And what might have happened

[hdolan]

to open wheel racing (in the US)if Mr Hulman had passed on the purchase of The Speedway and it became a housing project in 1946, 1947, or...

[Peter Olivola]

It might have developed into a strong series without being overshadowed by a single event.

[step33T]

Originally posted by hdolan:
<STRONG>to open wheel racing (in the US)if Mr Hulman had passed on the purchase of The Speedway and it became a housing project in 1946, 1947, or...</STRONG>

There wouldn't BE Indy Car racing in this country.

And I sure as heck doubt we'd have "Long Beach Car" racing either.

[Mackie]

Howard, NASCAR would still be buried in the South, it didn't break out untill the Brickyard 400 of 1994. After some repaving and track alterations at Daytona, the IRL will run there and catch the attention of the whole World, turnabout is fair play. I also predict that nobody will get dizzy!

[ January 14, 2002: Message edited by: Mackie ]

[Railbird]

I have to disagree Mackie, Nascar was already well on it's way in 94. All the Brickyard 400 has done is finance the IRL.

I agree somewhat with Peter.

[Lee Roy]

Originally posted by Railbird:
<STRONG>All the Brickyard 400 has done is finance the IRL.
</STRONG>

Glad to know that someone agrees wih me.

[Defender]

That's the most idiotic sentiment I've ever read on this board.

[ January 14, 2002: Message edited by: Defender ]

[Lee Roy]

Yeah, it's just by the merest of coincidences that the first BY 400 was in 1994 and Tony George started the launch of the IRL in 1995.

[Defender]

That's the second.

[ovals rule]

Originally posted by Peter Olivola:
<STRONG>It might have developed into a strong series without being overshadowed by a single event.</STRONG>

Which strong series does not have a very strong single event?

BTW Howard they would have never gotten the zoning to turn IMS into anything other than a race track.
The Hulman family has done a wonderful job with the place but do you really think the city leaders would have sat by and let a place with that type of tradition go away?

[Defender]

Sometimes I wonder. How do you explain Eagle-tucky...errr, dale?

[Mackie]

'bird, I think the IRL would have happened anyway, TG had been ignored enough by CART in his attempt to slow down the cars at Indy and cut the cost. The reason that I said what I did was that it gave NASCAR it's first true national exposure. The excitement started the year before with the test and kept growing

NASCAR had run in California at Riverside and Ontario, and in Phoenix. Had Ontario lasted longer it may have helped, but I went to both a NASCAR race and a Indy Car race there and the place never filled up.

Besides, I wasn't that serious about what I said, it was more of a tongue in cheek dig at Howard, who started this troll!

[Danny Noonan]

There is no doubt that the 1994 Brickyard 400 was the single most significant event in NASCAR's astronomical growth in the 1990's. When the boy wonder received the call to win on the most famous track in the world, everything changed. NASCAR had produced a star that housewives and children could root for, which allowed NASCAR to become mainstream like never before. If Gordon hadn't won that race, I don't think NASCAR would be as wildly popular as it is today. I think it would still have grown, but not at the internet stock level that it has since 1994.

[mnkywrch]

There'd be open wheel racing, and another "big" event would have developed.

And whoever ran the "big event" would want a say in the sport.

So you've got a different venue, with a different grandson. Congrats.

[Mackie]

Thanks for backing me up Danny. I believe the "The Call" exists and I have an example of one that I can't relate for family reasons. But in 1994 the "boy wonder" didn't get one. The race was between Gordon and Irvan, and in the final laps the lead changed almost every lap, until the metal rod that held the bottom corner of the R/F fender broke, either from vibration or contact, and cut the tire. NASCAR couldn't and didn't cut that tire by remote control, there was no "call!" Jeff Gordon learned his exceptional car control from running high-powered, short-wheelbase, light-weight cars on dirt, the same as Tony Stewart has. Those of us that have been regulars at IMS have never seen a car so sideways coming off turn four and still finish the lap, as Gordon did on that qualifying lap of his, I think the following year.