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IndyCar vs. NASCAR. Open and shut, right? More fans = better. Indy blew it with the CART/Indy split back in the early 90's, lost their market share and advertisers to Cup racing, yes? Now Cup racing is the better of the two.

... a myth perpetuated by runaway success.

I've been called out by The Black Flag, charged with the seemingly impossible: to insert or reinvigorate some doubts in the minds of NASCAR fans on this site about the seemingly inviolate contention that Cup racing is the most exciting version of racing and that IndyCar is a tired, worn-out old dog of a series. If popularity indicates quality or excitement, I've got no case. Fortunately, popularity does not mean the service being provided is high quality or exciting (just think back and review the last four nominees of our two party system over the past two presidential elections, the outcomes of the last several American Idols, or the continuing astronomic ratings for professional wrestling).

So, exactly what makes a racing series exciting?

SPEED

The primary objective of a race is to get someplace faster than everyone else. The faster the car, the better. IndyCars go MUCH faster than Cup cars. On average between 25% and 35% faster. At some point, incredible speeds may become a hindrance to the appreciation of auto racing. Short of that (and I don't know where that is), speed is good. I can tell the difference between 225 mph and 180 mph; 225 is far more exciting. Speed doesn't matter? Then why not slow them down to 140? Why not 120? It matters.

And don't even broach the topic of acceleration. Watching an IndyCar restart and a Cup car restart are as different as watching a fireworks display and a river of molasses.

IndyCar takes the category in a blindingly fast cakewalk.

TIGHT COMPETITION

The objective of a race is undeniably to get to the finish faster than the rest of the competitors. It is also undeniable that a race will be more interesting if it's outcome seems in doubt until the final moments - ideally at the moment the competitors cross the finish line. An element of style comes into play here. What is more exciting, holding competitors in a glump as though tethered to one another and then letting them go at the last moment? Or witnessing competitors who are untethered fight it out to the finish? You're more likely to see a large group of competitors close to one another when you keep them tethered until the end. But is that really satisfying?
Both IndyCar and NASCAR attempt to keep racing close in their leagues by strictly prescribing nearly every aspect of a cars design. Body shape, tire type and construction, engine size and composition, fuel type and quantity, etc. Teams spend millions trying to figure out advantages within those design parameters. And the racing IS close in both sanctioning bodies. Over the last five years of IndyCar racing, there have been five races where the top 3 finishers were within an amazing 6/100ths of a second of each other. Margins of less than one or two seconds are commonplace in both series (NASCAR average margin of victory is currently 2.031 seconds, a smidge below IndyCar's).

The key difference is the way race officials manage the closeness of the racing DURING each event. IndyCar officials tend to let the race take it's course. If one team or driver has figured out how to make their car exceptionally fast to the point they run away from the field, ... officials let that happen. If NASCAR officials see something happening during a race that threatens their desire to see door handle to door handle racing throughout the entire race, they'll throw a yellow light and bunch the pack back up again - and will continue to do so as often as necessary until the race is over - the aforementioned "tether" keeping the cars in a glump. There is something very impressive about 43 cars rumbling around a track two wide in a four to five hour, 170 to 180 mph heavy steel ballet. It requires great skill on the part of the drivers to keep from bumping more often than they do. But it's also so artificial, so suppressing, so manipulated. It's so routine it isn't exciting any more, it's expected.

Isn't there something anti-American about suppressing achievement in the name of making everyone equal? Does no NASCAR fan recognize the Grand Canyon like disconnect between the American fascination with uninhibited individual achievement and their personal fascination with a racing series where EVERY effort is made to suppress such achievement (at least until there are five laps to go)? Such manipulation diminishes the drivers' and crews' achievements. Once the green flag drops, let 'em race - come what may.

IndyCar takes the category again. It's un-American to think otherwise.

DANGER

Few want to see drivers get hurt (above - suffered a very bad concussion - that's it). Still, most of us are excited by crashes. Both have crashes, with about the same frequency.

Open wheel cars, with their wheels stuck out there in traffic, have a very overt risk associated with racing as closely as they have over the last fifteen years or so. On the other hand, Cup cars intentionally bump one another. Find me a NASCAR fan who doesn't say "rubbin' is racin'" in his or her sleep. The idea that one driver might punt another into the fence is clearly attractive to many (me included).

Rubbin' is wreckin' in IndyCar. IndyCars have components arrayed around a sturdy carbon fiber tub so that, in the event of a crash, the cars peripheral components absorb energy from the impact before potentially harmful energy is transferred to the tub and driver. As a result, Indy crashes are typically spectacular events. In the process of absorbing the energy of the crash, an IndyCar will almost literally explode in a shower of suspension parts, tires, wings, engine parts, transmission parts, etc. Also as a result, IndyCars typically are unable to continue racing after contact with another car or the wall. Cup cars are rigid, they're built to hit things and can continue after even heavy contact (so long as the driver hasn't absorbed too much of the crash energy - tragically, what keeps the cars running after medium contact is what kills drivers upon heavy contact - Cup cars deflect very little crash energy - too often, that energy makes it to the driver).

So, you're at the end of a race, three cars are competing for the win and racing within milliseconds of one another. Which has more inherent and adrenaline producing danger-induced excitement? Cars with fenders and bumpers, made to run into one another, racing within inches of one another? Or cars with no fenders or bumpers screaming within inches of one another at speeds 50 mph faster? That perception of greater danger factors into the suspense and excitement of the fans.

IndyCar by a tumbling suspension piece.

PERSONALITIES

IndyCar:

Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish, Jr., Dan Wheldon, Scott Dixon

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Dario Franchitti and his lovely wife, Ashley at the '06 Banquet.----------------Mrs. Ward Burton at Costco.

Cup:

Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya

The U.S. drivers are clearly flocking to the NASCAR series. IndyCar and Champ Car are left primarily with the exceptionally talented foreign drivers.

If the criterion is how many U.S. drivers do you have, the Cup series wins in a walk. If the criterion is which series has the best drivers, it's too close to call.

I don't care what country the drivers are from, I want them aggressive, skilled, and personable. Any one of these drivers can win, if given the right ride and crew. You can make strong arguments for each one of these drivers to be considered top talent (personally, I'd choose Montoya as the most talented driver, followed by a pack in the next tier including Castroneves, Kanaan, Hornish, Dixon, Wheldon, Stewart, Gordon, Franchitti, and Edwards.

Too close to call.

SIZZLE

While some maintain Cup racing has all the sizzle, most of that ends as soon as the green flag drops. Well, that's not entirely correct, and NASCAR's done a great job here. The pre-race sizzle is SO powerful it helps anesthetize fans - along with copious quantities of Budweiser - to the point they are open to the subliminal suggestion that five hours of artificially close interstate driving is exciting. As the end of the race eventually draws near, fans awaken from their hypnotic state to view the final five laps (not at all unlike an NBA game - albeit a five hour one - - lots of baskets back and forth, ... but nothing of consequence until the last two minutes). The excitement of these final couple of laps serves as another hit of racin' dope, NASCAR horse if you will, to keep the 'em coming back for more. Masterful, really. Folks think the tobacco manufacturers are the worlds leading ad/PR men? Where do you think these guys all went after the shit hit the fan in that industry? Right ...

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IndyCar's sizzle comes from the excellent racing, frequent camera shots of Ashley Judd and David Letterman along the pit wall, and - of course - Rusty Wallace in the booth. O.K., I'm wasting my breath here.

NASCAR buzzes along in a purple haze, well ahead of IndyCar.


SO ...

I won't even bother claiming the results of my category reviews to be conclusive (IndyCar takes it - 3 wins, one loss, and one draw). Want pure racing? IndyCar is your series. (or Champ Cars, or any of a variety of sports car series). However, if you want "the show" and sizzle that goes with it, while the Indy 500 fits that bill, NASCAR Cup racing provides that on a week in week out basis, albeit a cynically controlled, artificial show.

Give me the speed, danger, and unrestricted close racing of IndyCar any day.

Will IndyCar be auto racing's Betamax (better product, but rendered extinct through superior marketing of VHS)? They've developed a series with superior racing. Will they figure out a way to leverage that into market share? It's a long road to hoe. Yet I have faith that the superior racing series will pull through, and will continue to put my money where my mouth is.

I've got to run. We're getting ready to welcome NASCAR's incredible fans to the greatest race track in the world. Just because we find IndyCar to be our preferred form of racing, doesn't mean we can't enjoy a really good show.