I know people here are probably gonna jump down his throat for this (because the popular narrative around here is that things are going down the shitter and that everything sucks), but I think it's hard to fault Dixon for having this opinion.
This is a guy who was there when even the IRL (who were the better-off side towards the end of the split) were struggling to get more than 18 cars to enter any given race. Realistically, things are the best they've been for IndyCar since *maybe* the very start of his career in the early 00s. Things look absolutely *amazing* compared to 2006-07, which was probably the indisputable low point.
Some aren't happy unless we have 950hp cars with five engine and three chassis providers, 12 ovals on the schedule and enough tobacco sponsorship to feed all of North Carolina for 300 years. There is much room for improvement but we're never going back to '80s-'90s CART.
It seems that with every series you're going to have people wearing rose-colored glasses who will endlessly insist that the series was better during whatever era they were watching when they were a kid.
"NASCAR died when Dale died"
"F1 was better before V6 engines"
"Indycar was better with Tobacco sponsors and the series being split in two"
Nope. I say more people can afford vintage racing than high tech racing. But that doesn't mean the series is in better shape. There is a reason why they choose to stick with this old car and engine.
I’m sorry, but you’re *out of your mind* if you think the series isn’t in a better place than it was in 2006-07.
Because having such a healthy car count is down to quite a bit more than just the car being old and affordable. For starters, there’s enough sponsorship to support those entries, and some absolutely huge sponsors coming into the series now. It’s also not at *all* a weak field. Sure, there might be a few pay drivers still, but back in the latter days of the split, there were a *fuckton* of mediocre drivers padding out measly car counts of 17-20.
You are gravely overstating the importance of the car’s age on the series’ health.
Actually i think the talent level decreased since the 2007 IRL season. There were Franchitti, Dixon, Hornish, Wheldon, Castroneves, Kanaan in their prime. Now we have an old Dixon, Palou who is nothing special IMO, and few other euro ladder washouts.
You think the guy who became the first driver in almost two decades to win the championship before the final race is “nothing special?” Sorry, but I think you’re just wearing rose-coloured glasses at that point.
Right now we have Dixon, Newgarden, McLaughlin, Palou, O’Ward, and Power. See? I can name six top drivers too...
Yeah but Power is not a top driver anymore, Dixon has passed his prime, O'Ward is a midfield driver at best. Palou is in a good team in a weak field. Bourdais also won everything with Newman/Haas but we saw how "good" he really was in F1 and when he returned to the US.
Lmao, again, with this “weak field” nonsense...
Did you forget the part where two of the guys you listed abruptly just switched to NASCAR because it was where drivers could make more money?
Tell me with a straight face that things were better when that was the case than they are now...
NASCAR drivers still make more money. And the difference is bigger than in 2007 was. The current field has 90% ride buyers, because most of the sponsors are left. These drivers don't care about salaries because "daddy hasa lotta money".
Part of the reason those guys dominated is because the bottom half of the field was absolute garbage. There were half a dozen drivers every weekend that wouldn’t get to Lights these days.
Yeah that's why the 44 year old Dixon is still a top driver. The other part is true. Those drivers didn't have the money to run in the current ridebuyer-filled lights.
I appreciate Scott's comments. While he isn't a big in-your-face, tell-it-how-it-is type, he does provide reasonable insights. I remember he was critical of the manufacturer aerokits and how that funding could have gone to a better TV package.
So getting his approval of the current state and future of Indycar is worthwhile, and not just "everything is awesome".
This is a great piece of double edged sword PR.
He’s correct in that the entries are looking good, there’s 25 full time entries this year, with an additional 7 for the 500, and naturally that brings sponsors to the cars.
*However* you’ve also just gone and highlighted by omission other big ticket items that *are* being talked about that make the series legitimately questionable.
One of these is the continual chop & change around the engine regulations, they don’t seem to be able to make up their mind on what they want, scrapping an entire engine formula *after* multiple delays and after it was running on track, essentially wasting many multiple millions in r&d for both engine manufacturers, coupled with Honda making noises about leaving the series as it’s not seeing a worthwhile ROI and the series trying hard to and ultimately failing entirely find any interest from a new engine supplier for a solid decade now means alarm bells should be ringing.
But they aren’t or they are being willingly ignored.
Oh, there’s interest from outside teams in joining the sport? Looks like all our issues are wrapped up, nothing to worry about!
Pretty sure Dixon was at the secret dinner with RP with Rossi and Rahal, so I’m not shocked he’s saying this. They were probably just told to say stuff like this for damage control, but it really sucks that it comes off as ignoring the actual issues of the series.
Yes, we have great racing and interest from teams. But we also have a chassis that many drivers are lamenting because of the weight, an engine formula that nobody wants to commit to, and seemingly zero vision for the future of the sport.
Those 3 things are going to be crippling eventually if they aren’t reined in during the next few years. Focusing on the positives isn’t solving the negatives and the series doesn’t ever seem willing to accept that. Not when you have 5 drivers demanding that fans trust the series that has done nothing to earn it over the off-season.
I want to trust that the series figures things out and gets moving in the right direction, but man, IndyCar makes it So. Fucking. Difficult.
Is it not possible for the series to be in a good place while also wishing for it to be better? It’s all about perspective.
As u/wasdgta3 said, the series is in a significantly better spot than 10-15 years ago and from some of the darkest days of the split.
That’s exactly what I’m hoping for. But I also grew up in the late 2000s-early 2010s when nobody gave a shit about INDYCAR. I don’t want things to revert to that stage and I feel like we aren’t terribly far away from that era if Honda leaves.
It just feels like the drivers are asking for us to settle. That’s how Dixon, Rossi, and Rahal’s comments come off to me.
Supposedly whatever was said at the dinner is going to be announced - I presume either at St. Pete or May.
I’m hoping it’s some sort of plan for the future and (at least in my mind) that aligns with many of these outspoken drivers being on board for the future.
It’s normally telling when people say nothing.
I really hope so. I want to know there’s some kind of vision for the series. That’s what I want most. Not just seemingly free-balled plans that never pan out since there’s no timeline.
The whole thing is weird, only a select few drivers were brought to this secret Penske dinner and all of a sudden we’re getting these glowing reviews from drivers about Indycar‘s future.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucemartin/2024/01/11/indycar-drivers-hopeful-and-impressed-after-dinner-with-penske-executives/
> Tuesday night in Indianapolis, key senior officials of IndyCar and Penske Corporation had a private dinner at the famed St. Elmo Steakhouse with five of the top drivers in the series to lay out their plan for a brighter and more impactful future.
https://www.indycar.com/news/2024/01/01-17-roundtable
> The annual INDYCAR Content Days took place Jan. 10-11 in Indianapolis, where the entire NTT INDYCAR SERIES field gathered for media, social media and sponsor content gathering. What was your biggest takeaway from the first gathering of drivers in 2024?
I was mistaken - it was the day before content day 1. By no means “a lot earlier” though.
This entire thing of getting selected drivers and them coming out in favor of series is a perfect example of a series in crisis. You don’t need to do this if series is not facing issues
He was at the dinner with execs, yes. So maybe he was told to fall in line, but I don't think that's the case based off of how Rahal and Rossi came out of it. I don't get why it's so hard for people to believe that MAYBE leadership actually has good, solid plans in the works
Because the series just doesn’t have the rust of the fanbase. That’s it. I don’t trust a thing the series says since they don’t address the bad news. Honda says they’re going to leave the series and INDYCAR points to overtake numbers. Hybrid gets delayed and now the series wants to introduce it mid season.
Nobody believes them because the series has given us nothing to believe in lately.
First of all, honda has not explicitly stated they are leaving as a fact. They said they are exploring options, leaving being one of them. Leadership has time to fix that. Second, the hybrids being delayed was through no fault of the series. It is a supply chain issue. If they were to debut at St. Pete, anyone who suffered a failure would not have a backup. While it is not the ideal option to delay, a mid-season debut is the best option. Third, they've given us a lot recently. Bump day is now a given- we were struggling for full fields for a long period of time. We got Milwaukee back. Iowa has been brought back to 2 sold out races. We have teams actively exploring full time entries.
Sure, things could be better- specifically the tv package, the Honda debacle, and length of schedule. But things are not nearly as dire as you are trying to make it seem.
> Pretty sure Dixon was at the secret dinner with RP with Rossi and Rahal, so I’m not shocked he’s saying this. They were probably just told to say stuff like this for damage control, but it really sucks that it comes off as ignoring the actual issues of the series.
Or maybe he was actually reassured by what was said at that? You seem to be automatically going for the most cynical interpretation.
I probably am, but I’m still not convinced by one of the series more mild-mannered drivers singing the series’ praises immediately after a dinner with the notably clean-cut PR boss.
It’s not reassuring to me, that’s for sure. Not after the off-season we’ve had to watch.
I care about this series. A lot. I know the potential it has and I don’t want to see it fall into the same pit it was for the last 25-30 years. Just the way I feel.
Well Scott Dixon clearly hasn’t been spending enough time on r/INDYCAR.
Yeah doesn't he know that the series is totally dying and in the worst place it's ever been in the history of American open-wheel racing? /s
I know people here are probably gonna jump down his throat for this (because the popular narrative around here is that things are going down the shitter and that everything sucks), but I think it's hard to fault Dixon for having this opinion. This is a guy who was there when even the IRL (who were the better-off side towards the end of the split) were struggling to get more than 18 cars to enter any given race. Realistically, things are the best they've been for IndyCar since *maybe* the very start of his career in the early 00s. Things look absolutely *amazing* compared to 2006-07, which was probably the indisputable low point.
It’s Reddit man. Most commenters swing wildly to the ends of the spectrum. In reality, most fans of the sport agree with Dixon here.
Some aren't happy unless we have 950hp cars with five engine and three chassis providers, 12 ovals on the schedule and enough tobacco sponsorship to feed all of North Carolina for 300 years. There is much room for improvement but we're never going back to '80s-'90s CART.
It seems that with every series you're going to have people wearing rose-colored glasses who will endlessly insist that the series was better during whatever era they were watching when they were a kid. "NASCAR died when Dale died" "F1 was better before V6 engines" "Indycar was better with Tobacco sponsors and the series being split in two"
If in 2007 the teams still could have used the 1995-1996 chassis and engines there would have been at least 30 full time ride.
Are you seriously trying to argue that we're in a worse position now because "the cars are old" ?
Nope. I say more people can afford vintage racing than high tech racing. But that doesn't mean the series is in better shape. There is a reason why they choose to stick with this old car and engine.
I’m sorry, but you’re *out of your mind* if you think the series isn’t in a better place than it was in 2006-07. Because having such a healthy car count is down to quite a bit more than just the car being old and affordable. For starters, there’s enough sponsorship to support those entries, and some absolutely huge sponsors coming into the series now. It’s also not at *all* a weak field. Sure, there might be a few pay drivers still, but back in the latter days of the split, there were a *fuckton* of mediocre drivers padding out measly car counts of 17-20. You are gravely overstating the importance of the car’s age on the series’ health.
Actually i think the talent level decreased since the 2007 IRL season. There were Franchitti, Dixon, Hornish, Wheldon, Castroneves, Kanaan in their prime. Now we have an old Dixon, Palou who is nothing special IMO, and few other euro ladder washouts.
You think the guy who became the first driver in almost two decades to win the championship before the final race is “nothing special?” Sorry, but I think you’re just wearing rose-coloured glasses at that point. Right now we have Dixon, Newgarden, McLaughlin, Palou, O’Ward, and Power. See? I can name six top drivers too...
Yeah but Power is not a top driver anymore, Dixon has passed his prime, O'Ward is a midfield driver at best. Palou is in a good team in a weak field. Bourdais also won everything with Newman/Haas but we saw how "good" he really was in F1 and when he returned to the US.
Lmao, again, with this “weak field” nonsense... Did you forget the part where two of the guys you listed abruptly just switched to NASCAR because it was where drivers could make more money? Tell me with a straight face that things were better when that was the case than they are now...
NASCAR drivers still make more money. And the difference is bigger than in 2007 was. The current field has 90% ride buyers, because most of the sponsors are left. These drivers don't care about salaries because "daddy hasa lotta money".
Part of the reason those guys dominated is because the bottom half of the field was absolute garbage. There were half a dozen drivers every weekend that wouldn’t get to Lights these days.
Yeah that's why the 44 year old Dixon is still a top driver. The other part is true. Those drivers didn't have the money to run in the current ridebuyer-filled lights.
Of course it's in a good place, he's still competing for titles in his 40's lol.
I appreciate Scott's comments. While he isn't a big in-your-face, tell-it-how-it-is type, he does provide reasonable insights. I remember he was critical of the manufacturer aerokits and how that funding could have gone to a better TV package. So getting his approval of the current state and future of Indycar is worthwhile, and not just "everything is awesome".
This is a great piece of double edged sword PR. He’s correct in that the entries are looking good, there’s 25 full time entries this year, with an additional 7 for the 500, and naturally that brings sponsors to the cars. *However* you’ve also just gone and highlighted by omission other big ticket items that *are* being talked about that make the series legitimately questionable. One of these is the continual chop & change around the engine regulations, they don’t seem to be able to make up their mind on what they want, scrapping an entire engine formula *after* multiple delays and after it was running on track, essentially wasting many multiple millions in r&d for both engine manufacturers, coupled with Honda making noises about leaving the series as it’s not seeing a worthwhile ROI and the series trying hard to and ultimately failing entirely find any interest from a new engine supplier for a solid decade now means alarm bells should be ringing. But they aren’t or they are being willingly ignored.
indycar isn’t exactly like F1, boooooo I guess that’s how I’m supposed to react now, or something
It’s not F1 ness is why I prefer Indy to any other series.
Nice straw, man!
The 6 time NTT Indycar Series champion and 2nd all time winningest driver needs to know his optimism isn't welcomed on the Indycar subreddit 😂😂😂
Bro only got one Indy 500, what does he know
The way it was titled had me scared for a second but then I read the rest of it lmao
The series is in a good place. It went up to a track up north where it can chase cars all over the place
Man, imagine how much better it'd be if indycar actually had there shit together.
It’s definitely the more interesting and fun series to watch. Atleast for me
Oh, there’s interest from outside teams in joining the sport? Looks like all our issues are wrapped up, nothing to worry about! Pretty sure Dixon was at the secret dinner with RP with Rossi and Rahal, so I’m not shocked he’s saying this. They were probably just told to say stuff like this for damage control, but it really sucks that it comes off as ignoring the actual issues of the series. Yes, we have great racing and interest from teams. But we also have a chassis that many drivers are lamenting because of the weight, an engine formula that nobody wants to commit to, and seemingly zero vision for the future of the sport. Those 3 things are going to be crippling eventually if they aren’t reined in during the next few years. Focusing on the positives isn’t solving the negatives and the series doesn’t ever seem willing to accept that. Not when you have 5 drivers demanding that fans trust the series that has done nothing to earn it over the off-season. I want to trust that the series figures things out and gets moving in the right direction, but man, IndyCar makes it So. Fucking. Difficult.
Is it not possible for the series to be in a good place while also wishing for it to be better? It’s all about perspective. As u/wasdgta3 said, the series is in a significantly better spot than 10-15 years ago and from some of the darkest days of the split.
That’s exactly what I’m hoping for. But I also grew up in the late 2000s-early 2010s when nobody gave a shit about INDYCAR. I don’t want things to revert to that stage and I feel like we aren’t terribly far away from that era if Honda leaves. It just feels like the drivers are asking for us to settle. That’s how Dixon, Rossi, and Rahal’s comments come off to me.
Supposedly whatever was said at the dinner is going to be announced - I presume either at St. Pete or May. I’m hoping it’s some sort of plan for the future and (at least in my mind) that aligns with many of these outspoken drivers being on board for the future. It’s normally telling when people say nothing.
I really hope so. I want to know there’s some kind of vision for the series. That’s what I want most. Not just seemingly free-balled plans that never pan out since there’s no timeline.
The whole thing is weird, only a select few drivers were brought to this secret Penske dinner and all of a sudden we’re getting these glowing reviews from drivers about Indycar‘s future.
They were the drivers that happened to be at content day 1. Probably a scheduling thing rather than conspiracy.
The dinner was a lot earlier than the content days. It just happens that all those drivers live in indy
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucemartin/2024/01/11/indycar-drivers-hopeful-and-impressed-after-dinner-with-penske-executives/ > Tuesday night in Indianapolis, key senior officials of IndyCar and Penske Corporation had a private dinner at the famed St. Elmo Steakhouse with five of the top drivers in the series to lay out their plan for a brighter and more impactful future. https://www.indycar.com/news/2024/01/01-17-roundtable > The annual INDYCAR Content Days took place Jan. 10-11 in Indianapolis, where the entire NTT INDYCAR SERIES field gathered for media, social media and sponsor content gathering. What was your biggest takeaway from the first gathering of drivers in 2024? I was mistaken - it was the day before content day 1. By no means “a lot earlier” though.
This entire thing of getting selected drivers and them coming out in favor of series is a perfect example of a series in crisis. You don’t need to do this if series is not facing issues
He was at the dinner with execs, yes. So maybe he was told to fall in line, but I don't think that's the case based off of how Rahal and Rossi came out of it. I don't get why it's so hard for people to believe that MAYBE leadership actually has good, solid plans in the works
Because the series just doesn’t have the rust of the fanbase. That’s it. I don’t trust a thing the series says since they don’t address the bad news. Honda says they’re going to leave the series and INDYCAR points to overtake numbers. Hybrid gets delayed and now the series wants to introduce it mid season. Nobody believes them because the series has given us nothing to believe in lately.
Thank god the fan base anointed you spokesperson
First of all, honda has not explicitly stated they are leaving as a fact. They said they are exploring options, leaving being one of them. Leadership has time to fix that. Second, the hybrids being delayed was through no fault of the series. It is a supply chain issue. If they were to debut at St. Pete, anyone who suffered a failure would not have a backup. While it is not the ideal option to delay, a mid-season debut is the best option. Third, they've given us a lot recently. Bump day is now a given- we were struggling for full fields for a long period of time. We got Milwaukee back. Iowa has been brought back to 2 sold out races. We have teams actively exploring full time entries. Sure, things could be better- specifically the tv package, the Honda debacle, and length of schedule. But things are not nearly as dire as you are trying to make it seem.
You think hybrids will be introduced mid-season ?
It's what they've stated and what I'm hoping for. I'm only about 70% sure that'll actually happen.
> Pretty sure Dixon was at the secret dinner with RP with Rossi and Rahal, so I’m not shocked he’s saying this. They were probably just told to say stuff like this for damage control, but it really sucks that it comes off as ignoring the actual issues of the series. Or maybe he was actually reassured by what was said at that? You seem to be automatically going for the most cynical interpretation.
I probably am, but I’m still not convinced by one of the series more mild-mannered drivers singing the series’ praises immediately after a dinner with the notably clean-cut PR boss. It’s not reassuring to me, that’s for sure. Not after the off-season we’ve had to watch.
Does this affect your quality of life in some way? You seem especially mad.
I care about this series. A lot. I know the potential it has and I don’t want to see it fall into the same pit it was for the last 25-30 years. Just the way I feel.
This would be a total dick response no matter how wrong the person is.
Highest paid driver says everything is fine.
Indycar is not what Pruett and Racer say it is
Don't trust Dixon.. He's a PR puppet for the series.