Edmonton delivers for the IRL

"We are thrilled overall," said IRL commercial division president Terry Angstadt. "We started at St. Pete's (Fla.) with bigger ticket sales, bigger crowds. Long Beach, our first event there, was fantastic. Kansas was soft and we think we know why. Indy was off the charts. Toronto was great.

"There are challenges in certain areas. We know we have challenges, but compared to other sports, we're pretty pleased."

Figures for the Rexall Edmonton Indy will not be released — it's in the agreement with the IRL that attendance is not made public–but Mike Burton, major events coordinator for Northlands, said prior to Sunday's race that IRL officials were very pleased with what they saw through the first two days, especially for Friday's first day of practice. Sunday's crowd was estimated to be well over 50,000.

"They're still commenting on the number of people showing up on Friday. We had as many fans for practice on Friday as they had in Toronto on race day. So yes, people are responding."

In Edmonton, the show on the track is usually great, and Angstadt likes that Northlands has incorporated the race as part of its Capital Ex festival that ended Sunday.

"It's perfect," he said. "Any time you can connect with other activities, it just elevates everything."