Something missing at the Speedway

The 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 is coming up this Sunday, and to be honest, I'm not too excited about it.

It's been about 8-10 years since I've actually sat down and watched the race in its entirety and this year will probably not be different.

Sure, I'll catch the opening festivities and the first few laps, but then I always seem to be off somewhere working or doing things around the house.

I usually come back to it a few times and catch 5-10 laps here and there, but the flair of the Indianapolis 500 just doesn't seem to be there for me much anymore.

Honestly, I'm really not sure how to explain it.

It could be the influx of foreign drivers onto the Indy Racing League Circuit, the exponential growth of NASCAR overshadowing it or just the lack of personalities like A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser, but I just haven't had much interest in it lately.

I was lucky enough to go to Indianapolis Motor Speedway about a week-and-a-half ago and watch practice, but even with it being the Centennial Era, the aura of excitement seemed to be lacking.

Many of the drivers seemed non-chalant about being at the Speedway, although there was some enthusiasm from the younger drivers on the circuit like Graham Rahal and rookie Raphael Matos.

I was hoping to see more drivers excited to take part in the Centennial Era activities in preparation for what should be a memorable race, but that didn't happen.

Has our fast-paced lifestyles caught us up with the once-thought blazing speeds the cars travel around the track at? Or have we become so wrapped up in the here and now that we have forgotten about the historical aspects of sports and life in general?

Another possibility is that many racing fans watch the races anticipating the accidents more than paying attention to the strategies involved like passing, drafting and quick pit stops.

For me, the pit stops have always been the most exciting part of the race because you get to see about six people hurrying to change the tires, add fuel and make adjustments as fast as they can, hoping to get out in a time that can move the car up a couple of spots or drop them back even farther.

I love the first five laps or so after the stop to see who made the right moves to make a push, or which wrong moves will cause a costly second pit stop to make even more adjustments.

From my perspective, the ever-growing presence of NASCAR on the minds of Americans has been the biggest deflator of excitement for the Indianapolis 500.

Hopefully, the excitement of the younger drivers will begin to spread throughout the rest of the field and inject some much-needed interest back into the biggest race in the world.