Gordon Kirby's Christmas list...

[devilmaster]

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/News/Article.asp?ID=8623


All of a sudden Christmas is upon us. I hope you fans of the Champ Car World Series are enjoying the spirit of the season. You deserve the thanks of everyone in the sport for your great support and I’m sure everyone who earns their living in the business will join me in offering a toast to you, your families and friends.

Thanks to all of you and to Messrs Kalkhoven, Forsythe and Gentilozzi the sport we love has survived a tumultuous few years and appears to have a bright new future with the focus falling on the racers and the racing. We all hope and believe that’s what the 2005 Champ Car season will be about. That’s my biggest Christmas wish and here are a few more.

Steve

[Railbird]

pretty good piece of cheerleading right up until the magic bean race car deal.

Merry Christmas KK, now get back to work.

[L1P1]

Cheerleading, my butt. It seemed to echo much of what is being said here.

Recognize Atlantic drivers. Check.

Better TV production. Check.

Casting Haas as the Grinch who won't let daMatta back. Check.

Revitalizing the ladder series('). Check.

Loss of Vancouver. Check.

Champ Car needs to be near the limit of technology. Check.

Experimental categories? :eek: (not that that's necessarily bad)

I must have missed the cheerleading part.

[Railbird]

Recognize Atlantic drivers= spend more money

Better TV production =spend more money

Casting Haas as the Grinch who won't let daMatta back= spend more of Carl's money

Revitalizing the ladder series=spend more money

Loss of Vancouver=spend money elsewhere

Champ Car needs to be near the limit of technology= spends lots more money to fall way short of what's available in any new car dealership.

Experimental categories= cue in Franklin Ratcliff

Yep, not much cheerleading, just a little pipe dreamin.

Kirby would be better served by wishing for sponsors and TV ratings.

[RTKar]

Kirby would be better served by wishing for sponsors and TV ratings.


A kid can wish can't he? You're right though...can't put the "CART" before the horse....

[Mike Kellner]

Bird writes...

"Kirby would be better served by wishing for sponsors and TV ratings."

Bingo! Wouldn't we all.

In the end, the cash coming in the front door has to exceed the cash going out the back, or we'll have to learn to like taxicab pack racing.

mk

PS: Merry Christmas

[L1P1]

Popularity and ratings are not something you wish for. They're something you make happen. How? Interest. And it doesn't necessarily take money. In fact, rarely does it.

So, how do you generate interest? Anyone think Boyd Coddington can win a Champ Car race? Not me. But can he generate interest? Heck yeah.

Why? Because a) He does cars that are different and, b) we can see his people thrashing and begin to care about them. Boyd Coddington didn't start out with manufacturer support. No mega-dollars or yen. But Boyd Coddington is now probably more recognizable than Roger Penske.

How about Paul Teutel (sp?)? Did he spend megabucks to make himself an American Icon? No. He did something that people thought was cool. He caught a lucky break along the way, but did not have manufactuirer support. Paul is also now more recognizable than Roger Penske. Maybe not the name, but the face.

Both their shows are probably getting better ratings than OWRS, IRL and F1 combined in America.

I think we need more of these types of guys to generate interest. Not the yen chasing sychophants of the IRL, but the Roger Penskes of old who said "If I can't build my own chassis, I'm not interested."

It doesn't take money and it doesn't take manufacturers. What it does take is a clear challenge. One people can understand. And an opportunity to build one of the coolest/fastest cars ever built. Cars that make people dream about driving. But that only a select few ever can.

And it still doesn't have to be about money. Every team gets the same amount. As long as you can police it, that's all the limitation that you'll ever need. And it can be policed.

Spend the money on the reality series'. In fact, with sponsorship you can probably do it at a profit. But only if the teams are doing something truely unique. Not spending their time testing minute differences in spring rate.