Fontana ???

[FIAT1]

Wrong! What do you think?

[SarahFan]

Im thinking I have no idea what your talking about

What's "wrong"

[Alfa Fan]

Series returning to Fontana in 2012 - IndyCar.com (http://indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indycar-series/43814-series-returning-to-fontana-in-2012/)

[SarahFan]

I've hears rumblings

But I still don't understand the opening post

[00steven]

Thank God! I love California (I refuse to call it Auto Club Speedway).

[harvick#1]

should put on a great event, superspeedways are always have been a great race for indycars

[DBell]

The track being suitable for Indycar's isn't in question. Will a decent crowd show up is the question. I hope they do, but I wouldn't put money on it.

[00steven]

It's ashame that every race has to be a night race. I liked California raced in the afternoon.

[Chris R]

I kind of agree with Fiat1 - can't see where this is a good idea - CART failed there, IRL failed there, (did Champcar even get a chance to fail there??) even NASCAR isn't setting the world on fire there------ before Fontana Ontario failed with USAC... I am just not sure this is a solid racing market.....

I feel the same way about Chicagoland - I am not really sure the IRL should go back to markets it has already failed in..... I think New Hampshire is worth a shot as that is ancient history but there are not many more i'd go back to (Road America would be naother exception as would some venues that are not currently suitable for Indycars if they were appropriately modified (Pocono, Laguna....)

[Pat Wiatrowski]

I kind of agree with Fiat1 - can't see where this is a good idea - CART failed there, IRL failed there, (did Champcar even get a chance to fail there??) even NASCAR isn't setting the world on fire there------ before Fontana Ontario failed with USAC... I am just not sure this is a solid racing market.....

I feel the same way about Chicagoland - I am not really sure the IRL should go back to markets it has already failed in..... I think New Hampshire is worth a shot as that is ancient history but there are not many more i'd go back to (Road America would be naother exception as would some venues that are not currently suitable for Indycars if they were appropriately modified (Pocono, Laguna....)

How can the irl go back to Road America? They have NEVER raced there!

[nigelred5]

Well, the IRL can't because it doesn't exist, but INDYCAR can ;)


They probably need a night race just so anyone can actually GET all the way out there in time for a race. I'd be more concerned with the local economy. Unless they are planning to give out 40K free tickets with a meal deal at King Taco, Who can afford a race ticket in California these days? Seriously, Fontana is a great track for showcasing the speed of an Indycar, I'm just not sure enough people CARE enough anymore to actually attend a race. They need a different economic model. Throw up a digital crowd, get a great crew to announce a crew and let them put on a great race. I'm hoping teh new car will generate enough excitement on oval tracks next year. god help us if hte new oval package is a pig out of the box next year.

Did CART fail there or did the france family and ISC make sure they failed.? It's got to be a sweetheart of a deal for ISC just to get them to open the track in that economy.

[slorydn1]

It's got to be a sweetheart of a deal for ISC just to get them to open the track in that economy.

Correct me if I am wrong (and I very well may be) but I don't remember it being ISC that had that track built. I thought it was Roger Penske (?).

[Anubis]

Will always be associated with Greg Moore's accident for me, but that's obviously not a reason not to go there. I'd prefer to see more road courses, but if they think it'll work, I don't see why not to be honest.

[nigelred5]

Correct me if I am wrong (and I very well may be) but I don't remember it being ISC that had that track built. I thought it was Roger Penske (?).

Yeah, RP built Fontana, but what's that got to do with it? He re-built Nazareth which had great crowds until ISC took over. He sold all of his tracks to the France Family's ISC long ago (1999). Promotion of Open wheel racing at Michigan, Nazareth and Fontana all dissappeared when RP sold to ISC. It costs ISC money to open the track for a test, let alone to host and more importantly PROMOTE a spectator event. I'd be shocked if ISC has any coin in the Indycar deal for next year. It screams track rental deal with a sizeable guarantee to the track. There's barely any interest in the series as it is, but honestly, who has money in California for a race ticket?

I love seeing indycars at Fontana, and I hope it does work, but I'm not convinced the general LA area really has any interest in supporting anything sports related other than the Lakers and USC football, and even that seems to be on the decline..

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Wrong!

Your assessment is what's wrong.

1) SoCal is one of the biggest markets in the US and probably the biggest automotive market.
2) Most of IndyCar's fans want to see a balance between ovals and road/street courses and Fontana helps to achieve it.
3) It's a traditional track which put on great races when a lot of us started watching AOWR in the late nineties.
4) The race should start early and end under the lights. Sunsets look great at Fontana.

[nigelred5]

Hopefully the loss of one of their two Cup races will be incentive to actually market and promote this deal. The anounced $30 Gen admission and free childrens grandstand seats should be a big help at putting butts in seats. The mid to late september saturday evening date would seem good a well.

[anthonyvop]

1) SoCal is one of the biggest markets in the US and probably the biggest automotive market.

That is true but has never shown any support for a race at Fontana.


2) Most of IndyCar's fans want to see a balance between ovals and road/street courses and Fontana helps to achieve it.

I have heard that often but have never seen any detailed study on that belief.


3) It's a traditional track which put on great races when a lot of us started watching AOWR in the late nineties.

An we all saw how well a "traditional" track did when Milwaukee was returned to the schedule.


4) The race should start early and end under the lights. Sunsets look great at Fontana.

Racing at night in California means late night TV on the East Coast.

[00steven]

Will always be associated with Greg Moore's accident for me, but that's obviously not a reason not to go there. I'd prefer to see more road courses, but if they think it'll work, I don't see why not to be honest.

I think that there should be ten ovals and ten road courses. I like to see a balanced schedule so that we can see who the most talented drivers are.

As far as Fontana goes, I agree that the first thing I think of is Greg Moore. It makes me so sad to think about it. But it's a nice track none the less and shouldn't be punished more then a decade later for a racing accident that has been corrected (by paving the back straight grass).

[nigelred5]

I want to see an even mix of ovals, street courses and road courses..... study complete... ;)

[00steven]

I want to see an even mix of ovals, street courses and road courses..... study complete... ;)

Amen!

[nigelred5]

The Versus deal in it's current state isn't going to allow it to happen but more and more I'm beginning to believe those that have been saying TV and eventually streaming broadcast focused events are the way of the future. I think the current on site spectator based model for race events may be on its last legs. Bernie Ecclestone has more than just hinted at this for several years now. Racing has got to focus on the broadcast aspects of racing. He even went so far as suggesting a race at leCastellet would be perfectly successful with zero on site spectators. Paul Ricard has restored some limited spectator grandstands, but htey are truly minimal. The F1 television audience and the sponsorship dollars dwarf the crowds and money involved on site. It's a horrible thought to me personally, however it has in essence been that way since the advent of the television race broadcast. Indycar has almost proven it already. As pathetic as the TV numbers are, on site spectator numbers are even more so. Do fans in the seats really affect the quality of the racing? How many really entertaining races have taken place in front of virtually empty grandstands. They have got to get a better TV deal.

[00steven]

I totally agree. I pray that NBC will win the Indy 500 T.V. deal and will put some VS. races on NBC.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I want to see an even mix of ovals, street courses and road courses..... study complete... ;)

Ditto!!

I am however a skeptic of this deal. ISC wont help fill the place when they cant do it for NASCAR where they have more of a vested interest. It is the main reason I don't think I want to see the Indycar series run at ISC owned facilities. They never showed any real interest in helping CART when it was still around and once the CART series was hurting, they didn't go out of their way to help the IRL either.....SMI has a track record of supporting any series that shows up to run at their tracks....ISC only seems to really care about NASCAR and Grand AM...

[call_me_andrew]

I totally agree. I pray that NBC will win the Indy 500 T.V. deal and will put some VS. races on NBC.

I'd settle for VS races simulcast on Telemundo.

[nigelred5]

Maybe now that Comcast owns NBC and all of their additional media outlets they may be more likely to stream content. I"m fine if it's the same content as the TV feed complete with commercials, since that is what the primary concern with streaming video. I get VS on basic comcast cable(when their incresingly crap service actually works), so I don't usually have a problem seeing races on VS, but I know that's not the case everywhere.