Marketing the Sport - Stay Unified, WIN and Build a Resume
In my race report for St. Pete this week I included the following factioid: Drivers entered in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg as of March 31 have combined for 52 IndyCar Series victories, 57 pole positions and 813 starts.
52 victories. 52 - Only 52!!!! - Bobby Rahal had 24 in his career - compare this to Most for a current driver - Dan Wheldon with 13 and the IRL drivers have a long way to go. Danny Sullivan had 17, Mic Andretti - 42, need I say more.
5 IRL Championships are sitting in NASCAR, (Dario-1, Sam-3 & Tony-1), Mutilple Cart Championships are sitting in the lawyers office with Paul Tracy.
Want a buzz, hate to say it, because this is based upon the dynasty theory, a driver needs to win 4-5 straight races. The idea candidates to really get the attention of the general public would be Helio or Danica or Marco or one of the newcomers - Graham Rahal, Will Powers or Justin Wilson. Even A.J. 4 would fit the bill. Danica and A.J. 4 would qualify if they got back to back victories. Danica just needs to win one, but that is a whole other story. Wheldon and Dixon and Kanaan and Meira may cause a buzz, but only if one of the races included Indy or there was a run in with one of the other drivers in route.
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