CART 1995

[Wheel-Nut]

Just a look back at what it was.

20 Teams

31 full time drivers

17 races

3 chassis

2 tire manufacturers

2 engine manufacturers, 4 at a few races

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_IndyCar_season

[Don Quixote]

The tables in that article are sweet. I had forgotten that Newvillage won 4 races that year. Dang, I miss that racing so much.

[dando]

DNQ at Indianapolis

:thumbup: :thumbup: :gomer:

-Kevin

[Don Quixote]

DNQ at Indianapolis :thumbup: :thumbup: :gomer:

-Kevin
There were a bunch of them. :cool:

[Napoleon]

It makes me want to cry what OWR has become.

[dando]

There were a bunch of them. :cool:

Yeah, but Liverspots was a special DNQ that season. :)

-Kevin

[Elmo T]

Well, I am glad THAT was fixed. The American driver ratio looks way off. :rolleyes:

[SteveH]

And in 1996...

going into the final race of the season at Laguna Seca:

any 3 of the 4 chassis manufacturers could have won the championship, the lone exception was the Eagle
any 3 of the 4 engine manufacturers could have won the championship, the lone exception was Toyota
both tire manufacturers could have won the championship

I'll never forget Alex Zanardi winning the race and Jimmy Vasser 'hitching' a ride back to the pits on his car to celebrate winning the driver's championship.

:sigh:

[SteveH]

Well, I am glad THAT was fixed. The American driver ratio looks way off. :rolleyes:

More American drivers started in the inaugural US 500 than in this year's Indy 500.

[Elmo T]

More American drivers started in the inaugural US 500 than in this year's Indy 500.

Yea - more to point out the BS TG was spewing.

Personally, I don't give a crap about where the driver is from and I don't understand that fascination.

I'd rather watch a "foreign" driver with some personality passionately drive the wheels off the car, maybe even so some emotion (good or bad) - prefer that over a WGAF American animatronic telling me about how happy they are with their top 20 car. :yuck:

[Tim]

Disenfranchised CART youth still living in 1995.:D

[Wheel-Nut]

It's interesting to see what it was and what it has become. and the bafoon that wanted the power isn't even involved now. :saywhat:

[pchall]

There were a bunch of them. :cool:

Yes, but we all remember Team Penske being totally lost in May. :D

[Sean Malone]

Tony George - "Nov 14 marks 50 years exactly since my grandfather Tony Hulman bought The Speedway to save the Indianapolis 500. The IRL and the Indy 200 at Disney World are about preserving its future."

Jack Long - "With regard to the Indy 500, if they choose to run a race against us, that's their choice. We really can't control what other people do. We're not the ones creating conflicts. We're not the ones scheduling races on top of others. We're not the ones causing the problems. I think it'll be a great show. You know, the Indy 500 makes stars. Those stars don't make the Indy 500. "

Cary Agajanian - " I don't know that there is any mediator who can ever resolve philosophical differences. So, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me when they talk about mediation. The Walt Disney World event will be successful...The event is virtually sold out. The Indy 500 will continue on as it has for the past 80 years, and it will be as successful as ever, I believe even more successful with this new format and the new teams coming in."

Jack Long on the USAC oval response for the entry list to the Walt Disney race: "The response from them hasn't been as great as we'd expected."

Jack Long: "...I think the technical enforcement guy who calls on your car should not work for either the promoter, who might say, 'I want that guy in the field, just ignore that, we need him in the race', or the guy who owns the car, who might say, 'My car's not going to be declared illegal, that's for sure.' I'm not accusing anyone of being dishonest, but as a matter of busniess philosophy, we think there should be those kinds of separations."

Source: Racer magazine Nov '95, Jan '96.

[Sean Malone]

Tony George - "For those who think it was a power play, I don't know what the logic is, with the modest schedule announced, I don't see that as being a threat to what they were doing. It was an opportunity to bring some new races on board in some major markets, with some very nice purses. It would have been great opportunities for everyone involved/ It was perceived by them as trying to ram it down their throats. They weren't going to stop doing what they were in business to so."

Tony George - "Simply counting points at Indianapolis towards a championship has not really accomplished in our minds what needed to be done for the last 15 years. In taking this step, in forming the league, I announced I was going to do it, without knowing how I was going to do it."

Source: Indy Car Magazine, Aug '95.

[JLMannin]

Tony George - "Simply counting points at Indianapolis towards a championship has not really accomplished in our minds what needed to be done for the last 15 years. In taking this step, in forming the league, I announced I was going to do it, without knowing how I was going to do it."

Source: Indy Car Magazine, Aug '95.

Smooth move there, Tony. You turned something real special into just another race.

[shaggy_socal]

And in 1996...

going into the final race of the season at Laguna Seca:

any 3 of the 4 chassis manufacturers could have won the championship, the lone exception was the Eagle
any 3 of the 4 engine manufacturers could have won the championship, the lone exception was Toyota
both tire manufacturers could have won the championship

I'll never forget Alex Zanardi winning the race and Jimmy Vasser 'hitching' a ride back to the pits on his car to celebrate winning the driver's championship.

:sigh:

One other bullet point to add.
All three drivers that could have won the title that day were American.
Vasser, Unser Jr. and Andretti.

[oddlycalm]

Yeah, but Liverspots was a special DNQ that season. :)

-Kevin

Some memories are sweet indeed. :D

I'd like to know what happened to that hammer that TG took to work everyday. I wuz wunderin' if he might need a little surgery to remove it from where his sisters left it....?

oc

[SteveH]

One other bullet point to add.
All three drivers that could have won the title that day were American.
Vasser, Unser Jr. and Andretti.

probably the most important point of all

thanks

[Sean Malone]

Some memories are sweet indeed. :D

I'd like to know what happened to that hammer that TG took to work everyday. I wuz wunderin' if he might need a little surgery to remove it from where his sisters left it....?

oc

I spent some time going through my old collection of Racer and Indy Car Racing Magazine to dig up the few quotes I posted above and was surprised to see so many comments from TG, Jack Long and Agajanian regarding their non confrontational intentions toward CART. Their obvious lies and spin doctoring started from day 1 and continues until today. At the time when Kalkovan sold Champ Car up the river, at the very least the IRL could have said "we lost many fans along the way, we're not what we used to be but we're trying to get back there now and here's how...". Instead all we got and continue to get is how great things are as the ratings continue to be measured in 10ths and soon 100'ths. Tony George and his cronies did everything and I repeat, everything wrong. Everything.

[Methanolandbrats]

Agajanian, that Momhumper, he was the driving force behind this ********. POS.

[SteveH]

Wasn't Agajanian quoted in Racer referring to Tony Stewart "we've got dozens just like him"



psssst, you guys might want to bring them out of hiding........

[chop456]

Wasn't Agajanian quoted in Racer referring to Tony Stewart "we've got dozens just like him"

Yes.

[Duroc]

October 24, 1995

The IRL and the '500' Future

To The Editor
The Indianapolis Star
The Indy Racing League and the '500' future

by Anton Hulman George / Indianapolis Motor Speedway President

It is my hope to provide an understanding of the purpose and motivation behind the formation of the Indy Racing League. There is much controversy in this matter, expressed as anxiety and even animosity by certain members of the Indy racing community, several fans, and more than one journalist.

In time, I hope the current wounds are healed and that these disagreements ultimately provide for clearer and stronger relationships throughout our sport. Later, I'll get into specific reasons why I believe so strongly in the formation of this league.

Of immediate concern, though, is the unsettling rhetoric of threats, boycotts and an alternate race on May 26 as leveled by Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) against both the Indianapolis 500 and the IRL. Other than to once again reiterate our almost daily, sincere invitation to the racing community that we consider all racers friends and that IRL events and the "500" are open to any legitimate team with a legal car and qualified driver, I cannot say how this will all turn out.

What I can say, very sincerely, is that any and all teams that have competed in past "500s," many of them CART franchisees, are 100 percent welcome to enter and compete in any of our IRL events. New entrants are welcome too. That said, I'm going to specifically address just a single, highly inaccurate word that has recently surfaced as CART's focal buzzword to describe its self-imposed predicament regarding the "500." The word is "lockout."

Let's make this clear: There is no lockout. What I believe to be the case is that CART, following an effort to eliminate the IRL and gain control of the Indianapolis 500, is in the uncomfortable position of having created deliberate and unnecessary conflicts from which it will not extricate itself.

Those conflicts surfaced with CART's announcements of technical specifications for its 1996 cars and of its 1996 schedule, both of which occurred well after the corresponding IRL information had been made public and put in place for our inaugural season.

Probably 90 percent or more of the discussion (and cussing) has been aimed at the IRL's 75 percent-of-the-field qualifying incentive, the one that conditionally guarantees 25 spots in the Indianapolis 500 lineup to IRL competitors. Although we have not changed any of the four-day, speed-seeded qualifying format for the "500" with the fastest first-day qualifier, whoever it is, still on the pole, let me explain where the new qualifying criteria -- which only affects who gets bumped -- came from.

The IRL qualifying incentives, bridging across different events, provide a new and interesting dimension to how starting fields are established because they provide a hard, venue-to-venue continuity. There is a positive side in terms of publicity and race-to-race interdependency to build the league's identity. But the down side is that if the "500" were to be a true league member, then the rule would have to apply to the 33-car Indy field as well. We were on the fence leaning away from that one until the middle of June.

That was when CART announced its 1996 schedule. The components of our modest, five-race IRL schedule had been announced in January, April and late May, and each announcement was accompanied by an IRL promise not to create conflict with what we understood would be CART's schedule. We obviously hoped they would enter our races.

On June 10, CART announced its 15-race 1996 schedule. Ultimately, four of its dates appeared to us to have been put deliberately in conflict with three important IRL dates: CART's Brazil and Australia races were placed one week before and one week after the IRL's announced Phoenix date of March 24, 1996; CART's Nazareth race was listed on April 28 against USAC's important Indy Rookie Orientation Program; and inexplicably, CART chose to schedule Elkhart Lake directly opposite the IRL's Aug. 18 New Hampshire race.

Travel logistics virtually eliminate the possibility of any team running Brazil, Phoenix and Australia on consecutive weekends. While "ROP" (as USAC's rookie program is called) is not a highly publicized event, it is nonetheless well known in racing circles that it occurs a week before opening day at Indianapolis, when the final preparations to the race track have been completed. All CART could say about its Elkhart Lake date was that it had always raced on that date (it hasn't) and besides, CART stated, it hadn't made any promises that it wouldn't conflict.

What do you do if you are in our shoes? CART had obviously made a perfectly legal, free-market competition move to prevent its teams from participating in the opportunities presented by the IRL. At that point it became incumbent on us to respond in kind, and we did it with a carrot instead of a stick.

On July 3, we announced $12 million in prize money for the five-race series, and qualifying criteria weighted toward teams that participate in IRL events. In August, we weighted our season championship points system very heavily toward consistent IRL participation. Plus we already had an agreement in place with ABC Sports for live television coverage of all five IRL races.

These are strong, attractive incentives for open participation that in no way imply a lockout. Then as now, the IRL is designed for open inclusion of any and all competitors. It is unfortunate CART is forcing its members to choose.

Then there is the equipment question. On Oct. 11, a CART car owner was quoted in The Star sports section about the necessity for the IRL to adopt '96 CART equipment rules or else CART will be unable to compete in next year's Indianapolis 500. That is a true statement, sort of. The problem resulted from CART's decision last May to institute sweeping changes in its own '96 chassis specifications that it knew when it made them would effectively eliminate its cars from competing in the 1996 "500." That was CART's decision, not ours, and I firmly believe the decision was motivated by CART's desire to stifle the development of the IRL by creating the burden on its members of redundant, expensive equipment.

It was, in my view, another free-market competition decision. I respect CART's right to compete against the IRL, although it was certainly not our original intent to compete against them. We wanted to coexist and not force anyone to choose sides. That is why in early March the IRL rescinded its own proposed sweeping changes in both chassis and engine specifications.

At that time, CART told us they felt the IRL's proposed technical changes -- which we had announced in 1994 -- would create hardship because they were too late for 1996 production and too expensive for teams because all new equipment would be required. We did not entirely agree with those assessments, but in the interest of removing obstacles to agreement, the IRL announced March 10 that for 1996 all applicable 1995 USAC and CART specifications would be observed. It was purely a move of appeasement on our part.

Imagine our surprise when two months later, in mid-May, CART adopted changes in chassis specifications that were very close to what the IRL had rescinded in the interest of keeping peace in the family. While technical and safety improvements are the backbone of auto racing, it was obvious to me that CART's chassis change was motivated less by performance than by its political desire to prevent the IRL from conducting races in 1996. I was very disappointed by this, but it was not of our doing and we will stick to the commitments we made for 1996 rules.

Chassis incompatibility and schedule conflicts: CART created both these problems after the IRL was on record as sincerely having tried to avoid them. The purpose of the IRL is to provide growth, stability and opportunity for open-wheel, oval track racing. That mission is certainly not intended to harm or control CART.

In fact, it has nothing to do with CART. We simply do not want the Indianapolis 500 to be controlled by an outside group that does not have as its most important goal the future of Indianapolis type oval track racing. Not to mention a group that is based out of state and is far removed from the significance of the "500" in this community.

It is often said that I am motivated by power and greed in forming the IRL. It certainly is not greed, because this is a very intense financial commitment for us to build a race track in Florida and establish proper league staffing and resources. The monetary payback, if there is any, will be over the long haul. On the subject of power, my desire is not now and never has been control of CART, IndyCar or the entire series of whatever cars run in the Indianapolis 500. The payback on that side is simply a peace of mind that comes from maintaining the sovereignty of this wonderful event.

Far from wanting to run the sport, I'd love to see even the IRL develop an autonomy. There is much I would like to do in my life, but I'll be unable to enjoy any of it if the "500" is not secure.

That's why the Indy Racing League was formed. I felt the long-term protection of the "500" depended on a solid series of top level open-wheel, oval track races. To that end, this league was created because CART provided no long-term guarantees to the "500" or to oval track racing. Nor has CART as an organization exhibited long-term stability, with four different board voting structures and four different chief executives just in the short five years I've been president of the Speedway.

The Indianapolis 500 will not be controlled by CART. They are welcome to join us as competitors, but not to impose their will or their governing structure on the Speedway.

Our timing in all of this was pretty good. The threat I feared might someday materialize -- a CART sanction in a power move against the Speedway -- is evidently upon us. Although you can argue that we brought it on ourselves this time, I am convinced it would have happened over some other issue at some other time. This time, though, we were in the middle of exercising some very important American ideals -- those of free competition, open markets and entrepreneurship. We are in a position of strength, and we are steadfastly in a position to defend the future of the "500" with the Indy Racing League.

It breaks my heart when I see CART drivers quoted as saying the "500" is "just another race," and I can't count the number of CART owners who have stated on various occasions that they would prefer to emasculate the month of May, and instead re-make the greatest automobile race meeting in the world into a single-weekend event. I would be ashamed if we let that happen here. It would be an incalculable loss for both the world of racing and the local community.

[dando]

It breaks my heart when I see CART drivers quoted as saying the "500" is "just another race," and I can't count the number of CART owners who have stated on various occasions that they would prefer to emasculate the month of May, and instead re-make the greatest automobile race meeting in the world into a single-weekend event. I would be ashamed if we let that happen here. It would be an incalculable loss for both the world of racing and the local community.

500 is just a number. :tony: :shakehead

-Kevin

[Dvdb]

and instead re-make the greatest automobile race meeting in the world into a single-weekend event.

So instead you split the difference and made it a 2 week affair with no drama?

[WickerBill]

I very distinctly remember reading that letter to the editor in the actual newspaper (remember those days?) the morning it came out.

My blood still boils.

I'm a very patriotic person; some might say that I'm far too nationalistic for this shrinking world. But the whole idea of "more Americans, more ovals" in the mid 1990s has always struck me as similar to David Stern saying "we need more white guys and less dunking -- you know, the way it used to be."

It infuriates me to this day. I would have a hundred percent more respect for Tony George if he had said in 1994: "I believe the Indy 500 should be the center of the open wheel universe, and I intend to do everything in my power to make it that way." I absolutely would have disagreed with his approach, but at least he wouldn't have been lying to me; at least he wouldn't have been trying to stir up anti-foreigner sentiment to gather himself a fanbase; at least he wouldn't have been giving false hope to midget and sprint car drivers who he was just using as a bit of leverage with the old-timers.

And you know what? He might have won; he might have won quickly; and the sport very well might not have had to be torn down to rubble to get there.

[SteveH]

My blood still boils.

So does mine, I made it through about the first third of it just now and gave up. There is no defense for this sham.

[oddlycalm]

There is much I would like to do in my life, but I'll be unable to enjoy any of it if the "500" is not secure.
Good, I hope you're forever miserable you pusillanimous putz because it's dying thanks your witless intervention. The only thing you've proven is that you're just another 3rd generation oaf that can disappear a fortune it took your ancestors generations to earn in months . After 13 years of spending an average $3,846,153 a month you've managed to turn a silk purse into a sows ear and ruin everything associated with it for the rest of us.

For your next hobby you might want to consider just nailing your genitals to the floor in public. The end result will be the same and it's more in your price range now that the sisty uglers have taken away the check book.

oc

[datachicane]

Not to mention a group that is based out of state

That's the part that has stuck with me all of these years.
His apparent distrust of foreigners didn't stop at our national borders, oh no- PrOVinCiAlism aMpLIfieD.
Who knows where it ends, Marion County vs. greater Indiana? :saywhat:

[nrc]

The tiny mindedness of it all still leaves me aghast that any number of people were taken in by it. Just the "I was here first" logic that he applied to things like rules and schedule and the fact that some people actually argued in his favor on that - amazing. :shakehead

It's often been debated what the owners did wrong or whether they could have defused the whole situation by "showing respect" or some other form of appeasement or compromise. I don't think so. I think it's absolutely clear that everything Tony did proves that he was never going to settle for anything less than total control - right down to quitting everything when his sisters took away the check book. He has always felt entitled to it.

[mapguy]

I'm just waiting for 73B to pipe in and tell us we are all wrong.

[miatanut]

It's often been debated what the owners did wrong or whether they could have defused the whole situation by "showing respect" or some other form of appeasement or compromise. I don't think so. I think it's absolutely clear that everything Tony did proves that he was never going to settle for anything less than total control - right down to quitting everything when his sisters took away the check book. He has always felt entitled to it.

Absolutely! The mistake the owners made was in (later) busting their own union, not in telling Tony to go fly a kite.

When Temper Tantrum II occurred, it was just more classic Tony, but after all these years, the :gomer:z still don't see it.

[Duroc]

There are at least a couple of great books waiting to be written about the fiasco.

Interesting stuff (http://forums.autosport.com/lofiversion/index.php/t51991.html) about Nuber and the Thunder crowd. (scroll down to Jim Thurman Jan 4 2003, 00:20)


Nuber could not have been a bigger cheerleader and promoter of Jeff Gordon, so imagine when I found out he was Gordon's manager while doing this on air. How about that for conflict of interest? (a similar thing happened with a non-on air ESPN employee and Tony Stewart, but that's for another discussion). He apparently didn't make much, or hold on to much, off of Jeff, but good luck trying to get to the bottom of all of that.

He also claims (http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=111596&view=findpost&p=3726485) that was origin of the all-American oval hero narrative that Tony ran with.

I have no idea of the veracity.

[matthole]

Wasn't Agajanian quoted in Racer referring to Tony Stewart "we've got dozens just like him"



No. (Chop must have scanned the wrong article.) It was door-blower-offer Leo Mehl. They're fairly interchangeable as far as gomerriffic idiocy though. :gomer:


"He's going to get offered a lot of money to drive in Winston Cup," says IRL executive director Leo Mehl. "We would miss him, but I think we have other Tony Stewarts here in our series." If that's true, it would be even more good news for the IRL.

Issue date: February 23, 1998
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/weekly/980223/ms0223/a.html

Good thread.

[Napoleon]

Absolutely! The mistake the owners made was in (later) busting their own union, not in telling Tony to go fly a kite.

I assume you mean when they went public. I would agree that is the biggest mistake they made. Another would have to do everything possible to strangle the IRL in the crib (enter 500 in mass? Get engine manufactures not to supply IRL? Not sell old chassis to IRL teams?)

Nothing they did or said short of unilateral surrender would have satisfied TG. When TG came to head the speedway with no meaningful check from his family the current condition of AOWR was preordained.

[nissan gtp]

Get engine manufactures not to supply IRL? Not sell old chassis to IRL teams?)


That was a key error IMO, but typical CART trying to get the max $ out of the situation -- they clearly didn't take FTG seriously.

[datachicane]

I assume you mean when they went public. I would agree that is the biggest mistake they made. Another would have to do everything possible to strangle the IRL in the crib (enter 500 in mass? Get engine manufactures not to supply IRL? Not sell old chassis to IRL teams?)

Nothing they did or said short of unilateral surrender would have satisfied TG. When TG came to head the speedway with no meaningful check from his family the current condition of AOWR was preordained.

I'm not so ready to blame the public offering for their demise. It was probably a mistake, sure, but it did generate the $$$ that let this business survive for a few years longer against a competing hobby.

Everything else is fantasy. If they had attempted to enter the 500 en mass, 25/8 would have instantly become 33/0, or all IRL events would become non-CART-participant invitationals- don't forget how happy Anton is to change the rules when it suits him. If tubs were in short supply, he'd declare an AIS compatible spec. Even despite the legal problems (like I'm in a position to tell you :gomer:) involved in trying to prevent manufacturer involvement with Tony, all he'd have to do is offer naming rights or some other crazy money-losing scheme to bring them right back into the fold. He had a mighty big carrot.

He's shown over and over that he's willing to throw anything and everything under the bus to achieve control. I honestly don't think there's any limit to what he would (and ultimately did) sacrifice. Against an opponent like that, there's nothing on the planet that a business could do to change the outcome.

[G.]

I'm not so ready to blame the public offering for their demise. It was probably a mistake, sure, but it did generate the $$$ that let this business survive for a few years longer against a competing hobby.

Everything else is fantasy. If they had attempted to enter the 500 en mass, 25/8 would have instantly become 33/0, or all IRL events would become non-CART-participant invitationals- don't forget how happy Anton is to change the rules when it suits him. If tubs were in short supply, he'd declare an AIS compatible spec. Even despite the legal problems (like I'm in a position to tell you :gomer:) involved in trying to prevent manufacturer involvement with Tony, all he'd have to do is offer naming rights or some other crazy money-losing scheme to bring them right back into the fold. He had a mighty big carrot.

He's shown over and over that he's willing to throw anything and everything under the bus to achieve control. I honestly don't think there's any limit to what he would (and ultimately did) sacrifice. Against an opponent like that, there's nothing on the planet that a business could do to change the outcome.
I agree with a lot of that, but maybe, JUST MAYBE, the Court of Public Opinion may have been loud enough to overcome Tony'$ bull$***.

Or not.

[Napoleon]

I'm not so ready to blame the public offering for their demise. It was probably a mistake, sure, but it did generate the $$$ that let this business survive for a few years longer against a competing hobby.


Although I agree with nearly everything you say (which is why I think the state of AOWR was preordained when TG gained control of the Speedway) I am not sure any of the money, or at least not much of the money, from the public offering was plowed back into the series and instead it was the owners just cashing out. Perhaps someone hear recalls more of the details.

In any event my biggest problem with the public offering was that it got rid of the "golden handcuffs" that tied team owners to the series. As long as that was in place you were not going to see defections (IMO).

[dando]

Although I agree with nearly everything you say (which is why I think the state of AOWR was preordained when TG gained control of the Speedway) I am not sure any of the money, or at least not much of the money, from the public offering was plowed back into the series and instead it was the owners just cashing out. Perhaps someone hear recalls more of the details.

In any event my biggest problem with the public offering was that it got rid of the "golden handcuffs" that tied team owners to the series. As long as that was in place you were not going to see defections (IMO).

Unless you consider Pookfair plowing $$$ back into the series circa '03. :irked:

-Kevin

[miatanut]

I assume you mean when they went public.

Going public was a distraction and brought some problems with it, but if CART teams had never broken their union by switching to the IRL, it would have remained a bunch of second-rate teams who couldn't cut it in CART, and by 2003 it would have been gone.

Giving it the appearance of legitimacy allowed the family to agree to plowing money into it for several more years.

[SteveH]

The original CART franchise system virtually guaranteed participation by the owner teams. That system died when the IPO occurred.

Would be quite ironic if a franchise system was resurrected to rescue the IRL now, wouldn't it? KK, GF, RP, CG and all the rest pool their funds to buy the series. Full circle. ;)

[Andrew Longman]

The original CART franchise system virtually guaranteed participation by the owner teams. That system died when the IPO occurred.

Would be quite ironic if a franchise system was resurrected to rescue the IRL now, wouldn't it? KK, GF, RP, CG and all the rest pool their funds to buy the series. Full circle. ;)

Except the IPO price would be penny stock or just above. With their sponsorship and business model, w/o IMS money, who would invest?

[datachicane]

The original CART franchise system virtually guaranteed participation by the owner teams. That system died when the IPO occurred.


I dunno- why would receiving $$$ from the IPO make them more willing to walk away from CART? Owning a chunk of something you can't liquidate vs. something you can wouldn't seem to make much of a difference, since you're obviously sticking around for reasons other than the $$$ you couldn't spend in the first case, and those reasons would still be there if you could.

I'm open to the possibility that I'm wrong, but I'm not seeing the distinction.

[SteveH]

I dunno- why would receiving $$$ from the IPO make them more willing to walk away from CART? Owning a chunk of something you can't liquidate vs. something you can wouldn't seem to make much of a difference, since you're obviously sticking around for reasons other than the $$$ you couldn't spend in the first case, and those reasons would still be there if you could.

I'm open to the possibility that I'm wrong, but I'm not seeing the distinction.

The franchise owners retained a certain % of the ownership of MPH after the IPO. They had to hold their stock for 3(?) years, can't recall the exact time frame. Once that time stipulation was over nearly every team owner, if not every team owner that eventually jumped to the IRL, dumped their stock. Forsythe didn't. Not sure if there was anyone else that held on, maybe Coyne.

[Napoleon]

Owning a chunk of something you can't liquidate vs. something you can wouldn't seem to make much of a difference,

I think it makes all the difference in the world. If they can not liquidate the only way they make money off of it is a distribution of cash flow/profits, which means they will do everything to maximize distributions, which pretty much means you don't jump to your competitor. If you cash out you don't care at all what happens to to the cash flow/profits, and so you make your decision based purely on an individual basis.

The franchise system were golden handcuffs which handcuffed the franchise owners to CART.

PS, from the get go I thought MPH was a horrible investment. Its entire product was then dependant on what essentially was a "work force" that could walk across the street to your biggest competitor at the end of a 3 year period.

[datachicane]

I recall that, but what would keep those same teams from jumping ship if there had been never been an IPO? How would simply getting a check make walking away from a franchise more likely?

Maintaining a franchise certainly wouldn't require hanging on to that stock, and not having stock to dump wouldn't make hanging on to that franchise any more attractive. Couldn't one argue that a team owner would see a strong incentive to dump his stock whether or not he intended to jump ship, and that the timing was merely coincidental?

Like I said, I could be wrong, but I'm just not seeing a causal factor here...

Edit: Just saw your post, Nappy. Your point that the distribution from CART's profits were < attractive than the funds from a sellout is well taken. I'd (amazingly) forgotten about those, and was focusing on the value of the franchise itself.
<Roseanne Roseannadanna>Never mind.</Roseanne Roseannadanna>

[nrc]

There really weren't any "golden handcuffs". CART never generated a bunch of money. They were run to cover expenses. A franchise was valuable as a seat at the table to protect your team interests, not as a big money maker.

When the IPO went down that was found money for the team owners. They really didn't give up control of anything important to them and they had a bunch of suckers on Wall Street give them money for nothing. The only reason they wouldn't dump that as soon as they were able was if they thought it was going to appreciate. They knew better. There was never any business model where CART was going to grow revenues for very long.

So the IPO worked out nicely for the owners, but I really don't think it played into their decisions regarding the split one way or another. What really sealed CART's fate was failing to solve the engine formula and attempting to appease both Toyota and Honda - ultimately failing at both.

[SurfaceUnits]

Rat./Shr. (Final race only): 9.4/28

[Andrew Longman]

There really weren't any "golden handcuffs". CART never generated a bunch of money. They were run to cover expenses. A franchise was valuable as a seat at the table to protect your team interests, not as a big money maker.

When the IPO went down that was found money for the team owners. They really didn't give up control of anything important to them and they had a bunch of suckers on Wall Street give them money for nothing. The only reason they wouldn't dump that as soon as they were able was if they thought it was going to appreciate. They knew better. There was never any business model where CART was going to grow revenues for very long.

So the IPO worked out nicely for the owners, but I really don't think it played into their decisions regarding the split one way or another. What really sealed CART's fate was failing to solve the engine formula and attempting to appease both Toyota and Honda - ultimately failing at both.

I think that is essentially correct, except the IPO gave them the chance to finance (over a somewhat reasonable timeframe of three years) a ground battle with the IRL. The needed something to combat the deep pockets of IMS.

Regarding the franchise system, don't limit the ROI on just the money generated by CART, Inc. Owning a franchise meant that an owner had the ability/access to give a sponsor a high profile outlet. That's where the money was. I recall Haas talking about how just the little Ford logo on his cars used to give him several million dollars a year. Can't do that unless you have a franchise.

So I don't know how it should have been played, but I tend to lean towards keeping the franchise system because it meant owner self interest was tied directly to maintaining the value of genuine sponsorship rather than indirect sources. That said, it is unclear if owners could reasonably commit to that for the long haul without also having assurances that with the I500 eventually would not matter or that eventually they would defeat TG.

[SteveH]

There must have been some value to a franchise, recall how pissed Forsythe got when he could not get one more for the Kanaan McDonald's car? Didn't he threaten to pull out of the series or something similar?

[SurfaceUnits]

Just a look back at what it was.

20 Teams

31 full time drivers

17 races

3 chassis

2 tire manufacturers

2 engine manufacturers, 4 at a few races

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_IndyCar_season

for the Indy 500 that year: 45 drivers and 48 cars were entered to qualify. 40 cars/drivers made a qualifying attempt.
the slowest non-qualifier was 224.101

[dando]

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/columns/story?columnist=newton_david&id=4346230

A piece from E$PN.com today.


CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Folklore has it that former NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. influenced Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Tony George into forming another open-wheel series in 1994, the same year George invited the good ol' boys in stock cars to compete at his famed track.

Folklore also has it that France influenced it so that George's Indy Racing League would split from CART in 1996 and thus tear apart what had become arguably the best racing in the world.

In doing so, according to folklore, France would pick up IRL races on NASCAR ovals in need of more events and fans disenchanted by the split to catapult the Sprint Cup Series to the unquestioned No. 1 in American motorsports.

It sounds good in theory and is very believable knowing the sledgehammer way in which France ruled, although many close to him are skeptical it happened that way.

But because France no longer is with us and George was too busy to discuss it, we'll have to file this away with conspiracy theories such as whether President Kennedy was assassinated in an organized crime and/or the CIA conspiracy, or whether the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were planned by the U.S. government.

What we do know is that the split, coupled with NASCAR's arrival on the hallowed grounds known simply as the Speedway, indeed helped make the Cup series king.

-Kevin

[SteveH]

What we do know is that the split, coupled with NASCAR's arrival on the hallowed grounds known simply as the Speedway, indeed helped make the Cup series king.

I've been saying king NASCAR for years.

[Napoleon]

Good God, just based on that blurb above that ESPN writer ought to be banished from being allowed to publish anything for the next 5 years, or at the very least cut him off from drugs and alcohol.

Yeah, Bill France coming up with a smart business plan that would divide and marginalize his competition is just like a crackpot conspiracy theory that depends on hundreds or thousand of US government employees staying quiet about a plan to kill people,

That is like saying that me having my dog put down because he has incurable cancer is just like Soviet Politburo causing the starvation of millions in the Ukraine.

They are exactly the same.

How did the editor not spike that analogy? i

[eiregosod]

Indycar.com has the final hour of bump day 1995 online. Its impossible to aspire to have anything remotely like that now.