I can’t let the discussion from Sunday night’s broadcast go without further comment.

Kenny Sargent wanted to float the idea that the Indianapolis 500 might be irrelevant. It is a provocative comment that will generate emotional response, phone calls and email but I don’t even think he believes it.

I’ll grant the fact that the race has dropped in crowd appeal and, probably, TV ratings but so has the network evening news but that doesn’t make those broadcasts irrelevant.

We had a regular listener and friend respond with an email that he once wouldn’t miss The 500 or Pole Day and now he wouldn’t even reach for the remote to watch the TV show. That’s well and good. But one opinion out of six billion doesn’t a race make. I usually dismiss arguments that hinge on: “Of course it’s the greatest, look at all the people who care!” Throughout history, if mobs controlled the world, we’d have a very different social and political landscape now, wouldn’t we!

But here’s the issue. The Indy 500 bills itself as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. And no one in racing outside of Daytona Beach would deny that. It IS a spectacle with its month long practice and qualifying traditions and rituals. It IS a spectacle with its history, traditions, world famous drivers who’ve competed and want to compete, and its place in international racing history as a significant event.

There’s no other race in America that has that as a spectacle and history. And, even more to the point, there’s only ONE Indy 500. There wasn’t one last week. And there won’t be another next week and the week after and the week after and the week after… etc.

But is the Indy 500 the most SIGNIFICANT spectacle in racing? Now that’s a far different question! Maybe a half dozen international racing events might be more significant than what the Indy 500 has become. Off hand, in no particular order or exclusivity, I’d say Monaco on the F1 calendar is more significant even if only for the venue. The 24 Hours of Lemans and the Rolex 24 at Daytona are both more significant. The Monte Carlo Rally that opens the World Rally Championship season every year is more significant. The Michelin Race of Champions in Paris is becoming more significant as a place where EVERY driver in the world would like to compete or be invited to compete. The U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis fits that same argument. You can’t name one professional driver in the world who doesn’t respect a nitro drag racer, who wouldn’t stop to watch them race and, even, envy their ability to control 8000 horsepower beasts.

I can hear the howls now. Who cares about those Euros!! That kind of jingoism should have no place in racing. If we start believing that Americans are the only ones who know racing, we diminish ourselves in the racing community as a place to race. In fact, that's happening as we speak. Certainly we can think of our own events as important but at the expense of everything else, think about that for a moment! What are we saying about ourselves?

Certainly the Daytona 500 can challenge Indy for spectacle, but that’s diminished in the overall because there’ll be another Daytona 500 the following week. In fact, there’s another Daytona 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway every summer. Many believe The Brickyard 400 could eclipse the Daytona 500 as the most important race on the NASCAR calendar because of the spectacle AND significance of the venue at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!

In addition, all the events I’ve mentioned above have drivers standing in line wanting to compete, even those who don’t want to participate regularly in that racing discipline. Most drivers in the world even want to attend the races mentioned above and more. I don’t believe Daytona carries that kind of appeal internationally warranting the banner: The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

So, the true argument might hinge on significance but there is no question that the Indianapolis 500 is the greater spectacle in all of racing and the idea that it’s irrelevant might be good for an argument but it has no relevant significance in racing anywhere!

UPDATE:  The 91st Indianapolis 500 will be televised Sunday to more than 200 countries and more than 442 million households worldwide through ESPN and its international distribution efforts.   ESPN’s international networks will televise the race throughout Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim.  ESPN is also responsible for the global syndication of the Indy 500 for live broadcast in Belgium, Bosnia/Serbia, Baltic States, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and the U.K. In addition, ESPN will distribute the Indy 500 to the American Forces Network, which serves military personnel stationed in 176 countries and U.S. territories.

Not bad for something supposedly irrelevant!!