Indy Car Stuff from today.
 

BRIGHT FUTURE AWAITS UNIFIED OPEN WHEEL RACING SERIES



Champ Car, Indy Racing League Work Together To Form Unified IndyCar Series



The future of open wheel racing is bright, according to the owners of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League who stood together publicly Wednesday for the first time since signing an historic agreement in principle to unify the sport.

Re: Indy Car Stuff from today.
 

Thanks for the post D.O., It's a great day for open wheel !!

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Today is a stepping stone towards a great day. The great day will be the start of the 2010 season when everyone is on the same page in the same car and normal schedule can be agreed upon. It will not be until then that we start seeing the prestege come back to open wheel america


Did anyone else notice that Milka Duno has replaced Sarah at D&R and Sarah is going to be fielding her own team for a partial season?

Re: Indy Car Stuff from today.
 

Originally Posted by D.O.:
BRIGHT FUTURE AWAITS UNIFIED OPEN WHEEL RACING SERIES



Champ Car, Indy Racing League Work Together To Form Unified IndyCar Series



The future of open wheel racing is bright, according to the owners of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League who stood together publicly Wednesday for the first time since signing an historic agreement in principle to unify the sport!
Joining them were several owners and drivers as well as industry representatives who support unifying the sport. Champ Car drivers present included Franck Perera, Bruno Junqueira, Graham Rahal, Alex Tagliani, Oriol Servia, Simon Pagenaud, Nelson Philippe, Robert Doornbos and Will Power.

...And all 27 members of these guys fanclubs (combined), are just super excited too!!!:rolleyes:

Sorry, way to little,way to late.
Someday, someone over there will wake up and realize that average "Joe American Fan" (and for that matter, average "Joe American Marketer"), will never get excited about a series full of guys named Pagenaud, Doornbos, Junqueira, and Franck (with a C) Perera.
Case in point: Tony Kanaan. Great guy, great racer, great personality, great speaker! Ask 100 people at a NASCAR or NHRA race if they have ever heard of him, and see what the result is?.. Ask those same people today, or say even 20 years ago, if they had ever heard of Foyt, Unser, Rutherford, etc... And I bet you get a much different result... And these guys made their names long before every race was on TV, like today.

Much more than just a unification is needed to bring back even a semblance of the glory days in open wheel racing.

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So basically we had to wait 12 years to get back to CART circa '95.

I'm glad everyone is back together, but the thought of more street and road courses doesn't excite me. Nor does the thought of going back to turbochargers.

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Originally Posted by Moses:
So basically we had to wait 12 years to get back to CART circa '95.

Pretty much the size of it. At least Eldora is a little more than 5 weeks away.

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I noticed the milk and donuts change and I also read Sarahs news release. Do you think the IRL is going to meet its EEO quota?

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The post by Crankin Craig Dori is absolutely correct!!
While Tony Stewart was still running full-time in the IRL, I took Grandma Kim to her fist and only Indy 500 because every race fan should go to at least one. However, I have no plans to take any of my grandchildren to the Indy 500 (or any other IRL event) until some USAC drivers get hired to drive at Indy. Obviously, that means I'll never be taking any of grandkids to an Indy 500 :thumbsdown:

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"Beginning in 2008, the program will award a minimum of $1.2 million to each car entered to compete the entire season, including the Indianapolis 500. By implementing IndyCar TEAM, the Indy Racing League is dissolving its existing event purse formula."
Does this mean that some of the money for this is coming from the purse? So running a limited schedule or missing a race would mean no 1.2 mil and the amount you are running for is less also. I wonder how much less.

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No offense to anybody on here, but the IRL could car less about dirt track fans. That's not the target audience any longer. The sprint car to Indy Car progression isn't the same anymore. The champ car/sprint car back in the day WAS bascially the Indy Car for the 500 so it made sense. Same car being a front engine car. Most times it was the exact same car. The machine is totally different today and that's how owners see it. I see it as TOTALLY wrong because a GOOD race car driver can drive anything on any surface or layout. They don't seem to see it that way so they aren't going to hire them. If you don't like the IRL at all because there are no dirt track drivers, the IRL doesn't care. Not their audience anymore. I like the racing so it's cool with me. Not exactly what I wish it was...wish it was more like when I was a kid and first started watching it. It is what it is so you either like it or you don't I guess.

If you think about it, Nascar has changed with their driver choice too. The dirt track driver has a place so you don't notice it as much. Hell, I remember when Billy Joe Nascar fan hated Geoff Bodine because he was a yankee. Now the drivers come from all states. That wasn't so cool back in the day. Changed, just not as much foreign invation....that's changing too though. The days of anything on the major level of racing in the U.S. being american drivers only is coming to an end. So if that's your major problem, I guess it's "local" racing only. Everybody has their choice. :checkered:

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Originally Posted by openwheelKT:
No offense to anybody on here, but the IRL could car less about dirt track fans.

Gee, we would have never guessed. :doh:

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Originally Posted by Pat O'Connor Fan:
Gee, we would have never guessed. :doh:

OK. So what's the point of those who don't like it ********, pissing, and moaning about it anytime it's brough up? If you don't like it, move on. I don't like every form of racing talked about on here. If I don't like it, I don't comment.

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I bet Milka's return is partially sponsored by TG & KK so that the new CCWS teams feel like they are making progress because they will at least finish ahead of Milka. It is unfortunate that talented female racers are scraping to get by while Milka gets invited back to the series to continue her "moving chicane" status.

IMO - I am glad to see the unification. I am excited to see a 50/50 split schedule. I just hope that the road/street portion isn't dominated by poorly done street races. At least with well designed road courses there are places where passing is possible and safe. As is, most street courses are follow the leader or crash into the concrete while attempting to pass. Remember the champ car race a few years ago where the street course went over a set of RR tracks. The cars were ramping over the tracks.

I hope they get Laguna Seca and Elkhart Lake back on the schedule, then maybe Barber, Miller....

Gonna be at Eldora & Lawrenceburg in a just a few weeks. Looking forward to another exciting sprint car season. But also, I am looking forward to Indy, Kentucky and maybe Belle Isle. I heard there was a conflict between Mid Ohio and a hopeful canadian race. Maybe this causes mid ohio to move off its current weekend. As is, it conflicts with Haubstadt's sprint week date. I would love to go to Mid Ohio, I only live an hour away from it, but I will be at Bloomington & Haubstadt that weekend....

Re: Indy Car Stuff from today.
 

Originally Posted by openwheelKT:
No offense to anybody on here, but the IRL could car less about dirt track fans. That's not the target audience any longer. The sprint car to Indy Car progression isn't the same anymore. The champ car/sprint car back in the day WAS bascially the Indy Car for the 500 so it made sense. Same car being a front engine car. Most times it was the exact same car. The machine is totally different today and that's how owners see it. I see it as TOTALLY wrong because a GOOD race car driver can drive anything on any surface or layout. They don't seem to see it that way so they aren't going to hire them. If you don't like the IRL at all because there are no dirt track drivers, the IRL doesn't care. Not their audience anymore. I like the racing so it's cool with me. Not exactly what I wish it was...wish it was more like when I was a kid and first started watching it. It is what it is so you either like it or you don't I guess.

If you think about it, Nascar has changed with their driver choice too. The dirt track driver has a place so you don't notice it as much. Hell, I remember when Billy Joe Nascar fan hated Geoff Bodine because he was a yankee. Now the drivers come from all states. That wasn't so cool back in the day. Changed, just not as much foreign invation....that's changing too though. The days of anything on the major level of racing in the U.S. being american drivers only is coming to an end. So if that's your major problem, I guess it's "local" racing only. Everybody has their choice. :checkered:

Post of the Year!!!!! :applaud::applaud:


And your follow-up is pretty close, too...... I've been biting my tongue for a few days now, as it seems that many of the more vocal posters here don't realize that it's been 40 years since the rear enigine cars appeared. Besides, they wouldn't be happy even if they ran the Indy 500 with Silver Crown cars......... They have roll cages now, doncha know. :headbang:headbang

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While they will probably never run at Indy. Let's hope and help the folks at USAC that we can make the Silver Crown Cars what they should and could be again. Take the miles on down and go for it.
Larry Kemp

Re: Indy Car Stuff from today.
 

Originally Posted by Dano959:
Post of the Year!!!!! :applaud::applaud:


And your follow-up is pretty close, too...... I've been biting my tongue for a few days now, as it seems that many of the more vocal posters here don't realize that it's been 40 years since the rear enigine cars appeared. Besides, they wouldn't be happy even if they ran the Indy 500 with Silver Crown cars......... They have roll cages now, doncha know. :headbang:headbang

Actually I think it has been 46 years since Mickey Thompson's Harvey Aluminum Special ran at Indy in 1962.

I am still an IndyCar fan and follow it avidly. But my real intrest still lies with USAC and it has always been that way since USAC ran it's first race in 1956. As a matter of fact, I will attend the USAC midget race at Larryburg this year, not the IRL Kentucky race. I was at the IRL Kentucky race last year (same night if you recall in '07).

I try not to be so narrow-minded about various forms of racing, but the two things I still can't stomach are winged sprints and the fendered stuff. I've attended just about all kinds of racing offered in the USA over my 53 seasons of being a racing fan from F1 to street stocks and I keep coming back to open wheel short track stuff. Oh well, you like what you like I guess.

I sick of winter's cold. Let's warm it up and let's go racin'!

P.S. If gas is $4.00 a gallon as predicted this summer, I'll be staying close to home, mainly the 'burg.

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Don't misunderstand me, I love Indy Car racing. I gripe because I care. I enjoyed the product on the track with the IRL, and thought the racing was great. I'm just leery of the direction the series might take after the unification.

Had this split fixed all of Championship racing's problems, I'd be excited. However as I see it, there are still issues out there.

The problem with Championship racing is that it has given us so many reasons to gnash our teeth over the years.

I still love watching Indy Cars run on ovals, and there is nothing bigger to me than the 500.

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I just hope they keep their ovals and add Michigan and California speedways back for next year. I can't understand why Kanaan and some of the others whined about racing at Michigan last year when their speed is only about 3 to 4 mph's difference than the 1.5 miles. What a show that Michigan race was. Barnhart was concerned they may have too many cars? He had better hope that problem continues. I'm happy now we should see good fields of cars. It would also be nice to see some of these big ovals get back to large crowds again. The close racing is sure there.

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This may have been covered already but am I reading correctly. The season championship could come down to two teams that are racing at different tracks at the last race?

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Originally Posted by ShaneMugavin57:
This may have been covered already but am I reading correctly. The season championship could come down to two teams that are racing at different tracks at the last race?

Nah, Motegi & Long Beach will be ran on the same weekend (april 20 ish). Motegi will feature the normal IRL crew while Long Beach will host the last champ car DP01 race. Both events will pay IRL points.

This happened because nobody was willing to let their event date be moved since tickets have already been sold and such.

KK even hinted in the press conference yesterday that there might be a couple IRL drivers who make the flight from Motegi to race at long beach the following day. I don't know how likely that is. However, I wonder how likely it will be for CCWS teams who are not making the switch to the IRL to be interested in running at Long Beach this year. Further, I wonder how much CCWS will have to pay to get a full field of cars (18 I think is what their contract calls for). Maybe that is why KK is thinking about getting current IRL drivers to fly back.

Part of the terms for CCWS teams getting free engines and tubs from the IRL is that they run at Long Beach. This is unfortunate for them, since they are already at a severe disadvantage when it comes to running ovals.

There has been some discussion about Surfers Paradise and how it fits in to the schedule. The race takes place some 2 months after the normal IRL season is over. Supposedly Chicagoland has it in their contract that they are to be the final race of the season. Some have suggested that Surfers might become the first race of the 2009 season. We will have to wait a couple of weeks to see how things shake out with the 2008 schedule.

Re: Indy Car Stuff from today.
 

Originally Posted by Dano959:
Post of the Year!!!!! :applaud::applaud:


And your follow-up is pretty close, too...... I've been biting my tongue for a few days now, as it seems that many of the more vocal posters here don't realize that it's been 40 years since the rear enigine cars appeared. Besides, they wouldn't be happy even if they ran the Indy 500 with Silver Crown cars......... They have roll cages now, doncha know. :headbang:headbang

Well, it's nice to see somebody that was around gets that it's not 1950 anymore in regard to the Indy Car arguement. Some people seem to struggle with getting that through their head.

I have NO DOUBT racing was better back then. I wasn't around, but I sure wish I could have been. Based on what I read and talk I hear from others, it sounds great. The only thing that is better today is safety. You'll never see an A.J. or Mario do what they did ever again. No driver today is allowed to drive anything and everything. Change isn't always good, but it happens so there is no reason to be down on everything.

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Originally Posted by openwheelKT:
...Changed, just not as much foreign invation....that's changing too though. The days of anything on the major level of racing in the U.S. being american drivers only is coming to an end. So if that's your major problem, I guess it's "local" racing only. Everybody has their choice. :checkered:

Yes sir, everybody has their choice, and the choice of average "Joe American Fan" is not Open Wheel racing. It's not a matter of wishing it was 1950 again, it's just a fact that both series are full of foreign drivers. Is that a just a coincidence? They have tried repeatedly to run an all foreign series here in America, it's called Formula 1... That (F-1), on the big sports page in this country, is so far down the list you need a search party to find it. Nobody cares.

To take it one step further, even the American drivers in these series, who are they (especially CART)??? Where did they come from? So they raced BMW Sedans, or some Formula Atlantic car somewhere, for 2, 12 race seasons, in front of empty grandstands.... Because why?.. Nobody in the USA cares. And all this makes these guys qualified (beside all the ride buying) to run at the top level of Open Wheel Racing??? Now compare that to say 1950, or even the 60's, and 70's: The drivers had to earn their way to the pinnacle of Open Wheel racing. They raced thousands and thousands of laps, all over the country, in front of packed houses! Before any these guys convinced an owner to let them run their Indy Car, these guys already had a fan base from not only their "local" area, but around the country! They were already heroes before they even set their butt in a Champ Car. Such is not the case today.
You can see it in NASCAR. No, the average NASCAR fan did not know who J.J. Yeley was, but most above average race fans did. Then the NASCAR machine takes over, selling the world on the former USAC Triple Crown champion!! J.J. has done this, and J.J. has done that while driving those super hairy Sprint Cars, blindfolded!!! :)
By comparison: I would consider myself an above average race fan, and I have to ask, who the hell is Simon Pagenaud?? Well here's what Simon Pagenaud has done in his career (cut and pasted from his website): My career in motorsport
2007 : takes part to the Champ Car championship
2006 : Champion of the Champ Car Atlantic series and Rookie of the year
2005 : 15th of the World Series by Renault
2004 : 2nd of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2000
2003 : 3rd of the French Formula Renault 2000
2002 : 9th of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2000, 3rd of the French Formula Renault 2000
2001 : Winner of the ELF Wheel, 2nd of the French championship of the Renault Campus Formula

:respect: WOW!!!!.. And how many Americans do you think caught a Formula Renault race last year?? I don't think P.T. Barnum himself, could get average "Joe American Fan" to give 2 sh*t's about this guy, or for that matter what the "ELF Wheel" is!.. And just think, you have a field full of 15 other guys (and some girls), just like him!!! YAY!

So, as you say, "the days of anything on the major level of racing in the U.S. being american drivers only is coming to an end." maybe accurate. That certainly doesn't make it a good thing though.... And let's not even start about rear engine cars, spec cars, and the technology that let's 20 cars hold their foot to the floor for 200 laps and still call it racing :)

And just for the record, what Moses posted was not only well said, but I feel pretty much the same way!! Now excuse me while I go watch some highlights of Johnnie Parsons winnnig some rain shortened race that paid a lot of $, and glory... I just wish I could remember what year that took place??

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Crankin - I agree with all of your points 100%. I too could care less about 95% of the guys that ran Champ Car because I have no idea who they are. So the IRL isn

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Not taking it personally!!!:thumb
Your right, the Mears, Sullivan, Rahal, Andretti, Unser era, was pretty much the last hurah for Indy Car style racing. I am not advocating they all come from Sprint Cars, though that would be nice. I am just saying that the current deal isn't going to change a thing. Indy Car racing will remain where it has been on the American sport frontier for the last 15 or so years.

Look at what received a ton of press in the recent past... Not just with our group, but nationwide.. Jack Hewitt, Steve Kinser, Greg Ray ( I am sure there's a couple others I am not thinking of at the moment)... All real American stories that people in this country can get behind. Sticking with our guys, those same types are already in our midst: Dave Steele, Dave Darland, Brian Tyler, this list could go on for a while, but you get my point... And that's just our form of racing. Then add plenty of good ole' American stories out there in Karting, off road (Robby Gordon), stock cars, whatever... Race Cars that people in this country can relate to.. Not some Formula car that runs overseas or with the SCCA on every 3rd Sunday where the only people in attendance are the participants. Mix in some Kanaan's, Helio's, and Tracy's, and then your gonna have something America is gonna care about, again!!!!!

All that though, is just a pipe dream :crying:

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Forsythe already stuck it to George. He folded his team up today. Sour grapes.

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Just a note on this "Way it was/Way it is" stuff. Unless an unforeseeable rules change interferes, when the 2013 Indianapolis 500 is checkered more Indy 500's will have been won by rear engined cars than their front engined counterparts. :eek::D

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Agree on that too Crankin. They want a variety of venues; they should have a variety of drivers. If it doesn't happen, won't matter on the grand stage.

As for Forsythe, I'm not surprised. He's pretty much a weasel if you ask me. Kalkhoven seems like a pretty good guy that wants things to improve. I don't agree with his philosophy on how to build a series in the US, but at least he could see it wasn't working and something needed to change. I guarantee Forsythe would have kept going if he could have bought KK out. He could care less about the sport...just himself. So because it’s not his series anymore, he doesn’t want to run. No great loss IMO. Get lost.

They do have to find Tracy a seat though. Who’s going to fight Danica? :)

Pretty amazing stat Dwight, hard to believe.

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one of the problems with the IRl also is they are just not on TV enough ffor anyone to get to know them. All we ever see is just the race and thats it, Why do you think Nascrap got so big, i cant put it on speed without seeing somthing about either the drivers or the race