As May looms, IndyCar takes center stage…for a limited time

The Indy 500 is still big, about 50% as popular as the Daytona 500, but still the biggest thing IndyCar has going for it. With boring quiet non-screaming engines, the crowds at the other events are there to enjoy the atmosphere of the event, but the racing does not make new fans because they do not leave the track 'thrilled' i.e. their socks knocked off.

Teams and drivers of the Verizon IndyCar Series will take to the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this Sunday, officially kicking off the month of May at the iconic oval.

Over the next four weeks, hundreds of thousands of fans will enter the facility for various practice days and races. The second-annual Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 9 will see the Indy cars take to the road course in the infield, with the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 scheduled for May 24.

Then, after a month of being at the forefront of motorsports Web sites and publications all over the country, IndyCar will fade from people's consciousness for another 11 months.

You see, hidden behind the pageantry and historic tradition of May at Indianapolis is a huge problem in open-wheel racing in North America.

No one cares.

OK, that is a little harsh. Sure, SOME people care. There are die-hard fans of Indy car racing that tune in to every practice, qualifying session and race, there just aren't very many of them.

Last week's race at Barber Motorsports Park outside Birmingham, Alabama was full of intrigue. Tennessean Josef Newgarden picked up his first IndyCar Series victory while holding off the hard-charging Graham Rahal on the permanent road course. There was plenty of passing through the field and just enough caution flags to bunch the cars back together on occasion without seeming like a funeral procession under yellow.

The race received a 0.25 overnight TV rating, according to showbuzzdaily.com. A single ratings point equals approximately 1.15 million views, meaning that about 300,000 people tuned in to NBC Sports Network (yes, this is a real channel) on Sunday to watch the IndyCar Series.

That is horrendous.

Comparatively, NASCAR's rescheduled Sprint Cup race at Richmond on Sunday pulled in a 3.09 rating on FOX. The Xfinity Series – NASCAR's version of triple-A – earned a 0.63 rating on Fox Sports One on Friday night.

Whatever the reasons why NASCAR has far surpassed open-wheel racing in this country (and everybody has a theory), the fact is that IndyCar is not just under the radar compared to its stock car brethren, it is not even on the same planet when it comes capturing national attention.

On track, IndyCar features some of the best racing in the world, with not much separating the multi-car power teams of Penske, Ganassi and Andretti from the one-car operations of Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

But IndyCar falls significantly short in other areas, including marketing of its stars and, the lack of any type of WWE-style post-race melees. Let's be honest, in this era of the Kardashians and goofballs on the Jersey Shore, confrontations and drama is what puts butts in front of television sets.

But the series does not help its cause in other areas. IndyCar Series CEO Mark Miles' strategy of a season that is barely five months long and ends in late August to avoid the NFL season is puzzling to some and outrageous to others. With a paddock full of teams already struggling to secure sponsorship, attempting to sell interested parties to pony up a significant amount of money for less than six months of exposure has become close to impossible.

Miles has stated he wants to get to a schedule that includes 20 races, up from the current 16. While he would like the season to begin in February, he is dead-set on ending the season by Labor Day.

That means at best the series is still facing a six-month layoff between seasons, hardly the best-case scenario in keeping people and sponsors interested in the product.

The plan by Miles also does not take into consideration the fact that several of the events on the schedule are floundering. Pocono and Fontana are two-high speed ovals that have seen diminishing attendance figures, as well as Texas Motor Speedway, long considered one of the best races on the schedule.

But the month of May is all about positivity. Last year's TV rating was a 3.9 for the 500, slightly up from the year before. However, it still pales in comparison to what the Daytona 500 is significantly drawing. NASCAR's premier race earned a 7.3 rating this past February, once again highlighting stock car domination.

There are plenty of great storylines entering May in IndyCar, including the debut of the new superspeedway aero kits by Honda and Chevrolet, the resurgence of Rahal and the possibility of domination by the Penske mega-team of Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud.

Many will head to the Brickyard to check out the Indy cars approaching 240 miles per hour, with millions more watching on television.

But after the milk is chugged and the bricks are kissed on May 24, it will be another 11 months until many give the IndyCar Series another thought.

And that is the real shame of May. Justin Kenny/News-Sentinel