In the maelstrom of the final hours before the 2013 Indy 500, I had several regretfully much-too-brief interactions during the pre-race tweet-up and picture this past May. When I officially knew we were coming to 'Nashvegas' for a few days, I knew I needed to look up our good Indycar friend, George. George Phillips (of Oilpressure Blog fame and @oilpressureblog on Twitter) and his lovely wife Susan (aka @chiapet58) and I gathered together only to share some time getting to know each other. I doubt they'd mind if I revealed that the evening was full of good conversation and laughs on a great many subjects, Indycar included.
Of all the things I've experienced over the last several years in the world of Indycar as experienced over the internet, my most positive experiences come from the direct social interaction with people whom I've only previously known via a digital environment. This includes fans, drivers, and racing industry people alike. This Friday PM was no exception.
After our 'tweetup-of-3' and after much discussion on the messages we put out in the universe via our blogs and twitter, I was left with the overriding feeling that, of all the problems Indycar has to overcome just to survive, the fans are not one of them.
I also felt, as the same themes keep appearing in my writing and truly I have nothing new to say, and, as I've been threatening for several posts now, this is a good time to set the blog aside for a while.
In summation, as I have written many a tome on the subject of Indycar, my primary goal (and the reason for the naming of Grounded Effects) was to produce thought-provoking and engaging commentaries for the fans of Indycar. I still feel many of the thoughts here have value in the near- and long-term for Indycar fans so please feel free to visit the "Museum" of the Grounded Effects blog... don't cost nothin'.
For your ease of future reference, below is a compendium with green listings among the most read, and the orange listings among the most read and personal favorites of mine, the links for which are found under the 'Museum' heading on the upper-right column of this blog.
If you wish, please also follow down to the bottom for my final thoughts.
2009
Sep.
I’m going to blog
about Indycar.
How I got started
following Indycar, part 1.
Oct.
How I got started
following Indycar, part 2.
Favorite Indycars,
part 1 – ’79 Chaparral.
Nov.
Indycar thoughts for the future.
Favorite
Indycars, part 2 – ‘65 Lotus.
Dec.
An Indy 500 trip for
$365 (aka The Dollar a day plan).
Fave Indycars,
part 3 – ’70 PJ Colt.
Please don’t change/mess
up the start of the Indy 500.
2010
Jan.
Tony G is out - Open
letter to Hulman IMS ownership.
Feb.
The Hallowed
Grounds in winter.
Carb Day concert band
suggestions.
100 days to Indy
- Indy trip planning.
Mar.
Fortune favors
the bold – new car/engine ideas.
Season opener - Sao
Paulo race review.
Faux Carb Day
concert band announcement.
Apr.
Disparity in
racing is OK.
Simple Indycar math.
Celebrating some
good news and more Indycar math.
May
May = Indy for
me.
500 Qualy
predictions.
Last minute Indy
trip stuff/prediction recap.
July
D-day ICONIC
preview.
Sep.
Reviving the fading mystique
of Indy ramble.
Oct.
End of Season
thoughts, part 1 – Dario is a legend, small crowds and TV.
End of Season
thoughts, part 2 – Indycar is a niche sport, but devoted fanbase.
Nov.
Post-season
withdrawals, Pagoda shuttered, Chevy’s back, TK out of ride.
Thanksgiving and
more Indycar math.
2011
Jan.
Blog review.
Blog visual refresher.
Whither Sam
Hornish.
Essence of NASCAR
vs Indycar racing/competition.
Feb.
American auto
companies thoughts.
Mar.
Indycar misses
formula for future.
Whom should Randy
Bernard trust?
Favorite
Indycars, part 4 – ’85 March Cosworth ‘spin and win’.
Apr.
Indycar parody lyrics
– Jay Penske – Lawyers, Guns, and Money.
May
Greatest 33
thoughts.
500 Qualy predictions.
Qualy predictions
recap, race preview and prediction.
Jun.
Race and
predictions review.
Explaining Indycar
to non-fans.
Aug.
Predictions for
the future of Indycar – Pain.
Fave Engines of
Indy, part 1 – ’60s Ford V8 (sounds).
Sep.
Why NASCAR drives
won’t race the Indycar World Challenge.
Funky Cars of
Indy, part 1 – Yunick’s ’64 Hurst Floor-shifter Spcl.
Oct.
Indycar’s missing
character – the car.
Post-Las
Vegas/questioning my Indycar.
Dealing w post-Vegas
grief.
Nov.
Indycar Slang.
Dec.
Looking to 2012 –
Carb Day band ideas.
2012
Jan.
Goofy graphical
thoughts.
Missing Dick
Simon.
Feb.
Fans demand
better Indycar coverage online.
Laughing at the
new F1 cars – Platypus fever.
Zip-Line
fever/Ideas for the 500.
Fave engines of
Indy, part 2 – The Offy (sounds).
Mar.
Pre-season
cautionary thoughts.
Indycar Parody
lyrics - Pippa Mann – Pippa Nation.
Equinox – new
season.
St. Pete
expectations/self-mantra: post-Wheldon.
Apr.
Writing
contrition.
The Greatest 33
and Indycar nerdery cont'd.
May
Indycon Level 4
and my origins redux.
Jay Penske redux
and diatribe on Indycar’s direction.
My rambling Indy
500 trip memories, 2004, part 1 - a new beginning.
My rambling Indy
500 trip memories, 2004, part 2 – cont’d.
My rambling Indy
500 trip memories, 2004, part 3 – final.
Indy 500 qualy
predictions.
Jun.
Milwaukee Indyfest
trip and an energy revelation.
Jul.
Drama as an asset
to Indycar, not a distraction.
Humorous
end-of-race alternatives to Green-White-Checkers.
Sep.
Indycar needs
some Gangnam Style.
Now THAT’S a
season (review).
Oct.
Days of
Reflection (Wheldon and life).
Escapism in the off-season.
Dec.
Left adrift as an
Indycar fan – no more apologism.
2013
Feb.
Post-Superbowl, waiting for Indycar.
Indycar and my iPod
shuffle (a noir narrative).
Mar.
Crystal Ballin’ –
2013, beyond... die spec racing.
Apr.
Nostalgia as a
false pain-relief remedy.
May
One last plea for Indycar change.
Jul.
Pocono – an on-site review for IndycarUK.
Aug.
Should there be
an end of the Hulman reign over Indycar?
Sep.
Final Rites - Grounded Effects
Blog Recap.
Epilogue
I have been a fan of varying degrees of Indycar for nearly four decades and have come to the following conclusions with regard to the sport:
1. The Indy 500 is still truly a worldwide showcase event.
1. The Indy 500 is still truly a worldwide showcase event.
2. Building a viable series around the Indy 500 has proven to be folly. Aside from the 500, it has been and essentially still is a niche (300,000 followers/20,000 in person) sport and will remain so until a philosophical shift of what Indycar is supposed to be occurs, if ever.
3. For the sport of Indycar (or any autosport) to thrive and grow in the next 20 years, it MUST allow for an open, flexible, and agile set of rules and platform in which real innovation, creativeness, forward-thinking, and ingenuity are welcomed as the norm. Something akin to a 'formula libre' Indycar can thrive.
4. I believe no other option exists for Indycar but to change radically. If not, it will continue the slow degradation and devaluation death march we've seen for nearly 20 years. Change is well overdue.
5. I give Indycar in its current state through the 2016 season. It must either have a plan for radical change in place or it will be done. The current 'timeline' recently set by Walker and Miles is not a plan which will cause Indycar to survive beyond 2016.
6. We fans are never the problem, RATHER, we're the solution, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Until Indycar figures out what fans truly want and supplies what we demand, there is no long-term viability of the sport.
It is truly as simple as basic economics:
- The fans are consumers. We have the power of our money to support the things we demand.
- Discretionary spending will continue to be reduced as the economy continues to polarize and eliminate the middle-class.
- The ONLY reason any professional sport (product) exists, ultimately, is to fill a demand by the fans (consumer).
- Supply of product in and of itself does not create demand.
- Consumers will respond positively when you supply something they demand.
- The supplier who truly listens, who cares, and aims to provide the best possible product to meet or exceed the consumer expectations will be the one who ultimately survives.
- For auto-racing to be a viable sport, supply MUST ONLY follow demand.
- For Indycar to merely have the potential to survive, it must provide a product in much greater demand (at least 3 times the current demand in both TV and on-location markets), all other things being equal.
- You fans are the consumers. You have the power to demand, but it's up to suppliers to fill that demand.
- I believe without question that demand will be filled.
By whom is the Billion-Dollar answer.
"Whosoever desires constant success,
must change his conduct with the times."
-Niccolo Machiavelli
Best wishes and Godspeed to you all!
