No loss of momentum...the Indy 500 PR juggernaut rolls on....

[Miatanut]

No-because for CART's first ten years it merely inherited the ascending state of open wheel racing, and most rules, that USAC had nurtured in the seventies, including road racing that USAC had already resumed.
Bob

I don't think there were any road races from '71 to '76. One in '77. On pressure from road racers in the group, there were three on the schedule in '78. Kind of hard to establish a trend there. Then CART did a maximum of three a year until '83.

USAC's influence graced CART for ten whole years?

Considering it was in the '90's that CART really took off, maybe that wasn't such a good thing.

[Bob Riebe]

I don't think there were any road races from '71 to '76. One in '77. On pressure from road racers in the group, there were three on the schedule in '78. Kind of hard to establish a trend there. Then CART did a maximum of three a year until '83.

USAC's influence graced CART for ten whole years?

Considering it was in the '90's that CART really took off, maybe that wasn't such a good thing.

CART took off in the late-eighteis and early-nineties because SCCA and IMSA road racing which, in various forms, had dominated US racing scene for approximately twenty years, began to self-destruct.

Stock car racing series, except for NASCAR, had had done the same thing so, the two biggest items left was Indy and CART, plus NASCAR.

[Jag_Warrior]

Really? Refresh my memory. Which drivers brought the following title sponsors for various teams in CART? - Marlboro. Mobil 1, Pennzoil, Valvoline, Domino's Pizza, Machinist's Union, Toyota, Quaker State, etc.

Edit: Also forgot to add Budweiser and Miller Light.

Target, Kmart, Service Merchandise, Visteon, Kool, Shell, Texaco, McDonalds...

Owners have often had (personal) connections to corporate sponsors. And the more money they put in the kitty, the more influence they may have on the team owner to hire one driver over another. But like you, I don't know anything about any driver having any sort of special relationship with the sponsors that either of us named. At least in the primary car, top teams hired for speed in 1979 and they're hiring for speed in 2008.

Here's one thing that I think is being left out: if the commercial value is there, sponsors step up... if it's not there, they don't. Backmarkers, ridebuyers and Richie Rich wannabe racers have always been on the scene. Whether today or thirty years ago, other than a major decline in popularity and ratings, I don't see what's different in AOWR.

[CARTDM15]

Momentum lost......TV ratings for Milwaukee .8 on ABC.Thats pretty sad.The 500 can't help the rest of the series.

[Wilf]

Momentum lost......TV ratings for Milwaukee .8 on ABC.Thats pretty sad.The 500 can't help the rest of the series.

That does it. The sport is officially dead!!!!

[CARTDM15]

[quote="Wilf"]That does it. The sport is officially dead!!!![/QUOTE
Not the sport just the series.Indy is alive and well.How can we improve interest in the rest of the series? The 500 alone want do it.

[Wilf]

That does it. The sport is officially dead!!!![/QUOTE
Not the sport just the series.Indy is alive and well.How can we improve interest in the rest of the series? The 500 alone want do it.

The IRL has to move from battle mode of the last 12 years to battle mode of the next ten years. Unfortunately, they went from battle mode to coast mode. They have become sloppy in execution in everything from media bull pens during qualifying to the actual broadcast of the race.

Look at the telecasts of the last two weeks. There is no continuity from going to break to resumption after the break. Their packages aren't sync'ed and yet they continue to air.

Yesterday it is purported to be a live, albeit, late broadcast. But they fully intended to tape delay the race, starting at 9:30 instead of the advertised 10:00. It got further complicated when NASCAR ran long. They either forgot all the webcasts started at 9:30 as well as the Canadian broadcast so they were really sloppy or unbelieveably arrogant believing no one would notice. Unfortunately, ESPN really complicated the problem by runing the tape delayed video under live audio. Oops.

You don't grow viewership by airing amateur telecasts and you don't get the respect of the media by letting certain elites walk all over you.

The battle for success will take at least ten years and every day they coast will lessen their chance for success

[SOD]

AMEN BROTHER !!!

Too bad the sport had to be destoryed to prove you correct.

better luck next time.