I'll take the Indy cars any day over NASCAR, although NASCAR does help me sleep!

Personally, I thought it was a good race. Some passing, a little stratagy, cars stepping out to get around the hairpin.

I'm actually pretty excited about the Indy Cars for the first time in a long time. There are some new sponsors; Verizon, Dads rootbeer,Sonny's BBQ(I know it wasn't at Long Beach.) Some new drivers and teams competing for the lead.

As far as Ashley Judd goes, I don't know about her being a "skank" or even a "snob". I find her interviews annoying, but thats only because she is trying too hard. Anyone I know that knows her says she is nice.(Except for one former KU student). I find it hard to believe that anyone posting on here would be completely repulsed and refuse to talk to her in person. Maybe I am wrong.

I know this will hurt some feelings on here, but I find it hard to believe that if the cars where any cheaper that a huge migration of sprint car guys would make the leap to Indy Cars. The reason the cars are built the way they are is because that is the safest way to go. There is a reason why they went back to the engine lease. It is MUCH, MUCH CHEAPER to do so. No motor guys, dynos,engineers, machines and no matter what, yours is as good as theirs. While I don't believe that formula should be used in the sprints and midgets because there are plenty of free lance builders with the parts and knowledge to provide a quality product, it works for the IRL.

Do I wish there were more guys I know running the Indy cars? Sure. There are 100 guys I would be excited to see in the IRL. Do I believe that many of the guys I know have the same drive and motivation that many of the Indy Car guys do? Absolutely not. Some do, but very few. They think they have that drive, but they don't. Sure there are some rich guys who are in the Indy cars because of their money, but there are many who are there because they slept in cars and bummed with friends and worked and scraped to make the right contacts to be there. Many of these guys don't have the money themselves, but they got backers to help supply them money to keep their careers going and when they start getting good contracts, they have to pay it back with interest. Don't hate on guys because of their deals. Do your deal and congratulate them on theirs and then if you get to where they are, kick their ass in the seat and show them why you are there.

Anyone that knows me knows that I have historically not been a fan of the IRL and Tony George.(Not as a person, as a leader of the series and speedway.) When the IRL was started I told everyone that I talked to thet they would end up like CART because that is where the money is. (Engine leases,Street Courses,Foreign Drivers). I knew the rug was going to be pulled from under the open wheel guys. That said, I should have enjoyed it more when it started because I was so consumed on the future, I missed out on what a good time it was for the open wheel guys. There where great stories that came from that period. Unfortunately, while the open wheel contingent is a loud one, they are not a large one and the IRL simply did not generate the fanbase they needed to be successful. Sprint/Midget guys or not. That is why it is what it is today. If the fans would have came out in droves like people kept saying they would, then it would still be similar to what it was then. The free market system works and it told them they had a broken business model. Tony was supporting a bunch of teams out of his pocket and tried to keep it the origional model as long as he could. The fans voted with their money and said they wouldn't support an oval only series with local based drivers and variable/owner maintained engine platforms.

I have been very impressed with the start of this year and there is a little bit of a buzz. Just a spark of electricity. I was against Versus and I was very wrong. I was using my past bias instead of judging it on it's own merit. The IRL is the central part of their broadcast programming and that is important. Great announcing crew. Mostly because Bob is carrying it, but they will get better. I am also very impressed with the IZOD/Macy's promotion. Great T-Shirts, prominant displays and Macy's often has sales that will put the shirts around $15 ea. Even the Speedway themselves has some new merchandise that looks good. The 500 Grill at the airport is also done very well with some great photos and decoration.

I have been critical of the Speedway/IRL in the past because I felt they where just going through the motions, but they seem to be heading in the right direction today. Or at least they have a destination loaded into their Tom Tom.

A way too cogent post! Good summary and analysis of the IRL, its racing at Long Beach, its racing in general, and Ashley Judd.

Where do I start? Well. Ashley's husband Dario did win, so what did you expect Versus to do?....of course they were going to interview her, just like ABC did at Indy a few years back when Dario won. And calling her a "skank" just shows how bad a judge of a person some of us are. If she's a "skank" to you, I'd love to see your better half and pass judgement on her(or him).

The Long Beach race has almost always been a limited passing parade, whether it was Champ Car, Indy Car, CART, or now, the IRL. When I attended almost 20 years ago, it was the same as it is today. Most street races have limited passing and are almost always won by a front row started or by pit strategy. THe IRL on ovals is a great show, IMO, since the best prepared car almost always wins. There's lots of action and side-by-side racing in almost every race.

A spec series, be it the IRL, Formula Atlantic, or CART, will always pull the pack together since the only advantage that any team can gain is by set up. A street course will only highlight that "equality" since it is so hard to pass, especially when there are limited opportunities to pass....

And while we'd all like to see more of our dirt track heroes in IRL rides, forget about it...that ship sailed 20 years ago with the advent of ride buying. I think that we need to accept the fact that sprint car racing is a niche sport with few skills transferrable to the IRL; the fact that we're in a niche sport immediately limits the ability of good drivers to draw the big buck sponsors necessary to fund an IRL deal, and without money, there will be no rides...

The days of a couple of guys putting together a low-buck team in their two car garage are over - at Indy and the IRL, at least. While you can still do it in a sprint car, just look in the pits at any race, be it IRL, NASCAR, or your local short track. Most of the teams are in mega-haulers pulled by tractor trailers. My point is that only the scale of money has changed as you move upward from sprint cars to NASCAR or the IRL. Most teams spend way too much money - regardless of which series that they choose to run.

My only other comment is, if you find the IRL street races so boring, and the coverage so blatantly lousy, why do you bother to watch?

Don't get me wrong. I think there are many guys in Indiana right now who can get the job done in the IRL, but you have to want it worse than anything else and you have to be lucky to get the right break.

Most of the guys I know could run an IRL car very well, but they have spent a big part of their life wanting to be an Indiana dirt track hero. While I think that is great in it's own right and is something that I feel is very cool, there just isn't going to be that benefactor combing the local tracks for the the next A.J, Parnelli, or Tony. This generation of driver has to go find that benefactor themselves.

IMHO some of the most talented drivers in the world are non wing sprint car drivers that would have no problem driving at Indy and with a little practice could handle the road courses. Just as I watched Dave Darland Saturday night at the 'Burg make some great saves in the feature. Sure the carbon fibre chassis is safer but with the safer barriers and an engine package that would drop speeds in the 210-220 range why couldn't we go back to steel tubing and just have the tub and other certain parts be carbon fibre. The Indy lights cars run 100,000 each while IRL cars are 400,000, and were talking about 30-35 mph difference. Get the cost down to 125-150,000 (IRL) and you invite a whole new influx of competition. Why is the Honda engine lease 900,000 per car per season. You can buy a new 750hp sprint car engine for $40,000 and rebuild and use many times over, detune it a 100hp for reliability and the cost of running an Indy car drops way down. You would have a 100 cars at the track. It would be the best racing in the world... I'm sure this can be picked apart, but I see a different world sometimes.

Scott, I'm going to disagree with you on this one. Even when teams owned and controlled the engines, they bought them from the cottage engine builders such as Speedway, Roush etc. The engines were under $150K, and the racing was fantastic. You had teams like Treadway, Blair, Curb, Cheever, Foyt, Nunn etc. that were very competitive. Enter Honda and Toyota with their leases and "favored" teams and most of these guys folded up shop and the racing isn't nearly as good as it was in the early 2000's. Now, between the two warring series we barely have 20 cars to run the whole circuit and basically only two or three teams that have any realistic chance of winning a race. Tony had a great affordable formula and he sold his soul to Honda and Toyota thinking they would be great marketing partners. How did that work out for him? Does anyone ever remember seeing a commercial on prime time network and cable TV acknowledging their affiliation with Indy Car racing? I can't think of one.

40 entries for the 500...:cheers

http://www.indy500.com/images/news/2...st_4_20_09.pdf

The month of May is shapping up to being the best in a long long while and people are still ******** :headbang:headbang

We know you are racist and do not like non-americans because they could never be as good as the good Americans you grew up with........Fact is the best drivers in the world right now are Non-Americans

If you do not like the IRL then shut up about it so those of us that do like it can talk about it

I hope your not referring to me. I have no problem with foreign drivers in the IRL. My point is/was that there are many good drivers who may never get to prove themselves because of money. I disagree about the best in the world all being foreign, great drivers come from many different countries including the US. I would like to see the IRL grow back into what it once was. It's on VS network with 280,000 people watching instead of 8 million that was 20 years ago. I don't want to rent a box for 12.95 a month extra to watch 13 races. I would like to watch it on ABC. I want to see cars heavily sponsored, drivers with high pay that they deserve for cruising at 220 and risking their life. It's unrealistic to believe that over the next 10 years Vs network will bring that back. That more than 24 cars will compete and that your chance of driving will depend on how big your back pocket is or your gender. NASCAR insults my intelligence now days, so much so that I have basically quit watching.

I respectfully disagree. From 1996 to 2003 a bunch of new owners emerged (see list below) and they employed a bunch of midget, sprint, silver crown and supermodified drivers. (See list below). Some were very successful. Why did these owners not field cars before or after that time frame? Maybe because the rolling chassis were not as in$ane as they are now and they could purchase engines and rework them themselves.

I'm not against the guys and gals racing in the IRL today. Most of them absolutely deserve to be there. In fact, I'm becoming a big fan of the "thunder from down under" Ryan Briscoe. Anybody that rides out a crash like he had and still desires to race is OK in my book. I'm just saying that there is a way to make it less expensive, therefore enlarging the entry lists. People are all googly about a possible 40 car entry list this year. Really? Does anyone remember when it was over 80? 100? It could well be again. Apparently the IRL management likes the annual discussion of "will there be 33 this year? "

That's what bums me out about Tony George. He was headed in the right direction. He was rebuilding Indy Car racing into what it once was. If the early days of the IRL sucked so bad why did Ganassi trickle back? Then Penske? Then Toyota? Then Honda? You get the picture. And once they all came back what happened? Instead of sticking to his original business model.....he let the series become CART again. Well congratulations CART, you lost the battle, but you absolutely won the war. Welcome back. Since 1996, every IRL season has kicked off with an oval track. Did anyone notice this year it has kicked off with TWO street circuits? Whatcha make of that?

Anyway....let's track down these former IRL car owners and ask them why they don't have cars entered anymore:
(can you just imagine the Indy 500 entry list if they did?)

Cahill...Byrd...Knapp...Cobb...Nienhouse...Kelley. ..Pelfrey...McCormack...PDM...Chastain...Treadway. ..Immke...Blueprint...Hubbard...Pagan...Tri-star
and multi car teams such as...Galles...Hemelgarn...Menard...I'm sure I'm forgetting some others. The point is the entry list would be 65+

Here's a list of Saturday night short trackers that got seat time in Indy Cars due to the original IRL formula.
(apologies to the ones I miss...)

Stewart...Hamilton...Parsons...Dismore...Carlson.. .Kite...Tyler...Boat...Michner...Hollansworth...Be echler...Leffler...Didero...Durant...Drinan...Stee le...Yeley...Fisher...Johncox...Treadway...Gosek.. .Kinser...Hewitt...Hillenburg...Witherill...Krusem an...Reeves.

I was watching a tape from the 2000 IRL Texas race recently and in the field were Boat, Beechler, Yeley, Carlson, Hamilton, Dismore, Reeves, Kite and Fisher.
Who do we have now? Fisher and Carpenter. (obviously because of the family connection).
Like I said earlier, I appreciate the talent of todays' drivers and they deserve to be there. But so do America's short trackers and there is a formula to make it happen. Just my humble opinion.
David.