The one thing on which we must agree.

When was the “Golden Age” of Indy car racing?  Was during it during the oval-dominated USAC days of the 1970s?  Was it during the increasingly diverse, international – and popular – 1980s?  Was it during the 1990s, featuring a balanced oval/road/street schedule and the most powerful cars of any era?

The answer is “none of the above!”

Equally, it is “all of the above.”  For this is the wrong approach to the question, if it is to be answered in a manner that will give us insight into the present challenge of re-elevating Indy racing.

The “Golden Age” of IndyCar was when the Indianapolis 500 was without any doubt the most prestigious, compelling auto racing event in the world.

This was the situation, of course, during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.  It is the one thing that, until recently, had remained constant in IndyCar.

On this we must agree: if IndyCar is to rebuild its fan base and image, the effort must begin by restoring the Indianapolis 500 to what it once was, to an event that again features the essential qualities described in my <a>original letter</a>.

I offer this  illustration:

You can choose between two options: running the Indianapolis 500 alone or running the other 16 IZOD IndyCar events, sans Indianapolis.  What do you choose?

Let’s try another one:  You can put on The Masters alone, or you can put on the rest of the events on the PGA Tour’s calendar.

Or: You can run the Daytona 500 alone, or you can run the rest of the events on the NASCAR schedule.

I think the answers to the above three queries are obvious.  But here’s the thing: the correct choice has ALWAYS been the 500.  This was true in the 1960s, 1980s, 1996, and today.

NASCAR without Daytona is…NASCAR without Daytona.  It’s still NASCAR with Charlotte, Bristol, and Darlington.

IndyCar without Indy is nothing.

Randy Bernard, if you are still reading…DO NOT be swayed by things like Robin Miller’s call to return things to “how they were” in his Golden Age of the early 1990s, to the exclusion of other fans’ Golden Ages.  As long as the Indianapolis 500 is a spec race contested largely by a field of drivers who are on the grid only because no current opportunity exists in Formula 1, chasing any “ideal” series format is a completely fruitless effort – and will only lead to division (as it does daily on internet message boards, e.g.).

Striving to directly restore the Indianapolis 500  is the ONE thing you can do that will unite all fans.  It must be the first priority.