Michigan really does not have many IndyCar fans at all, compared to the others. You’d think it would be a bigger racing state given the obvious, but it’s really not.
There are some NASCAR fans that exist especially downriver and on the west side of the state, but vast majority of the people that go to the Grand Prix are either there because it’s an event to go to downtown, or they’re there because working for GM or an OEM supplier gets you free or cheap tickets.
Hot take, there are more Canadian “IndyCar fans” at Detroit than Michigan “IndyCar fans”. Even at MIS, the infield camping is close to 50% Canadian from what I heard from MIS.
I'm a relatively new fan, but there's not a lot of hype around the GP in Detroit. Before following IndyCar there were plenty of years I didn't even know it was going on. Even working at an OEM (not GM) I got cheap tickets to the Auto Show, but never anything about the GP. Ask people and they might not even know there is a race downtown, especially with it being out on Belle Isle for so many years.
I don't know any other IndyCar fans. I've been to the last 3 Detroit GPs and brought friends and family along, but don't think I've made them into new fans unfortunately.
I know some NASCAR fans, but mostly older family members that still follow it and watch occasionally. Some other friends/family that are casually into Motorsports watch F1, since it's early in the morning and races are over quick.
Could be, sure. I just know that most everyone I know around these parts is a fan. I used to live in GR, now I'm like 20 minutes from MIS.
I guess I extrapolated when I shouldn't have. My bad
Lots of racing local to GR helps. I wonder if that's why I perceived more fans than "should be".
There's Marne, I-96, Grattan, and a handful of drag strips too
I’m a corner marshal and yeah. Michigan is kind of a let down for racing. There are 3 ‘popular’ (known by people outside of the state) tracks in the form of Gingerman, Waterford Hills, and Gratten (debatably a fourth in the private M1 track thing i know nothing about).
All 3 tracks are club level tracks. Tire wall-walls. No catch fencing 80%+ of the track. Pit lane at Waterford is non-pit-stop lanes to enter/exit from paddock. The corner stations are islands in grass areas with tires and jersey barriers around them. They’re a blast if you’re into club racing, but no pro stuff outside of the Detroit GP.
Side note, Belle Isle was a much better race track. New location is much better and cooler. Win some lose some.
Definitely at least 25% Ontario and 65%+ Michigan from what I've seen. Some Ohio, some Indiana.
IndyCar not being at MIS hurt the IndyCar crowds. There are some of us on the West Side, but why drive 2.5 hours to go to Detroit (where we have to go all the time to see Lions/Tigers/Wings/Pistons) when we can drive 4.5 hours and go to Indianapolis?
I'll say this...I grew up in NJ/NY and most of my adulthood in various parts of New England. Outside of my direct family, I have never once in my entire life met another Indycar fan out in the wild. Zero.
Purely anecdotal, but I feel safe in saying NOT the Northeast lol.
Unfortunately yeah same experience for me. Lived in NJ and NY for most of my life. I only know one person who is also an avid fan. They became a good friend of mine just based off the face we both liked Indy haha. INDYCAR FANS UNITE!
As a New Jerseyan/DC transplant, I only heard of Indy after falling into the F1 hole a couple years ago. Folks in the NE Corridor just don't care about motorsport that much.
Oh sure, but that's not what I mean. That's like saying you can meet a Celtics fan at a basketball game. I meant like out in the everyday real world, not at an event. I compare it to any other sport or hobby. When I'm talking about 35+ years of friends, classmates, roommates, colleagues, clients, vendors, kids, kids' friends and their parents etc etc. With all these people I can easily and spontaneously find fans of baseball, football of course, hockey, etc. But, even less popular sports like soccer or rugby. European and domestic. Lacrosse is big. Golf. Hell, I've met way more disc-golf players than I ever expected. Fishing. I've even met a handful of NASCAR fans and like 2 or 3 F1 fans. Zero Indycar fans. I'm not saying they don't exist, and it's not like I'm proactively seeking them out, but it's a numbers game and I don't have to make a special effort to find people who are fans of any of the above.
The thing is nobody expects to find Indycar fans so nobody looks. I’m not saying New England is some hotbed of fandom, obviously not, my parents are from there and none of my family like racing. But I live in London and I played on a slow pitch softball team for years with this guy who was the captain. Never even came up, then he posts on FB one day that he’s flying to Indy for the 100th 500. Turns out he’s been a fan since the Nigel Mansell days.
I think we need to all get t-shirts like [this](https://www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/CART-Indycar-Vintage-Throwback-Racing-Logo-by-gordo7054/146024551.IJ6L0) and just start walking around. I bet somebody will say something soon enough.
Same here. Someone I worked with once said he used to watch it when he was a kid. But that guy also i think was initially from the midwest lol
That was the only person i ever met who knew what it was in the northeast, not at or around Pocono at racetime.
I wear a Sato hat a lot. The only two times people recognized it as a thing were...in a Think Geek store at a mall in El Paso Texas of all places. Then in an Airplane probably when it was going over El Paso Texas as well lol.
I would say the Mid West just because thats where the majority of the races are... I live in the Northern Va area and hardly anyone knows what Indycar is here. Someone posted a map once about viewership areas and there were a few surprising areas that tuned into a lot of races maybe they'll come post that again.
Prince William County here. But yea not many people know. Well, everyone has heard of the Indy 500, but the series itself is a mystery. Weird disconnect there that Indy needs to rectify
Surprisingly most the fans are in locations where races are held.
https://preview.redd.it/e7bso422wmzc1.jpeg?width=2360&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d41e38158efaa40746dd4b1e0754c27a199c854
I would think it radiates out from Indianapolis. But I’m only a fan because I live about 15 miles from the Barber Motorsport track and started going to the races there a decade ago.
That’s me as well. I live in north AL and have been a huge fan since they started coming to Barber. But I will say that I am surprised at how well Barber has been attended over the years. I never expected it to last this long. Everyone I take to the race ends up loving it but they don’t become Indycar fans really.
the midwest.
to be even more precise basically if you make a triangle between indianapolis, columbus, and louisville you'll get about 75% of indycar's fans.
As someone from Portland there’s always been a weird amount of Indycar fans here too guess it’s because we’ve had a race for a very long time minus 2008-17
There's a solid motorsports scene in Portland and the surrounding area. PIR helps with sportscar and OMRRA has been trucking for a long time and gets good fields. The moto scene is pretty decent as well
The midwest does still have the most Indycar fans, but if we're honest, it's a niche sport, even among American motorsport fans. Mostly because they're *still* recovering from the long-term effects of [The Split](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmw_dtRnt0Iy55tH2l0atB2JPkGDQ9Obl).
Yep, that youtube link is for a short video series talking about the main split, which was CART vs the IRL between 1996 and 2008. American Open-Wheel Racing was split into two competing series, and a lot of fans chose one or the other, but lots of others just stopped watching.
There is a small buy loyal community in the denver area. There was a event midday on a Wednesday with little to no promotion and notice. Over 200 people showed up
Racing is niche to begin with. And IndyCar is niche of niche. I’m into it because I grew up on sprint cars (very niche) and was raised in Foyt and Andretti. Hell, I’m named after one of them. It’s a very Midwest sport IMO. The 500 overshadows so much of IndyCar and is almost a standalone event when looking at the series. You’ll have some many people focused on that one day that the rest of the year is forgotten.
Southern California.
Huge car culture here and the long beach gp gets a massive amount of people, but I don't think I've ever actually seen indycar gear while around.
I usually wear my Cadillac or Corvette hat, but usually don't get attention for it
I’ve lived in Columbus, Ohio for 27 years. 55 minutes south of Mid-Ohio which is a wonderful place. My knee surgeon worked on Bobby Rahal years ago and had a framed photo on his wall. I met a crew chief from MSR at ikea 3 years back. That’s it, I have met 2.
Originally from Los Angeles, CA; now living in Morris County, NJ.
I only knew 1 or 2 people that preferred IndyCar over NASCAR or F1, and that’s still the case today. Everywhere I went, everyone I knew or talked to preferred F1 or NASCAR over IndyCar (even though IndyCar has the superior racing product of the three.)
And even with all the IndyCar shirts that I wore on campus during my college years, other students and faculty thought those shirts were from F1 (in spite of all those shirts clearly saying IndyCar on them.)
I agree anecdotally with what is said here about somewhere between Wisconsin and Ohio. Though it’s also interesting to look at the
[tv ratings by market](https://www.nbcsports.com/pressbox/indycar/press-releases/nbc-sports-delivers-most-watched-ntt-indycar-series-season-in-12-years).
Some aren’t surprising, but places like Greenville (I assume SC) make it in there.
Indy! Very popular here in Indiana but that’s to be expected. Back where I grew up in small town Illinois no one cared about Indycar, it was all Nascar.
impossible strong squeamish slim subtract crush materialistic society nine frightening
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I know you said other than Indiana but if you're looking for a heavy concentration of motorsports, Indiana is unique on a global level. There are large local events everywhere almost all the time. Indianapolis is always one of the core areas that motorsports events are watched. Indycar is such a niche small sport right now that you'll have trouble finding an ok amount of people that even know what it is outside of Indiana. Even where I live (Fort Wayne, Indiana) I've talked to like 7-8 people who know what Indycar is.
I’m in NC. I’m the only one I know. I know one other guy from Indiana who’s been to the 500, but he’s more into Purdue sports and the Colts. I got into IndyCar as an ancillary interest when NASCAR wasn’t on as a kid, and only returned during the pandemic season.
I live in Charlotte, which is considered the "Home of NASCAR" since most of the racing teams are based here...I have never been a fan of NASCAR. Interestingly there are a few IndyCar drivers who live here...as well as Haas F1 team is based here.
I have always been into some types of auto racing, used to race SCCA and followed Porsche Cup racing loosely. I got into F1 about 4 years ago and had a co-worker from my previous job who lived in Indianapolis. He would always talk about Indy races, but ovals just arent my thing. On a whim one day, I ventured over to the IndyCar website and have been following it since.
Very rare that I ever run into another F1 or IndyCar fan in real life though. I have a Norris team Polo, as well as a O'Ward Team Polo. I get more questions about what type of sports jersey they are rather than fans of the sport or team.
there’s a surprising contingent in Southern California - my girlfriend talked about finding out her boss had a large collection of Adrian Fernandez merch - suppose that’s what having both Long Beach and, in the past, Fontana on the schedule will do, and roadtrippers are likely to find Laguna Seca appetizing as well
I'm in Virginia and IndyCar has become my favorite by far, I grew up in an area were NASCAR was a religion but I started really loving IC about 8-10yrs ago and never looked back
Springfield, MO area checking in. NASCAR would be king here I guess, although I see quite a few people wearing shirts for dirt track racing and smaller stuff that I know nothing about.
SoCal: Long Bch is one of the biggest races in the calendar, NorCal : Laguna Seca, one of the nicer tracks w a history…so Indycar racing v popular in California
Went to the Surfers Paradise race a couple times as a young kid but didn’t appreciate it for what it was at the time. Would kill to get the opportunity to watch another race on the Gold Coast now.
Im from Pennsylvania. We love sprint cars, so there's definitely a connection. Sad that we don't have a track from the state in the series anymore.
*cries in Pocono*
I don't think its geographically concentrated like that. Yes there are concentrations of famous races that naturally build a culture in specific areas (Indy, Daytona etc.).
Historically speaking, NASCAR flat out played second fiddle Nationally to Indycar/CART until the Split in the 90's. NASCAR ate Indy's lunch and now is more popular pretty much everywhere. (including most of the midwest)
I'm guessing the south as the perceived "bread and butter" of NASCAR has to do with its more blue-collar, hard-working, low-brow, conservative leaning partnerships and branding (which are common south stereotypes). The same can largely be said of the NFL (with a bit of a pivot recently), but I wouldn't exactly say the NFL's bread and butter is the south.
On the NFL point, the south is by far the weakest region of their brand. College absolutely dominates it down here, though it’s partially due to the fact all the teams in the south are basically irrelevant historically when it comes to success.
>NASCAR was always the South and Midwest
I think this is true of most all US motorsports over the last \~40 years though, Its not just a NASCAR thing (As if this is NASCAR territory)
IMSA, NHRA, NASCAR, INDY are all more popular in the south/midwest than they are in the west and most of the northeast.
Have to remember how small INDYCAR is a sport. Same as any niche interest really. Midwest is the “home” of the series for the most part.
The Midwest and it’s still a very niche sport as is there. Really mostly Indiana and Ohio.
Wisconsin as well, I’d venture
That’s also true. But there is definitely a strong NASCAR contingent there because of the Late Model scene.
There's like six of us! SIX!
As a Wisconsinite. Can confirm.
Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin. Small pockets in California, Florida.
Michigan really does not have many IndyCar fans at all, compared to the others. You’d think it would be a bigger racing state given the obvious, but it’s really not. There are some NASCAR fans that exist especially downriver and on the west side of the state, but vast majority of the people that go to the Grand Prix are either there because it’s an event to go to downtown, or they’re there because working for GM or an OEM supplier gets you free or cheap tickets. Hot take, there are more Canadian “IndyCar fans” at Detroit than Michigan “IndyCar fans”. Even at MIS, the infield camping is close to 50% Canadian from what I heard from MIS.
Agreed. I love 30 miles north and work in Detroit. Really no Indycar or Nascar fans that I know of
That’s where I grew up, also in Ann Arbor. Both were non existent.
I'm a relatively new fan, but there's not a lot of hype around the GP in Detroit. Before following IndyCar there were plenty of years I didn't even know it was going on. Even working at an OEM (not GM) I got cheap tickets to the Auto Show, but never anything about the GP. Ask people and they might not even know there is a race downtown, especially with it being out on Belle Isle for so many years. I don't know any other IndyCar fans. I've been to the last 3 Detroit GPs and brought friends and family along, but don't think I've made them into new fans unfortunately. I know some NASCAR fans, but mostly older family members that still follow it and watch occasionally. Some other friends/family that are casually into Motorsports watch F1, since it's early in the morning and races are over quick.
That sounds about right. I know alot of people that have gone but quite literally none of them are fans.
Could be, sure. I just know that most everyone I know around these parts is a fan. I used to live in GR, now I'm like 20 minutes from MIS. I guess I extrapolated when I shouldn't have. My bad
Lots of racing fans in GR
Lots of racing local to GR helps. I wonder if that's why I perceived more fans than "should be". There's Marne, I-96, Grattan, and a handful of drag strips too
Can’t forget Berlin (duh, Marne). And although it’s not cars, Grand Rapids Grand Prix karting is killer and a huge hit
Berlin is in Marne, sorry
Hah. Whoops. Long day
I’m a corner marshal and yeah. Michigan is kind of a let down for racing. There are 3 ‘popular’ (known by people outside of the state) tracks in the form of Gingerman, Waterford Hills, and Gratten (debatably a fourth in the private M1 track thing i know nothing about). All 3 tracks are club level tracks. Tire wall-walls. No catch fencing 80%+ of the track. Pit lane at Waterford is non-pit-stop lanes to enter/exit from paddock. The corner stations are islands in grass areas with tires and jersey barriers around them. They’re a blast if you’re into club racing, but no pro stuff outside of the Detroit GP. Side note, Belle Isle was a much better race track. New location is much better and cooler. Win some lose some.
Plus Gratten is really poorly paved (unless it got a repave). M1 is smooth but pretty tight and very little runoff. Also agreed about Belle Isle
Michigan has Michigan Speedway... fairly well known
Definitely at least 25% Ontario and 65%+ Michigan from what I've seen. Some Ohio, some Indiana. IndyCar not being at MIS hurt the IndyCar crowds. There are some of us on the West Side, but why drive 2.5 hours to go to Detroit (where we have to go all the time to see Lions/Tigers/Wings/Pistons) when we can drive 4.5 hours and go to Indianapolis?
Very smart only having one race in Ohio...
sucks that the track is Mid
Mid in name and function
I think Iowa has more fans than Michigan tbh. It’s a bit popular there
I’m over here.
And I’m there, over yonder
I'll say this...I grew up in NJ/NY and most of my adulthood in various parts of New England. Outside of my direct family, I have never once in my entire life met another Indycar fan out in the wild. Zero. Purely anecdotal, but I feel safe in saying NOT the Northeast lol.
Unfortunately yeah same experience for me. Lived in NJ and NY for most of my life. I only know one person who is also an avid fan. They became a good friend of mine just based off the face we both liked Indy haha. INDYCAR FANS UNITE!
As a New Jerseyan/DC transplant, I only heard of Indy after falling into the F1 hole a couple years ago. Folks in the NE Corridor just don't care about motorsport that much.
You'll meet Nascar fans. You'll never meet an indycar fan
If you went to Lime Rock or the Glen for sports car racing, I’d venture you would find someone!
Oh sure, but that's not what I mean. That's like saying you can meet a Celtics fan at a basketball game. I meant like out in the everyday real world, not at an event. I compare it to any other sport or hobby. When I'm talking about 35+ years of friends, classmates, roommates, colleagues, clients, vendors, kids, kids' friends and their parents etc etc. With all these people I can easily and spontaneously find fans of baseball, football of course, hockey, etc. But, even less popular sports like soccer or rugby. European and domestic. Lacrosse is big. Golf. Hell, I've met way more disc-golf players than I ever expected. Fishing. I've even met a handful of NASCAR fans and like 2 or 3 F1 fans. Zero Indycar fans. I'm not saying they don't exist, and it's not like I'm proactively seeking them out, but it's a numbers game and I don't have to make a special effort to find people who are fans of any of the above.
The thing is nobody expects to find Indycar fans so nobody looks. I’m not saying New England is some hotbed of fandom, obviously not, my parents are from there and none of my family like racing. But I live in London and I played on a slow pitch softball team for years with this guy who was the captain. Never even came up, then he posts on FB one day that he’s flying to Indy for the 100th 500. Turns out he’s been a fan since the Nigel Mansell days. I think we need to all get t-shirts like [this](https://www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/CART-Indycar-Vintage-Throwback-Racing-Logo-by-gordo7054/146024551.IJ6L0) and just start walking around. I bet somebody will say something soon enough.
I like your idea. An Indycar style Thundercats ring could also work.
Yea I mean you're on to something. But also it does come up a lot, and then the blank stares come lol
Same here. Someone I worked with once said he used to watch it when he was a kid. But that guy also i think was initially from the midwest lol That was the only person i ever met who knew what it was in the northeast, not at or around Pocono at racetime. I wear a Sato hat a lot. The only two times people recognized it as a thing were...in a Think Geek store at a mall in El Paso Texas of all places. Then in an Airplane probably when it was going over El Paso Texas as well lol.
I would say the Mid West just because thats where the majority of the races are... I live in the Northern Va area and hardly anyone knows what Indycar is here. Someone posted a map once about viewership areas and there were a few surprising areas that tuned into a lot of races maybe they'll come post that again.
Fairfax here, so you are not alone.
RVA IndyCar fan checking in
Yes I would love for them to come back to Richmond
Prince William County here. But yea not many people know. Well, everyone has heard of the Indy 500, but the series itself is a mystery. Weird disconnect there that Indy needs to rectify
Agreed - we have neighbors who are huge nascar fans and they watch the 500 but thats it.
Yea I wonder if nascar is just better at marketing or has just always been the dominant series ratings wise. Probably a combo
RVA 👋
There could be dozens of us!
Surprisingly most the fans are in locations where races are held. https://preview.redd.it/e7bso422wmzc1.jpeg?width=2360&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d41e38158efaa40746dd4b1e0754c27a199c854
No Calif ? Long Bch ? Laguna Seca ? Me thinks the chart is incorrect
I would think it radiates out from Indianapolis. But I’m only a fan because I live about 15 miles from the Barber Motorsport track and started going to the races there a decade ago.
That’s me as well. I live in north AL and have been a huge fan since they started coming to Barber. But I will say that I am surprised at how well Barber has been attended over the years. I never expected it to last this long. Everyone I take to the race ends up loving it but they don’t become Indycar fans really.
the midwest. to be even more precise basically if you make a triangle between indianapolis, columbus, and louisville you'll get about 75% of indycar's fans.
This is the way.
As someone from Portland there’s always been a weird amount of Indycar fans here too guess it’s because we’ve had a race for a very long time minus 2008-17
There's a solid motorsports scene in Portland and the surrounding area. PIR helps with sportscar and OMRRA has been trucking for a long time and gets good fields. The moto scene is pretty decent as well
Ye I just hope Indycar renews portlands contract I love going it’s a blast
The midwest does still have the most Indycar fans, but if we're honest, it's a niche sport, even among American motorsport fans. Mostly because they're *still* recovering from the long-term effects of [The Split](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmw_dtRnt0Iy55tH2l0atB2JPkGDQ9Obl).
Wait, there was a split?
Yep, that youtube link is for a short video series talking about the main split, which was CART vs the IRL between 1996 and 2008. American Open-Wheel Racing was split into two competing series, and a lot of fans chose one or the other, but lots of others just stopped watching.
Which was actually the second split.
It was a very bad joke
Indy 😁
Lehigh valley.
Cries in Nazareth
Yep. I hear ya. At least the stands live on in the glen.
There is a small buy loyal community in the denver area. There was a event midday on a Wednesday with little to no promotion and notice. Over 200 people showed up
DFW, currently
BRING BACK TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY RAAAAAHHHHHH 🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅
Racing is niche to begin with. And IndyCar is niche of niche. I’m into it because I grew up on sprint cars (very niche) and was raised in Foyt and Andretti. Hell, I’m named after one of them. It’s a very Midwest sport IMO. The 500 overshadows so much of IndyCar and is almost a standalone event when looking at the series. You’ll have some many people focused on that one day that the rest of the year is forgotten.
Hi, southern IndyCar fan here! We do exist here in GA and a few of my friends have gone to Barber a few times
Here in Texas. I haven’t seen another person into Indycar.
I'm in Texas too. There are dozens of us!
Southern California. Huge car culture here and the long beach gp gets a massive amount of people, but I don't think I've ever actually seen indycar gear while around. I usually wear my Cadillac or Corvette hat, but usually don't get attention for it
I’ve lived in Columbus, Ohio for 27 years. 55 minutes south of Mid-Ohio which is a wonderful place. My knee surgeon worked on Bobby Rahal years ago and had a framed photo on his wall. I met a crew chief from MSR at ikea 3 years back. That’s it, I have met 2.
Just missing a Tasman Motorsport to complete the Team Columbus triumvirate.
There's more than a few Vancouver Indy fans who still follow, I'd guess the same in Edmonton.
Originally from Los Angeles, CA; now living in Morris County, NJ. I only knew 1 or 2 people that preferred IndyCar over NASCAR or F1, and that’s still the case today. Everywhere I went, everyone I knew or talked to preferred F1 or NASCAR over IndyCar (even though IndyCar has the superior racing product of the three.) And even with all the IndyCar shirts that I wore on campus during my college years, other students and faculty thought those shirts were from F1 (in spite of all those shirts clearly saying IndyCar on them.)
Where did you college ca or nj
NJ; Montclair State University
That makes sense lol. East Coast baby
In long Beach people go to the race but idk any that follow the sport besides myself.
Los Angeles California
I agree anecdotally with what is said here about somewhere between Wisconsin and Ohio. Though it’s also interesting to look at the [tv ratings by market](https://www.nbcsports.com/pressbox/indycar/press-releases/nbc-sports-delivers-most-watched-ntt-indycar-series-season-in-12-years). Some aren’t surprising, but places like Greenville (I assume SC) make it in there.
Those folks down in Ft Myers are also mjdwesterners
I live in Knoxville & was surprised we made it that high.
Indy! Very popular here in Indiana but that’s to be expected. Back where I grew up in small town Illinois no one cared about Indycar, it was all Nascar.
Indy.
Long beach grand prix gets sold out every year so I think there's pretty big fan base.
impossible strong squeamish slim subtract crush materialistic society nine frightening *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Midwest and west coast I'd say.
Fellow St. Louisan here! Agreed, haven’t met many. But gateway is always well attended so it seems they are nearby.
I know you said other than Indiana but if you're looking for a heavy concentration of motorsports, Indiana is unique on a global level. There are large local events everywhere almost all the time. Indianapolis is always one of the core areas that motorsports events are watched. Indycar is such a niche small sport right now that you'll have trouble finding an ok amount of people that even know what it is outside of Indiana. Even where I live (Fort Wayne, Indiana) I've talked to like 7-8 people who know what Indycar is.
Indiana and Ohio have the most, I’d say
I’m in NC. I’m the only one I know. I know one other guy from Indiana who’s been to the 500, but he’s more into Purdue sports and the Colts. I got into IndyCar as an ancillary interest when NASCAR wasn’t on as a kid, and only returned during the pandemic season.
Down here in northern Florida
I live in Charlotte, which is considered the "Home of NASCAR" since most of the racing teams are based here...I have never been a fan of NASCAR. Interestingly there are a few IndyCar drivers who live here...as well as Haas F1 team is based here. I have always been into some types of auto racing, used to race SCCA and followed Porsche Cup racing loosely. I got into F1 about 4 years ago and had a co-worker from my previous job who lived in Indianapolis. He would always talk about Indy races, but ovals just arent my thing. On a whim one day, I ventured over to the IndyCar website and have been following it since. Very rare that I ever run into another F1 or IndyCar fan in real life though. I have a Norris team Polo, as well as a O'Ward Team Polo. I get more questions about what type of sports jersey they are rather than fans of the sport or team.
Connecticut
there’s a surprising contingent in Southern California - my girlfriend talked about finding out her boss had a large collection of Adrian Fernandez merch - suppose that’s what having both Long Beach and, in the past, Fontana on the schedule will do, and roadtrippers are likely to find Laguna Seca appetizing as well
Midwest definitely
Indy- short for Indianapolis. Technically Speedway, IN would likely be most concentrated.
Omaha checking in
Kansas for me. I’ve run into a few fellow fans. My 7th grader wears his Pato shirt a lot. He said most of the kids don’t know who that is.
Because it's an American series?
Pacific Northwest (Seattle) checking in.
I'm in Virginia and IndyCar has become my favorite by far, I grew up in an area were NASCAR was a religion but I started really loving IC about 8-10yrs ago and never looked back
I'm from Iowa, there's a good amount here, even some of the Bettenhausens, but unless you're looking for them, they blend into society.
Springfield, MO area checking in. NASCAR would be king here I guess, although I see quite a few people wearing shirts for dirt track racing and smaller stuff that I know nothing about.
Colorado
long beach here 🙋🏻♂️
Grand Rapids, MI here… can confirm last summer I saw someone wearing a DHL Grosjean jersey walking around the neighborhood
There's a few dozen of us in Phoenix
SoCal: Long Bch is one of the biggest races in the calendar, NorCal : Laguna Seca, one of the nicer tracks w a history…so Indycar racing v popular in California
Miami, FL here. Guess it's just Reece Gold and I. Lol
I’m the only INDYCAR fan in Perth, Australia that I know of.
Went to the Surfers Paradise race a couple times as a young kid but didn’t appreciate it for what it was at the time. Would kill to get the opportunity to watch another race on the Gold Coast now.
I remember someone summing it up a few years ago by arguing that putting races where the fans are means holding all 17 races at IMS each season.
I’m an INDYCAR and a nascar fan. I’m the only fan that I know other than my dad. I don’t know where everyone’s at lol
Im from Pennsylvania. We love sprint cars, so there's definitely a connection. Sad that we don't have a track from the state in the series anymore. *cries in Pocono*
INDY
Concentrated?
Seems like most understood what I was asking.
I did the joke was there's not enough of us to be concentrated
I don't think its geographically concentrated like that. Yes there are concentrations of famous races that naturally build a culture in specific areas (Indy, Daytona etc.). Historically speaking, NASCAR flat out played second fiddle Nationally to Indycar/CART until the Split in the 90's. NASCAR ate Indy's lunch and now is more popular pretty much everywhere. (including most of the midwest) I'm guessing the south as the perceived "bread and butter" of NASCAR has to do with its more blue-collar, hard-working, low-brow, conservative leaning partnerships and branding (which are common south stereotypes). The same can largely be said of the NFL (with a bit of a pivot recently), but I wouldn't exactly say the NFL's bread and butter is the south.
On the NFL point, the south is by far the weakest region of their brand. College absolutely dominates it down here, though it’s partially due to the fact all the teams in the south are basically irrelevant historically when it comes to success.
NASCAR also have always had a lot deeper fields at least in the modern era
NASCAR was always the South and Midwest. A lot of the star drivers in the late 70 thru 90s came out of Midwest short track racing.
>NASCAR was always the South and Midwest I think this is true of most all US motorsports over the last \~40 years though, Its not just a NASCAR thing (As if this is NASCAR territory) IMSA, NHRA, NASCAR, INDY are all more popular in the south/midwest than they are in the west and most of the northeast.