Reaching the Young/ CCWS Opener/ IRL IMS Testing/ I'm Ok/ TV Sked

Reaching the Young
Next time you attend an IRL or USAC race, especially Silver Crown, notice the age of the audience. Most are middle age or older. Maybe this is because of spending money available to the older generations. Maybe this is also because over the last 10 years, open wheel racing has not been able to attract young audiences

I don’t have an answer for this growing problem. Maybe promoters can offer special student and 20 something discounts. Maybe with the more television exposure that USAC and the IRL are seeing, this will help. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is reaching out to Indiana school children offering a curriculum on the history of IMS and the Indy 500. The split and rise of NASCAR helped take away the younger generation along with the distractions of video games and computers. Maybe a USAC or Open Wheel video game for the X-Box and Playstation is needed. Our fans are aging and we need to think outside the box to capture the harts and minds of the next generation of fans.

Robin Miller On CCWS

The always flowery Robin Miller previews the 2006 Champ Car World Series in his column on Speed’s website http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/22916/.

Champ Car World Series TV

Champ Car World Series is gearing up for the 2006 season with a preview television program. “Champ Car Driver,” an hour-long Champ Car season preview show will air on SPEED, Saturday, April 9 at 11:00pm EDT. The program chronicles the five day tour to promote the series including a fan forum in Portland, a Toronto Raptors game and a trip to RodeoHouston. The series opener is set for Sunday, 4pm eastern on NBC.

Testing at IMS

Veteran IndyCar Series drivers are testing today at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for the Indianapolis 500. Sam Hornish Jr. had the fastest time so far this morning. The IRL is providing live timing and scoring on their website and http://www.tracksideonline.com/ and providing behind the scenes coverage and updates.

Thanks for Asking
I have received some email asking if I weathered the storm ok. I was lucky and the worst thing that happened to me was some wind, rain

and these mammatus clouds. Mammatus clouds look bad but they are virtually harmless. The storms, which often accompany them, are not. My neighbors up to the north were not as lucky.

This tornado near Caruthersville, Missouri was photographed by Scott McCord and is posted by the National Weather Service.

Sheryl Crow’s hometown of Kennett, Missouri, saw this tornado south of the city photographed by Bill Page via NWS website

And this tornado in Kennett, Missouri photographed by Donald Jones via NWS website. The National Weather Service‘s website has more images including this photo of a destroyed water tower

At http://www.srh.noaa.gov/meg/events/April2006/index.htm. Thankfully, I am ok but I grieve with those that have lost loved ones in the Midwest and Mid-South.

This Won’t Take Away from My 15 Minutes of Fame Will It?
I had some mug time last night on the television station where I formally worked. University of Memphis head football coach, Tommy West addressed the Highland Hundred last night for the first time since his surgery. My buddy Dave Cerra was there covering the story and wanted a quick comment from fans on their thoughts on the return of coach West.

So I agreed to go on camera and comment for Dave. We did a lot of stories together and any time I can help him out, I will. It is really good to see coach West back and healthy again. This won’t take away from my 15 minutes of fame will it Dave? The team is looking good and spring game is this weekend. Go Tigers!

TV Listings (All Times Eastern)
Friday
4:30 pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Qualifying Texas (LIVE) SPEED
7:00 pm Crown Royal IROC Series Texas (LIVE) SPEED
Saturday
2:00 pm Busch Series Race Texas FOX
5:00 pm USAC Silver Crown Series Homestead OUTDOOR
7:30 pm Speed News SPEED
11:00 pm Champ Car Driver SPEED
Sunday
1:30 pm Nextel Cup Pre-Race Texas FOX
2:00 pm Nextel Cup race Texas FOX
4:00 pm Champ Car World Series Long Beach NBC
7:00 pm Speed News SPEED
9:00 pm Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain (LIVE) SPEED

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of ABC, R.E. Technologies, Scott McCord, Bill Page, Donald Jones, The National Weather Service and WMC-TV.