News from Cleveland...........

[dog-ring]

http://www.cleveland.com/autoracing/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1060422026178860.xml

Not good IMO........

[stockblock]

And Mid Ohio


LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) More than 2,700 fans signed petitions Sunday asking CART officials to keep the Champ Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio on next year's schedule.

Julie Weaver, of Columbus, said she and a few other fans decided to circulate the petitions because of speculation that CART might not be coming back to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next year if the series continues.

CART officials have said they don't have enough money to run a full series next year and are interested in selling the publicly traded company. Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and a group of CART team owners are said to be among those interested in buying the series and taking it private.

CART's president, Chris Pook, has questioned the viability of having CART events at Cleveland in July and Mid-Ohio in August.

He also has said the future of the series appears to be in urban street races rather than events on permanent road courses in rural areas, such as Mid-Ohio and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

''We know the rumors, and the situation isn't sounding good. At best, it appears to be 50-50,'' said Weaver, who said she's been attending races at Mid-Ohio for nearly 20 years.

''A bunch of us got together and said `Let's give this thing a shot and show CART how we feel.' We're not going to give up without fighting to keep the races here, where they've been successful since the 1980s.''

Michelle Trueman Gajoch, the track's president, said no decision has been made on whether CART will return to Mid-Ohio.

''I can assure you, based on conversations with CART officials this weekend, it is as frustrating for them right now as it is for us that there has been no ultimate decision made. or even the criteria developed which will lead to that decision,'' she said.

Mid-Ohio spokesman Reece White said negotiations between Trueman Gajoch and Pook for next year's race would begin Monday. Pook was not at the track this weekend.

[OW fan in OK]

The Patrick guy,, who said "I like Michigan, Fontana, Somewhere, and Somewhere else, but the fans have told TG they dont want it."

I'd like to say,, the reasons CART "had" to leave those races in the first place is because the fans told CART they didnt want them at Homestead, Gateway, Michigan, Nazareth, and etc. and etc.

I'd also say,, looks like the fans, or lack of, have told CART they dont want them at Laguna, Mid-O, or RA.

The only places where the cars can stretch their legs,, and fewer and fewer and fewer and fewer people attend.

[rev-ed]

Could we see a CART schedule consisting of Mexico, Long Beach, Canada and Milwaukee?

[Jack Harrington]

A street race at the Danbury Federal Prison may be in the works, after the SEC gets done lookin' at this charade. This thing has got more plot twists, than ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

[Jim Wilke]

CART is just maneuvering to replace IMG at Cleveland with MotorRock!!

[indycool]

Here's another view on Cleveland and Mid-Ohio.
The Cleveland race is a loser. Why else would IMG give the reins and risk to CART to promote if it was making money?
Pook announces 112,000 in attendance at Cleveland, which is sheer nonsense, and hinted at canning Mid-Ohio. He's using Cleveland as leverage against Mid-Ohio when Cleveland is going to be one of the first races to go if $$$$ have anything to say about it.
This is something Heitzler did which blew up Michigan. In negotiations with Michigan, he said, "why can't you fill up the stands like Cleveland?" That answer was easy for the Michigan people, some of which were involved in the Penske promotions at Cleveland. They said, "We have 100,000 seats....Cleveland only has 25,000 or so."
So Heitzler then jetted off to Cleveland and proclaimed to the media that Michigan would hafta "step up" like Cleveland did.
If Michelle Trueman-Gajoch at Mid-Ohio understands that, she'll probably drive a pretty hard bargain with Pook, who will then be trapped by his own supposed "leverage." And if that happens, Ohio could lose both of its races.

[The Fry Sauce King]

Originally posted by Jim Wilke
CART is just maneuvering to replace IMG at Cleveland with MotorRock!!

nice post Mr. Wilke......but didn't you forget something

[Indyknut]

Originally posted by Defender
but if I were the IRL, I'd be in no hurry to deal with Stanner and his crew, either. They made their bed.
Yep, always deal from a position of percieved power even when the numbers don't add up (see latest Gateway overnights).

[Defender]

What were c^rt's overnights, braniac?

As Howard so eloquently stated in another thread, another auto racing series should not go head to head with Cup these days.

[Eagle104]

Originally posted by Defender
What were c^rt's overnights, braniac?

What the.....???

You're done outta ammo, ain't ya, sHooter?

[dreamracer]

The "CART sucks worse" argument.

My favorite.

You forgot the "ALMS sucks worse" one too.

Both OW series ratings are flushable. The sporstcar series ratings are flushable.

Why this is EVER used as a comparison tool, is beyond me.

[Defender]

Originally posted by Eagle104
What the.....???

You're done outta ammo, ain't ya, sHooter?

Nope. But that's not what I'm shooting. Please allow me to attempt to clear the gray area inside your skull. Or am I getting that confused with the gray matter outside your skull?

-The ratings for IRL telecasts suck. Here's why:

1. The IRL can't or won't promote itself in an effective, 2003-like way.

2. The IRL in general has more driver turnover than John Menard goes through people.

3. The IRL is the victim of the worst broadcast 'partner' since Dr. Sarnoff was fiddling with vacuum tubes. Speaking of Dr. Sarnoff, perhaps Tony should call NBC.

-In order to improve IRL ratings, here's what needs to be done:

1. The IRL must promote itself more effectively.

2. The IRL must hango on to the stars it makes and make new ones. Preferably ones who are American.

3. Either deal with ABC/ESPN once and for all, or strike an Arena-football-like deal with NBC and it's growing list of cable entities. Keeping the relationship like it is only means more bad treatment.

There are also some minor things that can be done such as not scheduling against NASCAR, ensuring that c^rt gets put out of its misery and disappears from the landscape once and for all, and others.

Is there any part of what I have said that you do not clearly understand? I can review if necessary.

[Eagle104]

Originally posted by Defender
Nope. But that's not what I'm shooting. Please allow me to attempt to clear the gray area inside your skull. Or am I getting that confused with the gray matter outside your skull?

muzak....

muzak....

muzak....

Is there any part of what I have said that you do not clearly understand? I can review if necessary.

Oh, I clearly understand you, sHooter..you know that.

(funny line up there, btw.... )

[Jakester]

Anybody think NBC will pay $28 Million per year for one race that's rated below about 15 NASCAR races and the rest of the season that pulls 1.0 or below??