It was very well done and they had a great turnout.  Nearly everybody is in town since they are holding drivers, owners and manufacturers meetings thstarting yesterday and through the week.  Great turnout of media, so I am sure we will begin seeing more news beginning in today's papers etc.   

Yesterday it leaked they opened a Los Angeles office.  Hired the lady that got much of the programming aired for NASCAR and was the executive producer for Talledega Nights to run it so they are expecting big things to get more entertaintment type programming on air with Indycars as the centerpiece. 

They have started a new theme, the fastest most versatile drivers on the planet and understand they have to make drivers heros in order to grow the audience.  They are also mking a huge effort to attract the kids and will begin allowing children 9 and older into the garage areas at all tracks except Texas (they did not specifically mention Indy, so I don't know about that one).  More on this stuff later. 

Competition:
Yesterday the media picked up they would have double file restarts on the ovals, but they would retain the running order, in other words lapped cars hold their track position they will not be moved to the back.  They made it clear this is kind of an experiment and may be modified as they go.  In addition, the acceleration point for restarts will be moved closer to the start/finish line.  They will not accelerate until a point after they have excited the fourth turn on an oval. 

There is a new pit selection procedure.  Now you will select pits based on the qualifying order of the last "like" race.  In other words at an oval the teams will pick their pit box based on their qualifying position at the last oval race.  So the pole setter gets first choice etc.  Teams will not have the option to "average" their entries, they will have to choose separately. The first race for each type of track road course or oval pit selection will be based on last year's owners points.  The only exception is the pit selection process will not change at the Indy 500. 

On road courses, there will be a new rule regarding the use of tires during the knockout qualifying sessions.  A driver will only be allowed one set of tires per knockout session, they can be either red or black, but once they start a session on the set they can not change during that session.  There is also a new tire allocation system for all races, but it was pretty complicated and I can not explain it well enough here.  Will wait for the published rules to see how they handle that one. 

Engine displacement for the new for 2012 engines has been reduced from 2.4 liters to 2.2 liters after meetings with the manufacturers that have committed.  Barnhart said rules have been given to the manufacturers who have committed, but will not be made public at this time.  My guess is they want to have a big announcement at Indy where they expect to have samples on display. 

Aero kit rules have been given to the manufacturers who have made a reasonable commitment to review.  Sounded like there would be 4 manufacturers for 2012.  Aero kit manufacturers have to make a minimum commitment for 2 years to be allowed in.  They expect to have two show cars on display at Indy in May. 

Firestone Indy Lights wil be back on TV this year.  Their races will be shown the Wednesday after the race at 6:00 pm on Versus.  Indy Lights will have a stand alone race this year at Trois Riveres in Canada.  That race will be televised on Versus. 

Edmonton is back on the schedule in its original slot. 

They have initiated a "Centennial Tour" for ten days going out to ten American Forces bases throughout the world.  They are taking the two-seater team plus Mario Andretti, Al Unser Jr. Johnny Rutherford, Sarah Fisher and a host of others to build awareness.  Watch Thursday's morning shows for a sneak preview. 

Starwood Resorts is a new sponsor of the Indycar series.  (The Westin in downtown Indy is a part of that.)  Look for opportunities to book rooms for races at their multiple propoerties around the world. 

They explained the Indycar ladder system and how kids from karts, Formula 2000, Formula Mazda, and Firestone Indy Lights will earn scholarships for the next rung on the ladder.  They will also provide a new emphasis in USAC's National series with a scholarship to run the ovals in Indy Lights to the National Sprint Car champion. 

For karters there are something like 5 national organizations controlling karting.  They are going to take the top ten from each series and invite them to New Castle Motorsports Park (Mark Dismore's place) and give them a school with their favorite Indycar drivers. 

In addition to the being called the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" this year's Indy 500 will also be known as "The Most Important Race in History."  A tag line the track and media will be using for the race.   

ABC will televise the first race and last race of the season. The Indy 500, Milwaukee and Loudon.  Versus will televise all others, plus Indy qualifications.  They said the merger between Comcast and NBC will happen by the end of March and they have been advised not to sign contracts with on-air talent until after the announcement and the expected changes.  I did not realize that even though Versus shows the racs IMS productions actually produces them, with Terry Lingner as the producer.  IMS hires the on-air talent. 

In 2011 every living driver who is a vetern of an Indy 500 has been invited to the track in May. Something like 270 living drivers.  On the Saturday before the race in addition to the drivers for this years race they will all be invited to participate in an autograph session, the largest autograph session in history. 

They said to also expect a special treat with the 24 original manufacturers from the first 500.  

They talked about how they are consolidating all the records so it will be a comprehensive record book which begins in 1905 to present day and will include the achiements and stats from all sanctioning bodies including AAA, USAC, CART, Indycar etc. 

70 of the 74 surviving winning cars from Indy will be on display at the museum during the month of May. 

Sports Illustrated will be doing a comemorative issue on the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500.  So will a number of other publications.  

Kids 12 accompanied by an adult will be admitted free to all activities at Indy in May including the race (general admission ticket, still need a ticket to sit in the stands I suppose).