A Breeze Through the Stands

[racer2c]

A Jeff Olson Editorial on Speed.

Basically another yearly 'unification' piece. Well written and I applaud his honesty, but in typical motor-racing journalistic fasion, he's afraid to point fingers.



"The enemy isn’t the other side. The enemy isn’t NASCAR or money or manufacturers or fans or corporate America. The enemy isn’t an idea or a crusade or a famous racetrack or one single man. Nope, none of the above. The enemy lies within. The enemy, quite frankly, is the breeze that’s blowing through the empty seats this weekend at Homestead.

Some of us would much rather be stuck in traffic."

Link (http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/indycar/15454/)

[Spicoli]

he a wuss.

[Opposite Lock]

Mr. Olson was obviously hit by some kool-aid overspray. Again.

:shakehead

[Brickman]

Mr. Olson was obviously hit by some kool-aid overspray. Again.

:shakehead

The only thing that could be close to "kool-aid overspray" would be the line, "The show – both of them – is entertaining as hell."

Sure he could bring up all the things that are wrong and where the fault lies, but that's not the point of the article. Pointing fingers would just give people something to bitch about. Hell even Tony George excepting the blame would not change the landscape of Open Wheel Racing one bit.

[Lizzerd]

Hell even Tony George excepting the blame would not change the landscape of Open Wheel Racing one bit.

The Idiot has "excepted" himself from blame since Day One. However, even if he would have "accepted" blame you are still right. :)

[Al Czervik]

Its simple

One person started this mess because of his ego

One person can end this mess if he checks his ego at the door

Other than that, we're pizzin in the wind thinking the two sides will ever join forces.

[SteveH]

To assume that unification is possible suggests that one does not understand why there was a split in the first place. Actually it was easier to understand why there was a split a few year ago than today as the IRL morphs into son of CART. In the early years there was a fundamental difference in objectives. Today its less clear what was accomplished with the split, other than to placate someone's ego.

I think we would be better served if the writers ignored this possibility and focus on the issues at hand rather than some pie in the sky fix. To suggest that unification would heal the sport is as naive as suggesting 10 years ago that a split would do the same.

[Ankf00]

you've got a better chance of picking up denise richards now that she's getting a divorce than you do of seeing unification. that's allstate's stand, what's yours?

[Methanolandbrats]

There's a breeze between Olson's ears. Blame? FTG 100%. He thinks he's in Bernie or ISC's league, but the reality is he's just a dumb track owner. That's why there is no chance of unification. Nobody is going to form a partnership with someone that stupid no matter what assets he brings. If FTG rolled over tomorrow and folded the IRL it would change the open wheel landscape. Teams and sponsors would come back to Champcar and fans could back to racing instead of politics.

[JLMannin]

CART would have died if it were not for 25/8. All the CART owners would have went to Indy chasing the $$. But with only 8 spots available, many large sponsorships would not have made the race. 25/8 galvanized the CART owners to stick to CART for a couple of years. That is all that it took to split the fanbase and disillusion everyone.

Most of us who post on this forum knew (or at least speculated) that the tantrum would eventually evolve into what CART was before the split. CART eveolved into what it was because it was a viable business model.

[Wally]

Senior writer for racer and indycar series magazines......... :laugh:

[Racewriter]

To assume that unification is possible suggests that one does not understand why there was a split in the first place. Actually it was easier to understand why there was a split a few year ago than today as the IRL morphs into son of CART. In the early years there was a fundamental difference in objectives. Today its less clear what was accomplished with the split, other than to placate someone's ego.

I think we would be better served if the writers ignored this possibility and focus on the issues at hand rather than some pie in the sky fix. To suggest that unification would heal the sport is as naive as suggesting 10 years ago that a split would do the same.

Well said, Steve.

[nrc]

CART would have died if it were not for 25/8.

I don't know that's true. If it weren't for 25/8 I think they would have cherry picked the 500 and continued as before. At least until George changed to incompatible rules. At that point everything probably would have followed along pretty much the same path.


Most of us who post on this forum knew (or at least speculated) that the tantrum would eventually evolve into what CART was before the split. CART eveolved into what it was because it was a viable business model.

But they really haven't evolved into CART before the split. They've evolved into CART after the split. Prior the split CART was a viable series without relying on massive injections of Yen from two fueding manufacturers.

[Andrew Longman]

A lot of what Mr. Olson says is correct. The market won't support two series. The current situation is not sustainable. Someone with a vision needs to step forward. It doesn't really matter any more who's to blame, a fix is needed.

What he fails to notice is that there aren't really two-sides anymore and someone has stepped up with a vision.

CART is gone, brought down by its own failures. The IRL is sinking fast too. He's right, the current situation is unsustainable and the IRL will feel the truth in that.

But KK and GF have stepped up with a vision of how an open wheel series can actually succeed in the current climate. Their events are actually well attended and costs are in line with the revenues. In places like Toronto, Edmonton, Mexico City and Cleveland you will hear people talking about the races away from the track. Will it be like the chatter around the D500? Of course not, but let's be realistic.

Would the series (and open wheel racing in general) be better off if the I500 was on the CCWS schedule? Sure, and some day that may happen when TG goes looking for cars to put on the grid, but the I500 is a shadow of its former self and CCWS has constructed itself to succeed just fine without it.

[Brickman]

A lot of what Mr. Olson says is correct. The market won't support two series. The current situation is not sustainable. Someone with a vision needs to step forward. It doesn't really matter any more who's to blame, a fix is needed.

What he fails to notice is that there aren't really two-sides anymore and someone has stepped up with a vision.

CART is gone, brought down by its own failures. The IRL is sinking fast too. He's right, the current situation is unsustainable and the IRL will feel the truth in that.

But KK and GF have stepped up with a vision of how an open wheel series can actually succeed in the current climate. Their events are actually well attended and costs are in line with the revenues. In places like Toronto, Edmonton, Mexico City and Cleveland you will here people talking about the races away from the track. Will it be like the chatter around the D500? Of course not, but let's be realistic.

Would the series (and open wheel racing in general) be better off if the I500 was on the CCWS schedule? Sure, and some day that may happen when TG goes looking for cars to put on the grid, but the I500 is a shadow of its former self and CCWS has constructed itself to succeed just fine without it.

I agree.

Well one thing for sure is that the manufacturers have no grip on Champ Car, with Kosworth giving them the greatest independence from manufacturer influence they have ever had or will have. IF anyone ever wants to realistically see Open Wheel unified... I suggest cryogenics.

[Accipiter]

Mr. Olson was obviously hit by some kool-aid overspray. Again.

:shakehead


Actually, sounds to me like his Kool-ade dosage has been reduced this year.

[Opposite Lock]

Alright already. I didn't say he was guzzling the koolaid, just that maybe he got splashed by some. Calling the Earl "entertaining as hell" and then making a case for unification just isn't anti-Earl enough for my taste.

It's a thoughtful article, and I've enjoyed some of his columns in the past, but I would have preferred a little more FTG/Earl bashing. I'm a hater. ;)

[L1P1]

I think he's right, generally. Singling out TG wouldn't accomplish much if anything. Actually, I don't even think it's about TG vs. OWRS anymore. It's about Penske and Ganassi vs. Forsythe and Kalkhoven.

Penske et. al. have adopted one of two viable options originally open to CART. Infiltrate, spend the new little teams into oblivion and reclaim the inherent power realized by the dominant team owners. Forsythe remained extremely loyal to the other option.

Arguably, both have won, but it's Penske and the people who followed him who have the power to end TG's infamous career. TG could never survive a second split. So now TG is out of day-to-day involvement in the management of the IRL and is working on version 6,345 of 'The Vision'; a race team for his 16th St. Speedway posse - an invitation to TG's own Neverland Ranch.

So now what happens? Forsythe was pumping his money into CART almost as fast as Penske was pulling his out. Unification will now require that Forsythe and Kalkhoven get a big piece of the pie. Further competition will mean that Penske will have to deal with OWRS's acumen, which may even be on a par with his own (after all, we're only two logical developments away from Cosworth becoming the IRL's sole engine manufacturer).

I hope that cooler heads will prevail and we'll begin to see some positive developments. TG bashing, while fun, is probably not particularly helpful at this point. He's been swept to the side already.

[nrc]

TG bashing, while fun, is probably not particularly helpful at this point. He's been swept to the side already.

I'd like to believe that, but I'll wait and see.

[JLMannin]

I don't know that's true. If it weren't for 25/8 I think they would have cherry picked the 500 and continued as before. At least until George changed to incompatible rules. At that point everything probably would have followed along pretty much the same path.

That was the point I was trying to make - the CART teams would have done the 500 as a one-off.


But they really haven't evolved into CART before the split. They've evolved into CART after the split. Prior the split CART was a viable series without relying on massive injections of Yen from two fueding manufacturers.

That is an excellent point. In no way was I trying to infer that the IRL is currently a viable series. :)

[Ziggy]

Getting comfortable back on top that fence I see, eh Brickman?

Missed you like an all night dentist :gomer:

[Methanolandbrats]

:rofl:
Getting comfortable back on top that fence I see, eh Brickman?

Missed you like an all night dentist :gomer: :rofl:

[Brickman]

Getting comfortable back on top that fence I see, eh Brickman?

Missed you like an all night dentist :gomer:

Brush regularly and floss. :D As the Soupy Sales Show once said, Be true to your teeth and they won't be false to you. ;)