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Quote, originally posted by AZ Scott »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are you guys seriously trying to imply that it isn't completely
normal in the world of racing for people to use their advantages to leapfrog the system in any way they can? Or did you actually think that everyone else that's risen to the top has gotten there on nothing more than sheer talent - until Patrick came along?
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Not at all. And I don't have anything against Danica. I've been following her for years and I hope she does win IRL races before she moves on to NASCAR. I'm just saying the hype is completely out of control.
The only people I've personally known to race in the top levels of NASCAR have done so because of deep pockets, not necessarily because of talent. And those people aren't the reason I'm a race fan. Incidentally, I'm currently working with a kid on the other end of the spectrum. He might have the talent to take him to the top, and it's quite interesting to watch his family try to put the business arrangements in place that will allow him to progress. Talent alone isn't enough; obviously you need a lot of luck and a lot of money.
But as a motorsports fan, I think we watch to see the true phenoms - the Montoya's, the Nicky Hayden's, the Rossi's, the Alonso's, the Bubba Stewart's. That's why I turn on the TV or travel to a race. And I'm saying that Legge is the first female I've seen that might be that kind of driver. She's already done more than Danica in a race car, and it'll be fun to watch what she does going forward.
NASCAR is different. They market the personalities as much or more than the racing itself, and the IRL has been trying to do this for years. It hasn't worked because nobody cares and nobody knows any of their drivers until now. If there were any real IRL fans out there, Dan Wheldon would be the real story this week. He's won four out of the first five races this season! Nobody has ever done that. (Who knew there were already five IRL races?)
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Quote, originally posted by AZ Scott »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It won't be long before the IRL
does race on road courses. Their master plan to become CART is nearly complete. Once the "Champ Car" series takes the final plunge and stops coming up for air, the IRL will take over the handful of tracks that actually still hold Champ Car races, and that will be that.
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They already do race street courses. What? Nobody noticed? They raced St. Pete this year. After changing the track to get the speeds up near Champ Car speeds, and after giving away tens of thousands of tickets, it actually looked pretty good. I think they race at Infineon or Watkins Glen or both later this year.
By the way, the IRL master plan was not to become CART. It was just the opposite. And it failed.
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Quote, originally posted by AZ Scott »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">10, 15, 20 years ago, I watched CART/Indycar racing as religiously as GP and Superbike. I wouldn't walk across the street to attend an IRL race. But Tony George - much to my disbelief - actually seems to know what he's doing. Granted, it's 180 degrees from what he
said he wanted to do with the IRL, but nonetheless, it's working. Champ Car is a shell of its former self, and I can't even be bothered to watch it any more. There are only a very few teams/drivers left that I care about, and the only reason they haven't followed everyone else to the IRL is that they're the ones with the biggest grudges against George, and they're too stubborn to go after a good thing when they see it.
Face it, open-wheel racing in America will NEVER be what it should be as long as there are two series competing against each other. And clearly, Champ Car - or whatever they're calling it this week - can't find its ass with a searchlight. It's pretty obvious they are NOT the series that will prevail in the long run.
It's time to bite the bullet and get these two series together and get back to what was a pretty damn fine racing series years ago.
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I couldn't agree more about the need for unification. Unfortunately, open wheel racing will never be what it was before the split. The best thing we can hope for is that each series continues to do it's own thing (Champ Cars focus on road/street races in international markets while IRL focuses on American ovals), but they agree on a common platform and meet to race against each other for six to ten events per year. It's possible with both sides currently working on their plans for 2007 and forward, and both sides are under real pressure to make something happen. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
But you're way wrong about Tony George. He is a dildo. He does not know what he's doing, and he never did.
He did have a “vision”, and he told everyone in the world about it, and every bit of it failed. So his new “vision” is to undo the damage he's done and make the IRL what CART was before he destroyed it. You know, when it was more popular than NASCAR? He'll never be able to repair the damage he caused.
The IRL has all the advantages: the Indy 500, the best CART teams, the engine suppliers and the $100M+ they pump into the series every year, the ABC/ESPN contract, etc. But Champ Car, even after years of gross mis-management and terrible TV deals, still commands a much larger audience than the IRL. The people do not like the IRL. The Indy 500 has declined in attendance, viewership, and relevance every year since the split until Danica. The IRL still puts on races for less than 10K people at some locations, even including the free tickets and the pit crews! ABC has to find new camera angles that show the track without showing the completely empty stands! The only tracks where they do get decent attendance are the ISC tracks where ticket holders are forced to buy IRL tickets to keep their NASCAR seats.
With the exception of Danica Patrick, things are getting worse for the IRL.
The new Champ Car owners have not yet lost a battle to Tony George. They are very successful businessmen - something that Tony George is not. Tony tried to buy CART when it was bankrupt, but he lost that battle to OWRS. Then he tried to shut down Champ Car by buying Cosworth and taking the Champ Car engines away, but he lost that battle to OWRS. Just last month he tried to kill Champ Car by buying their token event, the Long Beach GP. But guess what? Yup, he lost that battle to OWRS.
He is now on the verge of losing all three of his engine manufacturers within the next two years. While Champ Car has eliminated the money-losing races from their schedule and introduced new events that have been highly successful, things are not looking so bright for Tony and his IRL. Maybe Danica can change that, but they gotta keep her healthy. I hope they do.
Danica Patrick
I just realized that I was for the first time checking out a driver's butt as the driver got out of the car. 
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