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:( The replacements are all people who have been there years, and unless they were very strongly disagreeing with TG, things will not change much, except with TG gone, the money may flow very differently.
Barnhardt whose efforts contributed to further dying of fan interest due to lack of passing, is still there.
Money flow is not the big question---obviously just an Indy 500, by itself, will not survive with the current cars and sponsors...and especailly with the way TV and motor racing has evolved here in the USA
Who is going to be able to afford and race a team solely for one race only per year and do it well, as well as keep fan interest up, given the nascar competition for sponsors and TV revenue (and accompanying constant EXPOSURE to the public)----I do not see the IRL surviving or the Indy 500 surviving as a one race event, in the present format of an open wheel race.
In the 60's and even 70's that happenned (some teams such as Lotus, Eagle, mcLaren showing up for the 500 only) because of HUGE pot of money for winners, and the television sponsor market was so different--television only had Indy 500 as the big event, with some small time competiton from the Daytona 500. That was it.
Today much different, no HUGE pot of money, nascar on TV every weekend, big attendance at Indy nascar race that rivals the 500 (more dilution of the mystique of the Indy 500---and of all places, nascar at Indy???)
Relatives involved who may "want my money now" and could care less about the race.....
Someone running "clabber girl" now in charge????
All in all, while i am not a fan of TG, although I appreciate his great efforts to bring F1 back to the USA, TG was about it for OW racing. Although some may say it was all his fault things got so bad-nevertheless, he has become about all there is, so this departure is further bad news for OW racing in the USA
Sort of like, for whatever reason, one is stuck with some poor horse, so you shoot the only horse you got, thinking that will fix the problems, well, after shooting the horse, what are you going to ride? In this case, there are now two faces for OWR in the usa, TG and Danica, in the mind of the public.
And if Danica jumps to somewhere else, as she may do to keep her sonsorship and fan interest up........... :( :(
NASCAR already has a race on Memorial Day. It get's roughly the same TV ratings as the Indy 500. And the Indy 500 ain't what it used to be . . . . not by a long shot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lousada
NASCAR already has Penske and Ganassi. The rest aren't worth having. NASCAR still gets more competitors to show up for Cup races than they have starting spots.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lousada
International popularity is an Indy Car fan fantasy to compesate for having very little popularity here in the US. I've heard this nonsense many times before, but have never seen any proof.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lousada
What competition?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lousada
They can also pile up stacks of hundred dollar bills in the parking lot and set them on fire, but that doesn't mean that they will.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lousada
To further expand their chokehold on motor racing in America in general. And, if properly promoted through their marketing machinery, it could well lead to a resurgence of open wheel racing and add to their profits. Once there is a successful NASCAR Indy Series in place, any other open wheel series in America would have a hard time starting up and competing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Roy
If they play their cards right, they could also draw in an increasing international audience, people who like open wheel racing, but didn't quite warm up to the very "American" kind of stock car racing. I think that a well-managed and promoted NASCAR Indy Series could quickly become the counter-weight to F1 internationally that CART once almost used to be. Perhaps drivers like Montoya, Villeneuve, Allmendinger, Carpentier, Franchitti, Papis, Stewart, Speed, R. Gordon, and others who already defected from open wheel racing to NASCAR would be interested in racing there instead of the stock cars - or both (a la Sprint Cup racers in the Bush Series)...
Face it, most of you AOWR fans now see that with IMS/Hulman-George family turning off the money spigot to the keep the IRL afloat, the only thing you have left to hope for is that NASCAR will take pity and try to keep this unsustainable form of racing afloat. Read my lips: IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!Quote:
Originally Posted by maximilian
Promotion isn't the problem. It's the product.Quote:
And, if properly promoted . . . .
Blaming "poor promotion" for AOWR's ills is like liberals blaming everything on corporations and conservatives blaming everything on the "liberal media".
Quote:
Originally Posted by maximilian
As a very very big fan of open wheel racing, I pray you are right......
:love:
Unfortunately probably right- it aint gonna happen :down: :bigcry:Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Roy
unfortunately there was a moment in time when things might have been different circa late 1980's, but once the split happenned, it was just a matter of time until kaput............promotion at this point is not going to help without the product, and when the only product is danica....well she does do these great commercials and she could do them just as easy racing nascar, and those boys would love more of those shower go daddy commercials, fur sur nuff..... :rolleyes:
bu the real question is what will starter do without a forum to dictate to?
He's stepped down from the league as well as the track. He's now somewhere between Dayle Coyne and Conquest. Don't let the door hitcha Tony.Quote:
Originally Posted by The instant classic
Nascar buy the IRL? The same NASCAR that has two manufacturers leaving one series altogether and possibly shutting down the truck series due to lack of sponsorship, all three manufacturers pulling back to only technical support in both lower national series and barely more than that in CUP? Yeah, they bought out the GRand Am, but the family already had a huge hand in the series to begin with. The same family that is totally screwing up AMA racing ? The same one currently run by yet another village idiot? It is certainly in vastly better shape than the IRL, but all ain't so rosy in Daytona.
you remind me of the good captain ahab in Moby Dick, celebrating the demise of all we got left to live for, but being pulled down with the rest of the ship...Quote:
Originally Posted by nigelred5
ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for you
not only may it be the kiss od death for AOWR in the USA, without him, there will be no return to america of F1, and for me that was the one saving grace of Tony, loved to hear the shreik of a real racing engine echoed off the stands at Indy, and not the broke muffler, near nascar sound of IRL---(first time I heard it I commented he needs to get off the racing line so when he blows, he will not f*** it up for everyone else and stop the qing at indy [first dayQing at Indy], only to have my ignorance pointed out to me) but now, with him gone and benire's greed, I do not see f1 returning to the usa anywhere, until after Bernie is dead and gone, assuming it does not get all screwed up worse than it is now.
as for a possible rebuild of the "product" as to its absence as so astutely pointed out by Lee Roy, well my response is the product can be rebuilt, but it will take a long time, perhaps with ten to twenty years of hard work and very good luck, maybe we will see some good stuff.......but
I'm afraid LeeRoy has some VERY valid points.....
well....when the money dries up and the undefendable is clearly undefendable...Quote:
Originally Posted by timshag