Changing Traditions

As time progresses, lots of things in this world pass by the wayside in lieu of the infamous word, "progress." Nothing is sacred these days when it comes to money or more importantly than that, the money generated by, and from, the television networks. Nothing stands in their way.

We've seen the avarice laced National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing strip stock car racing traditions naked for the almighty dollar, with the France brothers, who own the majority of NASCAR, ending up on the Forbes' billionaires list last year.

Now the American Broadcasting Company wants to change the Indianapolis 500 to suit its needs. ABC want to change the start time of the event to later in the afternoon so the network can get a larger market share tuning in on the race to make more money from its advertising.

As the ABC network just renewed its contract with the IRL, it also asked that the future starting time of the race be discussed in earnest. The IRL agreed to look into it and will probably go along with the network's wishes. The Indy 500 has started at 11 am since 1963. It's one of the traditions of auto racing, and another major tradition that you'll soon see going down to tubes for the almighty dollar.

Believe it or not, the ABC television network even had the gall to ask that lights be added to the Indianapolis facility so the Indy 500 can be run at night to bring in the prime time dollars! They saw FOX and NBC do it with NASCAR, so why not try it with the IRL? In future racing seasons, at least half of the 36 race NASCAR schedule will be run under the lights at night to appease the networks penchant for broadcasting sporting events in prime time to make more money from advertising.

IRL officials claim that the Indianapolis facility is unique in the way that it is constructed with grandstands on both sides of the track, giving it a tunnel effect that would be much more confusing to the drivers at night than it is to some of them in the daytime. They have also asserted that the way the lights would have to be installed would add major shadows that would be a constraint to driving safety for competitors traveling over 200 miles per hour.

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