This week’s guest “Daily Journal” columnist is Michael Lowrey, Associate Editor of Carolina Journal.

CHARLOTTE — Dan Wheldon’s death in an IndyCar race at Las Vegas in October was the most significant on-track death in American racing since Dale Earnhardt’s death at Daytona in 2001.

Since then, much has been written about where IndyCars can race safely. These discussions miss one key aspect: Open-wheel racing in the U.S. already was a damaged property before Wheldon’s death. Indeed, IndyCar still exists only because of the fame of the Indianapolis 500 — and local governments’ willingness to host events as economic development tools.

America has two great traditions of oval-track racing. One is predominantly Southern, featuring stock cars, which evolved into NASCAR. The other is Midwestern and centers on open-wheeled “championship cars.” The signature race is the Indy 500, held over the Memorial Day weekend each year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile oval with turns banked 9.2 degrees.

So that stock cars could top the speeds of championship cars at Indianapolis, Bill France Sr. built the Daytona International Speedway in the 1950s. The key to higher speeds was greater banking in the corners. Daytona’s success promoted the construction of many more highly banked ovals.

NASCAR is now the undisputed top dog when it comes to racing in the U.S. Part of that is because of the series’ strengths. It’s also in part the result of infighting in other forms of motor racing.

In the case of championship cars, there were two sanctioning bodies, one for the Indy 500, and another for the rest of the series. In 1997, this became an actual schism, complete with two competing series. By the time the split was resolved in 2008, the sport had lost much of its popularity and sponsorship base.

IndyCar racing today is a spec series, with all teams racing essentially identical cars. The combination of the high down force and relatively low horsepower on high-banked tracks like Las Vegas means IndyCars don’t have to slow down for the curves. This produces “pack racing,” in which many cars remain close together throughout the race.

Pack racing has the potential to produce massive wrecks, where cars fly into the wall or worse, catch fencing. Wheldon was killed in such a wreck, which involved 15 cars.

The truth is that IndyCar racing isn’t popular enough to pick where it holds events these days.
The series hops about, jumping between ovals from year to year, hoping to catch on somewhere.

The shorter, flatter ovals at Milwaukee and New Hampshire have been mentioned as the types of tracks that would be safer for IndyCars. Both tracks hosted events in 2011 but won’t be on the schedule in 2012.

The problem: low attendance. The promoter of the Milwaukee race lost more than $1 million. The New Hampshire race needed to draw 35,000 to 40,000 fans to succeed; only about 28,000 people came.

The series isn’t a much better draw on road circuits. The tentative 2012 schedule includes only three true road courses.

Where the series has found a niche of sorts is holding races on temporary street circuits. Eight of the 14 or 15 races in 2012 may be on such courses.

Make no mistake: These dates aren’t really about the races. They are excuses to hold a big festival in hopes of attracting a lot of people to a specific part of a town. They are economic development activities, part of a marketing plan by a city or region.

The racing is almost an afterthought, kind of like a band with a gig at a fraternity, providing the sound to accompany the party.

That’s a sad situation for a once-great sport.