IndyCar looks to future as fans embrace past
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}By Steve Keating
INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - For a race that has been around for 100 years and bills itself as "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing", the Indianapolis 500 will speed into a new era on Sunday focused on the future as fans embrace the past.
On a race weekend dripping with nostalgia, the sleek and sexy Car of the Future on which the IndyCar series is betting its survival stole the spotlight from the classics that once ruled the Brickyard as they sat on display in the Speedway Plaza.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Next year the winning car of Sunday's centennial race will likely join the others in the Speedway Museum, suddenly obsolete as the IndyCar series undergoes a dramatic makeover to make the racing more exciting for fans and sponsors.
Honda, the series' long-time single engine supplier, will have competition next season with Chevrolet and Lotus coming on board while aerodynamic kits will be available, providing teams with more distinctive and unique looks.
However, even the best-looking designs must be modeled on the big stage and in motor racing there is none bigger than the Indianapolis 500, the Super Bowl of IndyCar racing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This race is the golden goose," IndyCar chief executive Randy Bernard told Reuters. "This is the race that every race fan in the world knows about.
"It's the largest sporting spectacle in the world and to me it is the make-or-break of our year. Sponsors look at this event and will make their future decisions on what we are able to do here this week.
"We're up 10 percent on our attendance and over 25 percent on our merchandise. Those are important numbers to me. It shows our sport is going in the right direction."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The damage done by a bitter decade-long feud that split the sport into two warring series (Indy Racing League and Champ Car) until reunification in 2008 had left deep scars.
As the two series bickered, NASCAR swooped in to fill the void and scooped up unhappy motor racing fans, sponsors and television ratings.
REGAINING SPARKLE
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Undoing that damage and winning back fans has been a slow, humbling process but there are signs IndyCar and its crown jewel, the 500, are starting to regain some of their sparkle.
"It's coming back, it's going to take us a few years to get to where we were," said Bernard. "Our goal is to be the number one form of motorsport in the United States.
"We once were there and we can be there again."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If IndyCar is to return to its former glory and become the destination of choice for the world's top drivers, it means taking on NASCAR, who look ready to snatch away IndyCar's biggest asset -- the series' best-known driver Danica Patrick.
The only woman to win an IndyCar race, Patrick has dabbled in stock cars the last few years and, though she has been coy about future plans, they seem certain to include NASCAR.
A year ago, Bernard conceded that, with IndyCar battling to regain a foothold in the crowded and competitive North American marketplace, the defection of the series' marquee name to a rival would have dealt IndyCar a serious blow.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But Bernard is confident the sport is on much firmer footing now with some of NASCAR's supporters finding value in what they are offering.
"I think we're making progress," said Bernard, who came to IndyCar from the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). "The momentum is there.
"We've been able to bring in new companies and new sponsors like Verizon and IZOD. It's been reported that Verizon withdrew their $12-$17 million sponsorship out of NASCAR and brought it over here."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bernard plans to steer IndyCar back to the front of the sporting grid by using many of the same tools and lessons he learned transforming bull riding from a cowboy pastime seen at country fairs into a mainstream sport with a worldwide television audience and millions of dollars in sponsorship and prize money.
"It's still a steep learning curve," said Bernard, who admits he had never seen an IndyCar race before becoming chief executive almost two years ago.
"My wife asked what it's been like and I said: 'It's like not knowing the Japanese language and saying that you are going to learn it in seven days and go and teach at a university'."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)