just network T.V. from the rabbit ears. We watched INDY while listening to the World 600 on MRN.
Barney Hall and Eli Gold, Sports radio Gold.
 
Your had rabbit ears? My dad wrapped me in tin foil and made me stand in the back yard like the Statue of Liberty.


:D:beerbang:
 
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