Quote:
|
Originally Posted by JohnSSC
1) 4 lead changes in the last nine laps.
2) 22 lead changes among 12 drivers over the course of the race.
3) Parity - your favorite guy has a chance to win.
4) Driver/Team recognition. The fans know who these guys are, know which teams have been around (and will be around).
5) It is indeed close racing'
|
I'm not sure which is most astonishing - the fact that NASCAR's showpiece event produced these statistics, the fact that they are perfectly standard across the season, or the fact that some still regard the race as boring. I doubt Formula 1 had 22 lead changes or 12 different leaders across the whole of last season, and it certainly didn't have any races where 3 drivers had a realistic chance to win so close to the end. It shouldn't be hard to see why fans are more drawn to this than most ChampCar or IRL races, even before the other factors are considered.
Amar makes a key point regarding consistancy. Look at the 2000 CART grid. Ganassi ran Montoya and Vasser, Penske ran de Ferran and CastroNeves, Newman-Haas ran Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi. Forsythe ran Carpentier and Tagliani. Teams such as PacWest and Arciero-Wells were still there, as were numerous races that no longer feature in either ChampCars or IRL.
The split is not the main explanation for excess driver mobility and team changes in open-wheel racing. NASCAR guys race to an older age, and are usually where they want to be, and where they are suited to being. Guys who were in CART in 2000 are now not only in the 2 open-wheel championships, but also in F1, Trans-Am, Le Mans-type races, Busch series and so on, and some no longer race. Even the teams that still exist often have completely different sponsors - the Marlboro Penske scheme will be gone after 2005, and only Ganassi will have cars that would be recognisable as Ganassi cars to someone who lost interest a few years ago. The make-up of the championships have changed, so that fans know that the 2004 champion may not have won on th 1999 roster of tracks. All of these things hurt long-time fan involvement.