QOTD: Will Netflix Do for IndyCar What It Did for F1?
A report suggests that IndyCar and Netflix are working on a docuseries that would be similar to "Drive to Survive", which covered Formula One.
"Drive to Survive" has generated interest in the series even from people who didn't follow racing before. Perhaps this new series could do the same for IndyCar.
NASCAR has a similar series -- "Race for the Championship" -- but despite positive reviews from critics it has struggled to get viewers, and it hasn't had the same kind of buzz as "Drive to Survive." Indeed, I hadn't heard of it until I read the source report for this QOTD, and I do occasionally watch NASCAR races. "Drive to Survive", however, I have heard a lot about -- and it's on my way-too-long list of "shows I am overdue to binge".
The show, should it come to fruition, will be shot in 2023 and aired either that year or in 2024.
What say you? Will a docuseries give IndyCar a boost in ratings and mainstream buzz?
[Image: IndyCar]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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It would just come off as a poor copycat of Drive to Survive. I just don’t see a spec racing series being as interesting without the car manufacturing side of the business in F1.
F1 has power steering and Pirelli tires (like my Avalon). IndyCar has Firestone tires.
Cumulative broadcast audience for F1 in 2021 was 1.55 billion. IndyCar was... less.
F1 feels like generals on a great battlefield.
NASCAR/Indy is just a bunch of bored rich dudes and a gaggle of their cousins trying to make slidey bathtubs go round.
Unfortunately no. While IndyCar has "purer" cars and better racing, it completely lacks the pomp and pageantry of F1, perhaps excepting the 500. F1's new fans aren't motorheads, they're into fashion and FOMO.
IndyCar will probably never reach the heights of the 1990's again.