Originally Posted by Brickyard:
I know this is not going to be popular, especially with this being my first post. However, as a historian, I can't allow some of this to slide as "fact".
1.
Please cite a verifiable source for this assertion. USAC was not the only one to rid themselves of dirt after 1970. NASCAR ran it's last dirt races the same year. As far as the lack of dirt being the sole reason to Penske's success, I suggest you do a little research on the guy. You might find the same traits as other successful individuals....hard work, dedication, hiring the right people, and plenty of risk taking. Penske was going to be a force to be reckoned with dirt or no dirt as evidence by his short time in achieving success.
2.
Really? Is that why the stands were packed in the 80s and early 90s? Big name sponsors were all over the place? Fields of 27 or so cars were common place? Bump day at Indy was still a huge event? Why pole day was the second most attended IMS event during the month of May? Why they not only had national coverage and attention but internationally as well? Yep, they destroyed it all right.....
You might want to first start with Dan Gurney's white paper and go from there as to the reasons for the formation of CART. It will sound very familiar....oh, because it's sort of similar situation now with lack of promotion, a legacy of piss poor leadership(which is finally getting it's act together), lack of sponsorship, poor payouts, and a lack of attention outside the Holy 500.
3.
They actually have a tougher time getting into the race than they did in the days of CART, all because of Tony's nuclear option and the resulting split. With engines and chassis limited and a lack of money flowing via sponsors, people aren't throwing money out to run an extra car for a short track guy like they used to. You can no longer enter a year old chassis and engine design at lower cost. Once Honda and Chevy fulfill their engine lease obligation, which is 34 to 35, that's it. That isn't CART, Penske, or who ever else from that side you want to blame. That blame lies squarely at the feet of those in charge at 16th and and the new roundabout.
BTW, the nail in the coffin for the dirt slayer was set before CART or Penske were ever involved. As soon as the first rear engine car unloaded that nail was being driven and the lack of drivers preparing themselves for that eventuality drove the nail even further. Rear engines, wings, reintroduction of road courses, and of the course the reintroduction of foreign talent after Europe started to dig itself out of two wars and a depression......as I still say, if a Lawerenceburg, Bloomington, or Terre Haute slayer wants to get in on the action then they need to get themselves off the dirt and into either the European ladder or Mazda Road to Indy.
4.
You came close to getting your wish and it didn't have to be that way. Had the split not happened, this series would be far more stable than it currently is and you might still have the opportunity for those one offs to load up a chassis and engine and try to get in the race. This notion Tony was doing this to save American open wheel racing and give the local guy a chance...well, I hate to tell you this but it was all a ruse. The only thing this was ever about was who was going to control the series. The local boys were used as bait to get people on his side...and as evidenced here and other places, they fans fell for it.
Drivers like Alonso, Mansell, Clark, etc are just as much real racers as the ones you cite. They also have something that more than a few that have been cited in this thread never will possess or didn't possess at the time, national and worldwide recognition. As skilled as they are Boat, Ward, Kite, and Hewitt aren't going to bring attention. Drivers like Unser, Foyt, Andretti, Mansell, Clark, Jackie Stewart, etc. will and it's simple. They have proven themselves at the top level of motorsports and have national and worldwide attention. Those are the drivers, like it or not, people pay to show up to see. Go to some online forums and message boards and see how big of a deal Alonso running the 500 is. Outside Trackforum and here, Clauson wasn't garnering that type of attention.
There is a reason that the 500 is part of the Triple Crown of auto racing with Monaco and Le Mans. That experiment of 1996 that you so revere damned near destroyed it.
Originally Posted by Brickyard:
When it was billed as an open international event from the very beginning......
Like I've pointed out above, you could have still played in the sandbox had the second split never happened. The rules for the race would probably still be fairly open rather than stuck to a one chassis and two engines limited to how many they will support.
Now, you wouldn't have your Silver Crown cars because frankly they are too dangerous for that place and I don't think a single soul outside a couple of online forums would show up to watch that being that you are basically going backwards in innovation....which is another tenant of that race that sadly got lost in the second split...which of course is why your cars have looked, as you so derisively put it, like F1 lite for over 50 years now.
The cars look the way they do because that was the progression in tech as they found faster ways around that track. Speed is the name of the game in that race and series and a modified Silver Crown car isn't going to cut it. The rear engine was faster than that heavy front engine roadster, the wings made it faster, the turbo added boast, on and on.
Speaking of. You know that stock block Penske Mercedes-Ilmor that everyone accuses of being a cheater when in fact it was well within the USAC rules? One of the reasons that Tony used as a need to "save open wheel from itself"? They were going to make that a customer engine after that race. Yep, sure were....that was until Tony and USAC decided to save everyone. Now you have to hope and pray you can obtain a lease from Honda or Chevy.
We've heard all of this before. Most is conjecture and can't be collaborated one way or the other.
A couple of things that really can't be disputed is that Roger Penske, and those of his ilk, were at least partially responsible for the dirt races being eliminated from the Championship Trail. Another thing that cannot be disputed is that had Penske been so inclined he could have been just as successful running the dirt tracks as he has been in everything else he has endeavored. If I were to venture a guess I would say Roger felt the dirt racing was somewhat below his lofty ambitions.
If you are to persuade some of us that the aforementioned dirt drivers would have had a greater opportunity to have been part of the starting grid for the Indy 500 if CART had stayed in a position of power you'll need to come up with some solid facts that bear that out. I don't see how that is possible but I've been wrong before. Just someone saying so on a message board doesn't necessarily make it the truth.
Is there a remote chance that you are a former CART employee?
Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.