What I'd like to see in a perfect IndyCar world

Our columnist, Kirby Arnold, gives his thoughts on IndyCar for 2023, quite appropriate as we prepare for a new season!

In my perfect IndyCar world:

-- There would be as many oval tracks on the schedule as road and street courses, with a return to the Triple Crown of 500-mile races.

-- The cars would look like something designed for the next decade, not the last, with 1,000 horsepower supplied by a mix of internal combustion, hybrid and electric engines from various manufacturers.

-- The top drivers would be household names in American sports, as Andretti, Foyt, Unser, Rutherford and Mears were in the glory years. And you wouldn’t have to explain to the average dude that this is not NASCAR or Formula 1.

It’s the IndyCar Series and it’s really good in its current, if not-so-perfect, form. Parity through the field has never been better and there are drivers with personality waiting to be discovered by the average sports fan that IndyCar badly needs to capture.

It’s IndyCar, where the sensory experience is unmatched. If you haven’t witnessed in person the blur of 230 mph on the main straight at Indy (the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway), you haven’t seen (or heard, or felt) anything like it. IndyCar is really good stuff.

But why are so many fans down on the series these days? The past few weeks haven’t been the best for IndyCar, and social media was full of ire (but then, Santa Claus on his best day would face the wrath of human nature in the online forums).

* Race fans felt jilted when ticket prices for the 2023 Iowa Speedway double-header of racing/concerts ballooned from this year’s event.

* Then there was a collective air-from-the-balloon feeling a couple weeks ago when a news release from IndyCar revealed that the much-anticipated 2.4-liter hybrid-assist engine, planned for the 2024 season, is off the table.

* Instead, the 700-horsepower 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 that was introduced in 2012 will remain for 2023, with hybrid technology added to that 2.2-liter package beginning in 2024. All we can say is "UGH!"

* Cue the online outrage because IndyCar in 2023, with chassis and engine packages more than a decade old, could qualify as a vintage series (a really cool vintage series, I might add).

I get the disappointment. Everyone was looking forward to a more powerful engine and the introduction of hybrid technology. But when you see the reasons behind the decision to bag that project, you realize it was the right one.

Without a third manufacturer joining the series as had been hoped, Chevy and Honda couldn’t guarantee enough of the new 2.4 engines to field 25-27 cars as was common this year, and it would make getting 33 at the Indy 500 really dicey.

IndyCar couldn’t take that step backward, not after so many steps forward the past decade to produce a quality of racing that’s arguably the best in any major motorsports series.

But let’s get real. The biggest challenge facing IndyCar isn’t how many horses push the sleek old Dallara's, or even the need for more ovals on the schedule beyond the four they’ll race in 2023.

IndyCar needs more eyeballs on the series, especially young eyeballs. The Global IndyCar Fan Survey conducted in January 2022, by Motorsports Network showed that the average of an IndyCar fan was just over 42 years old, and that 47 percent of IndyCar fans were ages 45 and older.

And here's another "UGH!": Only 12.2 percent of IndyCar fans are female.

What about the wannabe fans? My sense is there are many people intrigued by motorsport who would love IndyCar.

I spend a lot of time on the golf course – like, almost every day – and I’m often asked by my buddies about IndyCar. These are your basic sports fans and they’re intrigued by the series even though they don’t understand it.

“So, it’s like NASCAR?”

Uh, no. Those are full-bodied race cars; these are single-seat open-wheel.

“Oh, it’s like Formula One. I saw that ‘Drive to Survive’ series on Netflix. That’s amazing.”

Not quite. Yeah, the cars look somewhat similar but they’re vastly different. The racing in IndyCar is much more competitive. You’d love it.

One guy in his early 30s had attended his first NASCAR race, the championship race in November at Phoenix, and was amazed.

“I couldn’t believe how fast those cars were. Is that what IndyCars are like?”

My response: “You should have seen IndyCar on the same track when they ran there. Average speed about 50 mph faster. And at Indy, you would be stunned at the speed.”

How does IndyCar capture the younger fans? That’s a multi-million-dollar marketing question.

The two-day entertainment/racing extravaganza at Iowa seems like a great move, although the inflated ticket prices for the 2023 weekend -- due mainly to the big dollars the series will have to shell out for musical entertainment such as Ed Sheeran (editor's note: somehow we have to wonder if this Brit is more of an F1 fan rather than an IndyCar fan), Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney and the Zac Brown Band -- have turned off some people who were there last year. Whether they’re turned away, we’ll find out.

The recently announced “100 Days to Indy” docuseries on The CW network could generate some significant interest if the production fully captures the personalities, rivalries, intensity, elation, heartbreak and drama that exists in IndyCar.

A third engine supplier to join Chevy and Honda would provide a big boost, although that doesn’t seem imminent.

I’d love to see the series progress beyond hybrid technology and introduce fully electric race cars. (When I mentioned the hybrid thing to a veteran IndyCar participant a few months ago, his response was, “That’s so 2010.”)

Before you suggest I climb into my Prius and go away, know two things:

1. The only electric vehicle I own is a golf cart. I also own two muscle cars, a couple of family-mover SUVs and a 1960s pickup that I’m restoring into a rat rod cruiser. I like carburetors and rumble.

2. I’d love to see fully electric IndyCars compete on the same grid with internal combustion-powered cars because the intrigue (also known as eyes on the series) would be huge. Can you imagine a fan base split into two camps? The t-shirts alone would be entertaining – “ICE is for sweet tea” or “If you’re into g-a-s, you’re an x-s-s.”

Electrification in the auto industry is gaining traction and, like it or not, motorsport will follow.

Until then, IndyCar should feel good about the product it has. It’s good racing and the biggest shame is that more people aren’t paying attention.

Hopefully, with effective marketing and products on and off track that capture a younger audience, that will begin to change.