RaceChic
06-18-04, 09:26 PM
:thumbup:
The debate was whether I put it in the CCWS or the Other racing forum. Definately not pro-EARL. :rofl:
Champ Car is winner with the fans
TWO VIEWS • Is there room for two open-wheel auto race series in Portland?
By TOM FINLAY Issue date: Fri, Jun 18, 2004
The Tribune
The competition between the Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League — and the potential of an IRL race at Portland International Raceway — brings up some interesting points and contrast (1 racetrack, 2 auto series?, Sports, May 25).
If the IRL were to schedule an unproven road racing series at Portland International Raceway over the Fourth of July holiday in 2005, attendance would likely be poor at such an event because that’s the weekend of Portland’s best party: the Waterfront Blues Festival. The fans might or might not be in town over the holiday as the article claims, but if they are, they will be catching the blues.
In talking about the Portland market and its potential for success, Ken Ungar of the IRL fails, understandably, to mention that whenever the IRL IndyCar series has staged races at former Champ Car venues, the attendance has failed to even approach what the Champ Cars drew.
This year at Phoenix International Raceway the attendance for the IRL was something around 20,000, and the last Champ Car event there in 1995 drew more than 50,000 fans. Portland promoters and PIR officials should note that with Portland having been a Champ Car Grand Prix site for more than 20 years there is a sophisticated open-wheel fan base in this area, and Champ Car fans, if asked, essentially reject the IndyCar series as a viable alternative to Champ Cars. If there is any doubt about this question, officials should begin actually polling the fans rather than being taken in by promises and talk by IRL shills.
Most of the other IRL “edges” noted in the article do not stand up to scrutiny:
• For example, while the IRL has deep pockets, so do the three partners who own the Champ Car World Series. The IRL’s contract with ABC and ESPN does not guarantee viewer ratings. The ratings for the first three IRL races this year have been pathetic for a series that puts on as many airs as the league does about being big-time racing.
nChamp Car may have only one engine manufacturer, as noted, but what’s the point? Multiple manufacturers do not offset the IndyCars’ lack of power and technology. The turbocharged Ford-Cosworth XFE that powers Champ Cars produces in excess of 750 horsepower, with 800 available when using the “push-to-pass” option. The IRL IndyCars, under their current formula, produce roughly 620 horsepower, which is 130 horsepower — or roughly 20 percent —less. Given that the Champ Cars and the IndyCars weigh the same, there is an obvious performance difference here. Race fans do note these contrasts, and one of the chief complaints that the Champ Car fan has about the IRL is its ongoing disregard of the racing fan.
• Another factor is that the IRL has yet to go road racing and the Champ Car has been at it since 1979. The Lola chassis used for Champ Car is a tried and true performer on both ovals and road racing tracks. Ask a race engineer: Converting an existing chassis to another racing discipline is not a walk in the park. There will be a lot of trial and error for the first two or three years of the IRL’s latest “experiment” that the racing fan will have to endure.
• The so-called big-time teams in the IRL that came over from the former CART series have failed to make any appreciable difference in the attendance at IRL events. Each “defection” seems to have been greeted with a big yawn from both the television viewer and the fans who attend the events.
I hope that the folks at Peter Jacobsen Productions make note of these factors and actually do some research before making any commitments. I’d begin with some pointed race-fan polling and include the attendance figures from former Champ Car venues that later had or have IRL races.
Finally, take notice of the fact that the Champ Car series makes a big deal out of each one of its “Grand Prixs.” Each is an event more than a race, a big party with a group of drivers and teams that are very fan friendly. With the IRL, it is ultimately about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and everything else follows in the wake of the Indy 500. An IndyCar race at PIR would be a little-noted event in the bigger attempt to prop up the Indy 500 with a race series.
To succeed with the IRL, the promoters cannot count on attracting Champ Car fans and will have to develop an entirely new fan base and buzz around such an event. Ask the soon-to-be-shut-down Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway how this worked for them.
Champ Car is winner with the fans (http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=24748)
Hopefully I havn't missed this posted in here somewhere. Too good to pass up. ;)
The debate was whether I put it in the CCWS or the Other racing forum. Definately not pro-EARL. :rofl:
Champ Car is winner with the fans
TWO VIEWS • Is there room for two open-wheel auto race series in Portland?
By TOM FINLAY Issue date: Fri, Jun 18, 2004
The Tribune
The competition between the Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League — and the potential of an IRL race at Portland International Raceway — brings up some interesting points and contrast (1 racetrack, 2 auto series?, Sports, May 25).
If the IRL were to schedule an unproven road racing series at Portland International Raceway over the Fourth of July holiday in 2005, attendance would likely be poor at such an event because that’s the weekend of Portland’s best party: the Waterfront Blues Festival. The fans might or might not be in town over the holiday as the article claims, but if they are, they will be catching the blues.
In talking about the Portland market and its potential for success, Ken Ungar of the IRL fails, understandably, to mention that whenever the IRL IndyCar series has staged races at former Champ Car venues, the attendance has failed to even approach what the Champ Cars drew.
This year at Phoenix International Raceway the attendance for the IRL was something around 20,000, and the last Champ Car event there in 1995 drew more than 50,000 fans. Portland promoters and PIR officials should note that with Portland having been a Champ Car Grand Prix site for more than 20 years there is a sophisticated open-wheel fan base in this area, and Champ Car fans, if asked, essentially reject the IndyCar series as a viable alternative to Champ Cars. If there is any doubt about this question, officials should begin actually polling the fans rather than being taken in by promises and talk by IRL shills.
Most of the other IRL “edges” noted in the article do not stand up to scrutiny:
• For example, while the IRL has deep pockets, so do the three partners who own the Champ Car World Series. The IRL’s contract with ABC and ESPN does not guarantee viewer ratings. The ratings for the first three IRL races this year have been pathetic for a series that puts on as many airs as the league does about being big-time racing.
nChamp Car may have only one engine manufacturer, as noted, but what’s the point? Multiple manufacturers do not offset the IndyCars’ lack of power and technology. The turbocharged Ford-Cosworth XFE that powers Champ Cars produces in excess of 750 horsepower, with 800 available when using the “push-to-pass” option. The IRL IndyCars, under their current formula, produce roughly 620 horsepower, which is 130 horsepower — or roughly 20 percent —less. Given that the Champ Cars and the IndyCars weigh the same, there is an obvious performance difference here. Race fans do note these contrasts, and one of the chief complaints that the Champ Car fan has about the IRL is its ongoing disregard of the racing fan.
• Another factor is that the IRL has yet to go road racing and the Champ Car has been at it since 1979. The Lola chassis used for Champ Car is a tried and true performer on both ovals and road racing tracks. Ask a race engineer: Converting an existing chassis to another racing discipline is not a walk in the park. There will be a lot of trial and error for the first two or three years of the IRL’s latest “experiment” that the racing fan will have to endure.
• The so-called big-time teams in the IRL that came over from the former CART series have failed to make any appreciable difference in the attendance at IRL events. Each “defection” seems to have been greeted with a big yawn from both the television viewer and the fans who attend the events.
I hope that the folks at Peter Jacobsen Productions make note of these factors and actually do some research before making any commitments. I’d begin with some pointed race-fan polling and include the attendance figures from former Champ Car venues that later had or have IRL races.
Finally, take notice of the fact that the Champ Car series makes a big deal out of each one of its “Grand Prixs.” Each is an event more than a race, a big party with a group of drivers and teams that are very fan friendly. With the IRL, it is ultimately about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and everything else follows in the wake of the Indy 500. An IndyCar race at PIR would be a little-noted event in the bigger attempt to prop up the Indy 500 with a race series.
To succeed with the IRL, the promoters cannot count on attracting Champ Car fans and will have to develop an entirely new fan base and buzz around such an event. Ask the soon-to-be-shut-down Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway how this worked for them.
Champ Car is winner with the fans (http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=24748)
Hopefully I havn't missed this posted in here somewhere. Too good to pass up. ;)