INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – It was another dose of reality this month at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, another reminder of how this day, this month and this race are crying out for an extreme makeover.The 2-for-1 coupons in the local paper, the rock bands and the chance to watch Marty Roth practice weren’t enough to bring back anything resembling a crowd despite spectacular weather.Optimistically, no more than 10,000 turned out to watch the Battle of Brazil for the pole position. If there are 250,000 permanent seats, there had to be one body in every 25 seats – and that was a stretch. But this is nothing new because practice and qualifying here have looked like a glorified tire test since 1996. The question remains: What can be done to restore the prominence, the depth, the integrity, the spirit, the car count and the interest to the Indianapolis 500?It’s going to take some radical changes News source: Fox Sports THE PURSE: In 1978, I wrote a column that said Indy’s $1 million purse was peanuts. Now it’s time to say that $10 million isn’t nearly enough because, other than the winner, it’s a financial loser for just about everybody else. Two-thirds of the field barely paid for their engine lease and tire bill last year. Daytona paid $18 million last February, so Tony George needs to get a title sponsor, add some of the millions he’s spent propping up the field and make it $10 million to win and $500,000 to start. Bet you won’t have any trouble attracting teams from Champ Car, ALMS, Grand Am, World of Outlaws, USAC and maybe even NASCAR. THE CAR: Despite what the revisionists claim, part of Indy’s lore and lure were the cars and the ideas behind them. Today, it’s spec racing with restrictive rules that has destroyed the cottage industry and removed original thought from Fuel Alley.All but four of the 33 starters are in a Dallara (made in Italy) chassis and, on the season IRL circuit, every driver is wheeling a Dallara. Other than changing wing angles, there is virtually no “free thinking” allowed and there are currently no American manufacturers,Bring back the days of Dan Gurney’s Eagle, Andy Granatelli’s 4-wheel drive, the twin-engined Porsche and this can be done by lowering the insane costs of a car ($250,000 apiece with no engine).Eliminate the laboratory-built cars, where the tooling for parts drives the expenses sky high. Ban the expensive carbon fiber so all cars must be built out of aluminum, steel and fiberglass. Each car gets eight feet of wire (presumably the smart teams will use it to ground the magneto) and no more electronics, data acquisition or electric fuel management. Changing the date of the Indianapolis 500 could bring marquee names like Tony Stewart on a regular basis. (Mary Ann Chastain / Associated Press) Each car must have a maximum height, width and weight. Those are the only rules.THE DESIGN: All cars will be flat bottom, which will immediately separate the racers from the imposters. “That would give the guys in midgets and sprints a chance because they don’t depend on wings or ground effects, just their ability to get in and out of the throttle and drive,” said three-time Indy winner Johnny Rutherford.THE ENGINE: Honda currently is the lone engine at Indy and in the IRL, which is good for reliability since Honda engineers control all facets but bad for teams that can’t spend $1.2 million for a lease. Open up the rules and let people bring V-8s, V-6s or whatever can make two miles to the gallon on Race Day.THE FIRST DAY: Should be open to all cars, not just rookies and refresher tests, and make it free to the public. It’s good PR for the rest of the month.THE INCENTIVE: The fastest car of each practice period receives $20,000 with $10,000 to the runner-up and $5,000 for third. Each day is sold to a local or national sponsor and Happy Hour finally makes cents. THE PRELIM: Qualifying is reduced from four to two days and each car only gets three attempts total, like the good old days. Make the pole pay $1 million (currently it’s $100,000) but let only 28 cars be locked in. Jazz up the second weekend by staging a 25-lap race for the rest of the participants and the top five finishers advance to the main event. THE DATE: Either move the race back to 11 a.m. or make it Memorial Day and get away from competing with NASCAR. Right now, none of the NASCAR stars with Indy ties like Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne and J.J. Yeley can compete because Indy starts too late (1 p.m.) for them to make the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte that night. Getting those guys would help fill up the grandstands and the press room. Obviously, some of these things would be a step backwards in terms of today’s available technology but Indy needs to rethink its future because the current climate isn’t working.Pump up the purse, restore ingenuity, encourage creativity and make it more affordable. Heck, you might even get some Americans interested again.