The New IRL...

[indyace]

Remember when Tony George had this great idea of making racing affordable and bringing in the local short track guys like Stewart, Carlson, Kite, Yeley, Drake and so on... That was cool!

Now we are right back to where it was before on both the IndyCar and Pro Series level with most drivers having to buy the ride. Granted, the truly talented drivers are not buying the ride, but I would guess 1/2 of the field pays to play. Milka Duno for instance, no one in their right mind would hire her to drive. She brings $ so they build her a car to drive..sort of drive.

They say history repeats itself, well, here we go again, making the IRL second to F1 in car cost, engine leases and other dictated cost.

This is a sinking ship and has been for years, the only salvation is Tony and Co. has a big bucket to bail with. (Deep Pockets)

Enough Ranting...

[DR_K13]

We will see.

[jdessar]

They say history repeats itself, well, here we go again, making the IRL second to F1 in car cost, engine leases and other dictated cost.

IndyCar might be a lot of things, but it is not second to F1 in cost.

Heck, I bet the average F1 teams spends more in coffee a year that what an IndyCar Team's budget is!

Heck, NASCAR is even more expensive than IndyCar!

That's not to say that there aren't things that need fixing in IndyCar land.

[millrace]

I disagree with just about every thing you said and your rant has been endlessly covered by those who agree with you.

The goal is to have the best drivers in the series. We all know that Milka isn't one of them. That sort of stuff takes care of itself when the fields are full - and they are pretty much that way. But Jimmy Kite has never been a top Indycar driver either. For the most part, the current field is talent laden.

Costs are not skyrocketing, race teams just can't lure the sponsors they once could. Indycar is less popular due to the split and the rise of Nascar. We would have Sam still right now if not for the money in Nascar.

Nascar teams have enormous budgets. Why aren't you arguing that cost has ruined Nascar? I've said this before, when Nascar begins to lose its luster, the pendulum will swing back to Indycar and things will get better and better.

As Indycar grows and Nascar falters with their over-governed and over-priced series, teams, drivers and sponsors will be coming back to the IRL and it will make people happy.

[Seadog]

Remember when Tony George had this great idea of making racing affordable and bringing in the local short track guys like Stewart, Carlson, Kite, Yeley, Drake and so on... That was cool!

Now we are right back to where it was before on both the IndyCar and Pro Series level with most drivers having to buy the ride. Granted, the truly talented drivers are not buying the ride, but I would guess 1/2 of the field pays to play. Milka Duno for instance, no one in their right mind would hire her to drive. She brings $ so they build her a car to drive..sort of drive.

They say history repeats itself, well, here we go again, making the IRL second to F1 in car cost, engine leases and other dictated cost.

This is a sinking ship and has been for years, the only salvation is Tony and Co. has a big bucket to bail with. (Deep Pockets)

Enough Ranting...

[skypigeon]

I disagree with just about every thing you said and your rant has been endlessly covered by those who agree with you.

Well said. Please, don't feed the trolls.

[Doc Austin]

No kidding. The IRL is going to rock this year. Those who would love to see it fail are going to be extremely disappointed.

[Jimmy Hendricks]

1. The goal is to have the best drivers in the series.

2. But Jimmy Kite has never been a top Indycar driver either.

3. For the most part, the current field is talent laden.

4. We would have Sam still right now if not for the money in Nascar.

1. Then the current Indy Car series is a laughable failure, in that regard.

2. And, many of the current Indy Car "stars" haven't been either. Some have never even been on a oval before. I just hope no one gets seriously hurt, with some of these guys 'learning the ovals'.

3. Sure it is.

4. No, Sam is an American race driver, who had won the only AOW race that matters. And, if you are an American driver of any stature, you go to NASCAR, to test your skills against the best. So far, he hasn't exactly passed the test.

[Jakester]

1. Then the current Indy Car series is a laughable failure, in that regard.

The 'current' IndyCar series has only been in existence for a few short weeks. Now that the split is over, I think it's only fair to give the new series a year or two before we pronounce it a failure. I still hold hope that a single series can reestablish itself to a reasonable level within the motorsports world.

2. And, many of the current Indy Car "stars" haven't been either. Some have never even been on a oval before. I just hope no one gets seriously hurt, with some of these guys 'learning the ovals'.

Some will succeed, some won't. Never been on an oval...Scheckter, Meira, Briscoe, Hunter-Reay...

3. Sure it is.

Castroneves, Dixon, Kanaan, etc. Keep an eye on Power, Servia, Rahal, Lloyd. (and yes, I miss Sam, Dario, AJA)

[hdolan]

It's the cologne...

[lotuspoweredbyford]

Remember when Tony George had this great idea of making racing affordable and bringing in the local short track guys like Stewart, Carlson, Kite, Yeley, Drake and so on... That was cool!

I feel sorry for anyone who truly believed that the IRL was formed so guys like Jay Drake and Tyce Carlson would have a job.

[carl s]

I feel sorry for anyone who truly believed that the IRL was formed so guys like Jay Drake and Tyce Carlson would have a job.

save you sorrow for those who mislead them

[aportinga]

I just wanted to post that I opened this thread up @ 0834 and just got around to typing this

[indyracefan]

...I believe that alot of people, be them IRL fans, anti-fans, former fans, whatever started fully realizing a few years back that the creation of the IRL was for control of open-wheel racing in North America. And if wasn't then the recent merger/reunification/absorption/take-over should have confirmed it.

I also believe that alot of the founding philosophies, mantra's and slogans as far as creating new avenues for short-trackers to Indy was genuinely hoped for but certainly not one of the chief reasons. Same for the affordability, and all oval racing. It sounded good and was all that was really available to the IRL in trying to go up against CART. These ideals also helped separate the IRL from then CART so as not to appear as a direct renegade competition in the eyes of sponsors and potential sponsors at the time.

It was about power and control of the sport from the very beginning.

[Turn13]

I have a similar take, irf, but I view it as more of TG and IMS feeling it was more of a need to (maybe not a have to, but also not a want to).

They obviously felt like it was important for their own interests to exert some power and control, and if you look at the investment and the risk undertaken, oval racing and the Indianapolis tradition were obviously more important than for them to be cavalierly thrown aside as part of some phony ploy or with greed or power as a motive.

It's probably just a lot more difficult than a lot of people seem to think, and maybe the popular support wasn't as strong as a lot of people originally thought.

I don't think they'd have done it the ovalcentric way they did if they didn't think it was important, possible, and worth it.

And I do think it'll "be there" in the long run, though.