Mario Andretti concerned, but still hopeful about IndyCar's future at Pocono

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Rain washed out Mario Andretti's scheduled two-seater rides at Pocono on Friday, but I was still able to get some comments from the racing icon about the published comments made by Pocono Raceway president Brandon Igdalsky concerning the low ticket sales for Sunday's IndyCar race.
Igdalsky said the numbers were "scary" and could put IndyCar's future at Pocono in jeopardy.
I also got to talk to Brandon on Friday about the reaction to his comments and he was pleased that it got people's attention.
"I was just trying to shake the tree a little bit," he said. "It was a call out to the fans."
Mario would like to make the same call out to the fans who love open-wheel racing and were so happy when it returned to Pocono last summer for the first time since 1989. The estimated crowd of between 30,000 and 35,000 was deemed promising, even though it was less than half of what NASCAR typically draws at the Tricky Triangle.
Advanced sales for Sunday were evidently not close to last year's figures.
"I’m not privy to any numbers, but obviously, it’s a concern," Andretti said. "Everyone’s concerned because we were all so happy to be back at Pocono last year
“But unless it’s supported, it could disappear just like at Nazareth. You have a lot of race fans, but somehow, they don’t always show up. We had a respectable crowd at Pocono last year and I thought it was going to build on that. I was hoping for that. I’m still hoping.”
As the sun poked through on Friday afternoon to dry the track after a morning-long rain that kept the temperature in the low 60s, the forecast offered a glimmer of hope for a strong walk up sale on Sunday.
Igdalsky said that by this point last year, most of the tickets were purchased. This year, maybe, people played more of a wait-and-see game. If so, good weather the rest of the weekend will help.
“The forecast is good and you may have a lot of people showing up on Sunday morning rather than getting the tickets in advance,” Andretti said. “We hope for that. We want it to be so well attended that it will warrant continuing.”