View Full Version : The Earl to Watkins Glen?
Wheel-Nut
05-07-04, 09:31 AM
SpeedTV LINK (http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/indycar/10966/)
Also says 5 to 6 road courses when the schedule is "fully mature."
Oh gawd! :rolleyes: :shakehead
(Ken Ungar, the IRL’s senior vice president of business affairs)
Ungar said the IRL also is considering Portland, Elkhart Lake, Laguna Seca and Mid-Ohio for its expansion to road courses next season. Street events at Long Beach, Toronto, Mexico City and St. Petersburg also are under consideration, although Toronto and Long Beach, which are under contract to hold Champ Car World Series races, won’t be available until 2006.When will FTG realize he can't just buy openwheel :shakehead
When will FTG realize he can't just buy openwheel :shakehead
Not so sure he can't. However he can't buy us, the fans.
sundaydriver2
05-07-04, 10:23 AM
Ken Unger has his head up his ass, opps, I mean Boy Georges ass.
Hey Ken, how's the view. :gomer:
I'm confident they'll never turn a wheel on a road course, street course or any other course other than an oval.
Wheel-Nut
05-07-04, 10:26 AM
Ken Unger has his head up his ass, opps, I mean Boy Georges ass.
Hey Ken, how's the view. :gomer:
Sort of like a reality TV colonoscapy! :rofl:
Skater_36
05-07-04, 10:28 AM
Not so sure he can't. However he can't buy us, the fans.
I agree, even the dyed in the wool IRL supporters that inhabit places like trackforum and motorsports forum are waking up to the fact that they were used by Tony George in his effort to buy open wheel racing in America. The lack of fans at IRL events is a good indicator of the success of that series and it's business plan.
Brickman
05-07-04, 10:51 AM
I'm confident they'll never turn a wheel on a road course, street course or any other course other than an oval.
Wanna bet? It's probably the last attempt left before TG capitulates to changes.
RaceGrrl
05-07-04, 11:07 AM
I'm confident that I'll NEVER go to a crapwagon road fiasco. Screw Tony George.
Hey Ken, how's the view. :gomer:
On a clear day -- after a barium enema -- he can see the polyps.
Wanna bet? It's probably the last attempt left before TG capitulates to changes.
After IRL fiascos at Sears Point and Watkins Glen, TG's family forces a surrender.
The Wizard of Indy.
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Mari Hulman as the Wicked Witch of the West. Tony George as Dorothy "I don't think we are in USAC anymore", Brian Barnhardt as the Scarecrow, Dick Cheney as the Cowardly Lion, Fred Nation as the Tin Man, Bernie Ecclestone as the Wizard, Defender as Toto, and the membership of Crackforum as the Flying Monkeys. Special appearances by Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi, and Michael Andretti as the Representitives of the Lollipop League.
Brickman
05-07-04, 11:29 AM
After IRL fiascos at Sears Point and Watkins Glen, TG's family forces a surrender.
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Mari Hulman as the Wicked Witch of the West. Tony George as Dorothy "I don't think we are in USAC anymore", Brian Barnhard as the Scarecrow, Dick Cheney as the Cowardly Lion, Fred Nation as the Tin Man, Defender as Toto, and the membership of Crackforum as the Flying Monkeys.
I doubt it will be the fiascos, but once the IRL has road and street circuits the morphing into CART II will be complete... who knows maybe TG will step down and let Rahal run the place for a few months before he hands the reigns to Jettison Joe.
Please, no more equating the present day IRL to CART. I've seen far too many posts saying the at the IRL has become CART, or is CART II. Nothing could be farhter from the truth. CART, for all its faults, provided the Indy 500 with full fields, full grandstands and reasonable TV viewership. All three are goals that we may never see the present day IRL accomplish for years. CART provided the respect for Indy that is sorely missing today. Not a shout out at you personally Brickman, but one in general.
RaceGrrl
05-07-04, 12:13 PM
SteveH nails it. The horror that is the IRL will never be what CART was and to make that comparison befouls what is greatest about ChampCar. It's about having real competition, the best drivers and the sexiest cars around. Tony George's vision has always only had one focus. Him.
There's no place in my heart for bootlickers, so who Brickman, in your estimation will support this fully morphed road race charged IRL losers series? You flying up to the Empire State to support that debacle?
It's just another red herring, and a lame one at that. No one wants or cares about the EArL on road courses.
Eagle104
05-07-04, 12:29 PM
The can go 100% roadracing...won't matter to me, either way.
Mike Kellner
05-07-04, 12:32 PM
This shows that Tony has already lost control. He is not into road racing. However, Honda, Toyota, Roger, Chip, Michael, Bobby, and all the other team owners are. Once again, the inmates are running asylum.
mk
Imagine there's no Indy, it's easy if you try...
Napoleon
05-07-04, 12:34 PM
Steve H :thumbup:
The IRL used to have the ace in the hole Indy 500. They better look again because that Ace of Spades has now morphed into a Jack of Clubs.
The continuation of the current path will lead to that becoming a 9,8.....or deuce eventually.
CART teams running and dominating the 500 will solve the problem. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket.
No?....
Penske coming to the IRL will solve the problem. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket.
No?....
Toyota coming to the IRL will solve the problem. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket.
No?...
Ganassi coming to the IRL will solve the problem. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket.
No?....
Honda coming to the IRL will solve the problem. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket.
Uhhh?..
Andretti Green coming to the IRL will solve the problem.
Nope...??? Uhhhh, mmmhhha., ohhh? ....uuuuuu?
Fernandez, Rahal...on my....uuuhhhh? rrr.fuphp kch Uhhh.
Well maybe Watkins Glen?
5-6 road races will solve the problem. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket.
Don't worry Lord Sagamore is in full control and is going to be pulling back on the stick any minute now to get this thing out of a tailspin. :eek:
Personally, I could care less if they go road racing. I'll never watch it, and I'll never attend it. FTG!
However, one wonders about the safety issues involved with the Glen and Sears Point. Considering how the tin top guys flip @ Sears Point, there's no way an OW car should be racing on that course. I know the Glen was dropped because the track doesn't meet F1 or C^RT safety standards. Improvements are slated for next year, but they appear to be more for infrastructure and facilities:
Linky (http://speedtv.com/articles/auto/nascar/10927/)
Is it just me, or is this insane? I know the crappies are slow, but it still seems like suicide to me with all of that metal along the track.
-Kevin
Napoleon
05-07-04, 02:07 PM
The Glen would be tremendously unsafe for those cars and I do not see the France family spending the money to do the upgrade for the IRL when it would be such an unproven product on a road course. It just does not make sense.
Sears Point would redefine "parade" to the lemmings that love the word.
The only chance I see of the IRL being able to pull off anything other than an oval would be racing on a temp. street circuit in a market that hasn't been attempted as of yet. Maybe Atlanta, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Seattle?
A place where they will attract a crowd just because of the "festival" atmosphere and the people don't know any better. Going to an established track that has a set of knowledgeable fans is going to be ugly.
I just don't see a large enough group of road racing fans flocking to view the IRL on any road track and neither do I expect the traditional oval fans to follow them there either. They are going to have to rely on the novelty idea to have any chance at all.
Mid-Ohio?
Mid-Ohio?
Mid-Ohio?
They'll lose a customer if they do that>
They'll lose a customer if they do that
Make that two.
-Kevin
Sean O'Gorman
05-07-04, 08:43 PM
Please no Mid-Ohio, I don't want to have to make the decision of skipping out on the track that I live for because of a race series I don't care for. :(
Brickman
05-07-04, 09:36 PM
There's no place in my heart for bootlickers, so who Brickman, in your estimation will support this fully morphed road race charged IRL losers series? You flying up to the Empire State to support that debacle?
It's just another red herring, and a lame one at that. No one wants or cares about the EArL on road courses.
But what about the bet? :)
I don't think Watkins Glen would do well race or fan wise. Sears Point would pull it off with their new runoff areas, fan wise they might do good too. It may be a red herring about road courses, or it may be just what it really is, another George idea to ot bid CART... uh Champ Cars to be the only show in town. Long Beach, Portland, St. Pete, Cleveland... whereever Craig, Heitzler, Pook has walked before TG wants to walk.
IF TG was smart he would change the engines to something decent and affordable, save the manufactures tons of money, and name each race for them with the yen. But most likely he will be running spec fords in 5 years...
I wouldn't entertain flying East to see them run at The Glen, I would want to hear about lap their times before I would go anywhere to see them turn right...
The Glen would be tremendously unsafe for those cars and I do not see the France family spending the money to do the upgrade for the IRL when it would be such an unproven product on a road course. It just does not make sense.
Yep, if I'm an earl driver I'd rather take flight and go over the armco rather than into it. Without improvements, running the Glen would be detrimental to the health of the drivers. :saywhat:
I just wonder how the world Idiotgrandson thinks that all of the road racing fans he alienated will somehow show up for any road race his series puts on. I'd personally tune in just to see how inept Sarah would be. She can't even floor the gas and steer a little with any competency.
Brickman
05-07-04, 11:53 PM
I just wonder how the world Idiotgrandson thinks that all of the road racing fans he alienated will somehow show up for any road race his series puts on.
Yep
Wh was it HERE that caravaned to F-1 races at The Glen from around Chicago years and years ago??? VW's?
Madmaxfan2
05-08-04, 11:20 AM
This new version of the "vision" seems to support what I call the neo-CART strategy for IRL growth. The problem is people preferred the original CART and choose OWRS Champ Car. There is no neo-CART fan base and the original USAC based IRL fan base has no use for road courses. Besides, ISC will not spend the $$$ to upgrade the Glen for the Crapwagons, unless TG is willing to extend his joint venture with ISC and spend more of the family $$$.
Actually, maybe we should hope that it happens, so when the IRL collapses, the Glen could hold a Champ Car race or maybe the US Grand Prix might come back to the Glen, since TG will be bankrupt and the US Grand Prix at Indy will be history.
Napoleon
05-09-04, 10:50 AM
Make that two.
-Kevin
Make that 3
RaceGrrl
05-09-04, 05:58 PM
Make that 3
Nope... make that 5.
5
I think that makes you six ;)
I think that makes you six ;)
"Math is hard!" :rolleyes:
fourrunner
05-09-04, 08:14 PM
Count me out !!
That's 8 right? ;)
fourrunner
05-09-04, 08:16 PM
"Math is hard!" :rolleyes:
Pchall your from Florida, remember votes are always counted twice ! ;)
Make that 9.
There I voted twice. Now its like voting in Chicago. ;)
Madmaxfan2
05-10-04, 09:32 AM
Never had a chance to see a Mid-Ohio race. Make that one potential customer lost, a lost opportunity for growth. I am not a neo-CART fan.
KobySon
05-10-04, 12:51 PM
did I read "NASCAR road race in mexico city"?
MO will not get anymore of my money either if earl races there.
Wheel-Nut
06-09-04, 12:37 PM
This is a cute web site courting the earl.
http://www.corningny.com/ILR/default.htm
Madmaxfan2
06-09-04, 01:02 PM
The finger lakes civic types are at it. I have a connection to the Glen through the 1000 lbs, industrial gorillia in the area, Corning Inc. Remember Corning bought the Glen out of bankruptcy to help the area tourism. However, they did not see themselves in the race track business, and the purchase was at a courthouse door type of event. Anyway, Corning contracted ISC to run the Glen. That shows you how much attention to racing history detail resides among the movers and shakers of that area. This development is no suprise to me.
What's with the "ILR" in the URL? Has the japanese manufacturer influence become so heavy that it's being renamed the "Indy Lacing Reague"?
indyfan31
06-09-04, 02:14 PM
;) "Now they need to find road coerces and lock in dates. "
"Consider this recent story on IRL in courtesy of the Toronta Star:"
"Mexican Kanaan will start second after posting a time of 20.6551 "
Are they serious? This looks like it was written by an 8th grader ... from a California public school.
Lizzerd
06-09-04, 02:17 PM
Now they need to find road coerces and lock in dates.
Consider this recent story on IRL in courtesy of the Toronta Star:
Are they serious? This looks like it was written by an 8th grader ... from an California public school.
...an California public school?
indyfan31
06-09-04, 02:25 PM
...an California public school?
:rofl: Where do you think I came from? Ahh yes, the L.A. Unified School District ... my parents couldn't be more proud.
sundaydriver2
06-09-04, 02:28 PM
What really amazes me in all of this is the belief that Toyota and Honda think this is going to make a difference? :shakehead
Don Quixote
06-09-04, 03:34 PM
What really amazes me in all of this is the belief that Toyota and Honda think this is going to make a difference? :shakehead
That is amazing. And remember the Pimpskies, Floyds, and Raholes of the world continue to perpetuate the myth to anybody who will listen, because as long as the manufacturers stay fooled, the checks will continue to roll in.
nz_climber
06-09-04, 04:21 PM
"Indy Lacing Reague"
:rofl: :laugh:
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