During open line segments on Raceline Radio, we used to start hot debate when I asked callers whether or not the Indianapolis 500 was, as it’s billed: “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing!”
The feedback was interesting, if not somewhat predictable.
Before the infamous IndyCar split, I couldn’t find too many callers or emailers that didn’t think the Indy 500 was “TGSIR!”
Hope you don’t mind the silly short-form for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” We seem to live in a short-form, initials-driven Twitter-twisted world these days.
In the early 90’s, IndyCar, CART, ChampCar, whatever badge you put to it was the king of the racing castle, and the Indianapolis 500 with its un-matched pageantry, speed, drama, and yes danger, was the biggest race, not only in IndyCar, but in the sport period.
Then, Speedway boss Tony George decided to divide open wheel in half with his own league, his own rules and his own Indy 500 with manipulated qualifying.
That’s when perception of the Indy 500 started to change.
And it wasn’t a good change.
The spit allowed NASCAR to take over P-1 in the sport, and the division in IndyCar racing with two series trying to operate at the same time chopped away big chunks of IndyCar’s popularity, and it affected the 500.
I personally know of several fans who attended every Indy 500 going back to the 70’s, but stopped going when George tried to tell them the all the best drivers and teams in the sport were not welcome to challenge the Brickyard for his 500.
That’s a small cross-section of the fan base, but it was a sample of the general feeling of the masses.
You started to see empty seats on pole day, and for the race.
I started getting calls from listeners declaring the Indianapolis 500 was not “TGSIR!”
But even during the split, I refused to waver.
To me, the 500 was still the biggest race in the sport.
They were still getting over 200,000 people on race day at the corner of 16th and Georgetown Road in Speedway Ind., about a $20 cab ride from downtown Indianapolis.
The North American TV and radio audience, plus Armed Forces and even short wave radio coverage feeding a global audience was keeping the status alive, even if it was badly wounded.
The good thing?
Since the repair of the split, with IndyCar racing one series again with the Indy 500 in the middle of it, the pull of the classic is back on the rise again.
People are starting to come back at the Speedway, watch on TV and listen on radio.
Even some of the biggest IndyCar haters that communicate with Raceline Radio are starting to show a change of heart.
They’ve bought tickets and are going back for their first 500 since the split.
Should that tempt you to go so you can draw your own conclusion as to whether or not this event is “TGSIR”?
Yes.
If you have never been to an Indianapolis 500, by all means go.
I have covered three. I want to go back bad and I will soon.
It’s fine on TV, but nothing beats being their live.
The history, the enormity of the Speedway, the speeds, the sounds, the huge crowd that lines both sides of the main straight, Jim Nabors singing “Back Home Again in Indiana,” the “Gentlemen start your engines!” from Mari Hulman George, the field moving off…
I get chills sitting here typing this.
Then, the pace car heads up the pit lane and here come 33 cars, 11 rows of three full bore, the crowd screaming almost as loud as the engines.
The cars fly past you so fast you cannot tell what colour they are let alone who’s who.
The first time I experienced this, is sucked the breath right out of me.
Then you look up to the wall of fans on the outside of turn one.
It looks like a 90 degree turn and they are going so fast, in excess of 220 m.p.h., you cannot believe they can all make that turn. But they do.
Now down the back stretch, the balloons are released and the fireworks thunder.
You think the booms might be crashes, but you realize, with your heart pounding, it’s just some gunpowder.
And that’s just the first lap.
There are 199 more to make 500 miles on this 2.5 mile rectangle called the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
First round of pit stops and you chant “Go- Go- Go” with the other fans sitting right behind the crews servicing the cars in lightening fast precision stops. You watch for your favourite drivers. Is he or she moving up or falling behind.
You moan or shout alarm when there’s a crash.
The strategy, the drama and the fun of it all, and the winner’s sip of cold milk in victory lane at the end of an exhausting afternoon can only mean one thing.
The Indianapolis 500 IS the Greatest Spectacle in Racing!
Go. Just once. You’ll see what I mean.