Saturday night’s IZOD IndyCar Series race at Iowa was by far the best race of the season. Yes, the ending might not have been as dramatic as the final ten laps of the Indy 500; but the racing from the drop of the green flag to the checkered flag was unmatched by any race this year.
Every lap the cars were going side-by-side. As the race went on, cars were willing to even bang wheels. (See the JR Hildebrand/EJ Viso contact after the final restart.) But, the battle between Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti was thrilling. What made it better was that you know there is no love loss between the two. Marco has made some “interesting” comments about TK as a teammate when he was on Andretti Autosport.
Having Andretti win the race is big too because he is an Andretti. Anytime a name that famous wins, there will be coverage. Plus, for any IndyCar fan, it is always good to see someone besides Penske or Ganassi win a race.
IndyCar won big this weekend with the great racing the league is known for. There is no question about it. But, it also won big when it came to other things outside of the racing.
First of all, there was actually a crowd. Did I mention it was a sold out crowd? After last weekend’s empty stands at the Milwaukee Mile, the attendance in Newton made up for it.
Plus, the coverage was great for the league on VERSUS. Even before the IndyCar race, the Indy Lights race was aired. For the die-hard IndyCar fans, it is a treat to watch both races. They know that many times the Indy Lights puts on a heck of a show too. And one of the best things we’ve seen all year was the pit walk through that Robin Miller and Dan Wheldon did before the race. It’s great to hear from almost EVERY driver right before the race.
Since we’re about at the halfway point, this is a great momentum booster for the rest of the year. If the league can keep up the great racing the rest of the year, then hopefully it will continue to attract more fans.
I know I’m excited to see what happens…hopefully you are too!