Posted on 05/30/2004 6:18:54 AM PDT by foreverfree
[snip]
This might be the last year [Robby Gordon or anyone for that matter] can attempt the Memorial Day weekend double. Officials at ABC have discussed the possibility of pushing the starting time of the Indy 500 back by a couple of hours to help with TV ratings.
If that happens, the chance of anyone competing in both races is diminished.
"It would mess it up, but it is what it is," Gordon said. "I think that would be a mistake on the IRL's side because then Tony Stewart or myself would never be able to come over and compete.
"It would get them better TV ratings. But if they had drivers like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart there, their ratings would probably go up as well."
bump for instant replay.
pit/safety worker being carried off. what a mess, but those safety barriers did a good job.
Make that: driving for Rahall/Letterman team.
My bad.
What was up with Letterman? They interviewed before the race was over and he was acting like a hysterical female. Get a grip man, it's only a race.
Letterman was getting all teary because it was the driver's first win...and it was a replacement driver. And the first American to win in eight years....and yes, Letterman was born Indianapolis, grew up around the 500, went to college in Indiana and started out as a weatherman in Indiana.
You would cry too if you beat Roger Penske....I had to crack up looking at Michael Andretti...that little crybaby...hahaha....
foreverfree
I didn't intend it to be, but I don't mind that someone made it so. :-)
foreverfree
Just walked into my Maryland home few hours ago from my 20 somethingish Indi weekend. We didn't have a clue in heck that this kinda weather may be coming our way.!!
We thought it was pretty weird for so many people to leave at the first yellow. Never thought it was becuz of the possibilities of tornadoes. If it came our way, it would have been a mess.
The track was totally irresponsible on this call. (or lack of it)
I bet it was. Hard pressed you are looking at the Snake Pit and the "show us your tits" signs with fond memories.
But your basic premise is correct. Tony George screwed up the race.
the green clouds didnt give it away?
did you have a good time? I cant believe they didnt tell the crowd...I knew something was up with the award awarded inside the garage.
The Indianapolis 500 defeated the Coca-Cola 600 in preliminary overnight Nielsen ratings, despite enduring lengthy rain delays Sunday. ABC's 4.7 rating for the Indy 500 fell from a 5.1 last year, but it edged out the 4.5 for Fox's Coca-Cola 600, which declined 8 percent from 2003.
Usually, the Indy 500 is over by the time the Coca-Cola 600 begins, but rain delays caused them to compete for two hours. In each half-hour segment from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Eastern, the Indy 500 won, ending with a 4.8 rating from 7 to 7:30, compared with a 4.0 for the Coca-Cola 600. Each overnight ratings point equals 754,274 television households.
Viewership did not plummet during the Indy 500's rain delays, which actually pushed it into a later time period with more viewership. The two rain-delay segments, the first from noon to 2 p.m. and the second from 2:45 to 4:30, rated a 3.6 and a 3.7.
meanwhile
LOW RATINGS
Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup final on ABC drew two of the lowest overnight ratings since broadcast networks began carrying the NHL final in 1998. Saturday's Game 3, won by Calgary 3-0, got a 2.2 rating, the lowest since 1998. Tampa Bay's 1-0 victory Monday night had a 2.8, which tied last year's Game 3 between New Jersey and Anaheim for the second-lowest since 1998.
Flyover country was a different story, because after the nonovernights came in, NASCAR outrated Indy nationally 5.0 to 4.1.
http://www.sportsline.com/autoracing/story/7384164
foreverfree
Looks like you are right. I was researching for an email war with my buddy. He doesn't get "racing"....so I pointed out that the Stanley Cup game received a 2.1.....so "motorports" had a 9.1 on Sunday...hahaha...
unless they count people like me, with two TVs side by side
It is pretty ironic that one of Tony George's supposed reasons for starting the IRL was to give American drivers a better chance at a ride than they would have had in the apparently too-cosmopolitan CART.
As long as local, grass roots racing exists, that's where I'll be - AT THE TRACK.
Rather than pay... is it HUNDREDS of dollars for a good seat, hotel, meals, etc., etc.?... I'll plunk down no more than $15.00 for a regular Saturday night race, and no more than $35.00 for a World of Outlaws show. The people in the stands are my friends. We see each other every Saturday, and we're all like a big family.
After the race, all I have to do is walk across the track into the pits to congratulate the winners - people I know - and hang out with the rest of the drivers, owners, and crews. I don't need a pile of credentials to prove I belong there.
Exciting? Yeah. Three wide in the turns, sliding sideways, closer to each other than the cars in the parking lot. And that's just an 8-lap heat race.
I've been to few NASCAR races. At Pocono, I was privileged to be able to see ten feet of a 2-1/2- mile track. The end of the front stretch, I swear, was in the next county. I wound up watching the race on the Diamondvision. Later, I realized that I spent $120.00 for a bus ride, an uncomfortable seat, etc. so I could watch the race on TELEVISON.
Dover is a much better venue, and I actually enjoyed that one.
This Saturday night, turn off the TV, step away from the keyboard, grab the wife and kids and visit your local speedway. You will have the time of your life, and won't have to mortgage the house.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SPEEDWAY!!!
http://www.angelfire.com/ct3/victoryspeedway
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