It has come full circle

[Madmaxfan2]

I know that many here don't not appreciate old racing history, but the falling observation has been made. The split business has forced the sport to come full circle. Set the wayback machine to 1975, open wheel racing . You have the USAC Champ car series, run by Tony Hulman, centered on the Indy 500, few big money teams, Penske, Patrick, Foyt, Gurney, the rest are field fillers, races outside of the Indy 500 poorly attended, horrible TV coverage, mainly oval racing events. Formula 5000, great racing, no press coverage whatso ever, all road racing, one dominate team VDS-HAAS-Hall entry, zilch TV, sanctioned by the SCCA, decent race fan attendence at the events. Fast forward to 2004. The IRL racing Series, run by Tony George ( grandson of Tony Hulman), centered on the Indy 500, races outside of the Indy 500 poorly attended, horrible TV coverage, few big money teams, Penske, Gannassi, Patrick?,etc, rest are field fillers, all oval racing events. OWRS,
zilch press coverage, TV coverage uncertainly, likely dominate team,Carl Haas, probable decent fan attendence at events, all road racing events save for Milwaukee. May I ask what has changed in the end result?
My conclusion, Tony George has successfully turned back to the clock to period fo time when this sport was weak, but his family controled the sport. We the fans are poorer for it. I am particuliarly interested in railbird's reaction.

[racer2c]

I'd like to hear what Billy Boat, John Menard, Donnie Beechler, Buzz Caulkins (former champ remember), Jeff Ward, Robbie Buhl, Leo Mehl, Mark Dismore, Helmegarn, Foyt and Nisson opinions on the IRL 2004.

[Madmaxfan2]

They were just "used" by TG. One final irony, dominate chassis in Formula 5000' Lola, Likely dominate chassis in OWRS, Lola. Has TG ultmately nullified all of CART's gains and accomplishment in Open Wheel Racing? One thing he can't do, erase the memories> :thumbup:

[racer2c]

It ain't over yet. They'll pull together 16 for LB. We're going to have a season to remember!

There is still some very fast drivers in Champ Car. Drivers worthy of the Vanderbilt Cup.

[PlanMan]

Good job Madmaxfan2. Thats a damn good summation of things.

Funny thing for me is that my oldest son is the same age now as I was in 1975. What will he see over the next 30 years - will history repeat itself again??

[Chief]

What has changed amid the hypocrisy of it all? Rather than trying to extort $$$ FROM the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (like in the formative days of CART) they now prefer to ATTACH TO their parasitic host for $$$.

Why? Because the war the Speedway has waged to free open wheel racing actually destroyed it and the bloodsucking owners naturally go to the biggest source of cash left to deplete, the Speedway. FTG banked on it, he got what he wanted and now we will see him squander the last remaining remnants of a great society. Soon the liars and charlatans will again seek a new parasitic host but the F5000's, USAC's and the CART's (and the IRL itself) will be extinct. History WILL repeat itself. It already has.

[racer2c]

Good job Madmaxfan2. Thats a damn good summation of things.

Funny thing for me is that my oldest son is the same age now as I was in 1975. What will he see over the next 30 years - will history repeat itself again??

He'll witness the NASCARinization of all US motorsport. :(

[PlanMan]

He'll witness the NASCARinization of all US motorsport. :(

That's too depressing to think about.

I do know this though, in 4 weeks he'll witness a whole bunch of Champcars take the green flag at Long Beach!! :thumbup:

[4wheeldrifter]

He'll witness the NASCARinization of all US motorsport. :(

And that will be sad indeed... :(

[JLMannin]

It will have come full circle when a disdruntled IRL owner writes a letter like this one:


Dan Gurney's White Paper (1978)

Over the past 3 or 4 years I've had conversations with almost all of the car owners and team directors. I've had talks with drivers, with sanctioning body directors, with track owners and promoters and big sponsors and fans and other interested parties. Generally there is agreement that something is wrong with our sport - it is not reaching its full potential by any means, and there is great need for a change!

Early in my discussions I realized that we are so intent upon racing each other, that we do not stop to look and analyze our situation. In frustration I decided that things must get worse before we will all wake up. Our sport has the potential to be financially rewarding and healthy from a business standpoint for all participants. Many of the car owners and team directors are excellent and very successful businessmen in their own lives outside of racing. We as businessmen should be ashamed of ourselves for being involved in a prestigious sport such as Championship racing with all of its potential while it is as weak and disorganized (sick) as it presently is. It is truly strange that with all these "heavyweights" involved, we still do not have our act together. ("Divide and conquer" still seems to be working, doesn't it?) O.K.! What shall we do about it?

First let us digress for a moment. Let's study some history.

Back in the early 70's, the status of Formula 1 Grand Prix racing was similar to our own USAC Championship racing right now.

The crowds were quite small, sponsors were hard to find, the news media was not overly interested, expenses were high and going higher and the entire scene was one of disorganization.

It was at this moment in time that the desperateness of the situation made them unite and form an organization called the Formula 1 Constructors Association (F1CA or FICA). They appointed a man named Bernie Ecclestone as the chief of operations officer and negotiator and they made a solemn pledge to abide by his decisions 100%. They rolled up their sleeves and proceeded to up-grade the entire sport to the point where the paying spectator crowds are much, much larger, sponsors are numerous and happy to be involved, the media is vigorous in covering all the events on TV and so are weekly magazines and daily newspapers on a world wide basis, and money is coming back
to the constructors and track owners in the form of larger ticket sales, more sponsorship, more prize money and expense money and the spectator is getting a much bigger, better spectacular for his ticket money.

The obvious fact is that the F1CA has transformed the Formula 1 Grand Prix racing scene from what was a weak and
scattered group of teams without any bargaining or negotiating strength into a bona fide business. They did it by uniting and making that "no turning back" commitment. They speak with one voice (that of the Chief negotiator) and that voice has gained authority by leaps and bounds.

Now, it is true that the Championship racing scene is somewhat different from Grand Prix racing and therefore it will require a slightly different organization to bring about an improvement. I only mention the F1CA organization as an example of something that has succeeded, on no uncertain terms. I think everyone agrees that the cost of Championship racing has escalated to the point where it is virtually ridiculous, and at the same time, many of
the rewards have not increased at all, but have actually declined when you consider the effects of the general inflation in the U.S. economy.

At the moment, we the car owners are the ones who have put forth by far the most effort, by far the most financial stake with little or no chance for return and yet, because we have been so busy fighting each other, we have let the track owners or promoters and the sanctioning body lead us around by the nose while they reap the benefits. USAC for instance negotiates with TV as though it had the TV rights which in fact, if it came to a showdown, would turn out to be ours. (The car owners and teams.)

It is obvious that if Long Beach can afford to pay approximately $1,000,000 per race after only 5 years of existence (established 1974), and maximum paid attendance of 70,000 so far, that Indy with its 600,000 plus audience (200 1st weekend qualifying, 100 2nd weekend qualifying, 300 Race Day for 600,000 paid attendance) and its 60 year tradition and International TV coverage, could afford to spend over $2 million on the purse, if it were to be fair.

As Mr. Lindsey Hopkins said, "We are the ones who did more to build the stands at Indianapolis than anyone else. IMS should thank us each year, in addition to our thanking them."

In all of our discussions, as car owners and team leaders, we have agreed that it is essential that we continue to support USAC as the sanctioning body for Championship racing. The only improvement will be that USAC will work for us and support our causes and our policies as well.

It should be clearly understood that the purpose of this organization is to make racing better in an overall way. Not just for the car owners and drivers, but also for the track owners and promoters and the sanctioning body and the sponsors and supporters and last but certainly not least, the racing fans and paying spectators.

In the final analysis of course, large crowds of paying spectators are the keys to success for all. Track owners and a sanctioning body who aggressively promote these big events - which by contract will feature the teams and driving stars, will get the crowds... which in turn excites the sponsors and TV networks and the crowd, etc., thereby upgrading the entire sport business. It is my firm belief that rather than cutting the cost of racing which
in itself is nearly impossible, it is far more important to make money more readily available by increasing the popularity and prestige of the sport with the general public.

Tracks that refuse to put forth the necessary enterprise and promotion in order to meet the minimum purses should not be allowed to hold races. Another alternative is to allow our organization (this idea borrowed from the F1CA) to take over the track on a reasonable lease arrangement and we can do the promotion and the running of the race where we feel it can be successful. Still USAC sanctioned of course. For instance, the German GP at Hockenheim will be promoted by the F1CA this year, 1978.

Now, how do we get there from here? As I see it, the first step is to analyze the situation, get together and form the organization. (Let's call it C.A.R.T. or Championship Auto Racing Teams.)

Once we agree to the fact that CART is needed, then we must outline what we want to do and how we should accomplish it.

I believe that the organization can be operated by a staff of three people. One director/negotiator, one secretary and a staff accountant and gopher if needed. He will need an air travel card, a telephone credit card and an expense account. It is rumored that Bernie takes none of this, he only works on a 2% commission of everything that is done through the F1CA.

It appears that a "show down" with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is or should be the first target. They are the ones who can afford it. We should re-negotiate the TV contract (our rights—not theirs) and we should double the purse.

Other tracks should be negotiated with on the basis of what is a reasonable amount of revenue to come from all sources such as TV, gate, receipts, advertising sponsors, etc. The entire picture should be shared from the standpoint of cooperation rather than killing each other.

We must work together to learn how to upgrade the overall marketing - advertising. If CART can send in drivers and media material beforehand to the newspapers, the TV stations, the Chamber of Commerce as well as various civic organizations and schools, etc. then we should do so. It is vital that we solve the riddle of getting more money coming in from spectator and sponsor advertisers, and TV networks so that there is a bigger pie to carve up . . . the only way our demands for more money in the form of a prize fund can have any validity is if the money is there in the first place. Unless we reach the point where we can see the books of these various tracks, we will be negotiating from a position of ignorance. It seems to me that we could all be further ahead if we worked together rather than be divided. We must see the tax returns and books.

With the correct program of exposure, a fuel company can still get the right sort of benefits from being the exclusive Championship series sponsor. Cigarettes, Whiskey, Banking, Unions ... we need a very aggressive sales promotion team with super people heading it.

How do we finance this C.A.R.T. operation?

Entry fees?

Percentage of the purse? Etc.

I'm open for suggestions.

Someone (our man from C.A.R.T.) must be part of all Dick King's negotiations with track promoters and television people and series sponsors, etc.

[Madmaxfan2]

It will happen. I hope sooner than later. But I don't see emerging leadership in the ranks of sport to make it happen.

[JoeBob]

I find two things remarkable every time I read Gurney's whitepaper:

1. He pretty much laid out the exact plan to bring the sport to the next level.
2. The owners were never able to put short-term self interest in the background and implement the plan as he wrote it.

[FTG]

One difference between now and 1975 is that nobody is fighting over Mari.

[Racewriter]

I find two things remarkable every time I read Gurney's whitepaper:

1. He pretty much laid out the exact plan to bring the sport to the next level.
2. The owners were never able to put short-term self interest in the background and implement the plan as he wrote it.

Correct. Had the owners been able to look beyond their own team interests, they'd have been fine.

One USAC car owner told me that he knew it was time to get out when Pat Patrick told him (in the very early years of CART) that "It costs $20,000 to get into my country club, so it ought to cost at least that to join CART."

[pchall]

Another difference is that Penske and the other owners are fat in the wallet now. None of them would ever think of writing another White Paper.

But it is ironic that it looks like 1977/78 all over again: those are the years when IMS/USAC were looking at road racing again as a way to have a few events with lots of paying fans and lots of commercial interest to bolster a moribund all oval series.

[mason]

They did not fail.

For at least 20 years they provided some the best OW racing on the planet. 100 years from now Foyt, Mears, the Andretti's, Moore, Villeneuve, Zanardi and the rest will be remembered for that. Over those years, the ovals, large, medium and small, the streets, airports, road races and yes, even Indy, created a chunk of history that might very well not be equalled in my lifetime.

We can all thank Dan for that.

And rue the complexities of modern sports, advertising and whores.

[Jag_Warrior]

And rue the complexities of modern sports, advertising and whores.

I just wish that I could supersize this :thumbup:

[Railbird]

I am particuliarly interested in railbird's reaction.

The USAC National Championship trail in '75 was in a shambles due mainly to the outbreak of peace in the tire war. The preceding era fueled by tire bucks had seen unbridled development with turbo engines aero advancements well beyond the normal racing budgets of the time.


When Firestone pulled out the "traditional" competitors were left with a formula they could no longer afford without major sponsorship, The "evil roadracer" outfits like Penske, Patrick, McLaren, VPJ and Gurney soldiered on with backing secured by professional efforts focused on the future of the sport and it's ongoing developments. At no time was this more apparent than a few years later when the Cosworth came on line and split the field into two classes.

Dereck Walker was on "The Truth" last week talking about how he and other mid packers were left in the lynch when the manufactures left CART. Bloated budgets and gaurantees gone, they were left scrambling for ride buyers and handouts from the series. Some things never change.

One thing I always remember about that era was sitting at Indy hoping that the Parsons, Hartke, Sessions etc of the field didn't wad their cars up. Lose too many of those guys and you were gauranteed a short field at Milwaukee.

One of the main failings of the Hulman days was the refusal to see the rest of the trail as anything other than something to keep the boys busy until the next 500. Other than offering free garage space during the season to those who needed it, IMS didn't lift a finger to help the teams, tracks, or the organization itself. Very self serving and short sighted imo.

I have to agree that TG and his henchmen have attempted to return to those days when they were in complete control, of course his grandad didn't have engine manufactures and TV packages to contend with. Hell, back then IMS was veeery reluctant to have their race televised live. Those old boys felt completely comfortable with slamming the door on ABC, telling Herb Porter to shut up while handing Foyt his "special" pop-off valve and conducting business as usual.

The IRL has already kicked the small teams to the curb while courting the very thing it was supposedly created to escape. When the manufactures bolt it will truely have come full circle.

I could go on but what's the point?

btw, I wouldn't call the IRL TV package horrible just because the on screen product hasn't generated any interest. All races live with a good percentage on network is something ChampCar can only dream of at this point in time.