Q: Although there are few ways for IndyCar to take on F1 head-on to showcase actual racing vs their circus, that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. And Las Vegas is the place for the showdown.
If you remember, there were numerous complaints from both race fans as well as locals about the high costs involved and the disruption to daily life, and there is no reason why IndyCar can’t feed off of the discontent –if not on the Sunday, Nov. 24, then on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, just up the road at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Market it to the locals as “Better racing, affordable for the rest of us.”
Yes, IndyCar has an aversion to going back to tracks where drivers get killed (Pocono as well as Las Vegas); but by returning to Vegas while the F1 circus is still in town, it will show the bravery of “our team” with higher speeds, more passing and more excitement at family-friendly prices. The locals don’t need expensive musical “entertainment” like they do in the middle of an Iowa cornfield: Just thrilling open-wheel oval racing.
What would make this special is if a couple of extra cars are available for any of the F1 drivers to race, and publicly challenge them on local billboards as well as in the racing media to see if they have the balls to come play in our ballpark. Already one of their biggest stars, Lewis Hamilton, has said he will not race on ovals: Make this a “put up or shut up” event and paper the house with the locals with reasonably priced tickets and giveaways, such as to military personnel next door at Nellis AFB.
Since Roger Penske turned down selling IndyCar to Liberty Media, this would give the bonus of his rubbing it in the face of John Malone.
One of the keys to success with IndyCar has always been the attraction of middle-class fans with reasonably priced tickets: Imagine the billboards going up in the near-suburbs saying, “Price too much for the Formula 1 tickets? Come see our real racers!”
Dan Schwartz
MP: I hear you, but IndyCar isn’t some mystery series that American-based F1 fans can’t go see and enjoy as desired. It’s been here for more than 100 years. All of the things that make no sense right now with F1, where most of the races suck but huge ticket sales and merchandise sales are happening, is very real. Miami was packed, and it cost a fortune compared to an IndyCar race, and yet… it was packed.
Here, right now, F1 is the NFL. IndyCar, despite being all the things we love, is the UFL, with quality players and, by comparison to the NFL, no audience. IndyCar taking over the Las Vegas F1 race would be huge, but nobody in Las Vegas is asking for it. F1 fans can just as easily go to the 17 races we have and pack those stands if they wanted to.
Q: After watching ESPN put the Miami Grand Prix on ABC and ESPN, I am OK with IndyCar moving on to FOX if it offers more money. I get the women’s golf tournament, but burying IndyCar’s crown jewel outside of Indy on USA was a joke, and it showed. If you really are going to build a fan base, NBC (despite its past contributions) has to do better. It can’t get much worse under FOX, but at least you would have more money.
Jeff Smith, State College, PA
MP: I checked in with my FOX insider last week and was told they’ve heard the negotiations with IndyCar were halted. We both hoped that will prove to be wrong, but that was what they’d been told. I hope to learn more ASAP.
Q: The one thing that we will never know: Did Josef and Scotty hit the P2P during qualifying at St. Pete, since it was not deactivated?
John Sedlak, Venice, FL
MP: The problem with doing internal investigations and such things privately as they did, is there’s no immediate transparency to offer.
Q: Kudos for Roger Penske for suspending Tim Cindric and the others, especially for the 500. But I wonder why IndyCar didn’t act in the same way. Have you heard if IndyCar considered suspensions, bigger fines, etc.? Also, Chevrolet’s announcement that its folks had no knowledge… I cannot believe that, with all the data they review. Seems like a cover-up by Chevrolet. Do you think penalties/suspensions are deserved for their engineers or others?
Rick, Miami
MP: I came away from this ordeal thinking that we need IndyCar to copy NASCAR’s approach and suspend folks at the series level, from cheating at the highest offense to more routine items like wheels falling off. IndyCar is not planning on doing anything else on this matter. This was a team thing, not a Chevy thing. But like Team Penske, GM/Chevy said they had their in-house counsel look into things and cleared themselves.
From the beginning, this has felt like a situation the series and Penske Entertainment do not want to really treat in a serious and exhaustive way. Just be thankful our courts don’t allow the “we investigated ourselves and here’s our own verdict” routine to happen.
Q: I read your article that stated Meyer Shank is the front-runner to pick up the Acura IMSA contract, not Ganassi. Was Ganassi interested in the Acura project, or does it have their eyes on a different manufacturer’s program?
Joe
MP: I’ve heard CGR bid for the deal, along with a few other teams, and MSR was chosen. I don’t know where else they’ll turn to keep their IMSA program going.
Q: There is so much drama in NASCAR with accusations, fist fights between drivers or crews, cheating, etc. NASCAR fans love it, whether it is contrived or not. Ratings show it. IndyCar is getting all sorts of press from news organizations who normally don’t pay any attention due to its own scandal. There is a saying in the entertainment business that talking bad about you is better than not talking about you at all. IndyCar may not want this bad press, but at least it is a topic of discussion. It just needs to push the personalities of the drivers during the whole season, not just through the “100 Days to Indy” series. There is enough drama in IndyCar going on that is not contrived, unlike these so-called “reality shows.” You’re hot now IndyCar, keep the fire going!
Dave
MP: Thanks, Dave. But it’s not hot now. Along with the scandal doing the opposite of growing its audience, the ratings for 100 Days Season 2, so far, are slightly down as well, dipping by five percent over the average Season 1 audience. I wish everything you’re saying was true, but the numbers tell another story. This ordeal has done nothing to help IndyCar.