INDIANAPOLIS — NBC Sports announced on Tuesday that their qualifying coverage for this Sunday’s 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 (1 p.m. ET, NBC, INDYCAR Radio Network) was up 26-percent over last year’s broadcast. The two-days of qualifying from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was up 26-percent (873,000 vs. 695,000) from 2019.

Factor in a number of reasons.

One, it’s a pandemic. Nothing is normal and with live sports being at a premium still, having Indy 500 qualifications on air was big.

Second, no one could be there. This was a behind closed doors weekend too, so without any fans to witness in person, it certainly drove the numbers up, albeit not dramatically as the crowds for Time Trials in recent years couldn’t have been much more than 10k in total.

Another reason is the Andretti factor. I know some don’t like to admit it, but generational talent is huge in this sport. Names means something. While we don’t have any Mears’ or Unser’s or Rutherford’s or anyone like that to keep the names going through this 21st Century, we still have an Andretti and Rahal.

Everyone knows those names. It’s recognition. So, when you hear an Andretti is fast at Indy, even the casual fans are going to tune in. When you get an Andretti vs. Rahal for the Indy 500 pole as two of the Fast Nine participants, that’s a good thing.

The numbers reflect that.

So does this, speed.

Everyone associates Indy Car with speed. When you hear numbers getting over 230 mph, it’s draws an interest. While there’s not really a way to correlate the two (speed and TV ratings), it certainly had an affect.

“I don’t know that I can say that per se. I think it’s part of our brand and part of our INDYCAR story, especially here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” said Mark Miles, CEO Penske Entertainment Corp. “Growing up in Indianapolis as a kid, hearing Tom Carnegie announce setting a new track record, I can hear the voice still. That excitement and daring is part of this brand.

“I do think our broadcasters and IMS productions are doing a great job of showing the speed. You can’t see those cars going around that track and not realize they’re flying.

“It is part of what we are. I think the steady, safe progression of speed is part of our future, as well. I think it’s very attractive to young people as well as our existing fans.”

Track president Doug Boles says as a promoter, the speed factor doesn’t hurt.

“I agree with Mark (Miles),” Boles said. “I think it’s hard to tell. That is definitely part of our brand. As the promoter of the Indianapolis 500, I was pretty excited to see so many drivers over 230 miles an hour. I know if the fans were here, when cars run over 230 miles an hour, that’s a big deal.

“Where the speed helps us, especially the way we managed through it in a safe way alongside INDYCAR, as that speed increases, that impacts the number of people who come out on Pole Day. There’s something exciting about seeing what kind of magic those drivers can do in that car, and the magic is defined by the speed.”

The President of the Series, Jay Frye, said that the motto is always about being fast and authentic. He notes that there was nothing more fast and authentic as what we saw this past weekend.

He’s right.

The no tow speeds on Friday were mostly around the 229-232 mph ranges. When Marco Andretti leads Fast Friday’s speed charts with a 233 mph overall lap, that’s sure to grab the attention of the world. When single laps of 232 mph and four lap average of 230-231 mph were run on Saturday, it helped for Pole Day in the Fast Nine Shootout too.

The reason for this was the added boost levels for this year compared to the past. The horsepower was turned up higher to counter the added weight and drag of the Aeroscreen.

For 2022, the new engine formula comes out which will see horsepower in the upwards of 900-1,000 range. If this horsepower was around 800 this year, wouldn’t adding that much more mean we could threaten the track record in this next decade?

“It’s going to be a progression,” Frye said on that subject. “If you look at what we talked earlier about the five-year piece, with the aero kit in ’18, the screen we have in ’20, then the boost, there’s been a progression of what we’re doing, as long as it’s managed and manageable as we go forward. Firestone is a great partner. Tires are a big differentiator.

“We have to be smart about it. We think we’ve been smart about it the last few years. We were smart about what happened the other day. Our engine manufacturers, this is something we started last fall where we eliminated the 1.4 boost, went to 1.5, increased the boost 40 or 50. That was adding weight to the car, the screen of the car. Yeah, who knows. We just got to be smart about what we do going forward.”

There’s obviously the safety aspect of this because we saw just how much the guys were laying it on the line this weekend. With more horsepower means more risk for both the drivers as well as the engine reliability inside of those Dallara’s.

Still, the combination of all of that lead to what was a great weekend in Indy and what should be another big ratings weekend on Sunday.