{"id":27512,"date":"2021-06-22T08:46:04","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T12:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=27512"},"modified":"2021-06-22T08:46:04","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T12:46:04","slug":"payne-the-moment-indycar-opened-america-the-motor-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/payne-the-moment-indycar-opened-america-the-motor-city","title":{"rendered":"Payne: The ‘moment’ IndyCar opened America, the Motor City"},"content":{"rendered":"

The automobile has deep roots in the American experience. If the industry\u2019s \u201cArsenal of Health\u201d production of desperately-needed ventilator and PPE in early 2020 exemplified the country\u2019s collective commitment to combat the coronavirus pandemic, then IndyCar\u2019s back-to-back, 2021 Indy 500 and Detroit Grand Prix\u00a0represented America\u2019s victory against COVID.<\/p>\n

Over two extraordinary summer weekends, Penske-owned IndyCar put on one of the planet\u2019s biggest post-COVID spectator events and the first mask-free auto race \u2014\u00a0both viewed by millions on national television.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe had 155,000\u00a0people at Indy (and) we re-opened America Memorial Day weekend. This weekend we are re-opening Michigan,\u201d said Bud Denker, chairman of the\u00a0Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear,\u00a0in an interview on Belle Isle last Saturday.<\/p>\n

Denker, also the president of Penske Corp. based in Metro Detroit, continued: \u201cHow ironic is this? For 15 months we\u2019ve been operating IndyCar series with masks on, socially distanced, and vaccinations required to go in the paddock. We’re in Michigan \u2014which has been one of the most restrictive states in terms of protocol \u2014 and here we are with none of that in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Detroit followed a defining moment in the pandemic at Indianapolis\u00a0as a nation rushed to get vaccinated and return to normalcy\u00a0for the summer travel months.<\/p>\n

Sports fans found their vessel in Helio Castroneves. Before\u00a0the biggest public gathering in the world (dwarfing the Texas Rangers baseball opening day crowd of 38,238) since\u00a0the World Health Organization declared COVID\u00a0a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, Castroneves won his long-sought fourth\u00a0Indy\u00a0500 \u2014\u00a0tying him with the legendary A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears, and Al Unser, Sr.<\/p>\n

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The 46-year-old star, who charmed America by winning “Dancing with the Stars” in 2007, is one of the most popular personalities in racing. His win kicked off a wild scene on Indy\u2019s main straight. In his trademark \u201cSpiderman\u201d style, the Brazilian racer\u00a0\u2014\u00a0now Ft. Lauderdale resident \u2014\u00a0climbed the fence with his team, pumping his fist while the crowd roared.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pure Helio,” remembers Denker. “That was the cherry on the top. It was a moment in sports and for all America.”<\/p>\n

The celebration didn\u2019t end. Hopping down from the fence, Castroneves ran the length of the straightaway riding the wave of appreciation. Then he was mobbed in the pits. Greeted by Roger Penske (his former boss) on the winner\u2019s podium. And wheeled around the track in a Camaro.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fans would not leave. They would not leave until Helio did his victory lap which was about 45 minutes after he crossed the checkered flag,\u201d marveled Denker. Six million more fans were glued to their television sets, the biggest Indy 500 audience in 5 years.<\/p>\n

It was a long road to get here. Like all sports, motorsports struggled to maintain a schedule through the pandemic. IndyCar put on nine events last year \u2014\u00a0followed by eight races to start the 2021 season \u2014 mostly in less-restrictive states like Florida\u00a0and Wisconsin where large fan gatherings were allowed.<\/p>\n

Yet, while state protocols changed from venue to venue, IndyCar’s strict\u00a0protocols\u00a0(coordinated with other series like NASCAR and IMSA and other sports) did not: Masks were required in the pits\/paddock\/podium with the exception of drivers when they were in the race car.<\/p>\n

Sensitive to perception, sponsor needs\u00a0and national TV, the rules stayed in place. Even as the CDC lifted\u00a0mask requirements for vaccinated individuals\u00a0in May. Even as vaccinated drivers chafed at the rules.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIts been an arduous journey to get to this point,\u201d said Denker. \u201cWe\u2019ve worked with a number of players \u2014\u00a0Chris Illich with the Tigers, Jason Langwell with Rocket Mortgage Classic Golf Classic, Kathy Cooper of Meijer (Grand Rapids LPGA golf tourney this weekend). All these big organizations, like ours, have these big events coming up and what\u2019s our play book going to be? Let\u2019s be consistent in our approach to the government. It\u2019s really been a team effort behind these scenes.”<\/p>\n

Even as a second COVID wave over the winter brought concerns that the June Detroit GP \u2014\u00a0canceled in 2020 \u2014\u00a0would have no fans, sponsor Chevrolet, Lear, and TV-partner NBC stuck with the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we got to 1,000 fans because the Tigers announced 20% in their grandstands \u2014 so we had 20% in our grandstands,\u201d smiled Denker. The CDC\u2019s May 13 announcement nixing masks accelerated conversations inside IndyCar.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u00a0had a call a month ago (with all the teams) and we said we want you all vaccinated,\u201d said Denker. \u201cGuess what? Our sport is 95%\u00a0vaccinated, I don\u2019t think any other sport can say that.\u201d<\/p>\n

IndyCar\u2019s announcement that the Detroit GP would be mask-free sent dominoes falling. The IMSA Weathertech sportscar series, which shared the race weekend with IndyCar, also went mask-free. IMSA\u2019s corporate parent \u2014\u00a0NASCAR \u2014\u00a0followed suit at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday.<\/p>\n

There were smiles all around\u00a0the paddock Sunday as naked-face\u00a0racers greeted fans for the first time in months. The smiles intensified after a weekend of gorgeous weather and two of the most exciting races of the year.<\/p>\n

Overhead, NBC\u2019s chopper televised overhead shots to millions\u00a0across the country of Belle Isle, downtown, and the Renaissance Center.\u00a0NBC broadcast’s of the Saturday Duel in Detroit race was seen by\u00a0845,000 viewers (a 10% increase over the 2019 event) while\u00a0Sunday’s Dual in Detroit race reached 1.4\u00a0million viewers –\u00a0a 26% increase over 2019 .<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you put a value on what this means for our city for two hours (Saturday) and two hours Sunday?\u201d thrilled Denker, who said capacity was limited to 8,000\u00a0fans a day\u00a0\u2014\u00a0about 1\/3rd of normal. \u201cYeah, we didn\u2019t fill up as many restaurants\u00a0or hotels, but the value this city is going to get from this weekend is immeasurable and that makes us pretty proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The automobile has deep roots in the American experience. If the industry\u2019s \u201cArsenal of Health\u201d production of desperately-needed ventilator and PPE in early 2020 exemplified the country\u2019s collective commitment to combat the coronavirus pandemic, then IndyCar\u2019s back-to-back, 2021 Indy 500 and Detroit Grand Prix\u00a0represented America\u2019s victory against COVID. Over two extraordinary summer weekends, Penske-owned IndyCar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27513,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27512\/revisions\/27513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}