Gene Gets it

[Indy Fan500]

If you watch the press conference clip at indycar.com you will hear Simmons talk about how indy is going to be #1 again and that he is in this thing for the long haul.

He will be huge for the IRL

[sf-indy-fan]

Anyone with one eye and one ear open, and half a brain, who looks at Indycar racing without all the silly, hype-y, NASCAR clutter that the mainstream media feeds us and without all the negative anti-IRL cr@p that certain motorsports "journalists" vomit out can clearly see that this is truly a most awesome sport. Look at the cool cars! Look at the cool drivers! Look at the awesome speed! Look at the edge-of-your-seat racing action! AND it's got one of the most historic events in all of American sports! How can you NOT like this stuff?

All it's going to take is to break through the fog-like NASCAR hype so that AAALLLLLLL these new racefans brought to racing by NASCAR (and I thank them for it!) can see clearly what Indycar racing is all about. Then, it'll be Katie bar the door! And I think Mr. Simmons just might be the guy who can do that.

[comfortably numb]

If you watch the press conference clip at indycar.com you will hear Simmons talk about how indy is going to be #1 again and that he is in this thing for the long haul.

For how long is his contract?

[damilt]

a "haul"

[THIRD TURN]

Anyone with one eye and one ear open, and half a brain, who looks at Indycar racing without all the silly, hype-y, NASCAR clutter that the mainstream media feeds us and without all the negative anti-IRL cr@p that certain motorsports "journalists" vomit out can clearly see that this is truly a most awesome sport. Look at the cool cars! Look at the cool drivers! Look at the awesome speed! Look at the edge-of-your-seat racing action! AND it's got one of the most historic events in all of American sports! How can you NOT like this stuff?

All it's going to take is to break through the fog-like NASCAR hype so that AAALLLLLLL these new racefans brought to racing by NASCAR (and I thank them for it!) can see clearly what Indycar racing is all about. Then, it'll be Katie bar the door! And I think Mr. Simmons just might be the guy who can do that.

Ditto!!!!

[Grinder-Tank]

This was a big move to get Simmons to work with IndyCar. If I am the doubting person, I would ask how much and for how long? And how interested is he really in the sport? But if I just look at it for what it is, it's what we need. It's about time.

[Z28]

I certainly hope Gene Simmons sticks around with racing for the long haul, because of the potential benefit of his marketing company. The thing is many a celebrity has caught the bug, or been so happy to be involved, before and the list of thoe who stick around is short enough to count on one hand, Paul Newman as owner/driver and James Garner as a fan not missing many 500's since 1958.

Try to remember it's sports and take a moment to recall all the great and positive things any player or coach says when he comes to a new team and contrast that to anger and bitterness when they leave. It's all sunshine in the beginning like with Simmons, we'll see how long the run is.

The same goes for Carmelo Anthony, remember David Hasselhoff, Bill Cosby, Jason Priestly, Latrell Sprewell, Joe Montana on the Indy car side. The NASCAR celebrity gone away includes Joe Washington, Julius Erving, Brad Daugherty, Jackie Joyner Kersee, Brett Farve.

[Indy Red]

Gene was at the Pacer game tonight waving a I am Indy headband.

[slompappy]

did he say David Hasselhoff?

[indyracefan]

Gene was at the Pacer game tonight waving a I am Indy headband.

...well today's activities involving Anthony & Simmons is certainly making news;
ESPN brief

Gene Simmons, of the rock group KISS, attended the game after joining Anthony earlier in the day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Anthony is now a co-owner with Ron Hemelgarn's Indy Racing League team. ... Denver improved to 16-17 on the road this season and has now won two straight at Conseco Fieldhouse after losing nine straight there. ... The Pacers shot 23.5 percent from 3-point range, the seventh time in nine games they've been worse than 31 percent. ... David Harrison had one block, giving him 100 in his career.


USA Today


Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets will be a co-owner of the Hemelgarn team in the Indy Racing League, a partnership designed in part to broaden the series' appeal to a younger generation of race fans.

The deal between the IRL team and the 21-year-old Anthony, one of the top young stars in the NBA, was brokered by rock guitarist and member of KISS Gene Simmons, whose marketing company signed a deal to promote the open-wheel series in January.

"It was my group, his group, going back and forth for a long period of time," Anthony said Wednesday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "The opportunity was there and I couldn't let it slip out of my hands to be involved in something like this."


CNN/SI.com

"For the record, I'm not getting in the car. I can't fit into no Indy car," the 6-foot-8 Anthony said. "I'm just excited about the project. I think we're going to have a lot of fun."