If ChampCar had it right why did they go bankrupt twice from lack of interest? I remember an answer Robin Miller gave to a fan regarding why CART/ChampCar was having so much trouble after Long Beach declared a record weekend attendance a few years ago, and his answer was pretty much, "Because people go to the circus and have fun, but don't care where the circus came from or where it goes to next." Ultimately, the goal for any racing series is to provide a good at track experience for the fan, good racing, good access to league content (like I know what channel the race is on next week and a functioning website), and a rooting interest for the person to want to watch the next week. That can happen on ovals and road courses.
In the out of left field department, E.J. Viso has contracted the mumps, a highly contagious disease, and everyone is being warned in the IRL garage that had contact with him. Viso and his team HVM Racing have withdrawn from this weekend's race at Nashville. Apparently it takes 17 days for symptoms to show up.
For some reason I have this sneaking suspicion Tracy will crash on lap 1. Also in the sponsorship department, Sarah Fisher Racing got Dollar General to come on board and sponsor her for Kentucky and Chicagoland.
Word is...PT and Walker are working, with others, on a deal that would have PT running 3 of the last 4 races. He would not be at Kentucky but would be at Infieon, Detroit, and Chicago.
Robin Miller exclusive: -Tony Kanaan to Chip Ganassi next year. Dan Wheldon getting pushed out. Wheldon currently makes $3 million per year. The only other teams that can afford that are Penske, who's set, and Andretti Green, who Wheldon left on not too good terms. Think Wheldon's regretting his "Cheap Ganassi" comments?
Here's the link: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/exclusive-kanaan-poised-to-join-ganassi/ Also, TV deal for 2009 is 5 races on ABC (including Indy) and the remaining 13 races on Versus per the Indy Star. So no more ESPN/ESPN2. Opinion from fans so far on whether this is good or bad is split. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080807/SPORTS0107/808070411
I don't like it. Just when it seems like Open Wheel's future was looking brighter, they get shifted to Versus, a network I often forget even exists. Of course I'll still be on the lookout for the races, but I'm sure the casual fan won't be bothered. I do like the idea of pre-race and post-race shows with greater coverage overall, but this seems like a step back to me. Why not go for SpeedTV? (or what ever the channel is called now) That seemed like a more logical fit. At least from the way I read it, ESPN will still produce all the races? Depending on people's point of view that could be a good thing, or a bad one . Kanaan to TCG is interesting, I just hope Scheckter is back full time next season. And I really dislike Robin Miller, I can't stand to read his mailbag.
I think this is the beginning of the end. With 13 races on VS you can count on it making it harder to find sponsors, not easier. And a lot of the smaller teams are already light on sponsors so things are only get harder for them. Give it a year and I think we are going to loose some teams, once that happens we will soon be back to where we were last year (low car count) but this time there won't be a Champ Car for Tony to poach teams from.
Poaching? Now that's some serious rewriting of history. How is it poaching when the guy that owned the other series was one of the first ones to come over? I have mixed opinions on it. I can see the argument for the upside and the downside. They're still on ABC for 5 races which is what they are now just about.
I did. Man, if that race was a quarter mile shorter. And now, there is not a chance Dixon isn't winning the title. Speaking as a fan, this illustrated my opinion of the whole oval vs. road thing. Both have their good races, and both have their stinkers. I just tend to think that more ovals tend to be exciting than the road/street courses. (I also tend to prefer road over street, but all can have their good and bad, a la St. Pete vs. Edmonton.)
I felt bad for him too, but that didn't stop me from getting excited about Dixon's increasing his point lead over him .
Well, what does everyone think? It's pretty exciting that everything has come down to the final race. I was glad to see Wilson and NHL get the win this past weekend. I'm pulling for Helio, it would be a great story if he could take the championship with coming up from behind.
Ganassi owns 1.5 mile ovals, unless Dixon crashes or has a mechanical failure, the title is his. It will be interesting to see Dario in the other car next year, he should be able to keep up with his Scott, but so far nobody has. I'm happy to see Wheldon go to Panther, but I still can't see them winning a race. Poor Vitor, I hope he finds a seat for next year. Oh and I really hope Scheckter finds something permanent too, hopefully with Luczo-Dragon, who I would love to see run a full season.
I'm going to be at the race, as part of my bachelor party, and I am looking forward to it like you wouldn't believe. I'm hoping Vitor gets to keep the 4 and that they put Wheldon in the second car. I've got to believe Rahal Letterman wants another car as well. I think Luczo Dragon is going to run a full season, but just one car with Scheckter.
#10 Chip Ganassi - from Dan Wheldon to Dario Franchitti #4 Panther - from Vitor Meira to Dan Wheldon (and Vitor is mad about it) #14 A.J. Foyt - from Darren Manning to Vitor Meira #12 Luczo Dragon - from Tomas Scheckter to Rafael Matos (2007 Atlantics champ and 2008 Indy Lights champ), Luczo going full-time in 2009. Luczo not rehiring Scheckter because they say his driving technique broke 4 driveshafts in 6 races. #98 CURB/Agajanian/Beck (now going to be called 3G Racing) will run full-time next year with current Nationwide Series driver Stanton Barrett
Vitor should be mad about it, they told him they were going in another direction via email. Sadly I fear Scheckter is done in IRL. Barrett's going to have a tougher time than he suspects. And I keep reading Marty Roth is done as well.
I think Barrett knows he'll have a tough time. He's been racing for the last 10 years in junk, so he knows already what struggling in inferior equipment is like. Roth put all his equipment up for sale per Curt Cavin. I'd love to see Scheckter back in the IRL that can provide the thrill. He's a "crash or win" type like Danny Ongais used to be. Unfortunately, that hurts owners' checkbooks. Also, the Surfers Paradise entry list got released today. Castroneves was allowed by his judge to travel to Australia. 2-Foyt 3-Castroneves 4-Wheldon 5-Servia 6-Briscoe 7-Patrick 8-Power 9-Dixon 10-Franchitti 11-Kanaan 14-Meira 15-Rice 17-Hunter-Reay 18-Junqueira 19-Moraes 20-Carpenter 23-Bell 26-Andretti 27-Mutoh 33-Viso 34-Camara 36-Tagliani 02-Wilson 06-Rahal
A casual review of the season podcast, couple hours long. http://livefastracing.blogspot.com/2008/10/live-fast-racing-podcast-18.html