Slim pickings for first Champ Car race

Slim pickings for first Champ Car race

Slim pickings for first Champ Car race

TheStar,com - Wheels - Slim pickings for first Champ Car race
Series needs rethink and here's what the owners should do
April 07, 2007
Norris McDonald

Let's get something straight: I am a big, big supporter of the Champ Car race
in Toronto.

The recent news that Tiverton-based Steelback Brewery has signed on as title
sponsor of the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto - title sponsors being very hard
to come by these days - is nothing short of terrific and the event at the CNE
July 6-8 is shaping up to be the best in years, with parties and receptions and
a support race lineup to knock your socks off.

I am also a big supporter of the Champ Car World Series. I have to be. Why?
Because Champ Car owns the Steelback Grand Prix.

They bought it from Molson, remember?

So if something happens to the entire open-wheel race series, our summer
spectacular could be in jeopardy.

Having said that, it sure can be tough being a supporter of the series these
days.

Until the last couple of weeks, nobody had any idea who was going to be driving
in that series this year. Okay, I exaggerate. We knew Paul Tracy, Justin Wilson
and Sébastien Bourdais were going to race, but other than those three, there
was zilch.

Then they started making announcements: Ryan Dalziel, Robert Doornbos, Alex
Figge, Matt Halliday, Neel Jani, Simon Pagenaud and Tristan Gommendy.

As the Sundance Kid used to say to Butch Cassidy: "Who are those guys?"

Seriously, who is Tristan Gommendy? I Googled this guy and he's nobody. He won
the French Formula Three championship in 2002. Big deal. Last year, he didn't
drive anything. Are you sitting down? They signed him to race in the 2007 Champ
Car World Series before he even drove the car.

Anyway, I next went to the Champ Car website. They have 19 drivers listed as
entered in the 2007 Champ Car World Series. One is Andrew Ranger, who announced
last week that he is going to drive in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series this
season because he couldn't get a ride in Champ Car. Hmmm, I wonder whether
Andrew knows his name is there?

Gerald Forsythe, an owner of the Champ Car series, swore all winter that he
wouldn't run two cars this year. One car for Tracy would be it. Now, at the
last minute, he's entered a second car for Mario Dominguez, the driver he fired
last year because he kept crashing into Tracy.

Hold on, it gets better.

Dominguez is one of at least two drivers - the other being the "very famous"
Matt Halliday - who have been hired for three races only. After that, who knows
who'll be driving those cars, or even if those cars will still be around?

And they want people to take this series seriously?

Okay, how can Champ Car turn this thing around? How can they do it right?

Here is a strategy that I guarantee will work. It's going to cost oodles of
money, but better to put good money after good, than good money after bad
(which has been the case to date):

1. The three series owners have to re-evaluate their business plan which,
regardless of what they say, is not working. Every year it's the same story:
will Champ Car have enough cars and drivers? This has got to stop. Only when a
series has stability and continuity will serious commercial interest be piqued.

2. Teams owned by Kevin Kalkhoven, Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi each have to
run two cars. (Memo to Gentilozzi: if you're an owner of this series, you have
to afford it.) While quality is the ideal, quantity is what's needed now.
Seventeen-or-so cars, a half dozen of which are hanging on by the skin of their
teeth, is not big league. If you're serious, you start 24 in the feature.
Nothing less than a full field will do.

3. Kalkhoven et al. have to rethink subsidizing teams. Five teams do not need
help; everybody else does. So five-year contracts have to be signed with teams
capable of fielding quality cars. If there aren't enough in the Champ Car orbit
now (and please forget the old boys' network), go out and find them. Teams such
as Sierra Sierra Enterprises, currently in the Atlantic series, are more than
capable of moving up if they have the financial resources. There are others.

4. Teams being subsidized have to agree to run drivers that a) Champ Car
selects, or b) have Champ Car's approval. Although it is called the "world
series," it is really a North American series and the drivers have to be North
American. Offshore drivers don't sell tickets.

(Okay, make an exception for Michael Schumacher.)

You see, continuity of talent is what builds a series. Look at NASCAR, or look
at the IRL. The drivers all come back, year after year. There is familiarity
and with that comes expectation and excitement and the ability to market.

I made this suggestion three years ago. After blowing it big-time by refusing
to sign open-wheel stars like Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and others when they
had the chance, Champ Car (née CART), I suggested, should do a corporate
signing of sprint car star J.J. Yeley and assign him to a team. They didn't and
guess where Yeley is racing today? In NASCAR Nextel Cup.

Who would sell more tickets and attract more coverage: J.J. Yeley or Tristan
Gommendy?

5. Commit to do this for five full years - the time any good marketing program
takes to fulfill its potential. Find a way to hold on to Bourdais and pray that
Tracy's skills don't deteriorate. Start every race with 24 quality cars with 24
quality, primarily North American, drivers. Market the hell out of the drivers
first, the series second and the races/events third.

If Champ Car does this, I guarantee that at the end of those five years, the
sponsors will be lining up to get involved and teams will be kicking in the
door to get on board.

Re: Slim pickings for first Champ Car race

On Apr 7, 4:20 pm, Apu <n...@gmail,com > wrote:
> Slim pickings for first Champ Car race
>
> TheStar,com - Wheels - Slim pickings for first Champ Car race
> Series needs rethink and here's what the owners should do
> April 07, 2007
> Norris McDonald
>
> Let's get something straight: I am a big, big supporter of the Champ Car race
> in Toronto.
>
> The recent news that Tiverton-based Steelback Brewery has signed on as title
> sponsor of the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto - title sponsors being very hard
> to come by these days - is nothing short of terrific and the event at the CNE
> July 6-8 is shaping up to be the best in years, with parties and receptions and
> a support race lineup to knock your socks off.
>
> I am also a big supporter of the Champ Car World Series. I have to be. Why?
> Because Champ Car owns the Steelback Grand Prix.
>
> They bought it from Molson, remember?
>
> So if something happens to the entire open-wheel race series, our summer
> spectacular could be in jeopardy.
>
> Having said that, it sure can be tough being a supporter of the series these
> days.
>
> Until the last couple of weeks, nobody had any idea who was going to be driving
> in that series this year. Okay, I exaggerate. We knew Paul Tracy, Justin Wilson
> and Sébastien Bourdais were going to race, but other than those three, there
> was zilch.
>
> Then they started making announcements: Ryan Dalziel, Robert Doornbos, Alex
> Figge, Matt Halliday, Neel Jani, Simon Pagenaud and Tristan Gommendy.
>
> As the Sundance Kid used to say to Butch Cassidy: "Who are those guys?"
>
> Seriously, who is Tristan Gommendy? I Googled this guy and he's nobody. He won
> the French Formula Three championship in 2002. Big deal. Last year, he didn't
> drive anything. Are you sitting down? They signed him to race in the 2007 Champ
> Car World Series before he even drove the car.
>
> Anyway, I next went to the Champ Car website. They have 19 drivers listed as
> entered in the 2007 Champ Car World Series. One is Andrew Ranger, who announced
> last week that he is going to drive in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series this
> season because he couldn't get a ride in Champ Car. Hmmm, I wonder whether
> Andrew knows his name is there?
>
> Gerald Forsythe, an owner of the Champ Car series, swore all winter that he
> wouldn't run two cars this year. One car for Tracy would be it. Now, at the
> last minute, he's entered a second car for Mario Dominguez, the driver he fired
> last year because he kept crashing into Tracy.
>
> Hold on, it gets better.
>
> Dominguez is one of at least two drivers - the other being the "very famous"
> Matt Halliday - who have been hired for three races only. After that, who knows
> who'll be driving those cars, or even if those cars will still be around?
>
> And they want people to take this series seriously?
>
> Okay, how can Champ Car turn this thing around? How can they do it right?
>
> Here is a strategy that I guarantee will work. It's going to cost oodles of
> money, but better to put good money after good, than good money after bad
> (which has been the case to date):
>
> 1. The three series owners have to re-evaluate their business plan which,
> regardless of what they say, is not working. Every year it's the same story:
> will Champ Car have enough cars and drivers? This has got to stop. Only when a
> series has stability and continuity will serious commercial interest be piqued.
>
> 2. Teams owned by Kevin Kalkhoven, Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi each have to
> run two cars. (Memo to Gentilozzi: if you're an owner of this series, you have
> to afford it.) While quality is the ideal, quantity is what's needed now.
> Seventeen-or-so cars, a half dozen of which are hanging on by the skin of their
> teeth, is not big league. If you're serious, you start 24 in the feature.
> Nothing less than a full field will do.
>
> 3. Kalkhoven et al. have to rethink subsidizing teams. Five teams do not need
> help; everybody else does. So five-year contracts have to be signed with teams
> capable of fielding quality cars. If there aren't enough in the Champ Car orbit
> now (and please forget the old boys' network), go out and find them. Teams such
> as Sierra Sierra Enterprises, currently in the Atlantic series, are more than
> capable of moving up if they have the financial resources. There are others.
>
> 4. Teams being subsidized have to agree to run drivers that a) Champ Car
> selects, or b) have Champ Car's approval. Although it is called the "world
> series," it is really a North American series and the drivers have to be North
> American. Offshore drivers don't sell tickets.
>
> (Okay, make an exception for Michael Schumacher.)
>
> You see, continuity of talent is what builds a series. Look at NASCAR, or look
> at the IRL. The drivers all come back, year after year. There is familiarity
> and with that comes expectation and excitement and the ability to market.
>
> I made this suggestion three years ago. After blowing it big-time by refusing
> to sign open-wheel stars like Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and others when they
> had the chance, Champ Car (née CART), I suggested, should do a corporate
> signing of sprint car star J.J. Yeley and assign him to a team. They didn't and
> guess where Yeley is racing today? In NASCAR Nextel Cup.
>
> Who would sell more tickets and attract more coverage: J.J. Yeley or Tristan
> Gommendy?
>
> 5. Commit to do this for five full years - the time any good marketing program
> takes to fulfill its potential. Find a way to hold on to Bourdais and pray that
> Tracy's skills don't deteriorate. Start every race with 24 quality cars with 24
> quality, primarily North American, drivers. Market the hell out of the drivers
> first, the series second and the races/events third.
>
> If Champ Car does this, I guarantee that at the end of those five years, the
> sponsors will be lining up to get involved and teams will be kicking in the
> door to get on board.


Assuming the article is quoted correctly, it is so full of bunk and
assumptions that I would disagree with nearly every point there.

First though I agree car counts have been low, and this year I put
more of an issue with because the new car promised new teams and for
the most part they didn't deliver. A 17 car count doesn't hurt nearly
as bad as when you say something publicly, make it happen or keep
quiet. Lack of creditability is far more damaging than not having 25
cars on the grid.

Frankly what's the difference between 17 cars with say 6 or 7 with a
real shot to win, and F1. F1 has 22 I think it is that will start the
race tonight, but except in the rarest of situations only maybe 4 have
a real chance to win. No one is saying F1 is about to go anywhere.
Frankly Id rather have fewer cars, with fewer moving chicanes and more
cars that have a real shot to win.

The "Who are these guys?" is largely an unfair shot. Drivers come and
drivers go. Each year bring a new crop of talent, and each year
drivers with experience fall by the wayside. Its just the nature of
racing. Nascar drivers have longer careers now largely not because
what the do on track, but off. With the 35 locked in spots it makes
getting new talent in tougher and tougher. Yeah thats real racing.
The only reason that he might have a clue about who the drivers are
that are running in top IRL teams is that they made a name for
themselves not in the IRL, but in Cart and Champ Car. Hint they
likely ran that race in Toronto. Time and talent will make the name.
You don't levy the title of superstar on anyone. They earn it. As a
whole Id rather run for the most part with back marker talent in Champ
Car than the likes of Foyt IV and Milka Duno.

First on your point number one, its way too early to know if the plan
is working or it isnt. Frankly this is the first year they have not
had to fend of a direct or indirect attempt to put them out of
business. This is the first year of the new car. How will it race?
Will it be reliable? Many other questions have to be answered. The
product on the track will largely dictate whether or not the series
grows. It has a great deal of damage to repair, but it can be done.
It will take time though. Much more than 5 years, but it will work IF
they do it right.

Point 2 I really don't disagree with they should be running two cars
each. Yet I don't think they MUST, run two each. Two of the owners
likely could fill the field of the IRL 500 if they wanted to, but I
doubt they would and likely wouldn't in their own series. The writer
is putting WAY too much importance on quanity. Yes the counts need to
go up and stability would be good for the series, but 18 good drivers
can put on a better race than 22 bad ones. It is QUALITY that makes
the difference. I could slap on skates and pick up a hockey stick,
but no one is going to pay to get in Maple Leaf Garden to see me play
hockey on the Leafs. I stink even at the lowest levels in hockey. I
could add a head to the team, but no value either to the team or NHL
because the talent isn't there.

Point 3 Giving money to teams is like putting a band aid on a cut,
when stitches are needed. It usually doesn't work well. History has
shown it hardly ever works. There is a better way. Instead of giving
the money to the teams, pay for a better TV package. The one thing
Champ Car needs above all is eyeballs. Find the races when its
different networks different weeks, is easy only for the hardcore
fan. It should be all network, no cable and again invest in quality
production including international production. Some of the broadcasts
have been poor at best. Get the number of eyeballs up watching Champ
Car and teams will find sponsorship. TV is the quickest way to do
that and the international market may be the first to build. Frankly
they should invest in more TV time for the Atlantic series. That's
where those names are made for the drivers that will one day be in
Champ Car. If you give money to anyone, give it to the drivers not
the teams. Winning the Atlantics champship provides most of the
funding for a ride in Champ Car the next year. With that influx of
talent in about 5 years car count problems will be gone IF you get the
TV package done so the eyeballs go up.

Point 4 is the same old line about US fans won't get behind a non US
driver. That's BS. Some guy named Alex Zanardi is a classic
example. No one knew who a French Canadian that happened to have the
initial JV was till Atlantics and Cart. Low and behold he did ok in
F1. Fans were watchin in 95. They will watch talent today. Who
would sell more tickets? The one that could drive. JJ isn't
qualified to drive a Champ Car. Lets see if the other guy is and find
out. JPM sold quite a few tickets as did that JV guy.

Honestly to rebuild open wheel will take a lot longer than 5 years.
Anyone that thinks otherwise is fooling themselves or has no idea the
damage that was done. They are likely looking at it through the lens
of the Molson event. If the write covered racing other than that one
event I would be surprised. Ten years of damage won't be fixed in 5
years. Teams will get on board when sponsorship makes it profitable
to do so. Sponsors need exposure. It really isn't that complicated.

Re: Slim pickings for first Champ Car race

I have to agree with you...and, that article is mostly a re-hash of the
Robin Millar article.

As for drivers? He asks who is Simon Pagenaud?

Come on!! He is the winner of our driver development series!!!

Last time I looked, we signed two American drivers...there is 14 more in
atlantics.

And, as for returning rivers? We have Alex tag back, Justin is back, Bruno
is back, Will power was a late comer last season.....but he is back....
(and, he fast...super fast).

And, not to mention Paul, and Sebass.

And, golly..no one knows who Rahal is???????

Everyone got a 2 cents opinion on how to do a great job.

I think the Champ car guys are doing a great job, and are on the right
track...

We have a great new TV package..and more so, we have expansion into Europe.

The Reb bull news, the Minardio news....New car...some INCREDIBLE new
talent....

It looks rather impressive to me.

The car count will increase, and it not really much of a problem anyway.
(rumours have it that additional deals are pending for cars to be added to
the count this year..).

And, I also agree that we can't build Rome in 4 or 5 years. However, looking
at the cars running at Vegas....,it absolute amazing..and they look drop
dead gorgeous.

the racing has begun.....

--
Albert D. Kallal
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
pleaseNOOSpamKallal@msn,com

Re: Slim pickings for first Champ Car race


"Albert D. Kallal" <PleaseNOOOsPAMmkallal@msn,com > wrote in message
news:BG_Rh.43943$aG1.239@pd7urf3no...
>I have to agree with you...and, that article is mostly a re-hash of the
>Robin Millar article.
>
> As for drivers? He asks who is Simon Pagenaud?
>
> Come on!! He is the winner of our driver development series!!!
>
> Last time I looked, we signed two American drivers...there is 14 more in
> atlantics.
>
> And, as for returning rivers? We have Alex tag back, Justin is back, Bruno
> is back, Will power was a late comer last season.....but he is back....
> (and, he fast...super fast).
>
> And, not to mention Paul, and Sebass.
>
> And, golly..no one knows who Rahal is???????
>
> Everyone got a 2 cents opinion on how to do a great job.
>
> I think the Champ car guys are doing a great job, and are on the right
> track...
>
> We have a great new TV package..and more so, we have expansion into
> Europe.
>
> The Reb bull news, the Minardio news....New car...some INCREDIBLE new
> talent....
>
> It looks rather impressive to me.
>
> The car count will increase, and it not really much of a problem anyway.
> (rumours have it that additional deals are pending for cars to be added to
> the count this year..).
>
> And, I also agree that we can't build Rome in 4 or 5 years. However,
> looking at the cars running at Vegas....,it absolute amazing..and they
> look drop dead gorgeous.
>
> the racing has begun.....
>
>

They may indeed have talent but unfortunately it is not the type of talent
that can be viewed on a TV screen. The only way that racecar drivers get to
be known in America is by making commercials. That is simply not going to
happen unless they start signing some nice looking chicks.

Re: Slim pickings for first Champ Car race



Point 4 is the same old line about US fans won't get behind a non US
driver. That's BS. Some guy named Alex Zanardi is a classic
example. No one knew who a French Canadian that happened to have the
initial JV was till Atlantics and Cart. Low and behold he did ok in
F1. Fans were watchin in 95. They will watch talent today. Who
would sell more tickets? The one that could drive. JJ isn't
qualified to drive a Champ Car. Lets see if the other guy is and find
out. JPM sold quite a few tickets as did that JV guy.


If you really believe that either AZ or JV are recognized names in the USA
you are delusional. Call up a sports talk radio station and tell the host
you would like to talk about those guys and see what happens.

You are also wrong about the TV coverage thing. There is not a week to be
found that there is not something going on in the world of sports that
dwarfs OWRS or whatever they are calling themselves these days. The reason
that Americans do not watch it is because they consider it to be
meaningless.

Re: Slim pickings for first Champ Car race

On Apr 8, 5:33 am, "RickyBobby" <nasca...@cox,net > wrote:
> Point 4 is the same old line about US fans won't get behind a non US
> driver. That's BS. Some guy named Alex Zanardi is a classic
> example. No one knew who a French Canadian that happened to have the
> initial JV was till Atlantics and Cart. Low and behold he did ok in
> F1. Fans were watchin in 95. They will watch talent today. Who
> would sell more tickets? The one that could drive. JJ isn't
> qualified to drive a Champ Car. Lets see if the other guy is and find
> out. JPM sold quite a few tickets as did that JV guy.
>
> If you really believe that either AZ or JV are recognized names in the USA
> you are delusional. Call up a sports talk radio station and tell the host
> you would like to talk about those guys and see what happens.
>
> You are also wrong about the TV coverage thing. There is not a week to be
> found that there is not something going on in the world of sports that
> dwarfs OWRS or whatever they are calling themselves these days. The reason
> that Americans do not watch it is because they consider it to be
> meaningless.

And if you are so new to the sport that you didn't know that JV and
Zanardi in the early 90s WERE every bit the household name that most
of the Nascar drivers today are you are either too new to understand
or refuse to see the truth. I seem to remember that you didn't know
what ALMS was just a short time ago so I suspect you are way too new
to understand or just a troll. You do know where the practice of
doing doughnuts after a race really got started? Hint it wasn't in
Nascar. It wasn't in the IRL. It was one Italian named Alex
Zanardi. I always suspected it turned the brake bias to where it was
all front brake, and at that time a CART engine had a lot more HP
than it does now. It would turn in the most amazing ways and he had
the car control to do it in some of the tightest spots. JV still
probably has more name recognition world wide that most Nascar
drivers. A Nascar race in Europe would have all the appeal and
attendence of an IRL race at Phoenix.

Way too much damage was done to open wheel by the IRL for the American
audience alone to rebuild any series. Some of the TV production of
the races left a great deal to be desired. Here is another fact. US
companies do business overseas. Champ Car is in the best postion to
take advantage of the long overseas history of road racing. It
matters not where the eyeballs are, as long as there are there.
Eyeballs equal cash from sponsors. A quality product on track, and
quality TV production and those TV numbers will go up.

If either is lacking, they will stay down.

Re: Slim pickings for first Champ Car race


"Mark" <mblackwell1958@yahoo,com > wrote in message
news:1176049621.201115.242870@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups,com ...
> On Apr 8, 5:33 am, "RickyBobby" <nasca...@cox,net > wrote:
>> Point 4 is the same old line about US fans won't get behind a non US
>> driver. That's BS. Some guy named Alex Zanardi is a classic
>> example. No one knew who a French Canadian that happened to have the
>> initial JV was till Atlantics and Cart. Low and behold he did ok in
>> F1. Fans were watchin in 95. They will watch talent today. Who
>> would sell more tickets? The one that could drive. JJ isn't
>> qualified to drive a Champ Car. Lets see if the other guy is and find
>> out. JPM sold quite a few tickets as did that JV guy.
>>
>> If you really believe that either AZ or JV are recognized names in the
>> USA
>> you are delusional. Call up a sports talk radio station and tell the
>> host
>> you would like to talk about those guys and see what happens.
>>
>> You are also wrong about the TV coverage thing. There is not a week to
>> be
>> found that there is not something going on in the world of sports that
>> dwarfs OWRS or whatever they are calling themselves these days. The
>> reason
>> that Americans do not watch it is because they consider it to be
>> meaningless.
>
> And if you are so new to the sport that you didn't know that JV and
> Zanardi in the early 90s WERE every bit the household name that most
> of the Nascar drivers today are you are either too new to understand
> or refuse to see the truth. I seem to remember that you didn't know
> what ALMS was just a short time ago so I suspect you are way too new
> to understand or just a troll. You do know where the practice of
> doing doughnuts after a race really got started? Hint it wasn't in
> Nascar. It wasn't in the IRL. It was one Italian named Alex
> Zanardi. I always suspected it turned the brake bias to where it was
> all front brake, and at that time a CART engine had a lot more HP
> than it does now. It would turn in the most amazing ways and he had
> the car control to do it in some of the tightest spots. JV still
> probably has more name recognition world wide that most Nascar
> drivers. A Nascar race in Europe would have all the appeal and
> attendence of an IRL race at Phoenix.
>
> Way too much damage was done to open wheel by the IRL for the American
> audience alone to rebuild any series. Some of the TV production of
> the races left a great deal to be desired. Here is another fact. US
> companies do business overseas. Champ Car is in the best postion to
> take advantage of the long overseas history of road racing. It
> matters not where the eyeballs are, as long as there are there.
> Eyeballs equal cash from sponsors. A quality product on track, and
> quality TV production and those TV numbers will go up.
>
> If either is lacking, they will stay down.
>

I knew what ALMS was, I was just making a joke about its minor league
status.

You can delude yourself all you want about sponsors and viewers but it is
not going to happen with imported drivers. The open wheel operators made
their bed and now they can lie in it.

Lastly, how well JV could drive a car last century has nothing to do with
anything today.

Re: Slim pickings for first Champ Car race

RickyBobby nascar42@cox,net said:
> You are also wrong about the TV coverage thing. There is not a week to be
> found that there is not something going on in the world of sports that
> dwarfs OWRS or whatever they are calling themselves these days. The reason
> that Americans do not watch it is because they consider it to be
> meaningless.
>
So what you're really saying is that Americans are xenophobic ignorant tree
stumps who understand fuck-all about racing, grow confused by cars that turn
right, know nothing of race strategy and are too illiterate to pronounce
surnames longer than 2 syllables or first names that aren't Buzz, Jimmy or
Buck.

Re: Slim pickings for first Champ Car race

Mark mblackwell1958@yahoo,com said:
>
>
> Assuming the article is quoted correctly, it is so full of bunk and
> assumptions that I would disagree with nearly every point there.
>
> First though I agree car counts have been low, and this year I put
> more of an issue with because the new car promised new teams and for
> the most part they didn't deliver. A 17 car count doesn't hurt nearly
> as bad as when you say something publicly, make it happen or keep
> quiet. Lack of creditability is far more damaging than not having 25
> cars on the grid.
>
> Frankly what's the difference between 17 cars with say 6 or 7 with a
> real shot to win, and F1. F1 has 22 I think it is that will start the
> race tonight, but except in the rarest of situations only maybe 4 have
> a real chance to win. No one is saying F1 is about to go anywhere.
> Frankly Id rather have fewer cars, with fewer moving chicanes and more
> cars that have a real shot to win.
>
> The "Who are these guys?" is largely an unfair shot. Drivers come and
> drivers go. Each year bring a new crop of talent, and each year
> drivers with experience fall by the wayside. Its just the nature of
> racing. Nascar drivers have longer careers now largely not because
> what the do on track, but off. With the 35 locked in spots it makes
> getting new talent in tougher and tougher. Yeah thats real racing.
> The only reason that he might have a clue about who the drivers are
> that are running in top IRL teams is that they made a name for
> themselves not in the IRL, but in Cart and Champ Car. Hint they
> likely ran that race in Toronto. Time and talent will make the name.
> You don't levy the title of superstar on anyone. They earn it. As a
> whole Id rather run for the most part with back marker talent in Champ
> Car than the likes of Foyt IV and Milka Duno.
>
> First on your point number one, its way too early to know if the plan
> is working or it isnt. Frankly this is the first year they have not
> had to fend of a direct or indirect attempt to put them out of
> business. This is the first year of the new car. How will it race?
> Will it be reliable? Many other questions have to be answered. The
> product on the track will largely dictate whether or not the series
> grows. It has a great deal of damage to repair, but it can be done.
> It will take time though. Much more than 5 years, but it will work IF
> they do it right.
>
> Point 2 I really don't disagree with they should be running two cars
> each. Yet I don't think they MUST, run two each. Two of the owners
> likely could fill the field of the IRL 500 if they wanted to, but I
> doubt they would and likely wouldn't in their own series. The writer
> is putting WAY too much importance on quanity. Yes the counts need to
> go up and stability would be good for the series, but 18 good drivers
> can put on a better race than 22 bad ones. It is QUALITY that makes
> the difference. I could slap on skates and pick up a hockey stick,
> but no one is going to pay to get in Maple Leaf Garden to see me play
> hockey on the Leafs. I stink even at the lowest levels in hockey. I
> could add a head to the team, but no value either to the team or NHL
> because the talent isn't there.
>
> Point 3 Giving money to teams is like putting a band aid on a cut,
> when stitches are needed. It usually doesn't work well. History has
> shown it hardly ever works. There is a better way. Instead of giving
> the money to the teams, pay for a better TV package. The one thing
> Champ Car needs above all is eyeballs. Find the races when its
> different networks different weeks, is easy only for the hardcore
> fan. It should be all network, no cable and again invest in quality
> production including international production. Some of the broadcasts
> have been poor at best. Get the number of eyeballs up watching Champ
> Car and teams will find sponsorship. TV is the quickest way to do
> that and the international market may be the first to build. Frankly
> they should invest in more TV time for the Atlantic series. That's
> where those names are made for the drivers that will one day be in
> Champ Car. If you give money to anyone, give it to the drivers not
> the teams. Winning the Atlantics champship provides most of the
> funding for a ride in Champ Car the next year. With that influx of
> talent in about 5 years car count problems will be gone IF you get the
> TV package done so the eyeballs go up.
>
> Point 4 is the same old line about US fans won't get behind a non US
> driver. That's BS. Some guy named Alex Zanardi is a classic
> example. No one knew who a French Canadian that happened to have the
> initial JV was till Atlantics and Cart. Low and behold he did ok in
> F1. Fans were watchin in 95. They will watch talent today. Who
> would sell more tickets? The one that could drive. JJ isn't
> qualified to drive a Champ Car. Lets see if the other guy is and find
> out. JPM sold quite a few tickets as did that JV guy.
>
> Honestly to rebuild open wheel will take a lot longer than 5 years.
> Anyone that thinks otherwise is fooling themselves or has no idea the
> damage that was done. They are likely looking at it through the lens
> of the Molson event. If the write covered racing other than that one
> event I would be surprised. Ten years of damage won't be fixed in 5
> years. Teams will get on board when sponsorship makes it profitable
> to do so. Sponsors need exposure. It really isn't that complicated.
>
>
Good response, you should email it to the author of the article because
responding to the guy who cut and pasted it is futile.

I'm sure he'll appreciate hearing from you.

nmcdonald@thestar.ca