Open-wheel racing has long been bigger with the wine-and-cheese crowd than with the blue-collar bunch that made NASCAR the
biggest racing circuit in North America. That’s been OK for Formula One, with its world-wide reach and exotic appeal. For
the Indy Racing League (and the late Champ Car), that formula has been problematic.
Cross-overs like Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon have done little to take open-wheel to the dirt-under-their-fingernail masses that have fueled NASCAR. But if The King of NASCAR, Richard Petty, becomes truly involved—even enamored with the sport, the mass appeal IRL officials have unsuccessfully sought for more than a decade could be a whole lot closer.
If the seven-time NASCAR series champ is nothing more than a silent partner in an effort to put driver John Andretti on the famed Brickyard this May, his involvement will have little impact. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway rolled out Petty yesterday at a press conference with Andretti and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing officials, who will help Petty field a car.
Already the story is getting major nationwide play, including stories in the Los Angles Times and New York Times. If Petty and his cowboy hat are regulars in the Speedway’s pit lane this May, the spotlight on Indy will become a bit broader, a bit brighter.
Petty, for his part, looks like a guy interested in more than just making the field of 33. John Andretti, 46, has driven stock cars and Indy cars in his career, and has driven for Petty's NASCAR teams in the past. Andretti has been lobbying Petty for some time to join the open-wheel fray. Petty said there was a defining moment not too long ago that swayed him.
“They wanted to paint [the Indy car] red and blue and put a big 43 on it,” Petty said. “They just kept doing things and running at me. I finally said, ‘Yeah, let’s just give it a try and see.’” Click here to see the car's paint scheme.
Petty seemed almost put off when reporters yesterday suggested he is merely putting his name on the team.
“It’s not just a publicity stunt like I told you,” Petty said. “We’re up here, we’re serious with this deal. We’ve got a good car. We’ve got a good crew that’s capable of doing what we need to do with it.”
Petty promises to be here for qualifications and several practice days. He didn’t commit to how much time in May he will spend here, but I’m sure IMS and IRL officials are hoping he’s here plenty. And race day? Will Petty scurry off before the checkered flag drops so he can make it to the start of the NASCAR race the same day? You can bet ABC camera crews will be focused on him plenty.
"If [John Andretti’s] leading, I ain’t leaving, OK?” Petty said. “I come to be involved with our car, Richard Petty Motorsports car. From that standpoint, we're gonna be here as long as John is, OK? Then I think they can probably start the [Coca-Cola] 600 without me.”
Richard Petty, forgoing the start of one of the year’s biggest NASCAR races for an Indy car race … Now that will turn heads. If The King of the Good Ole Boys becomes an IRL fan in the process, that’s a good day in the land of open-wheel.
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I'm even more thrilled that I have Window World handle all my new window jobs.
It the end, if sponsors do not see value in sposering IRL then there won't be IRL.
If Petty was coming into the IRL and starting his own team, then I would have the same concerns, but since he is partnering with an existing team, and with a very talented driver who knows Indy as well as anyone, I think they stand a good chance of doing well. Probably not winning, but definitely a top 5 or 10 is very doable. The big problem is they need to be more than a one off team.
Yep. that's PROGRESS! :lol:
Have you not been able to find the c?rt/owrs/ccws schedule? I am sure they have an infomercial on some station. Maybe it is squeezed in between a James Bond Marathon and Star Trek the Next Generation on Spike.
Which both get better ratings than the irl* on REVS.
As I have stated, the IRL got what it wanted which is a very high quality coverage of its series. Now it remains to be seen if they can draw people to it.
I would like to agree with you, but the series that believes that, F1, is finding that same model difficult at best and near zero interest in the US for it. Part of that may be that when you spend unlimited dollars, you have limited teams that can afford it and only a couple of teams at best that can be competitive. That the most popular series in the US is even more spec than the IRL. That the closest thing to F1 that we have had failed miserablely, multiple times. There are a lot of things we would all like, then there is reality.
I still am curious how you explain that such a wonderful series with the aforementioned stars and cars, all the popular tracks with the exception of Indy, all the money of the big sponsors, tv contracts and rich owners in less than a decade became the desitute racing series? I mean again, if the series business model was so good, and they had everything else going for them, how did they fail? Anyone, class, anyone? The sad thing is all they had to do was not try to kill Indy and none of this would have had to happen. But that is what happens when a group of rich greedy men decide to they want even more and they want total control of everything.
Sounds like one Anton H. George.
As I have said many times, those greedy rich men are all in the irl*. And anyone who thinks Penske isn't playing TG's puppet strings are blind or naive. CART never intended to kill Indy, they had no desire. They and CCWS were always the ones offering an olive branch to TG. CART teams sold extra Cosworth's to the irl in 96 or there wouldn't have been enough motors. Even after TG's ridiculous 25/8 stunt.
Brett,
If cart did not try to destroy the IRL, then why did they schedule their premiere event The US 500, directly opposite the Indy 500 and most of their other races on the same weekend as IRL races? This after TG invited all cart teams to run both series? Again, 25/8 not a whole lot different than 35/8.