RUMOR- champcars to dump ovals in 2005?

[CART T. Katz]

champcarfan.com rumor (http://www.champcarfan.com/r0404196001.shtml)

i hope that this doesn't happen. i like the ovals. it's more of a barometer of the skill level of the driver during the season. i think that with the right conditions, we have better oval races than the crapwagons. besides, i don't want to be f-1 lite.

[Ankf00]

i like the ovals too, but i view them more of a barometer of the engineers and teams myself.

[KLang]

I don't care to attend ovals but I don't mind watching on TV occasionally.

I'm still in the diversity camp. I'd like to see Champ Car run on a couple.

[ChampcarShark]

I do not like ovals that much, but having them along with street and natural courses is what champcar is all about.

Without an oval or two, the series just becomes an F1 wannabe.

Did I mention I don't like F1??? :confused:

[Purple Panic]

Ovals might not be the best races on the circuit, but I'd hate to lose Milwaukee. It's such a grand tradition and it's also my closest track. There's no place on the planet like the infield at the Mile. It's such a great tailgate party. That and a P&P Pass is all I need for one of the best weekends of the year.

[SteveH]

I like them all - road/street/oval. But unfortunately, I think the IRL is proving that the domestic oval market is stricly a NASCAR market. And as long as NASCAR/ISC control most of the ovals or can influence what series races at tracks it doesn't own the reality is Champ Cars will have to move on. A new chassis will be that mush more expensive to design and build if it has to race on both road and ovals courses. That cost can't be denied.

[RobC71]

I think its very important to keep the diversity of tracks, and ovals are an important part of that. I think they should actually add 1 or 2, including a 500 miler (not Indy.....please!).

Rob C

First post....beer here!

[ChampcarShark]

First post....beer here!


Sorry Rob. First time posters buy beer for all of us.

[Steve99]

They need to keep the ovals for the diversity. Find a couple more to add to the schedule. Maybe everyone should go to the race at the Mil. Mile this year to show support.

P.S. I really only posted so I could get a beer from RobC71. :)

[Playersfan]

champcarfan.com rumor (http://www.champcarfan.com/r0404196001.shtml)

i hope that this doesn't happen. i like the ovals. it's more of a barometer of the skill level of the driver during the season. i think that with the right conditions, we have better oval races than the crapwagons. besides, i don't want to be f-1 lite.

At the fan forum in Long Beach this past week-end, OWRS president ,Dick Eidswick, while answering a fan question stated that the strength of CHAMPCAR lays in its diversity that includes ovals,road courses and street courses and that this will be addressed on the 2005 schedule to be released at the end of July.playersfan :thumbup: :)

[manic mechanic]

At the fan forum in Long Beach this past week-end, OWRS president ,Dick Eidswick, while answering a fan question stated that the strength of CHAMPCAR lays in its diversity that includes ovals,road courses and street courses and that this will be addressed on the 2005 schedule to be released at the end of July.playersfan :thumbup: :)


Also, I had a discussion with Carl Russo after the fan forum about that same topic. Russo maintains that ovals are still in the future for ChampCar, but they need to be banked under 10 degrees for the lateral g-loadings to remain at acceptable levels. :shakehead

It seemed to me that tracks like Fontana and LVMS (both banked under 15 degrees with Vegas being compound banking) would be just the ticket, but Russo claimed there is only one big track that would fit the bill..you know where.

Needless to say I did not, and still do not agree.

manic

[Lizzerd]

I guess I'm a diversity guy too. I would hate to see our Milwawkee date (week after TG's party) go away. You know that if it did, Earl would snatch the gig and claim "It's tradition". I would love to see Phoenix and MIS and/or Fontana back on the schedule, too. But that's the max. No more than four ovals.

[Old3Fan]

I prefer road/street races but agree that 2 or 3 ovals in the mix are an intergal part of the Champcar Series. I think though, that street races over a 3-day weekend with all the hoopla and partying going on are where the fans in great numbers and with them great amounts of $$$$$$$$$$ are to be found. :gomer:

[Madmaxfan2]

I liked the diversity too, but the business conditions, like ISC and SMI owning most of the ovals, and the IRL runing on a few of the non ISC and SMI ovals, really makes this proposition hard to maintain. Gateway, New Hampshire, Martinsville, and Dover are the only ovals I can think of that does not have an IRL race and/or is not the pocket of the ISC/SMI clan.

[RTKar]

Like Lizz & SteveH, I'm a diversity guy. I remember when the oval races were some of the best races in the series. Ideally I'd like to see 2 short ovals and at least one large oval but the ISC/NASCAR/earl thing is a major hindrance to that becoming reality. SteveH brings up a good point, and one I've thought of myself, that a new chassis spec would be more costly if it had to conform to more than one type of circuit. So I see oval(s) being dropped...I would REALLY hate to lose Milwaukee (especially the 1st weekend after Indy) to the earl....however...if RA doesn't draw, loses money and is dropped from the schedule, will OWRS abandon Milwaukee too and more importantly the upper midwest? The closest race to Chicago and Milwaukee would be Cleveland.

[Ankf00]

if they grab gateway they'd have a couple of low banked bullrings and be able to keep the chassis more road focused, leaving out alot of the extra beef allows the '06 chassis to be nimble and quick to improve street racing

[nrc]

Diversity is part of what made ChampCar great. I'd love to see more ovals on the schedule, but under the current circumstances it might not be practical. Once the other series implodes ChampCar can cherry pick few select venues (Pheonix,Fontana, maybe one other super speedway) and we'll be good.

[racer2c]

Diversity is part of what made ChampCar great. I'd love to see more ovals on the schedule, but under the current circumstances it might not be practical. Once the other series implodes ChampCar can cherry pick few select venues (Pheonix,Fontana, maybe one other super speedway) and we'll be good.

I agree, I think as things progress, and places are looking for a series, and series are looking for places things will change and ebb and flow on the oval front.

[Railbird]

The diversity has always been one of Champcar's strong points and one of the things I always thought made it the ultimate driver's challenge in it's hey day.

That said, today's economics and Nascar's domination of the oval market may make it pointless to adjust the next generation's chassis to the rigors of ovals.

but then again I like Ank's idea

[Jervis Tetch 1]

No other racing series does what Champcar and it's satellite(s) do, street, road, oval.

To do away with ovals would be a shame really IMHO.

[cart7]

I'm in the diversity camp but, wouldn't it be CCWS to possibly dump Oval? With only Milw. left it's almost pointless now. I'd still redesign the next gen chassis/engine combo with R & S in mind only and realize that on the correct oval(like ank stated) the option would be there.

[sadams]

Nazareth and New Hampshire used to put on some pretty good shows as well as The Mile. I'm in the diversity camp as well and I don't mean like NASCAR diversity with only 2 on the other type tracks. I want to see 2-3 bull ring, 2-3 2.5 milers and the rest a mix of road and street courses. That is what set this open wheel series apart for all other forms of racing.

[pkvracing12]

I like the diversity as well. I rember going to MIS and Cleveland every year But since the IRL took over MIS I have no reason to go. I rember seeing fantastic races at MIS like when Montoya and Andretti the traitor were so close at the finish line or Montoya and Tony Kanaan battleing it out after Papis ran out of fuel when Patrick Carpentier got his first win. But the place has no magic left either does Fontana or Gateway. Im still glad I have cleveland to go to. But oval racing is not everything in racing life and im just happy to see champcars running strong and proud like we did in the past. i hope one of these days it back to one series and it is ChampCar.

[Andrew Longman]

Another vote of a few ovals. diversity defines champcar.

And while NASCAR may "own" oval racing, I think a few of the right ovals can succeed on novelty alone.

[CHAMPCARS4EVER]

Don't want to beat a dead horse here, but diversity is a large part of what set ChampCar apart from everything else. IMO, ovals should continue be a part of ChampCar. I'd like to see 3 or 4 in an overall 20-22 race schedule.

[Sean O'Gorman]

I want 30-40% ovals.

[EVL29]

I want 30-40% ovals.

Heh.If OWRS fails then you'll have it.

IRL 2006=60-70% R/S and 30-40% Ovals :gomer:

[Sean O'Gorman]

Heh.If OWRS fails then you'll have it.

IRL 2006=60-70% R/S and 30-40% Ovals :gomer:

First of all I doubt the IRL will ever drop below 75% ovals, and even if they did I still wouldn't care.

[racer2c]

Heh.If OWRS fails then you'll have it.

IRL 2006=60-70% R/S and 30-40% Ovals :gomer:

:thumdown:

[Madmaxfan2]

I guess I have just gotten tired of defending the ovals in the mix. The fact I as see it is that conditions that OWRS must operate under makes more oval races unlikely. Given that, I have given up on asking for more ovals. When the IRL fails, more opportunities will exist. However, if you want Phoenix, MIS,
Fontana, or Nazareth back, Good Luck, because ISC will never book a OWRS event. However, Pikes Peak, Nashville, Kentucky, and Motegi will be available.

[scanman]

They can't let the twirl have the Milw.Mile date. :shakehead
I miss Nazareth, Phoenix, and the Rio Roval... :cry:
I do not miss the large ovals like Fontana...

[Forza Lancia]

I can take or leave the ovals, myself. But I think the real story in the linked article was that list of prospective new venues -- some of them are pretty mouth-watering. How about ChampCars racing at Pau, Imola, or Silverstone? It may be a bit far-fetched, but, if it really happened, I would be willing to give up ovals for tracks like that.

[mueber]

I can take or leave the ovals, myself. But I think the real story in the linked article was that list of prospective new venues -- some of them are pretty mouth-watering. How about ChampCars racing at Pau, Imola, or Silverstone? It may be a bit far-fetched, but, if it really happened, I would be willing to give up ovals for tracks like that.


Sounds good to me, especially if the grounds are full of paying customers.

[Ankf00]

silverstone, sure, imola? they can keep that crap

[Jag_Warrior]

How do ya dump what you no longer have? :confused: