Pole Day drama lacking

UPDATE A reader adds, Sarah Fisher instead of Sebastien Bourdais. Ed Carpenter instead of Paul Tracy. A.J. Foyt IV instead of Justin Wilson. And this is before the bums that will be filling the field next week. What a sham the Indy 500 has become. Doug Ferguson

05/13/07 Pole Day for the Indy 500 had some breathtaking final minutes Saturday. Helio Castroneves grabbed the pole, and then watched Tony Kanaan fall just short of topping him on the final qualifying run of the afternoon.

The old Brickyard produced real excitement, but it came in front of mostly empty grandstands. IMS doesn't release attendance figures, but 20,000 is an optimistic estimate.

This wasn't a highly anticipated Saturday in front of a packed grandstand. That was Pole Days of long ago.

A generation of racing fans grew up wanting to see every dramatic moment on the Saturday in mid-May. I know. I was one of them.

Millions watched from their TVs at home and more than 150,000 people came to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to see which driver turned the fastest four laps.

It was a glorious time for open-wheel racing. That time is gone. This day was special at the end, but the rest of this format needs revamping.

Maybe those of us who look back with nostalgic envy should quit complaining. It is what it is, thanks to more than a decade of two competing open-wheel leagues, among other things. More at ESPN.com