Mufflers coming in 2009

**call_me_andrew** · 29th August 2008, 04:17

Turbos do make the exhaust quieter. This is one reason why CART hung onto them. It makes it easier to race in locations that have a noise ordinance.

Originally Posted by vintage

NASCAR failed with the new car. They are without a doubt about the most ungainly looking pos, although I can't say I love the Dallara either. I think the IRL should have a commercial that shows the cars side by side and asks "which one is the race car?"

They're capable of turning (albeit, barely) and they haven't killed anyone yet. "Mission accomplished" banners have been hung for less.

**Jag_Warrior** · 30th August 2008, 19:13

Originally Posted by vintage

NASCAR failed with the new car. They are without a doubt about the most ungainly looking pos, although I can't say I love the Dallara either. I think the IRL should have a commercial that shows the cars side by side and asks "which one is the race car?"

The IRL (and its fans) might not like the response that comes back on that commercial. NASCAR earned a 5.1 Nielsen and close to 100,000 fans showed up to watch the "ungainly looking pos" stock cars. At the same track, the IRL received a 0.41 rating and Steve Page, Infineon's president and general manager, said that the crowd to see the IRL was "perhaps 45,000".

If auto racing was a contest over which series had the coolest looking cars, I'd say ALMS would be well ahead of any series running in North America right now. But it's not. Fans tend to follow drivers. Whichever series does the best job of building its drivers into heroes wins. Right now, NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide are winning that battle.

The IRL cars have sounded the same for the past 5 or 6 years. Why change now? Isn't this "move to muffle" just to enable them to run street races without getting the NIMBY's wound up?

**NickFalzone** · 30th August 2008, 20:00

It comes down to which series has the best marketing. Not the best looking cars, not the most exciting racing, and certainly not the best drivers, but the best sales approach to the general public. While they're not great race cars, the cabs make for big billboards that sponsors can get a lot of tv time out of. They're also in that sweet spot between a conventional car like a GT, and a highly specialized car like a prototype or an open-wheel. Lots of bumping and banging, lots of WWF style tantrums from the drivers, a mostly American field of drivers... they have a lot of aspects to their league that lends itself to promotion. They have done everything right in terms of the marketability of the league. Not the racing. But it's not the racing that counts when it comes to bringing in the Nielsen #'s.