The final insult...

[PAcartfan]

Just hopped over the indycar.com

Apparently, there was no Long Beach Grand Prix today??!!??

I though they were "one series"??

maybe I do have a point.....

[Vegasguy]

The white flag doesn't come out in Champcar. The Flagman gives the "one to go" finger.

nOObs

That's correct...... but he didn't have a clue if it was the last lap or not. That was more the point I think.

I want to say that I didn't have a problem with the Danica interview. Or the fact that they were able to get a camera in the booth and get her on TV even though they said that the booth was too small when Graham was in there. (caught in a lie there ESPN)

My issue was with how long it kept going with no mention of the actual race at all.

[Champcar4life]

I think the whole thing sucks, the covers was flat, the play by play was missing something. No highlights leading up too the race from past CART/Champcar races held at Long Beach, at least the Lemans races was worth watching.

[tbyars]

This was not just another race though. This was the end of a significant professional motorsports series.

And you call Helix names? To be very truthful, this hadn't been a significant motorsports series for at least 4 years.

People have had their careers defined in this series. People have died in this series. How many families over the years were able to put food on their tables over the years because of the jobs this series had? How many charities benefitted from the benevolence of this series over the years.

Couldn't the same be said of the IRL?

OMG- how cool would it have been if they would have done a memorial to Gonzalo Rodriguez and Greg Moore and Jeff Krosnov and the others who lost thier lives in the series? How cool would it have been to show some of the benevolent things done over the years and those who benefitted? How cool to get Bourdais and Mansell and Mario, and the Unsers and -Dear God- the hundreds of others who made CART/CCWS what it was to maybe say a word or two about what the series meant to them? How about a montage of some of tracks or some of the special milestones?

Oh Wait-- ESPN! duh!

Thank God we all know that Danica made the gdm 7:00 flight.

And THANK GOD Arute was there. Can you imagine this *not really that historic* event without him?

You know, I think there are a few things I should point out to you that should be painfully obvious.

First of all, most of the things you mentioned happened in the CART years. And CART - and it's heritage - died four years ago when it went bankrupt. If the con job the previous owners of the CCWS tried to pull is not obvious to you - especially after what we are now beginning to learn - you may want to catch up on your reading.

Second, after all the badmouthing and derogatory things CC fans have said about the IRL over the years (things you seem to want to continue here and now), I'm not sure those fans DESERVED more than they got today. Bottom line - actions have reactions, and this may very well have been the reaction to years of all of the fan rhetoric.

There was NO NEED for all the items you mention in your post, because that did not end today. Legally, whether you want to admit to it or not, that history is NOW A PART OF THE IRL.

The series goes on. Today, in my mind, was nothing more than an abnormally brought about by a scheduling conflict that couldn't be resolved.

[NickFalzone]

It was a weak ending to a series that I never watched. So, to me, the Danica interview was not that big of a deal. I didn't see any really exciting action in the side by side. That said, I completely understand how ESPN's conclusion of this event came off as borderline offensive to the real champcar fans. It felt like a rush job, everyone is happy to move on from this event to the single-series. I don't know that I'd blame Reid or Goodyear either, it's the producer's call at ESPN as to how to handle the event. And they treated it just like any other race.

I do agree with some of what TB says above though, which is that it's not really being honest when you say CC and Cart are one in the same. CART was finished back in 2004, today was not the end of CART. Also, the only way IndyCar will get back into popularity is through personalities like Danica, Helio, Rahal, Power along with commercialization through big sponsors. The end of the LB race was a total sellout, but it was an effort to commercialize a race that only a small audience (based on ChampCar ratings last year) really cared about.

[mlj]

Just hopped over the indycar.com

Apparently, there was no Long Beach Grand Prix today??!!??

I though they were "one series"??

maybe I do have a point.....

Furthermore, Indycar.com doesn't even have the drivers from CC listed in their list of Drivers. I, too am mad as hell that the last ten minutes of the last race had to be all about the "Divine Ms D" The posts here from the Indy crowd just goes to show that they don't consider us part of their series. Very disrespectful with no sign of empathy..

[Chris R]

I thought putting Patrick on at the end like that was a disgrace. It was not her race - Power did an awesome job and all they could do was fawn over Danica. What's more, as a racer, she could have said - wait a minute - someone else is out there and I do not want to take away from their moment... Very disappointing way of dealing with the end of the race...

That being said - congrats to Danica on her win... she deserved it - but Will Power deserved his win just as much and he deserves the credit just as much.....

[beachbum]

Taking the last 10 minutes of the last Champ Car race to blather all over Danica was an insult to race fans, the race teams, anyone who ever cared about the history and future of US Open Wheel , and certainly all of the Champ Car followers. Ok, she is a story. But so is the last Champ Car race. It deserved more respect regardless of your feeling toward Champ Car.

I always thought CART at its height was a great series. But the poor management of its last years and the amateurish comedy of errors that followed called Champ Car was difficult to support. I thought Champ Car lasted longer than it deserved and don't mourn its passing. But I was furious over todays broadcast -absolutely furious. Some may think Danica! is the future of Indy Car racing but the race today was an end of an era, a important era. The Champ Car Teams and fans deserved more respect from the broadcasters - a lot more.

They could have at least given some commentary about what was happening on-track, but they treated the race as an unimportant side show. Today was a day that should sadden all race fans. Today was a day when racing took a back seat to hype and hero worship.

[pits4me]

You expected something different?

Danica is the big story of the weekend, not Will Power.

It's not like the finish was very exciting or anything. If there was an actual battle at the end I'm sure they would've cut away from Danica for it.

Talk about whining for the sake of whining.

If it makes you feel any better there won't be anymore weekends with more than one race after this and you won't have to worry about it happening again.

Actually the big story is the one ESPN chose to ignore during the LB telecast -- Simona's victory in the Atlantic race.

[pits4me]

Well I hate to break it to you but if Rahal had gotten into Motegi with 10 minutes left in the race after getting a historic win like Danica's earlier that day they WOULD have done the same thing.

And Motegi's finish was a snoozer anyway so I wouldn't have complained. I just don't see how this is considered "bad coverage". How anyone could seriously expect anything different is beyond me.

There's a reason they're still talking about DANICA'S win on ESPNEWS right now and not Power's win. DANICA IS THE BIG NAME. DANICA = RATINGS. ESPN LIKES RATINGS. They are a business. Their job is to cover IndyCar racing, not make sure Champ Car has a respectful sendoff. ESPN did their job. Get over it.

Rahal wasn't part of the Motegi Show. FULL STOP!

Maybe as an armchair fan your analysis is acceptable but ESPN/ICS lost a lot of credibilty in my book today.

I was there and upon getting home, very dissappointed watching the ESPN coverage on DVR. If they really wanted to build the European audience, they could have at least acknowledged the other women driver who won today. Great Job Simone and Newman Wachs Racing.