Chris Pook Rocks

[RiverRunner]

Personally, I think this is the attitude that was lacking in CART right after TG told them to pound sand.
F**** 'em

(new forum,new moderator,my same bad attitude ;) please advise)



The article/interview (http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/news_story.asp?id=20288)

Some of my favorite bits:

While he stops short of naming names, Pook is referring to former CART owner Chip Ganassi and former driver Michael Andretti, both of whom have bolted to the rival Indy Racing League for 2003.

"The worst part was being trashed on the inside by our own people who had made their living, made their careers, made a lot of money in this series," explained Pook. "I found that disgusting and immoral. Don't trash the series that made you be where you are today."

"The business model we're creating is one of a market platform delivery system in major North American markets," explains Pook. "Tampa-St. Pete coming on at the start of 2003 is a very strong market. Denver delivers a huge market area. Montreal was an unqualified success this year. Mexico City is very powerful, as is Monterrey....

"Take a map of North America and start filling the red dots into the markets we're in and you say, 'Wow, this is a very unique delivery system and it's not 40 or 50 miles out in the countryside"....Pook says his expansion plans also include Europe and the Pacific Rim. CART is close to finalizing plans for a race at Brands Hatch in England and there have been reports that Belgium and Portugal are on the horizon.

"We want to be complementary to Formula One," says Pook. "We had two and a half million people go to our races this year. We should be working our tails off to make sure that every single one of the people who went to our races goes to a Formula One race. That would be the best thing for us and the best thing for our business."

[Napoleon]

I absolutely agree RR.

[pchall]

At the end of the story Pook sounds like he knows something about the next owner of the USGP date...

When does the current contract expire, anyway?

[mnkywrch]

Originally posted by pchall
At the end of the story Pook sounds like he knows something about the next owner of the USGP date...

When does the current contract expire, anyway?

Chris Pook had his chance at finding a home for the USGP well before it ended up in Indianapolis. He couldn't find a home for it.

Without TG, there's no USGP - bottom line.

I've asked repeatedly and never gotten an answer - if it's not held in Indianapolis and Tony George isn't supporting it, who is going to come up with the cash to hold the USGP?

Either it's another rich guy (like the Vegas bozo who wants to have it be invite-only) or it's the government at some level (federal/state/local) putting up the cash.

[WickerBill]

So you're saying Bernie was bluffing when he did his search for a USGP site a few years back? Somehow, I think you're simplifying Bernie...

WB

[mnkywrch]

Originally posted by WickerBill
So you're saying Bernie was bluffing when he did his search for a USGP site a few years back? Somehow, I think you're simplifying Bernie...

Bernie is simple - he always goes for the cash. ;)

What do you mean by "bluffing"?

I'd just like to know who besides Tony George is going to come up with the $15 million dollar sanctioning fee for a USGP.

[JoeBob]

IIRC, 2004 is the last year that IMS has the contract for the USGP. Fred Nation was quoted prior to this year's USGP that TG was looking forward to discussing extending the contract with Bernie. A couple of days later, Bernie sent the message that he had "urgent business matters" that he needed to attend to, and would be unable to attend the USGP.

[Ziggy]

Well, off the top of my head, how about FORD or American Honda?

Tony is not the be all and end all of American Motorsports. True, He does have the keys to a great racetrack. Yes, it does cost tons of bucks to put on the USGP. That being said, if someone wanted to do it, it could be done. Tony is not the be all end all of a GP in the United States.

Pook did try to look for a sponsor for a GP. Keep in mind that He was also pretty far down the list as far as someone BE wanted to work with. BE was still smarting from the spanking He got when they (F1) lost the LBGP. He was undercut in price, and made out to look like a baron (gee, how true)

Iceberg Lettuce did it
OneCall did it

Granted, neither of these races were anything to commit to memory. I will go out on a limb and say that the current home of the USGP ads little to the racing content of a F1 season. Read, circuit blows.

it ain't the only game in town

Ziggy

[Classic Apex]

Originally posted by mnkywrch
Without TG, there's no USGP - bottom line.


What a crock of BS.

By the way, USGP at Tony's SandBox is through 2004.

[Shadow]

Sorry wrench, but it could well turn out that TG's USGP efforts will go down in the history books as a big blunder. Look how attendance has declined. I went to the USGP in 2001. Damned if I'll ever go again and support a person who has been, IMO, no real friend of racing. He just wants to feed his ego. Frankly, I hope he chokes on it. I wouldn't even follow your leader, TG, in silent prayer.

Given that Montreal can put on a very successful GP, I find it very hard to believe that TG is the "saviour." If he is the only one in the US who can stage an F1 race, it doesn't say much for racing fans in the US.

If TG had left well enough alone, we would still have one very healthy CART series now. Instead, we have had CART in trouble and an IRL that is nothing but a minor league support series for the Indianapolis 500. All the smoke he blew for establishing the IRL was simply to hide his true desire - he wants to be the Bill France of OW racing in the US. Frankly, he isn't going to make it this year, or ever.

[mnkywrch]

Originally posted by Shadow
Sorry wrench, but it could well turn out that TG's USGP efforts will go down in the history books as a big blunder. Look how attendance has declined. I went to the USGP in 2001. Damned if I'll ever go again and support a person who has been, IMO, no real friend of racing. He just wants to feed his ego. Frankly, I hope he chokes on it. I wouldn't even follow your leader, TG, in silent prayer.

Since when is he my spiritual leader? I worship every Sunday, and sure isn't TG.

I would have thought you would have figured that out by now.



Given that Montreal can put on a very successful GP, I find it very hard to believe that TG is the "saviour." If he is the only one in the US who can stage an F1 race, it doesn't say much for racing fans in the US.


Name me one other person in America who is going to front the cash to put on the USGP right now.

If Tony George wasn't putting it on, who would be putting on the 2003 United States Grand Prix?

Who, Bill France? Humpy Wheeler? Don Panoz? Donald Trump? The fella who just won the Powerball?

Circuit blows, so what. The quality of the circuit has not one iota to do with whether a track stays on the schedule or not. (Ask the Belgians.) Would I love to see the USGP at, say, Elkhart Lake or Road Atlanta? You bet! Do I realize it would never work? Yep.

You want to bash TG for the IRL, be my guest. I'll probably even agree with you sometimes. But we're not talking about the IRL.



If TG had left well enough alone, we would still have one very healthy CART series now. Instead, we have had CART in trouble and an IRL that is nothing but a minor league support series for the Indianapolis 500. All the smoke he blew for establishing the IRL was simply to hide his true desire - he wants to be the Bill France of OW racing in the US. Frankly, he isn't going to make it this year, or ever.

CART could and should have run the IRL in the ground in about 20 minutes if not for the incompetence and arrogance of the CART owners. That had at least as much (if not more) to do with the decline of CART than anything TG did.

[RiverRunner]

Originally posted by mnkywrch
Name me one other person in America who is going to front the cash to put on the USGP right now.

No one with half a brain.
Considering that TG's intellect is not apparent, to anyone, it's no wonder he's the only one willing to lose money as a promoter of an F-1 race.

Now if you are asking who is competent enough or rich enough to hold an F-1 race, the list would be very very long and TG's name wouldn't be on that list.

Steve Wynn, the Vegas guy you disparage could buy and sell TG and all his holdings and not notice it. The only reason he came up in the F1 debate is because he owns scads of prime Vegas real estate, has a new complex of casinos and golf courses in the works at the south end of the strip and he thinks it would be no problem at all to incorporate a genuine road course into the mix, even one to Bernie's extravagant tastes. In Wynn's world, 20 mil for the sanction fee is nothing if he feels it would drag in serious high rollers to lose their money gambling at his places whilst taking in a race.
He could care less about the gate, and hence his perusing the idea of making it an invitation only affair, he's only concerned that 100 or so suitcases fulla cash show up at the same time the race cars do.
Steve Wynn has more class, sense and intellect in his pinky finger than TG could ever hope to attain in a lifetime.

[patm]

I seem to recall the GP contract was for 3 years and BE could option 4 and 5. During the USGP TG did not say they had the GP for next year and he was always in negotiations with BE.

Personally I hope he don't get it and has to eat the pagoda and the infield. But that's just me.

patm

[GrandView]

Originally posted by patm
I seem to recall the GP contract was for 3 years and BE could option 4 and 5. During the USGP TG did not say they had the GP for next year and he was always in negotiations with BE.
patm

I believe TG has been in negotiations with Bernie to extend the current contract. Conventional wisdom says the original was a 5-year deal running through 2004.

The 2003 USGP is on the F1 calendar for September 28.

GV

[GrandView]

As far as the USGP remaining at Indy......I think you have to look at the reasons IMS was selected in the first place.

Bernie wanted to re-establish a USGP.....at a venue that would have the largest impact on US race fans that aren't traditionally F1 supporters.....and at a venue that had the best chance of establishing some permanence for the event.

With IMS and Tony George he found a facility that hosts the largest single race (Indy 500), hosts a race for the most popular racing series in the US (NASCAR), and an owner with deep pockets and an agenda of his own. That's a pretty attractive incentive. Bernie got everything he wanted without a bargaining disadvantage.

Bernie (or the marketing entity...whomever that may be in the future) gets paid a bundle up front, so the decision to cancel or renew will rest on image of the event and television numbers. The downward trend of USGP-Indy attendance isn't really encouraging, but it was certainly predicted in some circles.

I'd prefer a natural terrain road course. The portion of the oval incorporated into the circuit is pure gimmick. It doesn't do anything for a race, and it doesn't have much spectator appeal. Those tickets are becoming a hard sell. Also the interior portion of the circuit is unnecessarily tedious. However, I selfishly like the event because it's an easy distance for me to travel.

The USGP position on the calendar (penultimate event) worked against it this year, but in a tight race it may be a benefit. Bernie will likely stall any renewal decision until the next two events have been run. That should remove the anomaly attendance factor of 9/11 in 2001 and the Ferrari domination of 2002.

I think the event can sustain 125K-150K attendance, but that may or may not be enough. As RR posted above, there are other deep pockets that could promote a USGP. However, what other venue in the US is likely to have any better success promoting F1 in the US or gaining a TV audience?

GV

[mnkywrch]

Originally posted by RiverRunner
Steve Wynn, the Vegas guy you disparage could buy and sell TG and all his holdings and not notice it. The only reason he came up in the F1 debate is because he owns scads of prime Vegas real estate, has a new complex of casinos and golf courses in the works at the south end of the strip and he thinks it would be no problem at all to incorporate a genuine road course into the mix, even one to Bernie's extravagant tastes. In Wynn's world, 20 mil for the sanction fee is nothing if he feels it would drag in serious high rollers to lose their money gambling at his places whilst taking in a race.
He could care less about the gate, and hence his perusing the idea of making it an invitation only affair, he's only concerned that 100 or so suitcases fulla cash show up at the same time the race cars do.
Steve Wynn has more class, sense and intellect in his pinky finger than TG could ever hope to attain in a lifetime.

You know why I don't like the idea of Steve Wynn holding the USGP?

Oh geez, I dunno, I'd like to attend, for one. It's taking the "racing B-to-B" idea to the logical end. It makes racing even worse than baseball and basketball and rock concerts that people belittle because the front rows are filled with people who don't give two rips about what's going on in front of them.

I actually thing some of you guys would rather a casino owner hold an invite-only F1 race than actually have one where you could attend if you so chose.

:shakehead

And, considering what TG probably gets from the people who do show at the USGP (not to mention the other IMS events, where's DaveL with that Catergate article from 1994?), and that all the stuff built for the USGP generates revenue during the other IMS events (36 more suites for the Brickyard? Not a bad idea...), and that the captial costs are spread across many years, I somehow doubt that IMSC is broke.

Could the USGP disappear? Quite possibly. Would the Indianapolis Motor Speedway go broke because of the USGP enhancements? Quite doubtful.

[RiverRunner]

Originally posted by mnkywrch
You know why I don't like the idea of Steve Wynn holding the USGP?

Oh geez, I dunno, I'd like to attend, for one. It's taking the "racing B-to-B" idea to the logical end. It makes racing even worse than baseball and basketball and rock concerts that people belittle because the front rows are filled with people who don't give two rips about what's going on in front of them.

I actually thing some of you guys would rather a casino owner hold an invite-only F1 race than actually have one where you could attend if you so chose.

Who's to say a guy like Wynn wouldn't invite you if you booked a suite at one of his many hotels in Vegas? The guy hasn't built a thing yet, he was just musing to see what the reaction was

This is a guy that collected a slew of masterpieces to put in a museum at one of his hotels This is a guy that promotes fights, you don't get a ringside seat without an invite, but you can get a ticket if 1) you are willing to pay a steep price and 2) you don't expect front row center and 3) most important to a *promoter*, the invite only marketing escalates the perception of exclusivity that makes the rich rubes come out in droves.
Actually not a bad idea.
As for my GP attendance, if I'm gonna spend to fly and stay somewhere to see a race, it would be Montreal, not the cornfields.
I was dumb enough to do the Vegas, Phoenix and Dallas races after following them from LB.
I seriously doubt that if you really, really, want to see them race, Wynn won't let you. It'll cost ya though.

[Ziggy]

"Oh geez, I dunno, I'd like to attend, for one. It's taking the "racing B-to-B" idea to the logical end. It makes racing even worse than baseball and basketball and rock concerts that people belittle because the front rows are filled with people who don't give two rips about what's going on in front of them."

Racing has gone this way. It really stinks. Like you mentioned about the race at Spa. Who does care? I don't believe that IMS went for the USGP from a purist state of mind. It was built on vengeance towards the competing series. Lots of things were being lined up behind the scenes. It did and does make sense to hold the USGP at IMS, as it will introduce fans to the sport. For those already in tune with the sport, the venue is not good. Several other tracks are guilty of the same offense. I don't think an invitation only GP would ever stand on it's own legs. I also think that there are others who could and would stage a GP if they could figure out a way to make money. That's the way it is done (and track and racing be damned)

I have attended all the USGP's held at IMS. Its one of the last reasons that I hang onto my house. I really do wish that there was more intrigue to the event, but I realize the scope of the effort to produce a Ferrari beating car right now. I just hope that someone out there will take up the F1 torch and attempt to bring a grand racetrack back on line to stage an event. Indy could do it (or should have anyway IMO) by running the cars out to the North 40, but they could redo the infield section to help ASAP. Watkins Glen was cool, but grew old. The Long Beach effort was a street race, and it had charm (but not too hot of racing) Vegas was rather silly.... but there was room for a better track. Dallas was a joke. IMS is better than all these, but still lacks.

So there is the "blows" section of my previous post explained. Im still of the opinion that Tony is not the "Great Mind" in US racing. His series never captured anyone's imagination and he continues to surround himself with clods. He proves to Me everyday that no one gives "two rips" about what is going on.

Ziggy

[BigIrlFan]

HOLey CRap ZIggy, WHat int he HEll is worng with you? IF it aint for TOney GOEgre openwheel racing int he US would be dead right now all because CART cant shoot nothin but there feet hahahahahaha ANd a hole bunch of us gives at leased two rips bout the IRl. HElls BElles I get ripped evertime I wach a IRl race on TV SO does BUCk so theres your too rips hahahahah THe IRl is the future of the sport CARt is the passed and its bout dead. SO you better be glad that TOney is saving the sport or youd be doin nothing but parking NASCAr fans at your house for three times a year

ANd a nother thing MONeky and me dont liek being called clods none neither

THE IRl - WE got FORmola ONe and you dont hahahahahahaha

[Shadow]

Gee, you fellows said it all. Thanks

Not worth adding anything to MW's response to my comments.

[Napoleon]

Originally posted by BigIrlFan
ANd a nother thing MONeky and me dont liek being called clods none neither

I didn't know you guys are buddies.

[mnkywrch]

Originally posted by Napoleon
I didn't know you guys are buddies.

Neither did I. ;)

[oddlycalm]

I've been attending the Canadian GP since before it was a sanctioned F1 event, and all the years that it didn't rain have been outstanding IMO. It will continue to be the North American F1 race that I attend. I used to attend both the Canadian GP and USGPm but have always had a better time at the Candian round. Great crowd, maybe the best in motor racing.

As long as the US F1 round is held at the IMS, I won't be there. As much as I would like to see it held somewhere else (anywhere else), I expect it to stay at the IMS for some time to come. The place can seat a lot of people, and I don't think Bernie cares too much what the course is like. The only thing I see goofing it up is TG being TG, and Bernie seems to have figured out how to avoid being around TG.

oc