FRANKY
04-12-05, 12:37 AM
I had a highly entertaining discussion with a friend of mine who watched both St. Pete and Long Beach. He use to be a fan of CART but didn't see a single race last year when it was on Spike. I thought everyone got Spike but evidently he went without. He's a stick and ball fan but he's been a fan of racing his whole life.
So this weekend was his first Champ Car race in awhile, and we talked about the comparisons with St. Pete.
He didn't like the Red Tires/Black Tires , basically he thought it was like handicapping a car with a anvil while not handicapping the other, and vice versa. I thought it added strategy but he thought it was contrived to slow or speed a car up just between pit stops. No open wheel racing is pure anymore as we know, but he thought it was a farce.
He didn't like the push to pass either. Again he seemed to think it was more gimmick. Neither of us could remember if Sebastien used it in his pass on Tracy, I thought they use to show the time left on the PtP on TV in previous years, but I can't remember. He was happy they got rid of the mandatory pit stops, he hated it in 2003.
Over all he liked the St. Pete race better, but I think it's really to do with less gimicks. Very strange because he doesn't tend to watch momentum racing that the IRL has, he usually gives the VCR the weekend off. Also he thought the Champ Cars seemed to blend more visualy because they looked similar in paint schemes. Less distinctive sponsor colors? He didn't fuss about the TV production value. Something that almost everybody else is complaining about. I told him he liked St. Pete better because he actually hadn't seen them race the right way and so he spent more time paying attention. I also told him I think the St. Pete track is overall a better track for racing, and it may bring out the better perception.
So this weekend was his first Champ Car race in awhile, and we talked about the comparisons with St. Pete.
He didn't like the Red Tires/Black Tires , basically he thought it was like handicapping a car with a anvil while not handicapping the other, and vice versa. I thought it added strategy but he thought it was contrived to slow or speed a car up just between pit stops. No open wheel racing is pure anymore as we know, but he thought it was a farce.
He didn't like the push to pass either. Again he seemed to think it was more gimmick. Neither of us could remember if Sebastien used it in his pass on Tracy, I thought they use to show the time left on the PtP on TV in previous years, but I can't remember. He was happy they got rid of the mandatory pit stops, he hated it in 2003.
Over all he liked the St. Pete race better, but I think it's really to do with less gimicks. Very strange because he doesn't tend to watch momentum racing that the IRL has, he usually gives the VCR the weekend off. Also he thought the Champ Cars seemed to blend more visualy because they looked similar in paint schemes. Less distinctive sponsor colors? He didn't fuss about the TV production value. Something that almost everybody else is complaining about. I told him he liked St. Pete better because he actually hadn't seen them race the right way and so he spent more time paying attention. I also told him I think the St. Pete track is overall a better track for racing, and it may bring out the better perception.