NASCAR officials need not to have blinked or flinched at the goings on up in Indianapolis over Memorial Day weekend.
But they should take notice. Yes, they still are the 800-horsepower bully on the block, but this post Bill, Jr.-NASCAR hierarchy has not operated in a truly competitive atmosphere within motorsports, and if the barometer readings are correct, it may have to sometime in the not-so-distant future.

It is a strange confluence of circumstances that is happening in open-wheel racing, and it has created a buzz and excitement around motorsports not really seen since, well, NASCAR’s “perfect storm” in 1979.

It is a strange confluence of circumstances that is happening in open-wheel racing, and it has created a buzz and excitement around motorsports not really seen since, well, NASCAR’s “perfect storm” in 1979.
• A two-time Indy 500 champion wins an outrageously popular televised dance competition. The ever-effervescent Helio Castroneves is linked romantically to his beautiful then-19-year-old professional dance partner and voted one of the sexiest men in America by one entertainment magazine or another.
• The decade-old and acrimonious civil war between open-wheel racing’s two factions ends, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President and IRL founder Tony George offers an olive branch to Champ Car owners. It’s an expensive olive branch and includes millions in start-up dollars for his former rivals.
• A scheduling conflict causes the IndyCar Series to split one last time as it is forced to hold sister events at Long Beach, Calif., and Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. The oval event, which is in the middle of the night on the U.S. East Coast, is usually lost between news cycles, but the IndyCar Series’ most popular and marketable driver, who just happens to be a woman, earns an historic victory. Danica Patrick, who has combined a modicum of driving talent with more than a bit of sex appeal to create something bordering on Danica-mania, becomes the first woman to win in something other than a drag car in a major motorsports event, a feat that kept her and the IndyCar Series in the news and on TV talk shows for an entire week. Following the Patrick media frenzy, the IRL’s TV ratings the next weekend at Kansas were up 146 percent from the year before.
All of that leads us to May, Memorial Day weekend and the running of both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600.
Despite obscene gas prices, attendance for the Indy 500 was up significantly and estimated by some observers to be well in excess of 300,000 strong. While not selling out, the Coca-Cola 600 still boasts a near-sellout crowd of nearly 200,000 fans.
But the all-powerful TV ratings are close when the final tally is done. The 600 finished with a 4.7 overall rating, while the Indy 500 had a 4.5. The 600 was helped by strong numbers in the late primetime slots from 10-11 p.m. The Indy 500 drew a 5.1 national-overnight rating after the counting of 56 urban markets. This is the only time this year that the two series’ TV ratings will be so close, but USA Today reported prior to the Indy 500 that IndyCar’s ratings are up 28 percent from 2007.
None of these numbers come close to putting a wooden stake through NASCAR’s heart, but NASCAR officials have to be realistic about the state of their economy, and their relationship with motorsports fans.
A recent survey cited that the sponsorships of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon have resulted in some $150 million in television exposure alone this racing season, meaning the hefty investments in those drivers by their sponsors have paid dividends.
But what about everyone else? NASCAR has seemingly been pricing itself out of its own sponsorship market for several years now. Former sponsorship stalwarts such as Interstate Batteries and STP have been relegated to support series or one-off race deals, just enough to keep their hands in the sport.
Yates Racing has raced most of this year without steady sponsorship for the simple fact that its cars no longer run in the lead pack — or just as importantly in today’s culture, drivers Travis Kvapil and David Gilliland generate no buzz among fans.
If a sponsor in NASCAR cannot get exposure because the cameras are always on or searching for Earnhardt or Gordon, then when will they take their dollars elsewhere?
Before the past few months, maybe they thought there was no place else to go. Maybe fans have felt that way, too.
This weekend, the IndyCar Series visits Texas Motor Speedway, which has produced some of the most exciting races and closest finishes in IndyCar history. Meanwhile, NASCAR teams could not get the CoT to turn left at that same track just a couple of months ago, creating yet another disappointing race for fans on a 1.5-mile track.
Another great race at Texas could add just a little more momentum for the IndyCar Series and give NASCAR, its fans and its sponsors something more to think about.