One of the main stumbling block for the series is that it is always going to be seen as too 'foreign' by mainstream Americans. The cars and tracks are still a mostly non-American concept, and most of the drivers are foreign and not particularly big international names either, more well known for being F1 rejects than anything else. Just throwing in a few oval races apart from the 500 isn't really going to fix that either but can't hurt.

Sure, CART was 'like that' too but it carried on rolling the ball that was initiated during the USAC glory days, retaining all of the great home grown names like Andretti, Foyt, Rutherford, etc., but it was fast becoming more and more foreign as the 80s rolled on, in terms of drivers and tracks. The traditional ladder system of midgets and sprints was gone and now you had to either go to Europe or run Atlantics or something to get in. So you suddenly appeared in the top series after spending years in ladder series that most Americans don't follow, whereas in NASCAR, you can follow an up and comer's progress nicely from K&N to trucks and Nationwide all the way to Cup. Look how the 'legend' of Kyle Larson is already forming so well even before he gets to Cup, for example.

Even if the split had not happened, it was only a matter of time, I believe, before the series would have fallen behind NASCAR in terms of American appeal anyway but would have thrived abroad quite well, perhaps even challenging F1 but of course, the split reduced its appeal to both American and global fans at the same time and started its overall downfall.

Do Americans not want to watch the competition of the best in the world, or would they rather watch the competition of the best Americans?