Cutting May in half hurts George and Indy
Posted: Fri September 12, 1997 at 3:08 PM ET
Tony George's announcement Thursday that
practice and qualifying for the Indy 500 will
be cut in half amounts to a blatant
admission by the Speedway's own president
that the gutted event can no longer
sustain interest throughout the month of
May.
The cutback could be downright dangerous.
At a time when the 500 relies so much on
replacement drivers, who are often
inexperienced or marginally qualified,
condensing and hurrying rookie
testing and practice, as well as last-ditch
efforts to qualify for the field, cannot help.
Is Indy really doing this to streamline the
event? I don't think so. Here's the real
reason: Last May, so many of those
unproven IRL engines blew during practice
and qualifying, that there were hardly
enough left to race.
George must figure that
a sure way to cut down on engine failure is
to slash practice and qualifying. Yes, he may
also hope to reduce crashes and injury. But
again, if things are rushed, even that
strategy could backfire.
To serious racing fans, downsizing the
once-glorious Month of May is sacrilege. To
the hotels, restaurants and convention
centers of Indianapolis, which rely on
revenues from the month of May, this is the
move sure to break their loyalty to George
in his war with CART.
More and more people see that the emperor
has no clothes -- and that a month of
world-class spectacle has withered into just
another mundane week in the Midwest.
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