Champ Car vs IRL 2007

Nah, it's only exciting if the guy winning aside from Bourdais is named Pagenaud or Gommendy and especially not Tracy !

 

Obviously, no one on either side is publishing numbers, but I can give you some insight. The first thing to remember is that the IndyCar side of things is much bigger financially than the Champ Car side, and that really probably boils down to a few main points. First, foremost, and the 800 lb. gorilla is the Indianapolis 500. That is the richest race in open wheel, and it may be the richest race period. Secondly is sponsorship, and this very much ties in with the first one. IndyCar, for the most part, gets pretty decent sponsorship, as the Indy 500 gives it a great deal more exposure. The sponsors are really who pay the bills, not the prize money. Third, and I really hate to say it, is Danica. She has brought a bunch more exposure to IndyCar and you can tell it in the prize money on offer.

In the end, though, it's about the teams. Like soccer, there are haves and have nots, and one by one the haves have migrated over to the IRL. These are the best funded, best run teams, and like Penske Racing, they have moved over to the IndyCar side. If the rumored move of Newman/Haas/Lanigan from the CCWS to the IRL happens, I truly believe that that is it for Champ Car. Hope this helps.

 

There are rumors of N/H/L going to IRL? What have you heard on that?

 

A couple of places. Check out the Indy Star and Speed TV. The one thing they do say is that Paul Newman would have no part of it.

 

NHL will have no part of Indy as long as Newman is alive. And even then I find it unlikely they'll be leaving any time soon.

 

First off, I'd argue against there being any clear advantage to IRL right now in terms of money or sponsors. I probably read the same article you did at the beginning of the season that said IRL "looked" to be in better shape at their respective debuts to the press. However Champ hadn't even had the chance to paint sponsor logos on many of their cars which had only debuted a week prior. And looking at their cars on Sunday, they all look fairly well sponsored to me. Big names like CDW, McDonalds, etc... adorn all the cars.

Second, yes IRL's purses were slightly larger, but Andretti/Green only took away $210,000 from the IRL race and they finished 1-2. So their purses aren't substantially bigger when it's all said and done.

Third, look at the attendance of both leagues. IRL only managed to get 35k in fans to their race over the weekend, Champ on the other hand got 151k out to their race weekend (Fri-Sunday). I know they got 57k to their race in San Jose last year. So in that category Champ is the clear victor. You are correct that the Indy 500 is a huge boon for the IRL, however I'd argue that it's the one thing holding their league up. Their other races aren't as well attended as Champ's more rounded schedule is. Plus IRL has problems of their own. After 2008 they won't even have an engine manufacturer, and that's assuming Honda doesn't bail even earlier then they've stated they will.

As for N/H/L leaving Champ, I've found nothing to back that up, even idle speculation. And with their recent investment in the new Panoz chassis, I doubt they'll be throwing in the towel for the next 3 years at least assuming they're even considering it.

In the final analysis, both leagues are doing poorly in certain areas. Champ has better attendance, IRL better TV. Champ has better equipment, IRL more star power drivers. The only real winner is NASCAR.

 

I don't think we have to worry too much about them surviving. All the articles I've read recently have said both are setting themselves up to survive on their own long term and that any hope of reunification is likely gone for at least the next 3 years, and likely permanently.

 

athletics68, I know we're going to disagree about a lot of things on this one, with me being an IndyCar fan and you being a CCWS fan, but I am telling you I am seeing a lot of rumbling about Carl Haas in particular going over to the IRL. Paul Newman supposedly wants no part of it, but I am not kidding when I keep seeing the rumblings. This being BigSoccer, we all know that it's 50/50 on what's true and what's not, but the rumblings do generally have a where there's smoke, there's fire feel to them.

 

How many teams would that make that have defected since the split? Heck, two of the three power teams in the IRL were originally Champ Car teams.

 

Well Lannigan just joined them. So I don't think he'd have joined a Champ team unless his intention was to race in Champ Car. And I woudn't say I'm a CCWS fan over IRL. I enjoy the Indy 500 every year. I just enjoy CCWS overall schedule more since it comes into my backyard.

 

Well it's not likely to happen anytime soon. The two groups are still as determined as ever for their side to come out on top if they ever merge. Which is of course mutually exclusive.

 

Athletics, where have you found the Honda contract ends at the end of next year? The only thing I can find on the net is that the contract with Honda/IRL ends at the end of the 2009 season. Well, that link and a line in Wikipedia so take the second source for what it is worth...lol

At that, the Honda engine is supplied by Ilmor. So if Honda pulled their name off the engine it would be no big deal. They would run it as the Ilmor engine until a new sponsor could be found. Ilmor is also partly owned by Roger Penske. I know Penske is not part owner of the IRL but he believes enough in it that he moved over to the series from the former CART.

CCWS started the season with just Cosworth engines. They are now Mazda-Cosworth after Mazda threw money CCWS way.

 

You are correct about the law as I recall it, a tobacco company can only advertise in one sport. Due to the split of the then CART and IRL the actual name Marlboro could only appear on the car in one series. Yes, Marlboro wanted to be on the car at Indy but they could have easily ran the car in the neon red and white colors with out the name on the car, like they currently do and just have "Team Penske" listed on the car.

Penske, like Ganassi, loves the Indianapolis 500. It killed him to be away from the speedway, especially with his final 500 before the split his cars failed to qualify for the race.