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For one thing, NASCAR would be smarter to let the IRL hang itself at this point. On the other hand, NASCAR is potentially going to drop both the Nationwide and Truck series next season and is actively looking for foreign manufacturer interest. I see no bright light in NASCAR's future either that would help pay for even a moderate priced OW type series.
It was never an either/or situation. That's what both sides (and many fans) never understood. The two complimented each other very well. Without Indy, CART would not have been as attractive to world class talent (but notice that Fittipaldi and Mansel didn't just do Indy one-offs - and Senna did his IndyCar test on a road course, not on an oval. ;) ). And without the allure of a truly diverse and premier series, Indy was no longer able to attract the world class talent that we'd grown used to. The IRL was unable to get even the likes of Kyle Petty to sit in a car for a promo shoot, because he didn't want to be connected to the series. But buried away, I do still have a picture of Rusty Wallace sitting in our Team Rahal Champ car. Rather ironic, eh?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Riebe
But the bottomline is, and I'll say it again, when something is working reasonably well (warts & all), you don't bring out the pipe-wrenches and try to fix that which is not truly broken - esp. when you don't know WTF you're doing.
That CART at points had very interesting road races, cannot be denied, but they probably should have taken a long look at what happened to the SCCA Formula-A series.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
Check some of the names that raced in it.
It also had power plants from what was then the big four U.S. car companies.
IT still died.
Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to relive it.
The IRL stalwarts who are not in shock seem all too ready to blame CART for the current mess and that Tony George had to start the IRL out of shivery.
Don Quixote comes to mind. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote See if you can see some parallels.
In this day & time, I'm sure that many have grown tired of overused businesses phrases. But here are two that do apply to the CART/Indy 500 relationship: synergies and symbiotic pairing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Riebe
And yet again I say, if ain't well & truly broken, don't go f#####g with it! Has that lesson not been learned by now?
Spilt milk cannot be put back in the glass. So I have no idea what they can or will do going forward. Since the overwhelming majority of viewers and fans have turned their backs on this sport and the Indy 500 over the past 15 years, all I can do is say, "good luck." I could say, "I told ya so....", but I won't do that. :dozey:
You got some of the lyrics wrong. Here's the correct version:Quote:
Originally Posted by dataman1
So bye-bye, miss American pie (TG).
Drove my HONDA to the PONDA (corporate sponsorship),
But the ponda was dry.
And them good old boys (nascar) were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this will be the day that I (they) die.
"this will be the day that I (they) die.
Maybe if they actually HAD A CHEVY, the I.R.L. would be in better shape today...
Although I think Bob Riebe is out to lunch most of the time he is right about SCCA and F5000. That does ignore the fact that SCCA has destroyed every series they ever ran, including at least one successful (Formula Atlantic) until they got involved.
How come a blatantly pro Nascar anti openwheel poster is on this board? Doesn't that make you purely a troll?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Roy
The Trans-Am ran for over thirty years, you analogy is flawed on that point.Quote:
Originally Posted by Starter
They tried to run USAC cars against Formula-A cars, on both ovals and road courses and obviously that would not work as one was at least one hundred hp more powerful.
I forget why the Indy cars were a flop on the road courses.
The Formula-A was, NEVER, even in its best days, more than a secondary series, which is one reason the SCCA came up with the bone-head move to combine the cars from the formula series (by putting fenders on them and making them heavier and slower) with the name Can-Am thinking by some wierd rhetoric this would make it more popular.
Do not forget at this time the Can-Am was missed so much, during the biggest name years of the Formula-A cars, that some tracks were running formula libre races just to get the Group 7 cars back.
If the open wheel cars had been popular no one would have spent the time and money for the Group 7 libre races, but they did because as I said, Formula-A, even during the seemingly glory years was a also running series. It was not a headliner.
Some of the CART boys ran cars IN the SCCA series, they SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that formula cars in the U.S beyond Indy and sprint cars, is NOT at the top of U.S. racing fans agenda.
Formula-1 was just as brain-dead, or narcissistic.
Actually I was eating lunch while writing that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Easy Drifter