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Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide
True mountainstar, we don't really know where we are. The fact that we've had so much discussion (most of it civil and neutral) of it in 2 days shows the depth of feeling among fans of both championships. Alone, neither can survive; together, can they stop NASCAR?
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I guess if one looks at the auto racing pie in that it is a finite one with x amount of fans and x amount of dollars. And for open wheel to succeed, it has to take back part of that pie from other racing series. I'm not so sure that is the case. I think there is a lot of room out there in the market for open wheel to expand and gain new fans and sponsors without it's success being totally dependent on current racing fans or what NASCAR does or doesn't do. The previous success of CART tells me it is possible.
However if and when a merger happens it has to be done right and a part of that is unhooking itself from current management of both series, both of whom have failed. If the merger offer reported by miller was true, all that deal offered was the addition of a few races and a few new teams to the irl schedule. It wouldn't replace the inept leadership of the irl. Of which is responsible for poor tv ratings <1.0, the loss of Pikes Peak Raceway and Nazereth Speedway both headed for demolition, being kicked out of New Hampshire, Phoenix, Atlanta, Charlotte, Fontana, Michigan, etc., the 100+ drivers hospitalized, some with disfiguring injuries that will last a lifetime, a crippling lack of attendence and bare aluminum at tracks everywhere including indy, drivers bailing out as quickly as possible to race Nascar, etc.
For a merger to succeed, it has to be done right from the get go, with solid, intelligent management. People are not tuning in now to the irl, so I doubt the general public would suddenly tune in with the addition of a few races and teams. It has to be something bigger and better and would need to be relaunched. It would need a new start.