Columbus Town Metting

[Lizzerd]

There's going to be on on July 15. Any of the locals going? How long do these things last? I'm thinking of making the drive from Indy if it would be worth my while. Anybody in Indy want to share a ride?

Oops... I meant "Meeting"...

[mello]

We are thinking it lasts like an hour and half or so. Can't remember for sure. We are going. Heading down at 4:30 right after work. We work a few blocks away from there so just going right after work. You need to reserve right away Lizzerd just incase. It is not a huge place and I know there were alot of people the last time. It is pretty easy to get to also. Not downtown but on the edge of it on West side so that makes it better for you anyway.

[nrc]

Town Metting? Are you turning into a Kermit fan? Will you start a thread about how bempy the course in Cleveland was next?

RaceGrrl and I plan to be there.

[Warlock!]

I reserved a couple seats for myself and a bud, but it's pretty iffy that I'll make it. Busy evenin's this time of year...

Warlock!

[Lizzerd]

Never mind... I just remembered a prior commitment for that night.

To whomever goes, be sure to grill them about keeping M-O and RA.

[DjDrOmusic]

Cleveland lasted 90 minutes, but Patreeeek stayed for 2 hrs!! You should have been there to see my wife get all googlie eyed over him Mello! ;) :p :D

[Railbird]

What kind of deals are these?

Party?

Droning the party line?

Torch lit rallies?

OK, how about a cash bar?

[nrc]

Originally posted by Railbird
What kind of deals are these?

Party?

Droning the party line?

Torch lit rallies?

OK, how about a cash bar?

You can rest assured of the latter. The Buckeye Hall of Fame is a nice place, so I'm not sure what the ratio of Cash to Bar is there.

As for the rest, it's more an opportunity for fans to vent their spleen than to get any thing substantive back. Pook won't be there so we probably won't get many good sound bytes to wind up the lemmings.

[SID]

I'm there. I live in Grandview Heights and work downtown, so no problemo getting there.

And I might just get to watch the guys from the NCAA come in and take that national championship trophy back!!!!!!!


BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Napoleon]

Originally posted by SID
And I might just get to watch the guys from the NCAA come in and take that national championship trophy back!!!!!!!


Why? Is this related to the story about Clarret?

[nrc]

Originally posted by SID
And I might just get to watch the guys from the NCAA come in and take that national championship trophy back!!!!!!!


You may have better luck hanging around the New York Times offices waiting for someone to come take those Pulitzers back.:rolleyes:

[RaceGrrl]

Just a reminder about the Town Meeting. I will get there right after work, probably around 5:15-5:30. PM me if you want my cell number, but I think I know what most of you look like- so I'll track you down. ;)

[mello]

Happy Hour
Monday - Friday
4-7pm -1/2 price on selected drinks
-1/2 price game cards
-1/2 price appetizers

In the Arena Room

We should be there by 4:45.

[SID]

Originally posted by Napoleon
Why? Is this related to the story about Clarret?

Sure is. Everyone should have been suspicious when his national letter of intent indicated that he was going to Ohio Stayte!

But, at least he hasn't done jail time, unlike a whole lot of the Suckeyes have in the past few years.......

[Hardpoint]

SID, after making it abundantly clear that you do not care for The Ohio State Buckeyes, do you care to share who your allegiance lies with?


If it happens to be "that school up north",.........OHHHHHHHH Webber!!!!

I here you can pick up one of those Final Four banners pretty cheap on E-Bay.

[Ankf00]

One thing to note which is pretty funny, SID mocks the bucks and clarett by pointing out a spelling mistake, GoBucks files his retort with a spelling mistake. :)

(and what's up with you Big 10 ppl, trying to immitate Free Shoes U.?)

[Hardpoint]

Ankf, not that I am questioning your competance as Chief of the grammar police, but I am not sure where I was in error.

P.S. I believe both Bucks and Clarett should begin with capital letters. :p

[SID]

I have no allegiances, for those are only games, and racing is the only REAL sport.

I went to a REAL University. We don't have a football team. We prefer to concentrate on education, and keep the campus crime rate low.


Go buck$ (lower case intentional), and take geiger (ditto)with you!:p

BTW, the town meeting was great!

[Ankf00]

Originally posted by GoBucks
Ankf, not that I am questioning your competance as Chief of the grammar police, but I am not sure where I was in error.

P.S. I believe both Bucks and Clarett should begin with capital letters. :p

*insert FSU education joke here*

you should've typed "hear," not "here." and i'm not correcting, i'm merely noting the situational irony of it ;)

[Railbird]

So I here standing starts were discussed at the Town Meeting, anything else?

[SID]

Originally posted by Railbird
So I here standing starts were discussed at the Town Meeting, anything else?

V10's & gasoline - Cart is not talking publicly about either at this time, but seems like a done deal.

Qualifyig rules - lots of suggestions, Walker said that any idea is fair game at this point.

Ladder series - The Atlantics need "tweaked" with more power. Danica and Kermit both said that Atlantics were no more or no less a good starter series, because, "if you can really drive, you can drive anything"

The buyout - No one could comment, but the smiles across the stage said "Done Deal"

and coming full circle:

Can we do something about local stations cutting into the last hour of the race, returning with one lap to go, because some shady football program has players in academic trouble (again) - Answer: at this time, no. Just hope that the race in question is on SPEED channel. They won't cut in. (Sorry 'bird......I just couldn't resist!)

[Railbird]

no need to be sorry, I've had SPEED on basic cable since it's first year. I'll take the same packadge they had last year but it hasn't seemed to attracted many sponsors to the series.

Thanks for the update, I considered the meeting but I ran out of reasons to be in Columbus about four hours before the it started.

[JT265]

"V10's & gasoline - Cart is not talking publicly about either at this time, but seems like a done deal.

Ladder series - The Atlantics need "tweaked" with more power. Danica and Kermit both said that Atlantics were no more or no less a good starter series, because, "if you can really drive, you can drive anything" "

There were a lotta suits hanging out in the CART business office this weekend, some sporting logos you would associate with ChampCar, and a couple that would (will) surprise everyone. Word is that ALL of them have a V10, either in production or on the dyno.

Strong rumor has Toyo dyno'ing a 450HP V8 Atlantic engine for use starting next year. Whether they can shoehorn it into the .014 chassis remains to be seen.

And remember, you heard it 1st on AR1 IN ABOUT 5 MINUTES! ;)

[racer2c]

Personally 'bird, in regards to attracting new sponsors, after the Indycentric exodus and the doom and gloom media onslaught etc, I'm surprised CART (the CART?) was able to retain the sponsors they had. I think some are waiting in the wings, taking a wait and see position until this years season of trial, on track, on TV, in CART HQ is complete.

It's just a gut feeling, but I think there is a good vibe among the insiders at CART HQ and the people i.e companies they want to do business with.

[RaceGrrl]

The town meeting was fun, a bit slow getting started. Props to SID for mentioning OffCamber, 7G and Crapwagon in the same sentence.

I thought it was interesting that Walker said that he personally preferred the V-10 to the turbos. He also doesn't want to see a switch to gasoline- that he feels that methanol is just much safer.

Bourdais talked about his win in Germany, and about the new no-blocking rule. He also revealed that while doing donuts post-race in Cleveland that the team wasn't too happy because he burned up the differential in the car. He was very nice, and I hate to jump on the Bourdais bandwagon, but he won a new fan tonight. It also helped that he stayed for a little while after and had a beer with the group of us from OffCamber and Crapwagon. He did say that he wasn't interested in an all oval series. (paraphrased) That it wasn't why he got into racing.

John Lopes related a story about Zanardi running laps in Germany this year. They had originally planned to have him pace the field in his car after he'd completed his 13 laps. Zanardi said that he shouldn't because when he saw the green he'd be racing with them. As it was, during a shakedown the day before the race, Alex was so fast that he'd have qualified 6th.

When asked the question about a CART/IRL merger, Walker said that the chances of it happening unless one of the series dies, is "slim to none." Not that there haven't been talks, but the issues are so complicated that he doesn't see it happening.

About RA- no-one got to ask the question during the forum, but they are definitely trying to put together viewing events. I talked with someone at CART today about it, and again tonight. He said he'd keep us informed.

There wasn't much new stuff at this meeting, but it was interesting all the same, and I came home with a ChampCar/MidOhio banner and got to have a drink with Calvin Fish and Bourdais. I am a happy Grrl.

[nrc]

I didn't get the impression that the V10 and gasoline are a done deal. In fact I got the impression that it was still very much up in the air. In both cases Walker referred to Pook as kind of a "Bulldog in a China shop." He has a vision for where he wants to lead the company, but he doesn't always approach things as delicately as he might. In the case of V10s and gasoline Pook is beating the drum, but it will be the suppliers who decide. Lopes' comment on what the suppliers are interested in was that it's all over the map.

[DjDrOmusic]

I came home with a ChampCar/MidOhio banner

Sorry I took the Town Meeting banner RaceGrrl, but I needed it to complete my Ohio Town Meeting ensemble! You'll get to see them both at Woo Doggies in November, Cleveland autographed by Patreeeeeek and Columbus autographed by SeaBass and Danica, along with my NEW Champcar flag(OK so I splurged!). After some more talks with Adam Saal, I'm confident you'll all be pleased with the season ender!

:D :thumbup:

[Warlock!]

Nobody mentioned Mid-Ohio's probability of being on next year's schedule???

Warlock!

[RaceGrrl]

Originally posted by Warlock!
Nobody mentioned Mid-Ohio's probability of being on next year's schedule???



Yes, in fact that question was asked by Circus1, a member at CW. It was brought up a couple of times but different people, with much praise for Jim Trueman and MidOhio. They are waiting until after the season is over to re-negotiate, but said that keeping the natural terrain road courses is an important part of their plan even though Pook's vision is for a more urban series. (paraphrase mine... someone please correct me if I reported this inaccurately)

Missed you, Warlock!

[sundaydriver]

Thanks for the updates everyone. :thumbup:

[RaceGrrl]

Also mentioned: an HBO special with Bryant Gumbel will include a feature about Alex Zanardi's 13 laps in Germany. Check your listings...

Thanks DJDrO, for the reminder about that. :thumbup: