IRL/Champ Car deal reportedly done

So what type of cars do we see running at Indy now - the IRL junk? "cowoffunk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:fpelh6$1bo$1$[email hidden]... > http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65213 > > >

On Feb 19, 8:10 pm, "Byron Forbes" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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> So what type of cars do we see running at Indy now - the IRL junk? > > "cowoffunk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > > news:fpelh6$1bo$1$[email hidden]... > > >http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65213

According to that article, it would seem so.

"Byron Forbes" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:47bb8c18$[email hidden]...

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> So what type of cars do we see running at Indy now - the IRL junk? > > > "cowoffunk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:fpelh6$1bo$1$[email hidden]... >> http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65213 >> >>

Those Panoz chassis get mothballed. Some teams have brand new ones which haven't even turned a wheel

Thank $DEITY that stupid split is over. I hope they keep the road courses in the schedule for good and that they make a return to Europe / Germany one day. Cheers, uwe --

"cowoffunk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:fph06e$a6h$1$[email hidden]...

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> > "Byron Forbes" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:47bb8c18$[email hidden]... >> So what type of cars do we see running at Indy now - the IRL junk? >> >> >> "cowoffunk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >> news:fpelh6$1bo$1$[email hidden]... >>> http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65213 >>> >>> > > Those Panoz chassis get mothballed. Some teams have brand new ones which > haven't even turned a wheel >

I was getting more at the putt putt engines that the IRL use --> yawn.....................

On Feb 20, 7:04 am, Uwe Schürkamp <[email hidden]> wrote:

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> Thank $DEITY that stupid split is over. I hope they keep the road > courses in the schedule for good and that they make a return to Europe / > Germany one day. > > Cheers, uwe > > --

They need a 60/40 split ovals and road courses to start, maybe for 5 years. Get the American fan base back. Then they should look to go 50/50 with Europe and Asia being on the ticket. I think anything more aggressive then that and they will not be able to survive. As for the cars, I am sure they will work out a formula that allows all cars to run for a year or two. The IRL did this at the beginning, and it would only make sense now. Does anyone think this might just be a case of "too little too late" for top level American open wheel racing?

"btgoss" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... On Feb 20, 7:04 am, Uwe Sch�rkamp <[email hidden]> wrote:

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> Thank $DEITY that stupid split is over. I hope they keep the road > courses in the schedule for good and that they make a return to Europe / > Germany one day. > > Cheers, uwe > > --

They need a 60/40 split ovals and road courses to start, maybe for 5 years. Get the American fan base back. Then they should look to go 50/50 with Europe and Asia being on the ticket. I think anything more aggressive then that and they will not be able to survive. As for the cars, I am sure they will work out a formula that allows all cars to run for a year or two. The IRL did this at the beginning, and it would only make sense now. Does anyone think this might just be a case of "too little too late" for top level American open wheel racing? It could be too late. The IRL is supplying cars to the Champ Car teams coming over, so they ARE spending some cash to get this going. One big problem is that many top names in open wheel racing have moved or are moving over to Nascar. Name recognition, other than a handful of drivers, is going to be a problem initially. I think by 2009 there will be about a 50/50 split between ovals and road courses. Hell.....there might even be a "real" bump day at the 500 this year if enough drivers hang around.....:-) Ed

On Feb 20, 7:37 pm, "Byron Forbes" <[email hidden]> wrote: >     I was getting more at the putt putt engines that the IRL use --> > yawn..................... Crapwagons are crapwagons, doesn't make much difference to me if they add a handful of champcar teams or not. It's nice having Penske and Newman-Haas in the same series again, but without tracks like Road America and cars with turbos/ground effect I don't see how the merger is going to increase my interest in the IRL.

jason moyer wrote:

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> On Feb 20, 7:37 pm, "Byron Forbes" <[email hidden]> wrote: > >> I was getting more at the putt putt engines that the IRL use --> >> yawn..................... > > Crapwagons are crapwagons, doesn't make much difference to me if they > add a handful of champcar teams or not. It's nice having Penske and > Newman-Haas in the same series again, but without tracks like Road > America and cars with turbos/ground effect I don't see how the merger > is going to increase my interest in the IRL. >

Adding Europe, South America and Asia is what turned CART into F1 wannabes in the first place. This is an American series that should be run in America. The Japan race is just to appease Honda. Definitely keep Road America, Mid Ohio, Portland, Laguna Seca, Long Beach and Sears Point. Can the races in South Korea (?), Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:n02yj.4069$v47.2955@trnddc08...

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> jason moyer wrote: >> On Feb 20, 7:37 pm, "Byron Forbes" <[email hidden]> wrote: >> >>> I was getting more at the putt putt engines that the IRL use --> >>> yawn..................... >> >> Crapwagons are crapwagons, doesn't make much difference to me if they >> add a handful of champcar teams or not. It's nice having Penske and >> Newman-Haas in the same series again, but without tracks like Road >> America and cars with turbos/ground effect I don't see how the merger >> is going to increase my interest in the IRL. >> > > Adding Europe, South America and Asia is what turned CART into F1 wannabes > in the first place. This is an American series that should be run in > America. The Japan race is just to appease Honda. Definitely keep Road > America, Mid Ohio, Portland, Laguna Seca, Long Beach and Sears Point. Can > the races in South Korea (?), Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

You must be kidding! There is one single thing that screwed CART - the loss of the Indy500. It was not only the single greatest motor sport event on the planet - it was, in my opinion at least, the greatest single sporting event on the planet. And then a handful of bozos were allowed to screw the entire thing up. As far as the foreign tracks go - well a good track is a good track and................ Expnad or die! :) I'll bet it's one of Michael Schumacher's regrets that they stuffed that up before he got a chance to do what Jacques Villeneuve did and what Nigel Mansell almost did. To me, in 1995 the CART series was a very legitimate alternative to F1 where the emphasis was clearly more on the driver than the car as it is in F1. I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of F1 conspiracy brought CART down - they had good reason to feel threatened by it then. CHAMP and IRL now - just a joke. Not even a tiny blip on the international radar.

Byron Forbes wrote:

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> "Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:n02yj.4069$v47.2955@trnddc08... >> jason moyer wrote: >>> On Feb 20, 7:37 pm, "Byron Forbes" <[email hidden]> wrote: >>> >>>> I was getting more at the putt putt engines that the IRL use --> >>>> yawn..................... >>> Crapwagons are crapwagons, doesn't make much difference to me if they >>> add a handful of champcar teams or not. It's nice having Penske and >>> Newman-Haas in the same series again, but without tracks like Road >>> America and cars with turbos/ground effect I don't see how the merger >>> is going to increase my interest in the IRL. >>> >> Adding Europe, South America and Asia is what turned CART into F1 wannabes >> in the first place. This is an American series that should be run in >> America. The Japan race is just to appease Honda. Definitely keep Road >> America, Mid Ohio, Portland, Laguna Seca, Long Beach and Sears Point. Can >> the races in South Korea (?), Germany and elsewhere in Europe. > > You must be kidding! There is one single thing that screwed CART - the > loss of the Indy500. It was not only the single greatest motor sport event > on the planet - it was, in my opinion at least, the greatest single sporting > event on the planet. And then a handful of bozos were allowed to screw the > entire thing up. As far as the foreign tracks go - well a good track is a > good track and................ Expnad or die! :) > I'll bet it's one of Michael Schumacher's regrets that they stuffed that > up before he got a chance to do what Jacques Villeneuve did and what Nigel > Mansell almost did. To me, in 1995 the CART series was a very legitimate > alternative to F1 where the emphasis was clearly more on the driver than the > car as it is in F1. I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of F1 conspiracy > brought CART down - they had good reason to feel threatened by it then. > CHAMP and IRL now - just a joke. Not even a tiny blip on the international > radar. > >

Keep in mind that no one was blocked from running the Indy 500 after the split. All the teams had to do was run the entire schedule so they couldn't "cherry pick" the 500. What did CART do? Ran the disastrous US 500 on the same day - first lap pile up and all teams allowed to switch to backup cars (?). I have been to Indy every year since 1982. The first year of the IRL series there was the first exciting race they had had in years. Before, it was a parade, and the winner was easy to guess before the race even started. The first IRL race had 10 cars nose-to-tail for the lead for most of the race. Seemed like a good change to me! How about the last win for Little Al at Texas Motorspeedway? Three cars, three wide for the last lap? Doesn't get more exciting than that. And Champ car? Boring parades. Races in Korea. TV ratings? What TV ratings? (Don't think Spike TV is a household word.) And it went bankrupt. It was kept alive by life support, and now has finally died. Keep the major road courses. But keep it in this country so the average fans can travel and see all of the races if they want to. Expand? There are plenty of tracks in this country. There is no need to China or Korea to find a new race track. Mike

On Feb 29, 11:16 pm, "Byron Forbes" <[email hidden]> wrote: > To me, in 1995 the CART series was a very legitimate > alternative to F1 where the emphasis was clearly more on the driver than the > car as it is in F1. As long as you drove for Penske/Mercedes/Goodyear. :)