INDIANAPOLIS — On Saturday, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway offered fans the rare opportunity to see the premier formula car and stock car series in North America on the same day, all on the track’s road course.
The NTT IndyCar Series presented a race won by Scott Dixon. Following that, Ty Gibbs won a NASCAR Xfinity Series race. And prior to both of those races, practice and qualifying were held for the NASCAR Cup Series.
Considering this unique mix, was the crowd mostly an IndyCar crowd or a stock car crowd?
It was a nice mix, as shown by this totally random straw poll of fans in the Pagoda Plaza on Saturday afternoon. We asked them whether they were here mostly for NASCAR or mostly for IndyCar, if they had a favorite driver and where they were from. Their very varied answers follow:
• “Both IndyCar and NASCAR. I like Romain Grosjean in IndyCar and Martin Truex Jr. in NASCAR. I like Romain because he is a survivor; he’s courageous. And I like Martin because he’s a philanthropist.” — Amy, Northwest Indiana.
• “NASCAR. I root for Kyle Busch. He does what it takes to win the race.” — Guy, Dayton, Ohio.
• “IndyCar. I like Conor Daly. He’s not in the race, but he’s still my favorite. He’s a humble guy and he’s from Indy.” — Scott, Chicago.
• “IndyCar. But I really don’t know. I don’t know much about racing.” — Stacey, Northern Indiana.
• “NASCAR. My favorite driver is Chase Briscoe because of his personality and charisma.” — Caren, San Diego.
• “IndyCar. I root for Scott Dixon because he’s my father-in-law’s favorite driver, and when I started coming to the races he was who we rooted for. And he wins!” — Peter, Carmel, Ind.
• “NASCAR. I don’t really have a favorite driver. I just enjoy coming out to the track.” — Brandon, Indianapolis.
• “Neither. This is my first time at any race. I don’t know the difference.” — Jenise, Indianapolis.
• “Neither. I’m just here to eat, drink and walk around. I don’t have any favorites.” — Nikki, Indianapolis.
10. “NASCAR. My favorite driver is Kyle Larson. I’m a big dirt-track fan. I saw him on Monday at Oskaloosa and I went to IRP yesterday.” — Ryan, Fort Dodge, Iowa.
• “Neither. I’m here as a worker. I don’t know much about racing. But I like to be here and see all the different people from around the world.” — Kaela, Indianapolis.
• “IndyCar. I work for Arrow McLaren, so their drivers are my favorites. I like them because I work with them, but I’m a fan too.” — Terri, Plainfield, Ind.
• “To be honest, I’m here because I got free tickets. I don’t have a favorite driver.” — Aaron, Pendleton, Ind.
• “NASCAR. My favorite drivers are Denny Hamlin and John Hunter Nemechek. I work for FedEx, so that’s why I like Denny, and John Hunter is just a nice guy.” — Donnie, Bemidji, Minn.
• “NASCAR. I root for Kyle Busch. I like Richard Childress, his team owner.” — Phil, Greenville, S.C.
• “IndyCar. I guess Josef Newgarden is my favorite. He just won the Indy 500!” — Kurt, Indianapolis.
• “I like both, but I work for Andretti. Colton Herta is my favorite. He’s really talented.” — Michael, Fort Wayne, Ind.
• “Both. I like [Kevin] Harvick in NASCAR and [Scott] Dixon in IndyCar. They’re both old school. They came up the right way.” — Jeff, Lafayette, Ind.
• “Both. In IndyCar I root for Scott McLaughlin. In NASCAR I like Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott. I like Scott because I know people at Penske. I like Blaney because I’ve had conversations with him. And for Chase, it’s because I follow Hendrick Motorsports in general.” — Ryan, Eldridge, Iowa.
• “NASCAR. My favorite driver is Jeremy Clements because we sponsor him!” — Scott, Phoenix, Ariz.
• “IndyCar. [Josef] Newgarden is my favorite. The reason is because my favorite driver used to be [Juan Pablo] Montoya, and Newgarden replaced him.” — Mike, Danville, Ind.
• “IndyCar. My favorite driver is Santino Ferrucci, because my dad is on his team.” — Alexandra, Indianapolis.
• “IndyCar. Helio [Castoneves] is always a favorite. He’s a great racer and an awesome diplomat for the sport.” — Frank, Indianapolis.
• “NASCAR. Our son is on a pit crew; today he’s the jack man on the No. 24 of Connor Mosack in the Xfinity series.” — Kim, Crawfordsville, Ind.
• “NASCAR. My favorite driver is Kyle Larson. I’ve been watching him since he was a young kid.” — Andy, Muncie, Ind.
• “Neither. I don’t know anything about any of this. I don’t even know what I’m doing here. I just got invited to come.” — Anna, Chicago.
• “NASCAR. I don’t really have a favorite driver though.” — Nick, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
• “NASCAR. I like [Kevin] Harvick and Chase Elliott. The reason I like Harvick is because he’s been in it forever. I like Chase because he’s Bill Elliott’s son. Oh, and Justin Allgaier too. My son went to school with him.” — Don, Franklin, Ill.
• “IndyCar. My favorites are Foyt’s team. My future son-in-law is going to work there.” — Pam, Pittsboro, Ind.
• “IndyCar. My favorite driver is Colton Herta. I like his family; you know, Bryan Herta. He hasn’t had much luck lately though.” — Bub, Indianapolis.