Colts' game could draw fans away from a race that has not been very popular in Indianapolis latelygetty images
NASCAR's annual race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sept. 9 will begin one hour after the Colts kick off their season at Lucas Oil Stadium "despite requests made by both parties to keep the Colts out of Indianapolis on Week 1 of the regular season," according to Jim Ayello of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. That likely will be "another blow for an event that has seen attendance plummet in recent years." The "dwindling crowds" were one reason why IMS President Doug Boles asked NASCAR to move the race "from its usual slot in July to the final regular-season race on the NASCAR calendar at the beginning of September." A main complaint about the race has been the "scorching July sun," and while temperatures "should be more hospitable in September than in July, the Brickyard could now be facing an even tougher opponent than the heat: the Colts." The football game "could draw fans away from a race that has not been very popular in Indianapolis lately." Boles "anticipates the biggest hit will come with a lack of local media attention." He said, "In a perfect world, we'd rather not be head-to-head at home. But we knew we'd be head-to-head regardless, whether they were here or on the road. ... We just had our fingers crossed that it wouldn't be the first year of the new date for the race" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 4/20). Hulman & Co. President & CEO Mark Miles, whose company owns IMS and IndyCar, in February said that IMS was planning a "much stepped-up" marketing effort around the race this year, similar to what it has been doing in recent years for IndyCar's Indianapolis 500, which has conversely seen an attendance resurgence during that time (Adam Stern, Staff Writer).
