Before reading this blog, please read Part 1 to understand my position and what I'm talking about in general.
The 2010 IndyCar Series is well under way and the racing seems better compared to last season, except all the races have been won by the Team Penske super team. With a stretch of ovals coming up, this does not seem likely to change. But, this is a different story. Today's enlightening blog is about the IRL's conundrum for selecting a brand new chassis for the 2012 season. As I said, the front runner seems to be a concept called the Delta Wing which was said to radically change the appearance of American open-wheel racing. Well a few months ago, they revealed the Delta Wing to... less than open arms.
This is supposed to be an open-wheel race car? This is a radical design indeed. It looks like a cross between the SR-71 and something from the Bonneville Salt Flats. Now, all the new designs up for consideration is being built to a set of parameters. Only one design can be chosen, which is a mistake in my opinion. If the IndyCar Series hope to draw in new fans I don't think they can do it with this chassis. This chassis is essentially a gimmick, curious folks will tune in for while and then realize how ridiculous the cars look. This design will also alienate veteran fans, as I said, this is supposed to be an open-wheel race car? The wheels are almost entirely closed. Of course from what I have seen this design is the most hated amongst IndyCar fans who prefer a more traditional style. Thus they have embraced one of Swift Engineering's concepts.
Swift Engineering's concept conforming to the same parameters as the above Now, Swift may only have concept images but they have all the data and experience of building race cars. They developed a few chassis for the CART World Series in the late 90's for Newman/Haas Racing. There are other concepts by other companies of course, but the Swift concept is certainly the most pleasing to the eye to me than the Delta Wing. But unfortunately the IRL's selection board will have the final say for which chassis will run. There is a small possibility that multiple chassis are allowed but it is unlikely. Also, the fans will have little to no input on the decision. The IRL's goal of gaining more fans will not be realized if they continue to alienate fans in these subtle ways. Of course in my opinion the Lola's and Reynards of the early 2000's are the best looking open-wheel racers in history.
Now for some reader feedback: Which of the two chassis designs above would you like to see in the Indianapolis 500?
And as always, a reminder of the golden era of American open-wheel racing.
Before reading this blog post, please read Part 1 of this series to get the gist of what I am talking about.
As you may have known if you've been reading my blog posts, I am a huge American Open Wheel Racing fan. So you can imagine my great despair over how some of North America's great racing venues are left aside. The new merged IndyCar Series still lack the racing venues that made the CART World Series so popular. Of course, all this blame can't be pinned on the IRL management. I realize that tough economic times discourage race promoters and sponsors to undertake an operation as grand as hosting a racing event. But corporate politics have lead to where we are now.
Way back when (the 1990's), corporate sponsorships were pouncing on the the greatest sponsorship opportunity available, the CART IndyCar World Series. They knew how popular this series was and it was evident judging by the amount of advertising Marlboro had. But, that is a story for another time. I'm talking about great race events and venues like the Cleveland Grand Prix being left out. This temporary circuit on Burke Lakefront Airport created the greatest racing imaginable. You'd think they were going flat out on ovals judging by how much passing there was there. Sure, Edmonton has some Cleveland vibes, but it is not a fast race track. We also have the legendary Road America left off. This track also created much excitement fast corners and sweeps made it so that whoever was most ballsy would invariably succeed. I would mention some ovals, but with the current cars that the IRL uses, it would serve no use back to further exaggerate the illusion of oval racing.
Speaking of cars, the new IndyCar specs are set to be released for 2012, there has been one chassis design that is said to radically change the series. It is being called the "Delta Wing" apparently this new open wheel racer will have no wings at the front or rear. Essentially, the entire car will act as a wing. The visuals of this have not been released to best of my knowledge. Judging by this description it throws back to the IndyCars of the 60's. Personally, I hope they stay with a new conventional design. I just can't imagine an open wheel race car any different.
Anyways, that wraps up this entry and I leave you with some real racing from Portland International Raceway.
Talent is worthless unless you have money to back it up. This has become apparent in the past years in the IndyCar Series. Team owners used to pay drivers for their talent and to have them drive for them on the team. But it has gotten to a point that the incompetent management of the Indy Racing League (I would say that the creation of the league) has lead to extreme financial uncertainty for the league and the teams. Teams are struggling to find sponsorship, so they are forced to hire drivers that basically pay for an opportunity to race. What is the problem you may ask? These drivers can't drive for their lives. Take Milka Duno for example. The only reason she is with her race team and in the series despite her unsafe driving and extremely slow pace is because the IRL and her team is receiving money from Hugo Chavez. I do not kid when I say that the entire field lapped her on a road course twice. She retired from that race because of "handling".
Paul Tracy Meanwhile drivers with a lot more talent, and without a doubt make the series a more exciting spectacle are left on the sidelines because they don't have sponsors or teams can't afford their services. Paul Tracy is one of them. He is undoubtedly more talented than three quarters of the field. But his main sponsor Monster Energy drink won't pony up for a full time ride. Paul Tracy is a divisive figure. Every race he has been to people feel compelled to look. His driving style is extremely aggressive. It was once said that Paul Tracy will always either win or crash out. He also has gotten into a few fist fights with other drivers. He is a very marketable driver and will draw viewers to the series. This is happening to young drivers as well, they have all the talent in the world but can't get a ride. We are stuck with the same old bland race drivers with no personality and for some, no talent. If the IndyCar Series has any hope of drawing more viewers they must not forsake the drivers with talent and ability.
Now I show you more of what the best racing in the world was. RIP CART 1979-2002
Before viewing this blog read up on my first one to get an idea of where I'm coming from.
So the 2009 IndyCar Series season has concluded, the second one since reunification and let me tell you, it was yet again a disappointment. But, first let me congratulate Scotsman Dario Franchitti for winning, well deserved. The 2009 IndyCar season was very dull. Save for two or three races, out of the seventeen. The same three guys were winning all the races, Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon. These drivers were part of the two powerhouse IndyCar teams, Penske Racing and Target Chip Ganassi Racing. There were very little passing even on the ovals, two races at ovals were the exemption. The rest of the field were at the mercy at the two powerhouses. Sure, the Championship lead changed 14 times over the course of the season, but it was the same three guys. The last race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway had the three title contenders lapping the entire field multiple times.
Have no idea what I'm talking about? Why should you? The Indy Racing League has done a piss poor job at marketing. This ranged from signing a major TV contract with VERSUS (0.3 Nielson Ratings average) to putting up billboards that said "IndyCar, Sexier than NASCAR" because we have a female driver in the series. They have also failed to sign on the bigger name drivers onto race teams. Paul Tracy only made 6 starts because he was on a transitional team that raced in the Champ Car World Series. They need guys like Paul Tracy in the series to generate enough buzz to increase their stagnant revenue. For the 2010 season, they have broken their promise of a 50/50 oval/road course schedule. The new chassis and engine package has been delayed to 2012, meaning that we are stuck with the ugly, under-performing crapwagons that have been used since 2001. It seems inevitable that the top open-wheel racing series in America is doomed. But I still have hope, if they still keep their word that they will return to 199o's era CART World Series format, they can still save themselves.
I will now show you the golden era of racing in America, back when cars were beautiful, fast and competitive.
So, today was my birthday and to celebrate, I went out to buy a PSN prepaid $50 card. I drove to my local EB Games and they were sold out. No problem , I'll just go to the next closest one. Turns out they were out as well. Fortunately, there was a Best Buy in the same shopping centre and they had a whole stack of them. So after wasting some amount of gas on an errand that was supposed to take 15 minutes but instead took an hour and a half, I finally got the card. But that's not the worse of the day yet.
I got home, got the $50 into my PSN "wallet" and started buying and downloading the games. I bought the obvious two games for me; Battlefield 1943 and Fat Princess. This left me with $16 or so left. I wanted to go buy Outrun Online Arcade (Sega), but I couldn't find it in the Playstation Store. I was confused because I read that it had come out on PSN and XBLA. A little internet search revealed that it had been released on both PSN and XBLA, but the PSN version was available in Europe only, while the XBLA version was available everywhere. This means that Outrun Online Arcade is exclusive to XBLA in North America. What the hell? Regional exclusivity? Who is responsible for this? But most importantly, WHY?
I was really looking forward to getting this game too, for sentimental reasons. When I was growing up, the only game game I played in the arcades was the original Outrun. Sure, the game came out in 1986, but it was really ahead of its time. It brought alive fantasies of owning a Ferrari and having a beautiful woman sitting next to you as you just drive by breathtaking vistas. I sunk in many quarters into that machine, and for that reason I will always have the song Splash Wave and Passing Breeze etched into my memory. I really wanted to see how Sega approached the 20 year-old gameplay mechanic in this one. Ah well, at least there are other quality PSN games to spend my $16 on. Problem is, I can't identify them.
Yay Nostalgia! Best Game soundtrack of the 80's I say.
I've been a race fan for a very long time now, so it saddens me to see what has happened to racing in North America. Let's put this into perspective, the only popular racing series in the USA is NASCAR. Don't get me wrong, I think NASCAR is a great series, but the racing sort of gets stale. Nowadays those stock cars only experience close racing on two of the 30-something speedways. My gripe is with the state of American open-wheel racing. The most exciting racing existed in the 1990's in what was known as the CART Indycar World Series.
CART World Series CART at the time was the biggest racing series in America, yes, even bigger than NASCAR. This series had everything; a mix of both oval and road/street course racing; all the big name sponsors; multiple chassis and engines; and some of the best names in racing. It was so popular that some said that had the series continue as is, it would have eclipsed Formula 1 as the world's most popular racing series. Names like Paul Tracy, Jacques Villeneuve, Nigel Mansell, the Fittipaldis, the Andrettis, the Unsers, Alex Zanardi, Juan Pablo Montoya, among countless others. Of course the "main event" every year was the Indianapolis 500. That's where the trouble begins. Tony George is the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, heir of the founder, his grandfather. CART canned him from the board of directors because he was causing a ruckus. George was concerned that the series had become too international, that the series wasn't "grass roots" enough. So the spiteful man formed the Indy Racing League, an inferior ovals only series. It took the Indy 500 along with it.
Tony George, the man that ruined racing in America The IRL emphasized an American only, spec series. The first season in 1996 only had three races on the schedule and used the leftover chassis and engine from CART's previous season. From than on, open-wheel race fans were split along two lines, all the while NASCAR gained popularity. Even though CART was the superior series in terms of racing quality, the IRL always had their trump card, the Indy 500. Soon enough the top teams from CART defected into the IRL. The CART racers were turbo-charged and could reach top speeds of 240 mph. While the IRL racers were ugly, slow and naturally aspirated. This meant that racing in the IRL was cheaper, thus why the teams shifted. The two series both lost popularity and revenue. In 2003 CART was rebranded as the Champ Car World Series and established itself as road/street course only. Both series in 2008 realised that a merger was necessary.
The car that raced one season Unfortunately, the IRL took control from there, still utilising the IRL's uncompetitive chassis and engine. Over the next year, the former Champ Car team got used to the new series, the IndyCar Series. But unless some changes are made, this reunited series will never succeed and we may never see exciting racing ever again. All the big name drivers have since retired or gone on to other series, with the exception of few. The series are using the same Dallara chassis which since the early 2000's have not received drastic changes. Champ Car's last season featured a new redesigned Panoz chassis, unfortunately this beautiful chassis has not been tested on ovals and are now sitting in warehouses. The current series have for now returned to a 50/50 oval and road course schedule. But, since a new chassis and engine is not coming to fruition until 2012. They have made slight changes to the current chassis but this is just a quick fix. Also the series have signed a contract with TV network Versus to show a majority of the IndyCar races. Unfortunately many people do not have Versus and can't watch races. This year the average Nielson Rating was 0.2, which equates to about 200.000 households compared to NASCAR's 1.8s. Also many stands sit empty during these races. For now the series can only hope to rebuild it's fanbase and return to the status of North America's great motorsport achievement.
I now end this blog with a few CART tribute videos that showcased real racing and why it had been so popular.
What are your thoughts on racing in America? Have I tried to hit it spot on or am I completely wrong? Please share your thoughts.
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