'Dinger yaps

[G.]

Q: Would you ever consider going back to Champ Car?

AJ: I've learned in this sport to never say never, but I made a commitment and I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I'm in it for the long haul. NASCAR is where I want to be. It's the pinnacle of U.S. racing.

I know I pissed off a lot of fans by coming to NASCAR, and they think I am in it only for the money, but that's not the case. In the long haul, could I make more money? Sure. But I will challenge anybody that has a job to turn down a chance to go make more money. But right now, I'm not making $8 million a year, or whatever's being reported. With the races that I'm missing, I probably would have made more money in Champ Car this year than I have in NASCAR. That was the chance that I took.

Q: What's the current state of open-wheel racing in America?

AJ: Those two series [IndyCar and Champ Car] are killing themselves. That hurts me. I love Champ Car. There isn't anything like driving a Champ Car around Laguna Seca. It's bad-ass. It's one of the coolest things I've ever done.

Until the series owners get their egos in check, they'll both sit there and say, "Yeah, we need to get it back together." But they're both idiots because they both also say, "We need to do it my way." Well you know what? Those series need to get back together because we need open-wheel racing in the U.S. In the next year or two, if they don't, I don't think there will be open-wheel racing.


its almost all about CABS, dont bother (http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2008/01/14/scene_spotlight1.html)

[Sean Malone]

Does this mean his wife doesn't have to do more nuddies in order to pay the rent? Bummer. :(

[Dirk Diggler]

Does this mean his wife doesn't have to do more nuddies in order to pay the rent? Bummer. :(

Link?

[Sean Malone]

Link?

Not on this forum. ;)

[SteveH]

Dinger couldn't handle losing in CC. He has nearly no chance of winning in NASCAR for the forseeable future. And its not about money.

[Sean Malone]

Dinger couldn't handle losing in CC. He has nearly no chance of winning in NASCAR for the forseeable future. And its not about money.

Bah. Whatever. His 5 wins in his first season with Forsythe got him down? Man, he must be poppin' the Prozac like skittles in NASCAR.

AJ Allmindinger = 'What Ever Happened To".

[Fio1]

Scott Speed did an interview with a go kart mag and said some pretty interesting things about Dinger.

"...the team literally says that I can not see him before the races because he gets so jacked up, he thinks i'm going to take his ride. It's ridiculous." :rofl:

[Elmo T]

AJ Allmindinger = 'What Ever Happened To".

:rofl: Whenever his name pops up somewhere the wife is quick to say "Who?"

[Spicoli]

Well, AJ. Let's see you fix it.

Until FtG goes away, we are ALL (yes this means you too T-forum) FUKT.


Thanks Tony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111111


fkna.:flame: :thumdown:

[Insomniac]

Scott Speed did an interview with a go kart mag and said some pretty interesting things about Dinger.

"...the team literally says that I can not see him before the races because he gets so jacked up, he thinks i'm going to take his ride. It's ridiculous." :rofl:

<hijack>Any word on what Scott Speed is doing in 2008?</hijack>

Fisrt he says not about the money, then challenges everyone not to take a new job for more money? So I guess we'd all take more money, but he had it in him to take more money, but for some other reason?

[SteveH]

Bah. Whatever. His 5 wins in his first season with Forsythe got him down? Man, he must be poppin' the Prozac like skittles in NASCAR.

AJ Allmindinger = 'What Ever Happened To".

You're right about his time at FCR. I was referring to his time at Rusports when he was nearly a basket case from losing. Should have been more specific.

[jonovision_man]

Until the series owners get their egos in check, they'll both sit there and say, "Yeah, we need to get it back together." But they're both idiots because they both also say, "We need to do it my way." Well you know what? Those series need to get back together because we need open-wheel racing in the U.S. In the next year or two, if they don't, I don't think there will be open-wheel racing.

He's right, they're both idiots.

There will be open-wheel racing. It will be less relevant than ever. And KK will have grown tired of cutting cheques, so there will be one series. A merger will look pretty good to y'all when all that's left is the IRL. :p :gomer:

jono

[Methanolandbrats]

He's right, they're both idiots.

There will be open-wheel racing. It will be less relevant than ever. And KK will have grown tired of cutting cheques, so there will be one series. A merger will look pretty good to y'all when all that's left is the IRL. :p :gomer:

jono

He's wrong. There is only one idiot and the idiot's megalomania allows for only three outcomes.

1) Merger now on FTG's terms = He runs it and there is only the IRL
2) Champcar folds and there is only the IRL
3) Champcar spends a decade building a new identity and succeeds.

In the case of 1 and 2 I would no longer care and would no longer follow open wheel in much the same way I abandoned Cabs in the early 90s. I'm sticking with 3 for now. I lived through the birth of CART, CANAM and IMSA GTP, so it's been done before.

[Sean O'Gorman]

<hijack>Any word on what Scott Speed is doing in 2008?</hijack>

ARCA

[Fio1]

3) Champcar spends a decade building a new identity and succeeds.

If no one knows who's driving what until Friday morning practice of round 1, how can you keep fans interested? Also, if during that first practice 99% of the fans are questioning each other on who the heck is that and who is this guy in that car, how can you have an identity? :shakehead Honestly, who ever heard of Dan Clarke before Long Beach 2006?

GP2 have there grid pretty much all set. I guess, we'll take the guys who couldn't land GP2 rides who aren't done with formula car racing. :yuck:

Yo, when does the decade start btw?

[Andrew Longman]

With the races that I'm missing, I probably would have made more money in Champ Car this year than I have in NASCAR.

That caught my eye. So much of his contract is performance based?

[Methanolandbrats]

If no one knows who's driving what until Friday morning practice of round 1, how can you keep fans interested? Also, if during that first practice 99% of the fans are questioning each other on who the heck is that and who is this guy in that car, how can you have an identity? :shakehead Honestly, who ever heard of Dan Clarke before Long Beach 2006?

GP2 have there grid pretty much all set. I guess, we'll take the guys who couldn't land GP2 rides who aren't done with formula car racing. :yuck:

Yo, when does the decade start btw? Not sure on any count. They may succeed, they may not, but it's the only option that appeals to me so I"ll follow it till it's conclusion. Any other solution involves FTG, *****ty little ovals and horrid cars and I walk.

[Andrew Longman]

Not sure on any count. They may succeed, they may not, but it's the only option that appeals to me so I"ll follow it till it's conclusion. Any other solution involves FTG, *****ty little ovals and horrid cars and I walk.

Agreed

[opinionated ow]

That caught my eye. So much of his contract is performance based?
probably more on taking a cut of prize money...

[jonovision_man]

3) Champcar spends a decade building a new identity and succeeds.


A decade? What happened to the 5 year plan? :p

Where in ChampCar's current state do you see even a glimmer of success? I see a string of failed races, failed attempts to have races, failed teams, and not a lot of hope...

And if he is treating this as an investment, then the plug should have been pulled by now. Good money after bad.

jono

[Methanolandbrats]

A decade? What happened to the 5 year plan? :p

Where in ChampCar's current state do you see even a glimmer of success? I see a string of failed races, failed attempts to have races, failed teams, and not a lot of hope...

And if he is treating this as an investment, then the plug should have been pulled by now. Good money after bad.

jono See three posts up.

[jonovision_man]

See three posts up.

That's you as a race fan, not KK as a businessman. He's basically running a charity.

jono

[Methanolandbrats]

That's you as a race fan, not KK as a businessman. He's basically running a charity.

jono

He's a race fan too and he's attempting a business turnaround. Many business' bought out of bankruptcy operate at a loss for a while. How much of a loss, is it even a loss, I hav'ent seen Champcar's books, have you? Are you an insider?:gomer: <------Wilke

[Sean Malone]

For entertaining my family and myself I bought a boat, 50" HDTV, motorcycle and a time share.

Rich people buy racing series. :)

[jonovision_man]

He's a race fan too and he's attempting a business turnaround. Many business' bought out of bankruptcy operate at a loss for a while. How much of a loss, is it even a loss, I hav'ent seen Champcar's books, have you? Are you an insider?:gomer: <------Wilke

Do you really think there's even a sliver of a possibility CCWS is profitable?

IMO - as an outsider ;) - it's beyond the realm of possibility... races dropping like flies, others with no attendance, sponsors MIA, teams that clearly receive assistance (no sponsors), paying for TV (and running hundreds of adverts for "champ car stuff"), it's not possible that at the end of the day they take any money home from this. We know the bloodbath that was CART, it's not like the economics of the sport and series are a complete unknown.

If he's doing it as a race fan and a dreamer, hey, that works out for us, we get to watch ChampCar for a few more years. But eventually reality will catch up with this hobby, and I'd be surprised if another saviour is in the wings.

Far better to thrown in the towel now and preserve some of what ChampCar is and has to offer, rather than driving it into the ground to the point there's nothing left worth saving.

jono

[Methanolandbrats]

[QUOTE=jonovision_man;216962]Do you really think there's even a sliver of a possibility CCWS is profitable? >>

I have no idea what the financial structure of Champcar is, neither do you or anyone else but the owners of Champcar and their accounting firm.



>>If he's doing it as a race fan and a dreamer, hey, that works out for us, we get to watch ChampCar for a few more years. But eventually reality will catch up with this hobby, and I'd be surprised if another saviour is in the wings.>>

Nobody knows which formula will succeed, unless of course you picked up a bitch'n crystal ball on the QVC :)

>>>Far better to thrown in the towel now and preserve some of what ChampCar is and has to offer, rather than driving it into the ground to the point there's nothing left worth saving.>>>

Damn man, you sound like a Gomer. So KK should just give it all to FTG today and that would save open wheel..............uh, no..........that's who ****ed it up.

[Spicoli]

:D

[JT265]

Damn man, you sound like a Gomer. So KK should just give it all to FTG today and that would save open wheel..............uh, no..........that's who ****ed it up.

TunnelvisionMan ain't a :gomer:


However, being a forward thinker, he selected a pressure-treated fence post to work up his ringpiece, and the aluminum nitrate in the solution is messing with his head a little. :D

[Methanolandbrats]

TunnelvisionMan ain't a :gomer:


However, being a forward thinker, he selected a pressure-treated fence post to work up his ringpiece, and the aluminum nitrate in the solution is messing with his head a little. :D
Thank you for the scientific perspective. You're right, a clear case of starfish impalement :(

[jonovision_man]

Nobody knows which formula will succeed, unless of course you picked up a bitch'n crystal ball on the QVC :)

What direction is this heading? I don't need a crystal ball to tell you that water runs downhill.

I assume you've been a fan for a long time, so you know where it was and where it is. Go through the ChampCar web sites, start in the good old days, and look at the grids... move forward. Look at the sponsors on the sidepods. Look at the fans in the stands. Look at how many more races were on the calendar. Look at the TV ratings.


Damn man, you sound like a Gomer. So KK should just give it all to FTG today and that would save open wheel..............uh, no..........that's who ****ed it up.

KK should work his butt off on a merger or some sort before he has to turn of the taps, shut ChampCar down and we lose everything.

I agree with 'dinger.

jono

[jonovision_man]

:D

Quit enjoying this. ;)

jono

[Methanolandbrats]

[QUOTE=jonovision_man;216996]>>What direction is this heading? I don't need a crystal ball to tell you that water runs downhill.>>

Actually, I'd say it's more of a pond suffering from low rainfall the last few years than a river, it's slowly refilling as the water table rises. :D

>>>I assume you've been a fan for a long time, so you know where it was and where it is. Go through the ChampCar web sites, start in the good old days, and look at the grids... move forward. Look at the sponsors on the sidepods. Look at the fans in the stands. Look at how many more races were on the calendar. Look at the TV ratings.>>

Fan since whenever CART began racing at Road America. Went to CanAM races there in early 70s. Ya, I remember 80,000 people and cars parked on every square inch of grass at RA. I've seen these cycles of boom and bust in racing. Will it ever get back to those levels? I don't know. It's better than it was a couple years ago.

>>>KK should work his butt off on a merger or some sort before he has to turn of the taps, shut ChampCar down and we lose everything.>>>

He has. I'm guessing FTG's only terms are to surrender total control to him. In that case, Champcar is done anyway. Might as try to grow it in a different direction.

You said in another thread FTG was moron who was still making money off of racing. That may be true, but it is only because he is a track owner. He has shown no ability to run a series and if he had understood that and remained just a track owner we would not be in this mess.

>>>I agree with 'dinger.<<<<

I don't, he's a moron:)

[Sean Malone]

[QUOTE=jonovision_man;216996]>

I don't, he's a moron:)


And worse then that...he's slow.

[jonovision_man]

Fan since whenever CART began racing at Road America. Went to CanAM races there in early 70s. Ya, I remember 80,000 people and cars parked on every square inch of grass at RA. I've seen these cycles of boom and bust in racing. Will it ever get back to those levels? I don't know. It's better than it was a couple years ago.

They paired up with ALMS... a good move, makes for good bank for the buck for the weekend.


He has. I'm guessing FTG's only terms are to surrender total control to him. In that case, Champcar is done anyway. Might as try to grow it in a different direction.

Europe?


You said in another thread FTG was moron who was still making money off of racing. That may be true, but it is only because he is a track owner. He has shown no ability to run a series and if he had understood that and remained just a track owner we would not be in this mess.

I agree.

But he didn't remain just a track owner. He created his own series, then managed to pull over CART's teams and manufacturers, leaving ChampCar (and frankly all of US OW) in the state it is today.

jono

[Methanolandbrats]

But he didn't remain just a track owner. He created his own series, then managed to pull over CART's teams and manufacturers, leaving ChampCar (and frankly all of US OW) in the state it is today.

jono

And he's done a fine job of running his series has'nt he. He could'nt run a lemonade stand. That is why handing total control to him will not work.

[last2brake]

........KK should work his butt off on a merger or some sort before he has to turn of the taps, shut ChampCar down and we lose everything.
.......

If I have a choice between:
A.) murdjer with ftg, or
B.) riding the Champ Car bus into the ground until there's nothing left,

.........I'll take choice B. Why not ? What have we got to lose- especially if things are as bad as you see them ?

As far as Scott Speed, you're never gonna hear him say anything good about AJ.