I'd be here all day long, but let's cut it short:

TONY GEORGE TONY GEORGE TONY GEORGE TONY GEORGE TONY GEORGE

Woops, I sound like someone from CCF. Here's a real list of reasons why early-to-mid 90s Indy 500 didn't sucked, and was, in fact, the most watched single event in motorsports:

• Closed rulebook...seriously, you'd think just having Dallara-Honda-Firestone is going to have close competition?
• Nautrally-Aspired engines. It would work if the IRL is a stock car series.
• Tony George
• Danica Patrick...STOP FOCUSING ON HER ESPN JESUS CHRIST!
• low prize money--Helio Castroneves was only awarded $3.3 million for winning the race. Expanding it to $5 million would make the race matter more.
• Tony George
• Did I mention they need to expand the rulebook?
• Tony George
• ABC's coverage of the race is acutally great until Marty Reid kicked Paul Paige out. Scott Goodyear makes Sam Posey sound good.
• Tony George
• Seriously...all qualifying sessions on Versus? I know no one gives a damn about it, but nobody watches Versus regularly, jeez.
• Tony George
• Poor promotion. Why do you think NASCAR is the most watched form of motorsport in America?
• Tony George
• Late start time...think about it...if you put the guys from NASCAR into the Indy 500 grid, how high would the ratings be?
• Tony George
• Low ratings. I can see who you can blame it on.
• Tony George
• BRING BACK TURBO-CHARGED ENGINES!
• Tony George
• Am I sounding like a ChampCar fan right about now?
• Tony George