Most avid fans of open wheel can remember what they were doing a year ago today when the breaking news was that of IndyCar unification ; the signed "agreement in principal" that would end the 12 year split and the formal press conference that would follow on February 27th , live coverage on SPEED from Homestead-Miami with principals Tony George and Kevin Kalkhoven. What a great day !

For most , the season would not disappoint as starting fields climbed to 28 having gained 9 cross-over teams from CCWS. Additional sponsorship interest was realized by many teams as attendance climbed at all events and the month of May was truly exciting again !

What a difference a year makes. Seems that Tony George just can't catch a break !

After providing gratis chassis and engine to those teams , at least 5 of the 9 are doubtful to answer the 2009 bell. Blame the economy in erasing much of the gain that came at such tremendous expense , courtesy of TG in '08. At present there are only 17 confirmed teams.

Those with rides in 2008 but as yet nothing definite for '09 include -
Jaime Camara , A.J. Foyt IV , Ryan Hunter-Reay , Bruno Junqueira , Buddy Rice , Oriol Servia , Darren Manning , Justin Wilson , Enrique Bernoldi and Alex Tagliani. Add Townsend Bell , Jay Howard , Alex Lloyd , Tomas Scheckter and Jeff Simmons as those having had partial season rides , now nothing.

Marty Roth would have been an '09 starter but the IRL welcome mat was pulled from under the #25 team thus in turn also losing the #26 shared by Jay Howard and John Andretti.

Three new comers are found in Stanton Barrett ( Team 3G ) , Raphael Matos ( Luczo Dragon ) and Mike Conway ( Dreyer & Reinbold ).

Should Tony George add a second car ( to that of Ed Carpenter ), either full season or Indy only , great fan enthusiasm would come in the form of Paul Tracy !

I am hoping that something better will materialize from this but it is not looking good with the season opener only 6 weeks away !






:thumb

I prefer the IRL to either the CCWS or CART (post split)

Well I WAS a champ car fan.... And I WAS an IRL fan... When the IRL was well the IRL, when it wasn't guys named Helio and Enrique... When it was guys named Billy, and Donnie, guys that I grew up watching locally in the midgets and sprints of the world... and i enjoyed watching Tracy and Zanardi guys like that in CART....

Paul, I think the IndyCars put on the best show of any RE open-wheeled cars in the world. Period. What other organization would dare to tackle high speed, high bank superspeedways? Does it get any more exciting that those guys racing at Texas?

The terrible economy has put a hurt on not just IndyCar, but all forms of motorsport, including your local short track IMO. I am hopeful for good news in the long term but fear the worst is yet to come. No racing organization is protected from this downturn. And the bigger they are (Nascar, F1) I think the harder they will fall.

I will attend my 50th consecutive Indy 500 this year. And even though I still have my job, this year's race will be on a tight budget. No buying hats, T-shirts, programs or other concessions at the track. I pray I can scrape the money together to go to my beloved Little 500 this year.

I used to go to 5 - 6 IndyCar events a year. The 500 may be my only IndyCar race for me in '09. And I'll hit maybe a half dozen USAC events and a couple of Lawrenceburg local shows. That's it. That's quite a painful switch for a fan that used to hit 40+ shows a season for what will be my 55th season as a fan.

My health works against me at times too. My deteriorating spine has me partially disabled. I can't take seeing races in the heat or cold like I did 30 or 40 years ago when I was a young buck. I can't even stand or sit in one place for more than a few minutes.

Pardon me for rambling on, but I felt a need to do this today. Thank you to all my racing friends for listening.

I certainly plan to be at the 500 again this year, although I enjoy the build up of qualfying and practice more than the race. There really is nothing like it in motorsports, and probably any sport. I also plan to be in Haubstadt for the MSCS show that evening. The hour time change helps me in that regard.

What concerns me is the direction that the IRL seems to be heading to. While the attendance for the 500 will always be excellent, the other venues do lag, and I feel that the economy has less to do with it than the participants on the track. Just yesterday I read a news release from one team that was bringing a new driver into their development program with an Indy Lights ride (jeez, I hate that name for a series). And just where does this open wheel hot shoe come from? Why, Russia, of course. I guess the dearth of open wheel drivers in the midwest is really hitting home for the IRL owners. Oh, and how much oval experience does this young star bring with him? Oh, none. A few practice laps around Kentucky. He did state that he can't wait to try racing on ovals, though.

Until the IRL figures out what the fans want to see, they will stay away. THAT was what brought an end to CART/OWRS and will limit the expansion of the IRL. One thing that the CART/OWRS experiment proved beyond the shadow of a doubt is that their type of racing cannot survive without the tie to the Indianapois 500.

Merger, right. Concession is a better word.

Just like in USAC, cash talks. All these "kids" from the other countries are buying their way into a series, hopefully to get a test with an F1 team, that's all it is. No different than a lot of "kids" buying their way into a sprint car or midget so they can get to NASCAR. Indy has always been a place for foreign drivers to come and race in the biggest race in the world. I do miss the days of Billy Boat, Buddy Lazier, Brian Tyler, and many others, but get past the BS thrown around, the IRL is one of the best racing series on the planet. This isn't a road course country, and that's really where the problem is. Us "country" folk for the most part don't like road courses (I do), and the average fan isn't going to see them. It's not a matter of who's in the cars, it's a matter of the fans in the stands relating to the drivers. The drivers aren't in the spotlight like they are in NASCAR. I can guarantee more people know who Stanton Barrett is more than Thomas Scheckter, just due to him "racing" in NASCAR.

The economy sucks, but I'm already sick of hearing the talk about it. Yes, I work retail and I know it's hard. Yes, I have a mortgage to worry about. Yes, I pay taxes. I feel the same pain everybody else does, but I'm already sick of hearing about it. How long are we going to blame the economy on everything? I sit on conference calls, and all they talk about is how bad the economy is, but the key is, we're working to get through it, and not using it as an excuse. Because that friends, is where the real trouble is going to come from. When the economy does turn around, and there STILL is only 20 cars that run the IRL schedule, or only 15 silver crown cars go to Manzy, or Kasey Kahne is still only running one sprint car and midget, then what is everybody going to blame it on? Gotta quit using the economy as the ONE scapegoat to the worlds problems, and start working on fixing them now. This is the time to fix it, create a streamlined product or program, that people can go enjoy for an affordable price, and take their minds off the state of the economy.

Gregg - Thanks for your great post ! Your thoughts were well expressed , not a ramble at all , and I appreciate your 50 years of experience and knowledge that you bring to this subject ! :respect: I know that you have many great memories having witnessed first hand so much of the Speedway
history ! We should all be so lucky !

As a side note , they have begun the demolition of the Speedway Motel this week. About half has been knocked down as of this afternoon. Very sad to me as I had spent an evening there back in '73 ( my first visit to the speedway ) and met Jackie Stewart along with Carroll Shelby and Smokey Yunick in the lobby.

Hope you enjoy many more "500's" and improved health ! Take care ! :thumb






:Steer

Do you know if there is a way to buy the winged wheel tiles from the Motel Pool?

Sean , it appears that the pool and patio area was dug out first prior to demolition as that entire area has been filled-in and graded. Maybe call the Speedway and inquire ? I do know that you are not the first souvenir hunter !




:Steer

TEAM PENSKE
Ryan Briscoe
Will Power ( replacement for Helio Castroneves / benched while awaiting IRS trial )

TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING
Scott Dixon
Dario Franchitti

ANDRETTI GREEN RACING
Tony Kanaan
Danica Patrick
Marco Andretti
Hiedki Mutoh

PANTHER RACING
Dan Wheldon

A. J. FOYT ENTERPRISES
Vitor Meira

DREYER & REINBOLD RACING
Mike Conway (R)

VISION RACING
Ed Carpenter

TEAM 3G - CURB / AGAJANIAN
Stanton Barrett (R)

LUCZO DRAGON RACING
Raphael Matos (R)

KV RACING TECHNOLOGY
Mario Moraes

HVM RACING
E.J. Viso

NEWMAN / HAAS / LANIGAN RACING
Graham Rahal
Robert Doornbos (R) ( while anticipated , the signing was just announced today )

CONQUEST RACING
**Jaime Camara is testing for Conquest but has yet to be signed**

DALE COYNE RACING
**Coyne has yet to sign anyone but recently hired a new engineer for '09.
....a one car team is expected.

TOTAL SIGNED = 18 ( with the addition of Doornbos today )

NOTE : Robin Miller had announced earlier this month that Newman/Haas/Lanigan had hired MILKA DUNO as team mate to Rahal with Doornbos as a possible third entry. I have learned that while the Duno signing is expected , it is as yet a done deal. Perhaps they wanted Doornbos in first as he too , brings money.

I have posted this to clarify who was included in my number of 17 confirmed , as some have e-mailed to say they either were not coming up with 17 , or , in one case , had a list confirming nearly 25.

* All Above Are Full Season Entrants , thus the reason Sarah Fisher is not included.



:cheers