Re: Bump Day drama

On May 24, 8:41 am, "Carey Akin" <cma...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
"Mark" <mblackwell1...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1179934072.981551.67710@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Carey you miss understand why people follow here and post here.
Frankly I can't speak for others, but for me its a matter of hoping
that someday something that once brought a great deal of joy will
someday return. The month of May at Indy used to mean so many
things. First was technology which fasinated me on many different
levels. What would someone find or use in a different way to go
faster? How creative would they be? Will it work? Will it last 500
miles? Remember the old Buick engines? Fast but I don't think they
ever made the 500 mile distance. Who would bring a new engine and how
well would it work?

I am not going to argue about the current pathetic engine situation. But
most of that went out the window in the CART era. Hell, the Buicks weren't
even allowed to run in CART. That said, for years and years it was
Offenhauser that was the unofficial engine supplier.



Who would come up with a new idea for a new car? Lots of people
tried, but only a handful succeeded. Penske for the most part was one
of the few that mostly built his own cars. He had a great deal of
success with them, but once in a while he missed as he did in 94.
Made for some of his greatest successes and worst failures. All they
had to do was bring a chassis that met the specs and they could run
it.

And I agree again, but the blame lies elsewhere.



The drivers were also a part of the alure. Why? Because they were the
best. I could careless where Mario Andretti, Emmerson Fittipaldi,
Nigel Mansell or Rick Mears were born. It made absolutely no
difference to me that they never ran a midget at Eldora. They were
amoung if not the best race drivers in the world. The Champ Car
series pre IRL was one of the most demanding in the world on a
driver. It demanded the driver be adaptable to be champion. Being
good on an oval wasn't good enough. Neither was being good only road
racing. To be champ, you had to be good on short ovals, street
circuits, road courses, as well as superspeedways. It demanded an all
around driver.

Your Indy memories are fairly recent. It IS about the drivers, though.
Just where are the good drivers now? In OWRS? As far as a well rounded
driving championship, why shouldn't a dirt track or two be included. Al
Unser was the last real champion.





All this is summed up in one simple word. That word is competition.
The competition was on all levels. Teams, engineering, drivers ect all
were a part of the process. Now you have a spec car with very
restrictive modifications, a spec engine with mileage limits, and cars
so stuck to the ground that drivers are saying that their grandmother
could drive the cars. Talent level is at best medicore, but I
personally wouldn't rate it that high. Oh there is some talent there,
but much of it is beginning to age and its concentrated heavily at in
a very few teams. Its the back of the field is down right awful for
the most part. Milka may be cute, but how likely would she have been
to make the field with only one race experience pre IRL? Sarah has
been out of the car for years, as has Kite. Neither would have had
any chance at all and Kite this year was the sole bump. I could go on
but frankly the talent level is like running the Kentucky Derby with 3
throughbreds and 10 plow mules. To make the plow mules look better
they have effectively created open wheel restrictor plate racing.

And I ask again. Just where IS that talent.



I used to get excited to hear Back Home Again in Indiana, but now I
think of my words to the old tune that although not a single dirty
word in them, if used on race day Id be cut off quicker than Tony
George pulling the plug on a Robin Miller interview. I still have
hope that one day the Speedway will wake up, but it may be too late
when it does.

Hey, I still get excited. Things are cyclical. Personally, I am going to
be rooting for TK. He is WAY overdue.

Carey in Indianapolis



My Indy memories go back to the early 80s maybe some in the late 70s.
I saw the Mears John*** battle. Is that old enough. The only Indy
Ive watched since 95 is when Paul ran and won, only to see him cheated
out of a win. Its one thing to make a bad call. That happens. Once
they take an appeal, it should have the appearance of fairness and
that didn't happen. Frankly the IRL will likely continue to pay for
that for a very long time.

Drivers have until 95 only been a part of the story. Until 95 there
was always the possibility of something new to follow. I am not old
enough to have seen the whoosh mobiles when they came out, though I
have seen the film. The Buicks, what would Cosworth come up with?
The list of different engines was long and always something new to see
who could come up with the best. IE They had to compete.

Same with chassis. Penske built his own cars, but March, Lola,
Reynard, all in direct competition to see just who could figure out a
way to go faster. If someone had a new idea, build it, bring it, race
it and see how it goes.

No drivers weren't the total story then, and in fact drivers knew it.
They just were the ones that made tv. They tried to get with teams
that had a track record for inovation to put themselves in the best
position to have the right package to win. Yep it took a total
package. The drivers were just the most visible.

As far as the talent goes, most that can also be blamed on the
Speedway, though not totally Tony George. When rear engined aero cars
began to develop, did USAC adapt its feeder series? No it didn't.
Trouble is the skills needed to drive these cars changed. It
developed into 2 totally different skill sets, but no where did USAC
ever decide to alter a midget or sprint car to make that transition
easier. As usual they sat on their hands. Nor did they get too
concerned about the teams situations in the late 70s. The rest of the
season was effectively invisible. Where I grew up getting any
coverage at all of the rest of the season was extremely rare.

That's what drove CART. Cart entered the picture and now to run the
full season of Champ cars you needed road racing experience. Did USAC
adapt then? Nope, again it sat on its hands. Teams found drivers
that had the skills to meet the new and far more challenging
environment of CART. The local fans of the 500 noticed the change
though. Those drivers that they once saw run at IRP, weren't able to
get rides at Indy anymore. (with good reason I might add) Actually the
IRL proved it and at least corrected one mistake by forming the Indy
Pro Series.

Some of the talent is in Champ Car. Sea Bass would be an asset to any
series. Like him or not, he can drive the wheels off a race car. PT
and Bruno have far more talent than much of the field. Bruno might
have won too if he hadn't been IV'd. Servia, Wilson and a few others
would add to most series. Now some of the back of the field in Champ
car would face the same fate as most of the back of the field in the
IRL. They wouldn't make the show.

Some of the talent went to Nascar for the money, but frankly I don't
think that is as much of an issue as one might expect. Frankly
because of the split, and the split fan base because of actions
directly on the IRL's doorstep, fans took sides. The drop in eyeballs
meant drop in sponsor dollars. Drop in dollars and many of the
opportunities don't move to Nascar, they just dry up all together. If
Emmo or Nigel were to retire from F1 today, there would have been no
incentive for him to come run Indy. The eyeballs are not there to
justify the sponsor commitment needed to attract the worlds top
talent. So they just go play golf or stay home or go race in ALMS or
European Sportcars. The drop in eyeballs is directly at one mans
doorstep. Tony George is the one that has to look in the mirror.

Sad thing is it didn't have to be that way. He could have started a
new all oval series using CART cars and engines. Have the 500 with
open competition between the two series and I could have easily been a
fan of both. New opportunities for new teams, new drivers, and the
500 as it has been for the fastest 33 (opps what about that year they
had to start 35 to get the fastest 33)

I don't have anything against TK. The talent that was bought from CART
though is getting long in the tooth now. As of yet other than Hornish
the IRL has been unable to hold on to any of its top talent, and
Hornish may not be far from bolting. Money eyeballs and sponsors are
the reason. Thats far less about Nascar and more about how much
damage the split did.

I still have some hope that one day some of the family members or
other outside forces may actually force the speedway management into
admitting the two series need each other. The best thing that could
happen to open wheel racing would be to see the 500 run with an empty
front stretch. It might force changes, but then again maybe not. If
the drop in ratings for the 500 continues, ABC may well want to change
the overall structure of its deal as well. The on track racing now is
artifical and bascially stinks. The empty seats are what is going to
bring about change.

Im still hopeful one day Indy can be restored, but the longer it goes
the harder that will become. Maybe Ed will be a better track owner
than driver. I never thought Id say this but Tony was definately a
better driver than a track owner and he hit the fence more than anyone
I can ever remember.

.

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