Question: There is always a lot of hand wringing about what's wrong with the IRL. Many reasons have been given. Too many foreign drivers? Emmo and Arie didn't cause people to stop watching back in their day. The split? At first sure. But let's face it, there is no split to speak of. Anyone who was anyone in CART is now racing at Indy. Ganassi, Penske, Andretti Green, Rahal, Newman Haas are all at the 500.
Are people really staying away because HVM Racing isn't at Indy? Loss of the turbo? Sure, purists miss the sweet sound of the turbo, but the casual fan still thinks Carb day is for tuning carburetors.
The problem is simple. The IRL lacks big names and interesting characters. Foyt, Mario, Big Al, Bobby Unser, Mears and Rutherford retired and there were no big names to replace them.
A.J. was a character. Bobby Unser was a character. They were straight talking lightning rods for great quotes and great theatre. They loved to mix it up in the press with Mario, who would shoot back with quotes of his own.
There is no personality any more. There are no household names because no one is interesting enough to follow. Helio has a personality and Patrick has piqued people's interest, but other than those two does anyone excite the media or fans? What do you think? (Tom from Blaine, Minn.)
Answer: I couldn't agree more. Give open-wheel racing a few more personalities like Danica Patrick and there could be some improvement.