To be sure, the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 was unlike any of its predecessors.
The track, actually in Speedway, Indiana, has nearly 260,000 permanent seats and even with the infield capacity having been reduced due to the addition of a road course inside the oval, it still holds some 300,000.
On Sunday, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, attendance was … zero.
And the field was different, too. For those who were used to seeing names such as Danica Patrick, Pippa Mann, Simona de Silvestro, Sarah Fisher and Lyn St. James as part of the 33-car grid, for the first time in 20 years, there wasn’t a single woman driver. The closest Patrick got was co-hosting the race for NBC with Mike Tirico.
A change for the better, though, was the addition of the Aeroscreen to protect the cockpit. For years, it seemed absurd that drivers of open-wheeled cars, capable of going 230 mph, were relying almost solely on their helmets for protection. The Aeroscreen, added this season, serves as a faux windshield with vision-improving tearaways on the screen rather than the helmet visor.
THE RACE itself was nothing if not interesting.
Seven crashes marked the event, the last of which, with five laps to go, ended the race under caution.
Defending champion Alexander Rossi, Marcus Ericsson, Connor Daly and Spencer Pigot were among the victims as were three of the six rookies — Dalton Kellett, Alex Palou and Oliver Askew.
In addition, James Davison went out early when his right front brake exploded with the wheel and tire bursting into flames.
The only other mishap came when veteran Ed Carpenter brushed the wall in the opening laps but stayed in the race, driving for points, finishing 13 laps behind the winner.
OF COURSE, from the beginning, the entire broadcast crew focused on the third-generation Andretti, Marco, who won the pole, 30 years after his grandfather, Mario, earned the last of his three.
But as the younger Andretti faded to a well-off-the-pace 13th place finish, NBC’s announcers turned their attention to 2008 champion Scott Dixon, who appeared to have the best car, inasmuch as he led 111 of the 200 laps.
However, during the closing circuits, in an effort to save fuel, his crew told Dixon to let Takuma Sato pass him for the lead and then go back past him in the late going.
But Sato, driving brilliantly, got his second Indy 500 win — he also won in 2017 — holding off the former winner until Pigot’s late crash and, with major wreckage to clear, race officials opted against a red flag (stopping the entire field) and declared the race over under caution.
For the snake-bit Dixon, besides his win, it marked the third time at Indy finishing second when the race ended under a yellow flag.
IT WILL be interesting to see the TV ratings.
Last year, NBC’s first after taking over the Indy 500 from ABC, drew nearly 5.5 million viewers, the best since 2016.
It’s worth wondering whether the coronavirus drew more viewers.
And it will be fascinating when that number is compared to NASCAR, which became the dominant racing format — over IndyCar — some 25 years ago.
Stock car racing was among the first sports telecasts to air after Covid restrictions were relaxed and the numbers — albeit without fans at the tracks — were surprisingly good.
But, with the restart of major league baseball, the NBA, NHL, PGA and pro tennis all competing for TV viewers’ eyes, NASCAR numbers have fallen back below average in recent years.
The Indy 500 is different because it’s such a singular event — no other races in the series create even a blip in television viewership — but the Nielsen numbers from yesterday could tell an interesting story.
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
