Delta Wing’s proposal for a 2012 IndyCar Series rig sure is radical. Radical, man, radical!
Dallara, Lola
and Swift also have some very interesting ideas. Open-wheel insiders in every corner are hoping the snazzy chassis concepts
will breath new life into the sport. Sadly, I don’t think it will.
Sadder yet … the belief that it
will shows how many in the sport have missed the point all these years.
It’s not the horse, it’s the
jockey. It always has been, and it always will be. Only true gearheads and race nuts can tell you what powered Mario Andretti
or A.J. Foyt to victory.
It’s not the machines they piloted that attracted legions of fans to open-wheel
racing. Same as it’s not Ford and Chevy that drove people in large numbers to NASCAR.
It’s the
personalities behind the wheels that drove such incredible brand loyalty to the machines the drivers drove and the services
and products they pushed.
I’m not saying the IndyCar Series chassis isn’t in need of an update. But
acting like this is the savior of the sport is wrong-headed.
Men like Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty drove NASCAR
into star status, the same way Foyt, Andretti, Rick Mears and the Unser brothers did in open-wheel. In its heyday, the series
was full of colorful characters, from Gordon Smiley to the Whittington brothers—many of which never even made it to
the winner’s circle.
Quite frankly, most of the people who packed the stands at Indy couldn’t tell
you the difference between methanol and ethanol, or a stock-block or turbo-charged engine.
Those things didn’t
drive people to the sport, and as kooky as the Delta Wing bat-mobile looks, it won’t either. Curious onlookers, yes,
but those folks won’t stick around long enough to pay the bills. Maybe the new chassis will even garner a mention on
ESPN SportsCenter (which is more than it’s gotten so far), but that exposure won’t be enough to build critical
mass.
The IndyCar Series has floundered around trying to promote its drivers since 1996. But from Billy Boat to
Buzz Calkins, they never had the cache to catch on.
Then there’s this; No American drivers. I count
Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick and probably Ryan Hunter-Reay full-time and Sarah Fisher part-time. Ed Carpenter and Graham
Rahal are currently on the outside looking in. So are a couple others with almost no chance of piloting an IndyCar in 2010.
And like it or not, no American drivers means no American fans.
The last time I checked, America
is still the most sought after global market, with an expendable income base, even in a bad economy, like no other country.
So going global is fine, but series officials better be able to make the series pay off on U.S. soil first.
Randy Bernard, CEO of Professional Bull Riders who will take over as president of the IndyCar Series March 1, is inheriting
some difficult challenges. As successful as he’s been at that endeavor, I wouldn’t list bringing any bull-riding
personalities into the forefront of American consciousness among his accomplishments.
To grow the open-wheel series
beyond its precarious niche status, he’ll have to make the men bigger stories than the machines they pilot.
- Home
- NEWS
- REGIONAL
- THIS WEEK'S PAPER
- BLOGS
- Multimedia
- OPINION
- A&E
- LISTS
- PEOPLE
- EVENTS
- Classifieds
- Subscribe
Welcome to The Score, your place for hard-hitting sports business news, fast-breaking updates and fuel-injected debate. Buckle up. I'm your host, Anthony Schoettle, IBJ sports reporter.
Sponsored by
ADVERTISEMENT
-
liek the rest of America
-
These quaint,obsessed musings by the stalkers are certainly entertaining, but I'm trying to figure out what, if anything, all the yelping below has to do with Zak Brown.
-
It's evident that Moffett was pushing the right buttons and corporate America is now trying to squash him. He just wanted to withdraw the free pilot services provided to the company by the pilots to try and put some pressure on a company that has not been interested in negotiating a contract in over 5 years. The company does not provide a contract because not having one has saved them a bundle of money. Shame on any Republic pilots not standing behind their union leader just because things are getting tough, can you not see such strategic moves by the company as putting the last union president in a corporate position and into THEIR pocket. Do you really believe the last union president is so appalled at the attempts by Moffett, do you not remember his oppositions to the company? We stood behind him. It has been proven over and over again for thousands of years without fail, a man cannot serve two masters. Anyone that believes people vote contrary to their paycheck and livelihood deserve to be taken advantage of, the recent statements by the former union president are laughable as he denounces the current union president from his new corporate position. Have you ever seen a drafted sports player score points for his previous team, it cannot be done, he is not on the pilots side anymore, he gets his money a different way now than you and I do, and he should not be allowed to remain on the seniority list. A drafted player brings strength, credibility, tactical knowledge, and a strategic advantage to his NEW team, he would not be drafted or paid were it otherwise. We are all forced to choose only one side to play for and support, not doing so has many references in life such as insider trading and shaving points, all illegal for good reason. This basic fact is why corporate moguls, scientist, and engineers all sign non-discloser agreements and non-compete clauses, as protection in case they are lured into switching sides as our former union president has done. No NFL coach ever drafted a player so that both teams could benefit and better understand each other, they are recruited to win the game against that former team, period. Likewise the company does not recruit the former union president by accident or mutual understanding, its strategy. Don't confuse playing the game with good sportsman-like conduct in support of common business and prosperity goals, with the requirement to only play for one side. Good men we all love and favor fall subject to this manipulation, often without their knowledge, and it is not a betrayal of their friendship to oppose them when they switch sides. If we did not love and trust them, they would not have been chosen and lured to the other side in the first place. The deception by the drafted player is not made at a conscious level, it's just human nature and it's all about money and power which corrupts our ability to be objective and loyal to two masters. This is why our court system created the defense attorney, and why our military created counter intelligence. Its strategy and its propaganda, and it works, and that's why the "powers to be" manipulate the chess pieces by sometimes changing their colors. Some players know they are being manipulated when their color is changed, but it brings them more money and power so they do not care. The rest have good intentions but do not even realize they are being manipulated. This tactic is also known by another name, Divide and Conquer. In battle sending an imperfect message with an imperfect team is obviously not ideal, but it's still being sent by YOUR team, your union leader, a leader that has common goals and common rewards with you, they are the best, because we have elected them to do a job for us. If you are not backing Moffett but believing the spin by those that have recently switched sides, you are taking food out of your own mouth. Showing unity and backing an imperfect situation still results in taking just as much ground, it's about unity and bargaining power. It's not necessary to wait around for that perfect attack because it will never come, the company will spin and attempt to destroy anyone that gets in their way. Ultimately it's not about any specific attack anyway, ASAP or whatever it makes no difference, it is and always has been only about power. If this company cared about safety it would not build pairings with 8 hour overnights, come on, are you that naive? Besides, do you really think Hoffa cares, no, he got a call from corporate America and was squeezed into denouncing Moffett. If he didn't they would spin the safety card against him and the Teamsters National with implication for truckers, future contracts, insurance rates etc...saying something like the Teamsters use safety as a bargaining chip, blah blah blah... Do you really think any pilot is going to do something unsafe for the contract, absolutely not, the only ones threatening safety here is the company with reduced rest, fatigue, and poverty. Do you not find it odd that Hoffa and the Teamsters are opposing a Teamster president publicly? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and work with one of their own? Why did they not sit down and help him strategize, correct any mistakes, and charge ahead? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and leverage a contract for all those pilots that have been paying Teamster dues, isn't that why we have all been paying Teamster dues in the first place? I sure haven't been paying dues so that the Teamsters National could come along and write this kind of an article undercutting our union leader and our unity. Whose side is the Teamsters National really on, it's obviously not the Republic pilots side.
-
No matter what Moffatt does the company is going to spin it like he is the terrorist and brainwash people like you into believing it, wake up, back your players that are trying to change things for you and your livelihood. Where has Hoffa been for the last 6 years, except collecting our dues. Seriously, do you really think an FO going for upgrade, signed off by a checkairman ready for the upgrade, who then fails, is not even capable of returning as a First Officer.
-
whoa!
ADVERTISEMENT
Back to TopCopyright © All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.
Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing.
Additional Hosting & Delivery by
IBJ Conversations
51 Comments
Add Comment
However, when the apple cart was upset back in 1996, the collateral damage pretty much destroyed a UNITED FANBASE. To this day former AOW fans await the return of the sport. But, I argue, a chassis nor American flavor can sway the masses.
As I say ad nauseum, the Speedway must seek to improve it's image, not through gimmicks and PR scams....but through admission of culpability in the destruction of the sport these past 14 years. EVERYONE knows it...the media, sponsors, fans, owners, promoters..EVERYONE.
NOW is the time to start fresh, to say "HEY we messed up". Domino's Pizza has a marketing campaign underway that strives to put the customer (and their opinions) FIRST.
Our imaginations have been captured by these "designs". But, without the foundation for the sport to grow I feel a new chassis now is wasted time and money....certainly not something either the sport nor the fan have to waste. Until an appeal is made, we can expect nothing but the same from the IRL....failure and destruction!
AND, they can start by eliminating the IRL brand and just go with INDYCAR. IRL is associated with the split....no one wants (or needs to be) reminded of that horrible period in AOW's history. Do that...and the sport can be free to renew itself. Do nothing...and the sport will continue to die.
"The IndyCar Series has floundered around trying to promote its drivers since 1996. But from Billy Boat to Buzz Calkins, they never had the cache to catch on."
With American flavor and more OVALS to shake a stick at 1996 and on...WHY is the leegue and 500 suffering? Why are they in BRAZIL? I would suggest Anthony has a firm grasp on the business aspects of the Speedway and the IRL.
Please spend a few moments to enlighten the writer on the aura surrounding Tom's announcement, "It's a new track record!" which hasn't been heard since 1990 something when Arie drove his CART Reynard, about the time TOney started running things.
I do think the IRL tried to promote its drivers in the past years via print ads and broadcast but, truth is, their PR machine doesnâ??t have the mediaâ??s ears like NASCAR does. They now have a weekly show on Showtime and even got that gawd awful Jimmy Johnson 24/7 series produced by HBO.
Youâ??re right that American born drivers attract American racing fans. Those red, white and blue â??good old boysâ?? from NASCAR touch the American racing heart much better than a collection of Brazilians, New Zealanders and Scotsmen. Other than Helioâ??s IRS troubles, you never read about IRL drivers doing anything outside of racing.
The new chassis design is still a step in the right direction as the IRL could attract the North American Formula One racing fans that are as much in love with the technology of the F1 race cars as they are the series drivers. The new design might also keep AOW/IRL fans interested for a few more years even as the quality of drivers and their racing continues to decline.
Iâ??m most concerned with the hiring of Bernard as the last-chance savior for a floundering AOW racing series heâ??s never seen in person. Why the poobahs on the IRL/IMS board would hire a bull-rider PR man for this critical position at this crucial time says they either drank some bad kool-aid or that probably nobody relevant in racing wanted to go near this doomed from the start job.
I think you may have slept through the 15+ years of the IRL. You want brand names that the IRL has brought to the public? Tony Stewart, Helio, Marco Andretti, Sam Hornish Jr, Danica, and Dario Franchitti to name a few. Names that most casual racing fans would recognize. You want colorful non winners? Characters like Loyd Ruby or George Snider? I mean who is more colorful than Jack Miller the racing dentist(used to do dental examines for the poor out of a Crest trailer at the tracks), or the Lazier Brothers going from good equipment to bad and doing pretty well with either? How about Sarah Fisher? I would bet the IRL has about as colorful a group of racers as any decade in IMS history.
I would disagree that only treadheads knew what kind of equipment was running Indy. I think most people who were there to watch the race knew their favorite driver was in a Penske/Ilmor or a Menard/Buick or a Dallara/Olds. In fact most here probably could name the famous drivers of those cars. Look at NASCAR and tell me those fans do not know what their favorite drivers drive. Of course the diversity of name plates in NASCAR is just that, name plates. There is not an ounce of difference in a Chevy or a Ford or a Toyota. Just stickers.
You bemoan the lack of American Drivers in the IRL. How many Americans were in cart the last few years? How many won a championship? The haters will rail on how the IRL killed Ow, but look at where cart was going in 1995. Foreign drivers, foreign tracks, road courses, ignoring American talent because they had skills but no cash. The IRL vision attempted to preserve that.
Unfortunately attempts to lure cart fans to the IRL after cart went under have dilluted the vision of an American centered league.
You say that people do not care about this chassis competion? I have not seen this much coverage of open wheel car design since they put wings on them. Like it or hate it, people are talking about it. People are picking favorites. I think it was a very smart move to make this a public competition and the IRL is riding all of the free press. In addition, asking it to be built in America, and especially in Indiana is a further wise marketing move. Already three of the four companies have agreed to do so. Good PR yet again.
Finally. I think it speaks well of the IRL and its future that 4 respected car makers are willing to pour large amounts of money into a design competition for the IRL, and millions more to build the winning design. I doubt they would risk that much if they thought the plug was going to be pulled in a couple of years. Sorry haters, but your predictions will be wrong again.
Shoot, back in the hey days, most people outside of the midwest didn't know Foyt from Rahal unless they were interested in auto racing. Cable channels have taken auto racing to a new level as well as nascar sponsors focusing on the drivers. Indycar needs to do the same thing. DP didn't light up the southern track hysteria just because she came there. It was because of her background at Indy/IndyCar and her self promotion.
Then you talk about foreign drivers. Do you think Americans are all just prejudiced in favor of Americans? Huh? Where was Mario born? Italy How about Hill, Clark, Brabham, Fittipaldi, Mansell, Lyendyk? Heck Americans loved 'em. Real fans didn't care where they came from.
Even today, with all the foreign drivers you refer to. How many of them don't live in America?
Mike Conway
Robert Doornbos
Will Power
EJ Viso
All the others have taken up residence in America. Doesn't that make them part of the melting part of an Internation Brotherhood that we are with all being welcome to come in and be part of us? Oh, and by the way, these folks all did it the right way.
Do you honestly think Dario or Dixie or Vitor or Tracy aren't appreciated as much as Patrick or Hunter-Reay? C'mon let's get on with the positive bandwagon. These folks are living and working in the good 'ol USA.
A terrible error was made when the IRL was created. It severed the fanbase and forced sponsors and participants fleeing the sinking ship of AOW. Letting NASCAR in has diminished the speedway's legacy and severely damaged it's credibility.
Throwing a new chassis at THAT will not fix the problems of AOW. Again, the speedway must be culpable if it wants to assume a leadership role in the future of AOW. It, to this point, has not shown itself to be capable of that task.
Sorry, but the Speedway DUG itself this hole, a deep one, and is firmly entrenched in it. Learn something from this nursery rhyme:
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the kingâ??s horses and all the kingâ??s men
Couldnâ??t put Humpty together again.
IndyCar simply needs to let 'em loose. Let's set some new speed records. Let's put some fearless rocket jockeys back in the cars. Sure the racing will suffer but it never was about the quality of the racing back in Indycar's heyday anyway.
In the 70's and 80's we routinely had two cars on the lead lap at the end of the race with the victor winning by two miles, but the race had a cutting edge aura and mystique with great personalities pushing their cars to the limit -- and the Indy 500 was the center of the racing universe.
Second you feel like the IRL needs to plead guilty for destroying cart (your image of what ow should be). Shouldn't the team owners who started cart apologize for trying to make a power play to diminish Indy while trying to take total control over all aspects? They killed the golden goose.
Nothing will save the 'league'. Nothing.
It never has been popular or successful, and never will be.
code = 3yegc
Ashley Judd and Helio's momma likes it. So does Indyman and Gomer. What more could you ask for?
Goodness....some people just can't be satisfied!!!
If YES...then you must explore the reasons why.
If NO...then you must continue your path.
THAT'S exactly the problem....NO ONE is willing to realize or admit they made a mistake. Therefore the entire sport suffers because of it. I feel very comfortable having the 500 and AOW rot under it's control.....less people to blame.
Oh wait a minute I'm an intelligent, mature, grown man. I am capable of realizing that simply because it is my opinion does not make it a universal truth shared by all people. Trying to mix opinion with fact is like wearing brown shoes with a black tuxedo.
Everyone points to Jeff Gordon as an example of NASCAR's genius over Indy Car's stupidity, but I think that Tim Richmond is a better example. A talented, good looking guy with a great and lovable personality who wanted to go Indy Car racing but couldn't find a backer so he went to NASCAR. Meanwhile the CART boys were adding lucrative street and road racing festivals in an oval racing country so they had to go overseas to find experienced drivers.
You're never going to go far trading Tim Richmond for Teo Fabi unless you cut down to two or three American races and spend the rest of the year racing abroad.
It doesn't make Americans xenophobic, it's simply part of the human condition. Back in the mid-90's at the Rio CART race all of the Brazilian drivers had been eliminated from contention with about twenty laps to go, and by the time the checkered flag dropped the stands were nearly empty.
If you're going to have drivers from all over the world, then you must race all over the world, and you should quit trying to be an American series racing in front of disinterested fans.
You know, the old "Let's get our cash while we can. Sure street races are boring and they'll force us to employ foreign drivers and we'll lose our fan base eventually, but they are in cities and they draw large high paying crowds. We'll all be dead in thirty years anyway so what do we care if there is no Indy Car series in 2010."
I have explored the problems, ad nauseum on this blog. The problems started with cart and its structure. The greed of the owners caused them to chase after the almighty dollar, and not for the long term good of the league. That was the prime mover. I have also documented the mistakes the irl has made. But the majority of the blame lands right on the owners.
Seat 14C Brett in Indy
Seat 21D Stan
Seat 37A Chief
Granted it would take a few Airbus 380's to hold all of the people determined to destroy the future of American open wheel racing with their defeatist attitudes, but it's worth a try.
When is a good time for your flight Brett?
Tearing apart the very fibers of the soul of Indy racing is what destroyed it. CART got TOO successful...that's WHY the speedway started the IRL. FOR CONTROL.
Now they have CONTROL. Nothing got done, nothing is gonna get done. Yup, just the way you Indy bootlickers wanted....NO SUCCESS...not in business, not in AOW racing.
Call me a hater? I GUARANTEE YOU I would NEVER have sacrificed INDY tradition to finance an AOW war like the HULMAN GEORGE family did. The Speedway is GUILTY for allowing it all to happen.
I'd gladly ride a nuke just like Slim Pickens did if it was dropped on IMS...just so we could start all over again. WHY? BECAUSE THE IRL SUCKS. What came before it was GREAT...NONE of YOU can deny it. But then again, you all want FAILURE. Enjoy it.
Turn the lights off, its over.
IndyCar racing thus has mostly about the 500 and the speed records. Sorry, but most people (excluding the real racing fans) outside the midwest or where the cars ran didn't know Foyt from Andretti. nascar, on the other hand, became known for the cars and the stars. So, unless this new bunch can figger out a way to promote the he** out of the IndyCar drivers, as DP has done for herself, Hooey's likely to be correct somewhere down the road.
Oh, if we could only put the fun back in the racin'. Sigh........
I agree with Paul's comments. This sport is screwed up.
I know, rattling off the same $600 million figure without any backing. I will choose to go with Anthonys number of $250 million. That said, when was the last time cart made a profit? How many hundreds of millions in investors money did they throw down the tubes? At least TG was using his own money and not gullible investors.
It is sad that neither was able to make a profit. Hopefully changes that have been made and an improving economy will make it profitable. I did find it interesting that NASCAR is losing money in this economy and is looking at cutting some races, raising fees or cutting back in some aspects of their business model.
It is, in fact, an excellent tactic that has suited the Speedway quite well these past 14 years. YOU are an eggspert at it for sure. You don't have a pilots license I hope...
The two delays combined averaged a 6.5/14
IF the IRL gave away Tecate for ever tix sold...well, Tecate wouldn't pass the lips of many for sure.... when no one wants it, give it away....The upside-down trickery of IRL marketing.