Was CCWS a waste of time

[Chris Paff]

If there was a merger.. Wouldnt the 3 seasons of CCWS a waste of time? It served no purpose other then continue the split..

[bkeske]

To answer you question directly...Yes.

[EDwardo]

This thread is a waste of time........

[Ken]

not for me....been to Monterrey Mx twice, LB three times.....Montreal, Denver, Toronto...


had a great time...


and the flip side to your question is if theres a merger has the past decade of the IRL been a waste of time....has it served any purpose?

[hdolan]

What was the purpose of the last ten years...that's the real question...

[downtowndeco]

If there was a merger.. Wouldn't the 3 seasons of CCWS a waste of time? It served no purpose other then continue the split..

The day OWRS announced that they would be throwing their hats into the OW ring I said that all it would do is prolong the plit and make OW racing weaker. I stand by that. What has CCWS brought to OW in the last three years that OW racing couldn't live without? More street races? Motorock? Train tracks? Ride buyers? Ansan?

I still believe that OWRS's original plan was to buy low and sell high, and to do so rather quickly. But once the wheels started to come off just before that first CCWS race in LB they've had to write checks at a much faster rate, and for much more, that they ever anticipated. Pretty soon they were in so far over their heads that there was no way they were going to get out of it what they'd put into it. IMO.

That being said I don't give a crap and won't hold it against them when the merger happens. TG did what he did, OWRS did what they did. It's over. Time to look forward and leave the past behind. Like Buk said, "...the days run away like wild horses over the hills..."

[Grinder-Tank]

CCWS was not a waste of time. When the assets of CART were bought, KK gained an education of the business, a crash course, in what owning a series is like. He learned enough to the point where he's taking his ball and bat to where it needs to go. It provides a transition for CART fans who would have never accepted TG buying the assets of CART.

[downtowndeco]

What was the purpose of the last ten years...that's the real question...

The difference is that when TG started the IRL he legitimately thought that there was room for a second, different type of OW racing here in the U.S. New tracks were being built every year and motorsports was on a huge up swing. CART was a mixed series, the IRL all oval.

When OWRS bought in they knew good and damn well that there was not enough room for two American OW series. Not enough teams, sponsors, good tracks or fans.They had the hindsight of the IRL & CART beating each other to a pulp. They should have known better. It was all laid out there for them to see. Two series won't work. But they did it anyway. So for that I blame CCWS more.

[bkeske]

Grinder,

So, other than KK's personal experience, (which I could care less about). what has CCWS achieved since the bankruptcy?

They are , in all likelihood, worse off as a business than the day CART was 'bought'. When you only spend 2 million on something like this, it makes you wonder.

I've brought him up as a benchmark before, and I believe a good example to what you can do with a series...Don Panoz. KK and GF are not close to getting to where Panoz got with the ALMS/IMSA in the same time frame.

And the reason is quite clear to me...Panoz aligned himself with one of the greatest races in the world.

[hdolan]

"The difference is that when TG started the IRL he legitimately thought that there was room for a second, different type of OW racing here in the U.S. New tracks were being built every year and motorsports was on a huge up swing. CART was a mixed series, the IRL all oval."

It's plain to me that TG thought the power of IMS would quickly alleviate the second series...he was wrong...and now we go back to 1995...CC is a bastion of street and road courses...and if anyone thinks all those venues are going to go away when KK and TG kiss and embrace they are only fooling themselves...

The IRL enjoyed it's most favorable time early on...overall it's been downhill every since...

[Indyfan31]

The difference is that when TG started the IRL he legitimately thought that there was room for a second, different type of OW racing here in the U.S.

Well, unless you were sitting next to him when the thought popped in his head, you have no idea what he was "thinking". Now, taking his statements and actions during the past 10 years or so it would appear what he wanted was to take down CART, which he did.
What he wasn't counting on was that his own creation would go down with it, and he certainly didn't count on someone like Kalkoven coming along and resurrecting what was left of CART and making his life even more difficult.

[bkeske]

What TG creation is 'going down'?

[elio]

If there was a merger.. Wouldnt the 3 seasons of CCWS a waste of time? It served no purpose other then continue the split..

It prevented Tony George from controlling OWR which is a good thing.

[hdolan]

OK...condensing...

[bkeske]

It prevented Tony George from controlling OWR which is a good thing.

And how do you know he won't end up doing that anyway?