Who will replace Dario article

I am not longer a subscriber to AR1 (membership was a casualty of the recession and I have not gotten back on board since then…) But I still check it out for headlines everyday….

The latest articles from Brian Carraccio and Stephen Cox, at least the titles and first paragraphs almost made me laugh…

"Who will replace Dario?" Really?? I do not know what Mr. Carraccio has said in the past about Franchitti - but in general he has been one of the lamblasted drivers of the past 20 year who has been seen as not having much personality and being a company man sort of guy. It comes time to retire and they make it sound like AJ Foyt is gone?? Dario is a great driver and I have a lot of respect for him. BUT, he is very replaceable as he is not a larger than life figure and he is not a media darling or anything else like that. Don't get me wrong , I am sad to see Dario retire - but the sport will move on without missing a beat….

As for Mr. Cox, the sport is losing its heroes?? Only if Messrs. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Jones, Unsers etc. are dying off…. We have not had honest to goodness heroes in more than generation. We have had great drivers and some great personalities - but you need both together to be a "hero" and that has not been happening… We have tried to force guys like PT and now Dario into the mould - but they don't quite fit…. Indycar losing heroes is a problem - but one from a long time ago. Power, Hinchliffe, Pagenaud, Newgarten are more than capable of filling the shoes of Franchitti, Tracy, Dixon etc in both skill and a limited hero factor - but, as of now, none hold a candle to the combo of personality and skill possessed by Foyt, Jone and the senior Andretti among others…..

thoughts?

I am not in any way casting aspertions on Dario and his driving ability. But if we are going to be honest, in a series that unfortunately is dominated by three rich teams, Dario had the good fortune of racing for one of those teams. When he went to NASCAR and drove for Chip Ganassi's woefully uncompetitive racing team, Dario only managed three top-10 finishes and no victories. So let's be honest; if he had been racing for Sara Hartman Racing or Panther Racing or Dale Coyne Racing, it is highly unlikely that he would have had such a successful Indy Car career. Indy Car Racing, like the old CART series, is a technology-based series which puts underfunded teams at a competitive disadvantage and makes it harder for drivers to find rides in the series as the article alluded to. Yes, some people will point to Takuma Sato, Simon Pagenaud and even Tony Kanaan, all of whom won this year driving for these underfunded teams. But if you look at the Indy Car series since 2008, 80% of all races have been won by just three teams; Penske, Ganassi and Andretti. Yes, Tony Kanaan won the Indy 500 last year but that was his only victory since he left Andretti Racing in 2009. His current team, KV Racing Rechnology, has not been very competitive over the past three years. Last year's 500 is their only victory to date. I know that when the IRL was first created, it was not popular with many racing fans but if you look at its first three seasons (which consisted of 22 races), it had 16 different winners representing 12 different teams. IOW, because it managed to be a driver series, it was very competitive. And its lower costs made finding a sponsor much easier thus allowing hitherto unknown drivers a chance to compete. It was a shame that more fans did not support the original IRL and what it tried to accomplish. Bottom line, whoever is lucky enough to replace Dario Franchitti should have a successful career because they will be driving for a well-funded team. But this is not good for the long-term future of the sport.

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Originally Posted by seacucumber

Bottom line, whoever is lucky enough to replace Dario Franchitti should have a successful career because they will be driving for a well-funded team. But this is not good for the long-term future of the sport.

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I would highly disagree with your bottom line. Having a fast car and a good pit crew is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for doing well in a racing series like IndyCar. There are many counter-examples to your statement.

Ganassi close to announcing Dario Franchitti's IndyCar replacement
By Mark Glendenning Saturday, December 7th 2013, 14:51 GMT

Ganassi is close to finalising the identity of Dario Franchitti's replacement in its #10 IndyCar and expects an announcement before Christmas.

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Franchitti announced his medically-enforced retirement last month.

The team's managing director Mike Hull told AUTOSPORT that Ganassi has taken its time in assessing candidates for the drive, but its search is nearing an end.

"We decided that the best thing for us to do, because we're not pressed, is just to get a good vision of the landscape," he said.

"And yeah, we're getting closer - finally. I guess we have been contacted by 40 to 50 people that you'd consider to be candidates to drive an IndyCar. I think [the announcement] will be before the holidays."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111776/

Briscoe joins Ganassi IndyCar line-up, Kanaan gets Franchitti's #10