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Post by stuboyle on Dec 24, 2011 8:26:50 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2011 10:29:39 GMT -5
Good looking cars none the less.  |
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Post by jamesharvey on Dec 24, 2011 10:31:08 GMT -5
Stuart,
So much for the Christmas spirit! April Fool's Day came early this year. Read the disclaimer at the end of article saying that this is satire. It, too, seems like a longing for the old days.
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Post by stuboyle on Dec 24, 2011 10:53:05 GMT -5
Stuart, So much for the Christmas spirit! April Fool's Day came early this year. Read the disclaimer at the end of article saying that this is satire. It, too, seems like a longing for the old days. Doh! Can't they come up with anything better to write? What a waste of time. But the cars do look pretty cool. |
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Post by clm1545 on Dec 24, 2011 11:51:56 GMT -5
Champ Car is not dead, it is now called Indycar. Spec cars running street and road tracks.
Take Care
Craig
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2011 14:00:17 GMT -5
"Champ Car is not dead, it is now called Indycar. Spec cars running street and road tracks." Of course with 3 different engines in 2012 and new aero kits in 2013 it will hardly be a spec series any more... and according to the latest interview with Randy Bernard he'd love to add more ovals but the fans simply aren't supporting them financially (other than Indy). "RB: I love the ovals. But it's sickening when you hear people say, 'Oh, Randy wants to take it back to CART/Champ Car with all street and road courses.' I know how important having ovals is – we want to define our sport as that. The ideal scenario was last year. But it's not there. They don't show up or watch on TV. We're up on our attendance, but down on ovals." www.racer.com/q-a-randy-bernard-on-indycar-offseason-priorities/article/220444/?DCMP=EMC-RACER_DAILY |
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Post by indycals on Dec 24, 2011 14:08:59 GMT -5
I don't believe the fans are supporting the road courses any better. 30,000 at a street course is considered a huge success while 30,000 at an oval is considered a disappointment. Yet, how many of those people attending the street circuits are there because of freebie ticket giveaways? It's not the 'fans' that aren't supporting the ovals it's the PROMOTERS. Promote an oval like a street circuit and you'll see better turnouts.
I have friends who ask me "When is the next Indycar oval race?". I've never had any ask me "When is the next street circuit?"
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Post by jamesharvey on Dec 24, 2011 15:17:17 GMT -5
This whole thread started in the late 60s when Penske came to Indy with Donohue. You will recall that Penske had been a good road racer in his own right but quit to become a car owner. Penske always wanted to add road courses to the USAC schedule and get rid of the dirt races. In fact, USAC split the Championship into divisions around 1972 hence Silver Crown and Gold Crown. Remember Penske's treatment of Gary Bettenhausen after he destroyed his arm/shoulder in a dirt car. Penske was behind the creation of CART in 1978/1979 and he is still following the same agenda today 40 years later. Penske-Hall-Haas lasted a long time.
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Post by clm1545 on Dec 24, 2011 16:00:35 GMT -5
I hope you are right, however history should have taught us that more than one engine will be a short lived thing. One engine will prove better and the others will leave. Same thing with the aero kits. I agree with Michael, it's hard to hide empty seats at an oval, and easy at a road or street course. In an attempt to draw people to a city, there seems to be no end to governments willing to pay to run a street race, but most of them don't last very long. Without Indianapolis, open wheel racing really has very little going for it currently.
Take Care
Craig
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Post by gparrow on Dec 25, 2011 0:21:39 GMT -5
There are formulas out there that are sucessfull at creating equal yet diverse playing fileds. There has to be a compromise reached where there is some enginuity back in these cars. Craig you are correct in saying that there has allways been one dominant package in Indycar and I never really understood why they didn't do anything about it. I think Grand Am does a good job of keeping the cars equal even though TCGR has been dominant that has more to do with the individual team than a dominant package. The cars are verry equal, they dyno every engine and if one is making to much more HP they take measures to equal the playing field, Cart/Indycar has never done that and it has pushed to many people out of the sport. Look at how Indycar ended up as a spec series in the first place. It was spec long before the rules officially made it that way, everyone was running the Dallara/Honda combo anyways. If the powers that be had done something back in 2005/2006 to help the chevy engines or Panoz chassis be competitive they might have never left in the first place. I for one won't be going to any Indycar races where they run that monstrosity (I won't call it the DP12 out of respect for Dan). I will however be attending as many Grand Am races as my schedule allows, I can't wait to see the new Vette DP in Daytona.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2011 11:36:46 GMT -5
American LeMans is so much better than NASCAResqe Grand Am. I am hooked on American LeMans after the show the put on at Mid Ohio this past August. IMO IndyCar should schedule them together as much as possible.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2011 12:49:05 GMT -5
you silly americans...indy car racing considers itself a success if it pulls a '1.0' in ratings at most races....MTVS 'teenage mom' pulls 3.5s consistently in the ratings. reminds of the old one about 'if you put a milk bone and a diamond in front of a dog, which one does the dog go for? you cant fool a dog...but it is goal of the marketing people to continue to try to fool us into something we dont really want..having once been an indy car fan for +25 years, id rather watch 'teenage mom' myself....
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2011 12:49:49 GMT -5
i sure do miss amber portwood...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2011 12:50:38 GMT -5
..and of course, most of you know me as the most shallow and mindless of individuals....
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2011 12:56:00 GMT -5
This whole thread started in the late 60s when Penske came to Indy with Donohue. You will recall that Penske had been a good road racer in his own right but quit to become a car owner. Penske always wanted to add road courses to the USAC schedule and get rid of the dirt races. In fact, USAC split the Championship into divisions around 1972 hence Silver Crown and Gold Crown. Remember Penske's treatment of Gary Bettenhausen after he destroyed his arm/shoulder in a dirt car. Penske was behind the creation of CART in 1978/1979 and he is still following the same agenda today 40 years later. Penske-Hall-Haas lasted a long time. fyi, gary had been warned by penske when gary broke his arm at toledo in a usac sprint race august 10, 1972. this accident left penke without a champ car driver as donohue had injured himself at road atlanta the previous month... |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2011 19:53:26 GMT -5
What is more "Spec" that an Offy in a Watson Roadster? But at least the door was open for wide tires, rear engines, or whatever Smokey was up to that year. Used to be that whatever is winning this year would be on most of the field in the next, right up to the time someone came up with something better. We may have still been ruinning turbines if that little bearing haden't broke in 67.
I say open up the formula, the game is no longer open to the garage shop mechanic anyhoo!
I would love to see what the engineers and aero boys would come up with by barring wings and non unified body parts on a car.
John
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