Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris R
you folks had better be carefull...
i suggested this about a year ago and was repeatedly told how rediculous it was
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris R
you folks had better be carefull...
i suggested this about a year ago and was repeatedly told how rediculous it was
I wonder if this would mean a change to running on methane????
would the drivers be required to wear cowboy hats instead of helmets?
would wrangler make the driver's suits?
sorry just having fun with this sad state of affairs....
Quote:
Originally Posted by TURN3
Nope. Penske is too old to do anything like this and Andretti isn't nearly smart enough or rich enough to run a racing series. Most of the other owners are just "hanger-on's", who can barely survive as is.
The next version of Indy Car Racing, will likely be a much cheaper version of what we have now. Most of the current "leadership" will be long gone. Some of the current owners (Penske, Haas, Foyt, Barnes) will retire or sell to family.
Like it or not, the next incarnation of Indy Car Racing is likely to either be run by NASCAR (a "NASCAR American Open Wheel" division") or owned by someone from NASCAR (ISC/France family or SMI/Bruton Smith). They are one of the few entities left that can salvage this and still have the capital/racing expertise to get it done.
With many of these tracks needing race dates (both oval and road courses), a successful Indy Car series would help them with the bottom line. And it could be a nice training ground (which it already is anyway) for future Nationwide/Cup drivers.
There are many Cup and Nationwide owners with AOW/Indy Car ties and some would undoubtedly dip their toes in, if it made sense. These are huge racing business's (just like Penske and Ganassi are) and many are interested in all forms of racing.
It might ruffle some feathers, but that day is coming. It might be that or nothing at this point.
The sport will return a lot closer to its TRUE roots, dominated in America, and will try to re-connect with a HUGE pool of people (a couple of generations now) that left the sport and try and connect to a pool of new people in this country.
After 30+ years, the current management/ownership/fans have had their time to make things work. They failed. Some more then others. But its time to do something RADICALLY different, with different folks running the show and a different mindset for the future. No more owners running the show. No more businessmen from Switzerland or England. No more lackey's from Terre Haute. No more "Jargon Joe's", KISS band leaders and Professional Bull Riders in high profile positions of power.
2012 could be a hell of interesting year. ;)
Again, hard to argue with Scotty's logic - I just DO NOT like NASCAR and cannot see how they will help make a sport I am interested in....
Overall, I do agree that entirely new blood is what is needed....
2012 will most defiantly be an interesting year (US Presidential election and all). The question is, will the IRL even be around?Quote:
Originally Posted by Scotty G.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris R
Hey, many folks will not like the NASCAR part of this. Including me, to be honest.
But it might be what is coming.
I doubt either the France Family or Bruton Smith want anything to do with "Indy Car" racing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scotty G.
HOLD IT!!! Who says the guy who runs the PBR would be a bad fit? Hear me out. He took a sport, that most people wouldn't watch normally if they were in Cheyenne on that DAY, and got it on ESPN, and got their purses up and got people like that hubby of Jewel's on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" Maybe you guys have to grasp the guy MAY have a clue of how to take something obscure and to maximize it.
Listen, I have no idea if the guy will succeed, but at least with Indycar, we know it was a big deal once. Pro Bull riders were NEVER a big deal except in a few Western cities in the US and Calgary. With Indycar, the bones are there, so in my mind, the outside the box hire just might work. God knows all the "experts" have screwed this mess right into the ground.
I am of the opinion this guy would be no worse than any one else they could hire, and likely is better than any other option.
As for NASCAR coming to pickup the pieces, if they are not here within the year, they wont be. The price isn't going to be lower than it is now unless it dies and then it will be too far gone to save. I think a new, ad hoc run what you brung formula will be the way at the Brickyard and a few one off events might sort of coalese, but it wont be the IRL....and it will be small scale with just American drivers with the odd Canadian. I guess Scotty will like it.... but it wont be close to even THIS series.
For those of you who want to join the rest of us in reality, her is an interview with him from Street & Smith.
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/118794
This guy has actually grown a sports entertainment company from virtually nothing, but I am sure some people on the internet here know more than him.
Hey, anything at this point is worthy of a try.
He may be a genius, he may only have to like success more than he does the sport he is running.
I just can't imagine somebody that doesn't share the passion of motorsport delivering an acceptable end product.
TG may have outwardly claimed to have loved the IndyCar series - but let's be honest, he loved the control and power just a bit more. In fact he always kind of believed it was owed to him for some odd reason.