Progress, sort of

 They still can't draw flies, except in places with names like "the Indianapolis Motor Speedway". But out there in Long Beach, Calif., over the weekend a few things happened that made you think someone cares about IndyCar racing, even if it's in a sick kind of way.

What happened was, Scott Dixon and Pato O'Ward got into each other on Lap 20.

What also happened was, Callum Illott used the subsequent caution to unlap himself, then held up teammate Agustin Canapino to try to stay on the lead lap. Canapino had opted to stay out during the caution and thus had inherited the lead.

Canapino then crashed himself shortly thereafter.

And what happened after that?

A torrent of social media abuse, including death threats, directed at Illott and his loved ones. Also, Dixon fans and O'Ward fans got nasty online after Dixon blamed O'Ward for their incident, and O'Ward basically replied "Wasn't my fault, dude."

Now, none of this should be news to those of us who regularly traverse the social media landscape these days. It was, it sometimes seems, invented for asshats and jackwagons, after all. And of course America's healthy population of closet racists and bigots love it, because it enables them to stay in the closet and still proudly fly their racist/bigot flags.

But rarely do the asshats and jackwagons get so riled about IndyCar racing that IndyCar itself has to put out a statement condemning online viciousness. And, I don't know, I see this as progress in a weird sort of way.

I mean, if someone -- apparently a lot of someones -- gets so passionate about Callum Illott and Agustin Canopino they'll actually take the time to compose vile spew and hit "Send," then IndyCar has achieved a milestone of sorts. Because in the years after the Split, and in the residue of disinterest that to one degree or another lingered long after IndyCar reunited, who would have bothered?

The sport still hasn't achieved the the kind of open warfare that existed in NASCAR between the Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon camps, when Gordon fans dismissed Earnhardt as a backwoods bully while Earnhardt fans openly questioned "Jeffy's" manhood. Same goes the  impassioned allegiance to Ferrari or Mercedes or Red Bull that exists in F1 today. As far as I know, Chip Ganassi and Bobby Rahal aren't publicly sniping at Michael Andretti yet, the way some team principals are sniping at RedBull team principal Christian Horner overseas.

Still, online spew, disgusting, gutless and occasionally criminal though it is, mean IndyCar might be catching up. Or catching on.