In July, IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard commented facetiously about the possibility of poor ratings for his planned super-season finale at Las Vegas. When reminded that the TV rating for the previous season finale at Homestead was a 0.3 (a measure that couldn't have included more than a few families and their pets) Bernard laid down the law. Jokingly, of course.
"If we do a 0.3 on this, I'll quit right there on the spot. I'll literally quit on the spot," Bernard told a reporter for the Toronto Star. "Even if we do a 0.8, I'll quit. On the spot."
 Bernard says he'll quit if Vegas gets a poor TV audience © LAT |
Let's hope we don't have to hold him to that. If we do, then two people are going to win a whole lot of money and one worthy racer is going to claim a championship in front of an audience smaller than the few hundred who normally tune in to the Womens' NBA All-Star Game.
For as much as we've jumped on his bandwagon and given him credit for the slight resurgence in Indycar racing over the past two years, Bernard is up against it this weekend. He's been on edge about this event for months, and rightfully so. The Vegas finale and the $5million gimmick are his missions and his alone. In all its various forms and designs, Vegas is his. It either flies or it doesn't. There's no gliding allowed.
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