"just bob" <kilbyfan@aoldotcom> wrote

"just bob" <kilbyfan@aoldotcom> wrote

What exactly is ALSM? Is that the charity for Lou Gehrig's Disease?

"RickyBobby" <nascar42 (AT) cox (DOT) net> wrote

Let us not forget about great NASCRAP names like Dick Trickle, Kvapil, or
Bootie!

RickyBobby wrote:
longer can even sell out. In 95 tickets were taking decades to get.
Now walk up race day and take your pick. It used to be the highest
rated race on tv in the US, but now a good percentage of the Nascar race
has higher ratings including the Brickyard. They even have trouble
getting the right winner to victory lane. Car counts pre 95 were no
problem but now some have speculated that as many as 13 to 14 cars had a
direct money link to get them on the track for the 500 and forget about
bumping.

No they won't reunify for two reasons but the IRL 500 isn't one of them.
Ego and pride along with a fat checkbook keep the IRL afloat. The way
the split was handled left about half a fan base with such a distaste
for the IRL 500 management that if they merged and it was left in power,
they would be ex fans rather than IRL fans.

"RickyBobby" <nascar42 (AT) cox (DOT) net> wrote

Two hours of that crap? You're a glutton for punishment. Unless it's a road
course, I just like the wrecks. It's the best part of a NASCAR race: Funny
as hell and you finally get an idea that things are on the edge and they
looks like they are earning their money. Give me a highlight reel and that's
all I need. I'd rather watch the Speed Report and Wind Tunnel recap shows
than the race itself.

"Silent Observer" <harrynospam (AT) comcast (DOT) net> wrote

I have always thought that it was really mean to hang a nickname like
"Bootie" on a guy in a wheelchair.

"Mark B" <racefan1958 (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote

Only a few diehard fans care enough about the politics that went on behind
the scenes a decade ago to become ex-fans.

Some events like the Indianapolis 500, the Kentucky Derby, and the Ringling
Bros. circus are interwoven into the fabric of America and will always be
important from a cultural standpoint.

Actually auto racing fans are a different lot. They know, especially
those that were around at the time of the split, exactly what happened
and why. Do you??? Apparently enough of them feel as I do that left
empty seats at an event that just 10 years ago was a ticket that was
among the most difficult to get in the country for any sporting event.

The "interwoven" argument does not take into account the changing of the
times and in some cases technology. At the beginning of the century
when radio was king, baseball was clearly the biggest sport in the US.
Its a game ideally suited for radio. Attitudes were different then.
Now with TV, and a ton of other reasons including baseballs on
leadership the NFL is number one.

History will not compensate for bad management, although history has
shown that if a family business runs into trouble its likely with the
3rd generation. Tony George is Tony Hulman's grandson ie the third
generation.

How many people walked through the gates at IRL races this year??? Of
those that did, how many were bought at tracks that required you to buy
IRL tickets to be insured of the chance to buy Nascar tickets? Once the
500 aligned itself to the IRL, it will suffer the same fate as the rest
of the series unless it changes. Sad thing is that all that had to be
done is leave well enough alone.

"Mark B" <racefan1958 (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote

There is nothing wrong with season ticket packages to any venue. If people
want the good seats they buy the package.

I do not know the paid attendance at all of the IRL races in 2006 but I do
know that there are doing well enough to have added three more races along
with retaining all of the fourteen they had. That alone seems rather
impressive.

There is plenty wrong with the ticket bundles. It FORCES a customer to
buy a ticket to an event he doesn't want to get a ticket to one they do.
That's wrong. Even then many of those fans, even though they are paid
for don't bother to show for the pointy car race.

The races they added were road races not ovals. The IRL was formed to
be an all oval series so those heros of the short tracks with no road
racing experience can have a shot at Indy. Seems those heros of the
short tracks need road racing experience after all. It was apparent
from the start that few if any were really ready to go from a sprint car
to an Indy car, so the whole line of bull started to smell real bad real
fast.

The 14 races they did manage to keep are mostly poorly attended with a
few exceptions. The questions on money are a bit guess work at best
because the ISC, Nascar, IMS connection. ISC might be losing on IRL
races so that Nascar can get the payday from Indy. IF ISC were forced
to turn a profit from IRL races, I wonder how many would still have a
date? Would they have a date without ticket bundles?

If a promoter offers a discount for the package, but allows equal access
to all races based on first come first serve I have no problem with
that. Hold the events on the same day and I have no problem with that.
Have them on separate weekends, and then force a customer to buy tickets
to both to make sure you get tickets to one or the other is wrong. I
personally will not attend any race at a track that has such a policy.