Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaimWitz
Mazda!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaimWitz
Mazda!
God bless the people at Mazda for standing by open wheel and sports car racing in America without a hint of the political ugliness that has defined our day and age. Mazda's programs are an ideal blueprint for how manufacturers should engage in motorsports. I just hope they don't get burned or turned off by all the egotism, unprofessionalism and dishonesty that has tended to define the OWRS owner's behavior during the two seasons that Mazda has been involved. I am a fan and a race at Mazda Raceway is a good news, but saying one thing and then doing the opposite is not. Our series should never have left this wonderful circuit under the premise we did and to come back now only proves that this was not a promoter problem but a series managment issue. If/when there ever is one series, this venue is a keeper and, more importantly, so is Mazda.Quote:
Originally Posted by sanguin
Well, what happens next happened. I guess Commander Kevster had at least one spintron torpedo left:
"Champ Car moves San Jose race to Laguna Seca The Champ Car World Series announced today that its 2008 race in northern California will move from the streets of San Jose to the road course at historic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey.
“We’re pleased that Champ Car will be able to maintain a strong event in northern California,” said Steve Johnson, Champ Car President & CEO. “While it’s always tough to leave one city for another, in this case, it makes sense strategically for us and works for San Jose given the on-going developments of their downtown. We enjoyed three great years in San Jose, and certainly anticipate that the fans there will head south to enjoy Champ Car racing at the beautiful Monterey Peninsula’s Mazda Raceway circuit.”
Considered one of the finest permanent road courses in North America, the 2.238-mile Monterey Peninsula’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will host its 23rd Champ Car World Series event next year at a date to be announced later. The first Champ Car event was held at Laguna in 1983, and though its long run of races ended the past three years, Champ Car returned there this year to conduct its pre-season testing. The testing also served as the official kick-off for the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s 50th Golden Anniversary season this year.
“Needless to say, we are thrilled to announce during our 50th Anniversary season that Monterey Peninsula’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will once again host a Champ Car World Series event,” said Gill Campbell, CEO/General Manager of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. “Our fans loved the 2007 pre-season testing, and they will certainly enjoy Champ Car’s return with a race next year. Our mutual affiliation with Mazda made this relationship a natural one for us, and we all share in the excitement. While we look forward to announcing our entire 2008 schedule soon, we wanted to share this exciting news with our fans as soon as possible.”
Organizers of the Grand Prix of San Jose recently informed the Champ Car World Series that on-going residential developments in and around the 1.5 mile downtown track would hamper next year’s race. For 2008, new housing developments on Balbach Street would affect the back straightaway, while upcoming construction in the Boston Properties lot would mean the loss of the race’s main “Gold Grandstands” on Almaden Boulevard.
“The reality of racing on a temporary street circuit is that change happens continuously and this is especially true in a dynamic and growing city center like downtown San Jose,” said Grand Prix President Dale Jantzen.
The Grand Prix provided the city of San Jose with world-wide exposure as part of the Champ Car World Series. Broadcast internationally in each of its three years, the city of San Jose estimated that the economic impact to America’s 10th largest city was approximately $70 million over the three-year period.
Champ Car’s announcement that they would race in Laguna Seca in 2008 is the first of what is expected to be several exciting announcements in the months ahead regarding 2008 race venues. The full 2008 Champ Car World Series calendar will be announced later this fall."
Well, I'd certainly like to hear what our pal Robin Miller says about that...
Chapparal66, as you have pointed out, RM doesn't seem to care much about our series anymore. Robin did however post the following today though about Tonybucks on tap, which if I recall was one Dr. Jack's predictions:
"INDYCAR: Revenue Sharing Plan Set for 2008
In an effort to help its smaller to mid-level teams and possibly attract new ones, SPEEDtv.com has learned the Indy Racing League will implement a revenue-sharing plan in 2008 that pays guaranteed money to IRL regulars but eliminates race purses, except for the Indianapolis 500."
Link to full story:
http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/indycar/40171/
Well, cancelling San Jose was not good, but returning to Laguna Seca is superb.
Credit where it is due. Well done CCWS and the leaders for returning to Laguna Seca. Let us all hope that there is more good news to come, because it is really needed.
One thing I just thought of!
Has anyone else noticed that it is the "Street" races that are falling by the wayside and the permanent "Road" courses are where CCWS seem to be looking for stability and profitablity now! Funny how a few years ago, the leaders made such a big deal of taking the racing to the Cities. Well, I gues they tried and that plan isn't working. As ChaimWitz pointed out, only two street races are really working, Toronto and Long beach.
Conversely, the European Road Races look promising. CCWS should call Dr. J Palmer at Octagon and enquire about Brands Hatch again. If CCWS ran during one of the summer months with our local BTCC then a good crowd would be guaranteed. Run the full GP circuit and let the cars stretch their legs.
I don't like the fact that the core USA races seem to be dwindling, and we no longer race on ovals, but if travelling the world in search of foreign money will help CCWS to survive, then fair enough.
I prefer CCWS alive than dead!
PS: Starter, as a Brit, am I allowed to congratulate Dario Franchitti on winning the IRL championship in this particular forum? Apologies, but he was a Champ car driver before, so there is a link. The finish at Chicagoland was just a fairytale! Wonderful. Racing is racing after all.
Whoa, wait a minute, I never said that Robin Miller didn't care. If anything, he cares too much. He wants Champ Car to stay viable. As long as they do, there is still, as remote as it may be, a chance to get Our Good Friend Tony George to the table (if he can be convinced that AOWR is dying a slow death without a merger). The thing is, with CCWS making more bad moves than good, and then getting his hard card taken away, RM probably figures he has easier access to the IRL and thus an easier time getting stories. Champ Car seems to be throwing one brick wall after another at RM while the IRL, while probably not liking RM a while lot more than CC does, nonetheless is being kept in the news by RM while CC's media exposure is fading more and more by the minute.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaimWitz
Thanks for posting the SPEEDTV.com link, ChaimWitz. With this announcement today, the distinction between the IRL and CCWS becomes clear. Obviously, quite a bit of thought went into this new policy, and the IRL brass probably consulted with a few of the teams for reaction and fine tuning. I'm sure TG encouraged this new move as a way to not only ensure the long term viability of his regular teams, but also as a way of recruiting new ones. After careful consideration, the idea was presented and reaction was positive. The leads to the impression of a solid game plan in place that is designed to gradually build the series. The IRL, giving the TG devil his due, has been taking carefully measured steps for some time. Having said that, as careful as they have been, in terms of selecting venues and other moves, they have had some issues. Changing to start time of the Indy 500, which prevented drivers like Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon from doing a Texas motorsports 2 step, was silly and probably served only to help NASCAR. And other things, like Tony saying "33 is just a number" was downright stupid. The fact that popular Sarah Fisher may have to start her own team just to have an IRL ride is another example, though a mild one.
Champ Car, by comparison, has been like a firehose run amok and spraying everywhere. Often, it misses its target and The Amigos come up with with a lame explanation to account for poor planning and even poorer excecution. And with a North American market with small smoldering fires in terms of ratings and audience dropoffs, CCWS aims their hose over at Europe where there is no flame of fan loyalty and are looking at a challenge of enticing sponsors to back the series both here and over there, thus somewhat duplicating what F1 already does. Occasionally, the hose hits a viable target, as it has with power to pass on the Cosworth engines, the new DP-01 chassis, and the announcement today of CCWS returning to Laguna Seca after the at best questionable performance of racing in the streets of San Jose are bullseye hits for CC. But those are now few and far between, and CCWS continues to try to find its soul. It hasn't helped that CC has had to cancel dates and a lot of them, these past two years. The Korea and China fiascos make Champ Car look ridiculous and chaotic. The letting go of various American drivers, to NASCAR and the IRL, such as the much talked about AJ Allmendinger and Ryan Hunter-Reay, don't halp the general perception of the series in comparison to its competition. Whereas the Amigos, who at one time looked angelic saviors who saved a proud motorsports tradition, now are starting to look spoiled little rich boys fighting over a sandbox, which is precisely how Our Good Friend at 16th and Georgetown has looked on many occasions. The difference here is that by virtue of the moves the IRL has made lately, it seems to me that TG is starting to learn from his mistakes, whereas The Amigos are starting to repeat theirs over an over.
I can't tell you how it pains me, indded, angers me, to have to say that. But the drop in ratings on TV and inconsistent fan attendence due to a lack of promotion of the events from a schedule that times looks like it is hastally put together and delivered late, only to then have some dates cancelled due to an arrogant attitude toward the FIA and not securing the overseas dates that the series bragged about, cannot be denied.
Meanwhile, the IRL goes about its business, concentrating on its plan of solidifying its hold on the American market. The irony here is that they started out wanting to be different from CART/Champ Car, but they have ende up copying a lot of what made the series a jewel in the first place. And more importantly, the IRL, while I'm sure they would deny it vigorously, continues to look at what Champ Car is doing today, and learning from the mistakes they continue to make. CCWS is almost a living laboratory for the IRL to learn what to do and what not to do. Think about it. Has the IRL cancelled many dates lately, other than Michigan (and even that wasn't a cancelled date in mid-season, just an announcement they wouldn't be coming back, they staged the race this year), despite that in years past they have shut down tracks like Naareth, Pikes Peak, and Disney Speedway? No. They have a solid, if still anemic, TV package with ABC/ESPN, which CC also got into this year, but the IRL has more of a history with them. Do they have more "name" sponsors? Yes, just a few more, but they are names we all recognize, whereas, CC has McDonald's and CDW and not a whole lot else.
On the face of it, how you can blame Robin Miller for getting fed up with his personal treatment at the hands of Champ Car, and getting frustrated at their bad judgement? Open wheel is a passion for him and to see it crumble is hearbreaking. No, he cares about it alright, but at the end of the day he still has a job to do and right now that job seems to take him to the IRL. He'd like to be reporting more on Champ Car I'm sure but they have all but blacklisted him. I'm sure he'll be back to it when he's finished capping the IRL season for SPEEDTV.com. Then I'd like to see what he has to say about 2008, for both series.
Great post Chapparral66 and I stand corrected. Now back to what happens next:
1) A major IRL team will go after and possibly land Justin Wilson and or AJ Almendinger. They have the money, the programs and the reputations to pull this off. They also need to given what is about to be announced regarding DF and SH.
2) I now hear from very good sources who have been 100% right about recent events that the Vegas GP is indeed dead just like Phoenix, San Jose and Denver. Stick a fork in it. The "3 Day Festivals of Speed" concept is not working and those who have been considering jumping into the ChampCar street race promotion biz are now thinking twice. Like so many things this year, the issue is down to whether Champ Car or the promoter cries uncle first. I hear that here in no longer any meaningful support for it in Vegas and the Freudster did indeed present the "opportunity" to buy the race to one or more of his former pals in the IRL during the Detroit weekend. This is a shame because it was a fun event. But there were only 20,000 seats erected and about 65%-70% were occupied on race day so this had to be a financial bloodbath. Doesn't anyone ever consider the consequences when taking on such events without a realistic view of open wheel racing's current economy, or lack there of - especially in Champ Car?
I started posting here because I have been to over 100 CART/Champ Car races in the past decade and I have tried to keep the faith but I can't any longer. Dr. Jack's thread got me to finally say: "enough is enough". The events of the past two weeks convinced me that this is the “now or never” moment for getting our sport back on the path to success.
The OWRS bunch have failed all of us miserably this year. Like many I know, I won't spend my time or my personal credibility on their behalf ever again. The IRL is not what it should be but I don't see it melting down like some here would have us all believe (and like ChampCar is actually doing). I don't like how TG and his crew have gotten to where they are at but, I now feel the same way about the OWRS false prophets.
Something has got to give here or this whole thing is going nowhere fast. There will now be no merger in my opinion which is sad. Just like the Thuderdome, two series enter, one series leaves. It is nature at work. Survival of the fittest on display for us all to see.
The promoters who are still talking to Champ there can smell blood given their frest history of event implosions. Steve Johnson and John Caghet will get pushed around, ground on and marginalized further. I know many promoters and they are not ones to cut slack to dreamers.
Beyond that, I fear now that some teams and drivers we care about will leave to build real business or take real jobs in racing incomes that reflect their talent... some may go to the IRL and a few to ALMS or Grand-Am. They are after all, realists by nature. I can't help but think they see that handwriting on the wall and even though what is written is now in several foreign languages, it still reads, "Champ Car is toast".
What a tragedy. Am I angry? Hell yes! I know, some of you still have hope. So does Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno. I know some of you are saying ;but the racing is good!" Well, the racing was good in CART too and it died. This isn't about racing. It is about business and Champ Car isn't one. The proof is now out there for all to see.
Great post Chapparral66 and I stand corrected. Now back to what happens next:
1) A major IRL team will go after and possibly land Justin Wilson and or AJ Almendinger. They have the money, the programs and the reputations to pull this off. They also need to given what is about to be announced regarding DF and SH.
2) I now hear from very good sources who have been 100% right about recent events that the Vegas GP is indeed dead just like Phoenix, San Jose and Denver. Stick a fork in it. The "3 Day Festivals of Speed" concept is not working and those who have been considering jumping into the ChampCar street race promotion biz are now thinking twice. Like so many things this year, the issue is down to whether Champ Car or the promoter cries uncle first. I hear that there is no longer any meaningful support for it in Vegas and the Freudster did indeed present the "opportunity" to buy the race to one or more of his former pals in the IRL during the Detroit weekend. This is a shame because it was a fun event. But there were only 20,000 seats erected and about 65%-70% were occupied on race day so this had to be a financial bloodbath. Doesn't anyone ever consider the consequences when taking on such events without a realistic view of open wheel racing's current economy, or lack there of - especially in Champ Car?
I started posting here because I have been to over 100 CART/Champ Car races in the past decade and I have tried to keep the faith but I can't any longer. Dr. Jack's thread got me to finally say: "enough is enough". The events of the past two weeks convinced me that this is the “now or never” moment for getting our sport back on the path to success.
The OWRS bunch have failed all of us miserably this year. Like many I know, I won't spend my time or my personal credibility on their behalf ever again. The IRL is not what it should be but I don't see it melting down like some here would have us all believe (and like ChampCar is actually doing). I don't like how TG and his crew have gotten to where they are at but I now feel the same way about the OWRS false prophets.
Something has got to give here or this whole thing is going nowhere fast. There will now be no merger in my opinion which is sad. Just like the Thuderdome, two series enter, one series leaves. It is nature at work. Survival of the fittest on display for us all to see.
The promoters who are still talking to Champ can smell blood given the fresh history of event implosions. Steve Johnson and John Caghet will get pushed around, ground on and marginalized further. I know many promoters and they are not ones to cut slack to dreamers.
Beyond that, I fear now that some teams and drivers we care about will leave to build real business or take real jobs elsewhere in racing with incomes that reflect their true talent... some may go to the IRL and a few to ALMS or Grand-Am. They are after all, realists by nature. I can't help but think they see that handwriting on the wall and even though what is written is now in several foreign languages, it still reads, "Champ Car is toast".
What a tragedy. Am I angry? Hell yes!
I know, some of you still have hope. So do Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno. I know some of you are saying "but the racing is good!" Well, the racing was good in CART too and it died. This isn't about racing. It is about business and Champ Car isn't one. The proof is now out there for all to see.
You are so right. amazes me these guys are so rich yet so incapable. I am going to carry on dreaming till the day it dies though cos I love CC too. Come on KK.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaimWitz