Yes, in a lot of ways, auto racing is a show -- and the more interesting the show is, the more people will watch it. So you really can’t blame IndyCar management for trying to spice up its offering with things like the season-ending bonus race, which has at least generated some comment and speculation. It is not a playoff or even a Chase for the Cup, but it is a completely benign bit of promotion. IndyCar’s new restart procedure is another attempt to goose up the series’ audience appeal -- but, unlike the bonus, it is hardly benign. In fact, I’m afraid it is going to get someone killed, and I think IndyCar should stop doing it right away.
What am I talking about? Well, in years past, IndyCar did the prudent thing and had racers line up single file in preparation for a restart after a caution flag had flown. This year, the sanctioning body decided it would emulate NASCAR by lining the cars up two abreast prior to each restart. The only problem with this is IndyCars are not Sprint Cup cars. During the season opener of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the restarts became melees. There was plenty of car-on-car contact -- and while that is reasonably acceptable in NASCAR with its full-bodied machines, it is much more dangerous in open-wheel IndyCars.
“Our cars have too much power to start right nose-to-tail,” IndyCar driver Marco Andretti told the Associated Press. “It creates disasters. It’s good for the fans; it’s not good for me today.”
Going forward, we sincerely question if it is even good for fans. Certainly race fans want to see close racing action, and most would admit some desire to see a car or two lose it and crash. But no one wants to see drivers grievously injured or even killed. Despite the strong safeguards in today’s racecars, that could very well happen if drivers get too exuberant -- as they are likely to -- in a restart. We’re all for making racing a great show, but we don’t want it to come at the expense of race drivers’ careers or even lives.
