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The other day, I was perusing through Robin Miller’s Mailbag on Racer.com and came across what I considered to be a very astute observation. It was only one short sentence that sounded so simple, but it spoke volumes about some of the unrealistic expectations that some of today’s fans have when watching a race.

Miller was responding to a question about the race at Mid-Ohio a couple of weeks ago, and what a great race it was even though Alexander Rossi had the field covered at the end. His response was “It doesn’t have to be a photo finish to be a good race”. I wish I could be that spot-on, yet be so concise.

It’s always frustrating to watch what I thought was a good race, only to find out that so many people hated it because they thought it was boring.

I realize that some people don’t appreciate Robin Miller for a number of reasons. Personally, I think the man is a living legend. He sometimes comes out with what appears to be an outlandish prediction, but those predictions have a history of almost always coming true.

Back in the spring of 2009, Robin Miller reported that the sisters of Tony George were on the verge of ousting him from his CEO position with IndyCar. Most insiders dismissed the report by saying that Robin Miller must be desperate to concoct a story like that. About six weeks later, Miller’s prediction came true.

You may not like his style, but there is no denying Robin Miller’s passion for IndyCar – nor the devotion to his craft to dig for stories no one else can get. I learned to trust Robin Miller’s judgment several decades ago. Most of what he says, I take to the bank. That’s why I put so much stock into that one statement that it doesn’t have to be a photo finish to be a good race.

The SportsCenter mentality has spread to some racing fans. You know what I’m talking about – a sporting event must have several five-second jaw-dropping thrills that can be stitched together for a thirty-second highlight clip on Sunday night’s SportsCenter. Of course, you know what that really means when it comes to racing – crashes.

Just as I wouldn’t judge a football game by what some wannabee-comedian said about it – the same goes for racing. It seems that a race must feature a ton of crashes and/or have a side-by-side photo finish before the talking heads on sports highlight shows will acknowledge it. Unfortunately, a segment of racing fans use that as their barometer on whether or not a race should be considered “good”.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I consider this way of thinking is the 1992 Indianapolis 500. It contained the two components that SportsCenter loves – a lot of crashes and the closest finish in the history of the Indianapolis 500, between Scott Goodyear and Al Unser, Jr. But in all honesty, that was a terrible race. It was freezing that day. Not only was it very uncomfortable to sit through, but the cold temperatures had an effect on the tires. It was evident as to what the day would hold when pole-sitter Roberto Guerrero spun on the Parade Lap. No fewer than thirteen cars crashed on that bitter cold day, some in spectacular fashion. Philippe Gache survived a crash that was so severe, his first race in an Indy car turned out to be his last one. I don’t think he could get back to France quick enough.

Jeff Andretti suffered severe foot, ankle and leg injuries; while his father, Mario, had to have surgery on his broken feet. Michael Andretti suffered a different kind of misfortune. After absolutely dominating the crash-filled race, his car gave out on Lap 189 and he finished thirteenth.

The race was very boring. Michael Andretti’s dominance was so pronounced that when he exited, it was like we suddenly had a race on our hands. Scott Goodyear chased Little Al after the re-start, giving those of us in attendance something to watch, after sitting through multiple crashes, caution periods and Michael Andretti in the lead for most of the day.

The race is known for Michael’s dominance, the close finish and the cold temperatures. What many have forgotten is that it was one of the most boring Indianapolis 500s in the last quarter-century. The race had no flow and no rhythm to it. Just past the halfway point, there had been fifty-one laps of green-flag racing and fifty-one laps of caution. That’s a combination that does not lead to a compelling day. But I’ll sure bet it made SportsCenter.

As usual, Robin Miller was right. You don’t need a photo finish to make it a great race. One thing that made Mid-Ohio so compelling was the fact that there were no caution periods at all. The race may not have made the highlight reel, but for those of us that watched it – we saw a great race.

Just what made it so great if there were no crashes and Rossi coasted to the finish? Well, there were different strategies at play, for one. We weren’t sure if Rossi could pull off his two-stop strategy. When it became apparent he could, the conversation drifted to wondering why no one else tried it.

There was also passing – lots of passing. Contrary to popular belief, we race fans don’t watch racing for the crashes. We watch it for the passes. Sébastien Bourdais put on an absolute clinic when he carved his way through the field on speed and passing ability alone. There were no timely yellows for him to take advantage of. He went from starting dead last to finishing sixth, on skill alone. Simon Pagenaud and several others had impressive days as well, but none compared to the day that Bourdais had. Those of us that watched on television were given quite the treat. I can only imagine what it was like for those that witnessed it in person.

I realize that most people that come to this site are not the fans that base everything they believe by what they see on SportsCenter. The readership here may be smaller than some sites, but I firmly believe they have the highest racing IQ of any site out there. They know a good race when they see one and don’t have to wait for some suit on Sunday night to tell you the race was great because of all the crashes and the close finish it had. We know better.

But if you run across one of these pseudo-fans in a sports bar, at work or on another web site – calmly remind them that real racing fans don’t subscribe to the idea that “rubbin’ is racin’”. We appreciate seeing a driver taking a car right to the limit and not crashing. That’s racing.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on August 8, 2018 at 4:03 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.