Do Low TV Ratings Point To Open Wheel Racing's Popularity?

CART and IRL TV ratings "point dramatically to their growing irrelevancy," according to Mike McCarthy of MOTORSPORTSTV.com, who notes CART's March 10 season-opener in Monterrey, Mexico, drew a 0.53/ (264,000 HHs) Nielsen rating on Speed Channel. A tape-delayed ARCA race one day later on Speed Channel earned a 0.43 rating, and Speed Channel's "Inside Winston Cup," "which is basically four guys sitting around a table ... goofing off," recently drew a 0.73 rating on a Monday night. While CART President & CEO Chris Pook said he was "ecstatic" over the ratings, McCarthy writes the ratings "were a dud." Meanwhile, the IRL "can't get off the hook either," as its March 17 race in Fontana drew a "pitiful" 0.49 on ESPN. The IRL "not only has problems on TV, it has major issues at the gate." The 15,000 at Fontana is "horrendous" (MOTORSPORTSTV.com, 4/19).

CART WHEELS: AUTOWEEK reports that Pook "wants drivers to be more accommodating to the media and fans," so a driver "who misses an interview gets fined $25,000" and a driver "late for an autograph session gets his wallet lightened by $5,000." Pook: "You've got to get their attention" (AUTOWEEK, 4/22 issue). Meanwhile, Pook said of CART under his leadership, "We completely restructured the company. There were 10 levels from senior vice president down to administrative assistant. It was out of control. Now we have five levels. We don't need committees to run this thing. We need guys making solid decisions, empowered to make them." More Pook, on whether there may be a "truce" with the IRL: "I don't know how we can have a truce when there's no war. ... The [IRL's] Indianapolis 500 is the greatest race in the world. I hope all [CART teams] have a chance to participate in it. And if any of the IRL teams want to come across and run in one of our races, they're welcome to. ... But we have two different products, two different demographics." But now that CART adopted a new technical package mirroring the IRL's, Pook "sees a period of peaceful coexistence between CART and the IRL, and perhaps cooperation at some point" (AUTOWEEK, 4/22).