Originally Posted by Seadog:
I guess I am just thankful that IndyCar was formed at all. At least the USAC guys got to spend a couple years in IndyCar. Champcar/CART never even gave our heroes a sniff. Beats a big fat goose egg, right?
I guess the bottom line is - to each his/her own. If you want to attend races or watch IndyCar on TV then do it. If not then don't. Personally nothing is more thrilling than the Indy 500 and the Little 500. We are lucky to have both on one weekend.:thumb
I was a huge fan of the IRL concept and mission too, Seadog. It was thrilling to see the smaller new teams competing and, also seeing some of our guys get a shot at the 500. By 2002 I thought they were turning the corner and on their way. I have never seen racing like they were producing in any series anywhere, any time. They should have stayed the course. They also had some tracks that were drawing good crowds and they should've built on that. I still blame that DUMB@SS judge who awarded CART's assets to kalkhoven etc. for $7million less than Tony bid. All that did was allow the war to continue to sap the resources of both sides for several more years. Finally, by the time Champcar threw in their cards, most of their teams were on life support. Even Rahal wasn't as solid as everyone thought. It looks like they're about done also. Now we're down to 22 cars or so between both series. Very sad.
---------- Post added at 05:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:38 PM ----------
Originally Posted by 767:
So in the last 5 years "Like my post said" you guys gave me 1 example. The guy from Lawrenceburge. I think ex usac guys Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon are prime examples that sprint car guys can be good on road courses. Same with the guy in your example. Everyone is right it takes money, yup there is more money in Nascar, but everyone misses my point. Just look at the USAC Midget tour or Sprint car tour (JUST THIS GROUP OF GUYS) show me 1 person talking about indy. I have not herd anyone talk about indy since Yaley or Stewart. When you say there are no drivers with big sponsors..... Cole Whitt has Red Bull.
AGAIN! they don't even aspire to it anymore because they know there is no chance of landing a ride. These young drivers today have grown up following the Stewarts, Kahnes and Gordons in Neckcar. No young people have followed the Indy cars for almost a generation. They have had no ties to Indy Cars since the road racing set and the foreigners began taking over the sport in the 80's. Jeff Gordon was arguably America's best driver and he was told by CART car owners to take a hike. Well, he did, and he took a lot of Americas race fans with him. I honestly believe it was Jeff Gordon's success in Neckcar that brought it out of being a southern niche sport and into the living rooms of the entire country. I know there were other contributing factors too (like the 1979 live broadcast of Daytona) but, Jeff pushed them over the hump and into the "mania" phase.