Cool reception for NASCAR in Indy
There was quite the spectacle last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Tony Stewart made his final run in his home state. Jeff Gordon returned to racing because of his friend and colleague Dale Earnhardt Jr.’ s disconcerting news involving concussions.
Lots of drama. But not many people.
NASCAR does not release attendance figures, but estimates ranged from 40,000 to 50,000 spectators. IMS capacity is 235,000.
At least 5.2 million viewers tuned into NBCSN’s telecast, making it the cable outlet’s most-watched and highest-rated non-Olympic telecast on record. TV money provides a great chunk of revenue, but the sport can’t keep feeding off of that forever.
Indiana loves racing. Check out the Indianapolis 500, which was sold out in May.
But it’s not so enthusiastic about the NASCAR brand. Blame the racing, or lack of it, in Sunday’s race. Blame the oppressive heat. Blame the fact that fans are more prone to sit in front of their giant high-definition screens instead of dealing with the masses.
The good news for those people is plenty of seats, if not entire sections, were wide open Sunday. In no rush: Earnhardt’s return remains uncertain. The good news is he is in lockstep with medical experts and isn’t going to rush into anything. The bad news is with each passing day, the concern ramps up as to whether Junior’s multiple concussions will eventually be a career dealbreaker. Attendance was low for Sunday’s Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“There’s certain things you can race through,” he said on his weekly podcast. “But one of the things that you cannot race through is concussion-like symptoms. The balance deal is a critical part of being able to drive a racecar.”
Earnhardt, 41, will miss Sunday’s race at Pocono. After that it’s anybody’s guess.
“I’m not going to go against [doctors’] advice, no matter what,” he said. SHR expands: StewartHaas Racing announced Monday that it will expand into the Xfinity Series in 2017 with a full-time single-car team. The driver and sponsor lineup is expected to be announced before the end of the 2016 season.
“In order to maintain the competitiveness that has earned SHR two championships since our debut in 2009, we needed an outlet to develop drivers and team personnel for the Sprint Cup Series,” Greg Zipadelli, VP of competition for SHR, said in a statement.