What Happens Next?

Mont Tremblant, Elkhart Lake, Assen and Zolder,Vegas, San Jose, Long Beach, Surfers Paradise, Toronto and Cleveland !!

Sebastian Bourdais,Oriol Servia,Graham Rahal, Robert Doornbos, Justin Wilson, Will Power, Alex Tagliani, Bruno Junquiera

Very race savvy, super sexy Panoz DP01 Chassis...........

And you gave it a four?!! Dr. Jack, are you sure you've watched these races? Champcar has been pretty damn competitive this year!!


The only thing Champcar is blatantly ignoring is that lots of money needs to be put into promotion if Champcar has any plans for succeeding. Is it too late? Hell No!!! Will Champcar step up to where they belong and spend the money/hire the right people? Let's hope so!!! I've loved it since the nineteen eighties. Before the beginning of this season I pushed for Champcar to treat this year with the new chassis, to be the year everything gets stepped up. To bring legends to the tracks and interview them for the audience and television!! To remind everyone out there that this series is coming on, time to jump on board!! That kind of presentation never happened!! If Champcar and its organization doesn't promote in a way that brings all that was and is to come, then captivating everyone who is thirsting for it will never happen!

Champcar needs to start a huge campaign, and invest big dollars in a promotional campaign starting NOW and into the future!!

It's a phenomenal series that's missing a huge promotion department.....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jimispeed

Champcar needs to start a huge campaign, and invest big dollars in a promotional campaign starting NOW and into the future!!

It's a phenomenal series that's missing a huge promotion department.....

---

Read the Road Racing thread to realise how Champ Car will become great once more :D
More people would latch on if it was unique, which at the moment it isnt, because at the moment I'm not sure that a promotional campaign would work...

Who would they market it to, exactly? It's half American races, half international races, and 100% heading towards obscurity. I doubt many Americans are interested in a series without all that many Americans, for one...

It isn't, at the moment, really promotable... I'm not sure that a campaign would pay off. Changing the cars would help :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by theugsquirrel

It isn't, at the moment, really promotable... I'm not sure that a campaign would pay off. Changing the cars would help :D

---

It is an extremely promotable series!! Get rid of the DP01? Hah!! This is the first year and they've just scratched the surface on this car. It will improve tremendously! That's my thought. And I stand by my previous post.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jimispeed

It is an extremely promotable series!! Get rid of the DP01? Hah!! This is the first year and they've just scratched the surface on this car. It will improve tremendously! That's my thought. And I stand by my previous post.

---

It's lap times are in the league of an F1 car and I like it but it is essentially the same as any other formula car. I just don't see the point of keeping wings and needless technologies on a control chassis when the racing will be better and more marketable without them.

Congrats. On Your 2nd Post. Racing Is Great This Year And New Car Is Great And I Love Racing.

I give IRL a 2. Those cars are unwatchable and the racing is contrived. I guess that's why nobody shows up unless they have a free ticket.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sanguin

I give IRL a 2. Those cars are unwatchable and the racing is contrived. I guess that's why nobody shows up unless they have a free ticket.

---

So what happens next is the other series is unwatchable? Interesting...

Nothing new here, nothing to see. Move along. The reactions to the original post were exactly as expected.

Reality is a bit*h ain't it? Yep, shoot the messenger if you don't like the message.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fangio

The demise of Champ Car will not add a .1 to The IRL. The fans are gone, the ones that watch will generally watch another road racing series.
Don`t kid yourselves.

---

A good point, one not often made enough. Both series are pretty much down to the diehards. If one goes, their fans will go with it, for the most part. If one goes away, the one left will have the same problems they currently have. They may gain a couple of teams and a few fans, but if they are going to have a major job ahead to put OW racing back to where it was.

If it is TG left, I want to ask if people here, whatever your current allegence, do you think he is a good enough businessman to lead a series back to the top. Try to answer without involving hate/love emotions about him.

My answer is I don't think so. He has a lot of money to cover his mistakes and for all the advantages he gained when the teams and manufacturers, his series isn't in much better shap than CC curently is.

Wow, I can already feel the tiny sharp teeth of the FTG anti-bodies attacking anyone who does not post messages saluting the glorious victory of the Billionaire Boys Club over the Gomers and the Grandson. How many people are really out there who see the world in this polarized way? From looking at the numbers who post on this and other ChampCar related forums, not many folks...

The repeated recital of ChampCar "successes" by the fanatical few who choose to live in denial because their egos will be crushed if the false dawn of ChampCar's post-CART-bankruptcy "new tomorrow" fades (as it appears to be doing) only further highlights the realities that define this critical moment. Let's run down the list:

The FTG fanatic viewpoint celebrates wonderful new CC venues--which overlooks the fact that most of these are financial failures for the promoter or that some never happen after months of hype. Beyond that, there is no one event (sorry Long Beach) that has any real presence in the US general media like Indy does (okay Indy has less presence than it did -- but that one race still has more mainstream media gravity and audience than the entire ChampCar season).

Many of you write about about great ChampCar drivers. Agreed there are some, however, all but PT make less money than a NASCAR Crew Chief (if these drivers are actually being paid rather than paying for their rides). The hard truth is that ChampCar drivers are the opposite of famous in America... and they create little or no buzz outside of our tiny circle of hardcore fans. To me this is tragic and a result of the fact that what ChampCar is doing now and how it is positioned in the sports/entertainment market don't resonate with most American racing fans, casual fans, sponsors or the media. There isn't enough to relate to or identify with. No traction outside of young Rahal (who like 20% of the CC grid is aiming for F1) therefore no real progress is possible.

The Panoz DP-1 (the world's greatest, most fantastic, all-time wonderful racing car ever -- according to a few people here), is often mentioned as some sort of magic wand that will cure all that ails ChampCar. Huh, a spec car that looks like a fat F3 car? Make that 17, mostly underfunded or unsponored spec cars that look like fat F3 cars. Gimme a break. That gambit has been a Bust with a capital B.

Speaking of capital, how can all of you who are so pegged on the TG hate rev limiter fail to notice that he continues to invest in his series while sainted Amigos don't seem to be willing to do so any longer? Maybe the Amigos know something we don't. Ditto for the Grandson. To me this is telling...

I can't overlook th fact that comittment wins wars.

Now, don't take that last comment as me luvin' the IRL.

I heard the same sort of polarizing denialspeak and illogical justifications spewed by CC apologistss when I recently watched a 1999 show called "This is the IRL" posted on Joost.com's IndyVision channel. It reminded me of a Nazi propaganda film justifying the invasion of Poland in 1939. Ironically, the tone and content of that show is errily similar to what extreme Champ Car fanatics post in an effort to warp reality and to spin up hope when, in truth, there is none.

My point is that the the day of the extreme view on either side of The Split has now passed. An open wheeled series racing exclusively on ovals is a failed vision. A US based series chasing sanction fees around the world and relying on (Street) "Festivals of Speed" to market itself and create an brand image is also a failed vision.

This isn't just me posting on a forum. It is the voice of the market and it a has spoken repeatedly and with athority.

If you take the extreme views out of all this, just ask yourself this question: Knowing what we all know now, what would fans really want if there is one series again?

I agree with those who feel there are still things of real value on the ChampCar side of the ledger. The problem is that each passing month seems to bring a drop in that value. I just get a real sinking feeling... and do worry about all the people I admire who are passengers on the Amigo's sputtering world ego cruise. I fear they, along with some great venues and the Atlantic Series, will go down with the Champtanic if common sense does not previal. The once proud ship has hit at least six huge icebergs this year and the sea is rushing in... But the band plays on. I can hear the chin music all the way from Holland and it sounds like KK's favorite tune. "Just wait until next year"

So, back to the question I keep asking but no one seems to want to address:

What happens next?

PS: I chose my forum handle and my e-mail address using names of people from the early days of The Spit who symbloized how bad it can get.