Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyin Ryan
The most important driver for drawing fans to the track at Indianapolis was Montoya. There were a TON of Colombians there.
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It was a combination of the Colombian passion for F1 AND their passion for Montoya.
If he was Montoya from Turkey, I doubt we would have seen that many white crescent moons in the stands.
I admit I don't follow NASCAR that closely but I have yet to see what I saw at Indy in Charlotte, but who's counting heads at a NASCAR event. Also Montoya was successful and far from a "foreigner" to US open wheel fans, especially those fans who regularly visited IMS. He was in fact the ONLY F1 driver many casual F1 fans I met at Indy ever heard of, (sorry Michael Schumacher).
There was also the Villeneuve factor as a draw at Indy for similar reasons. I know from being there the Colombians were the most visible & vocal but I have a feeling Canada was well represented too.
The Scott Speed factor was negligible I suspect for the reasons you stated, and maybe more importantly, because of the lack of a US team. I also suspect the results oriented US sports fans grew impatient with a racing series that is so predictable, especially when your driver is in a crummy car.
Too bad USF1 couldn't make a go of it. In the World Baseball Classic; plenty of American citizens play for the national teams of their birth or their ancestors, but the majority of "Americans citizens" follow and cheer for the USA team. It's like the Olympics or Tour de France, put an American athlete on a foreign team and folks will watch something else. It's just a little bit different here.