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It is a quandry: How do you call yourself the best, if you don't have the best? One of the things I liked when Emmo and Nigel and so many other terrific drivers migrated over was that the Unsers, the Andrettis, Rick Mears, Danny Ongais, and guys like that were ready and willing to answer the bell.
The European/South American drivers didn't dominate, but they did help raise the bar. The problem now is not so much the lack of American talent in AOWR, but the lack of significance associated with AOWR.
Hence, Bourdais is unknown not because winning all the time got boring, but the overall context became devalued. For whatever reasons the perception is that the best racing and the best talent in North America is not participating in any open-wheel series (unless it might be the World of Outlaws!) in the US of A.
Ask the casual fan if you have to be a great driver to win the Nextel Cup Championship. I am sure they will say yes. Ask them if you have to be a great driver to win the Vanderbilt Cup (or whatever the IRL gives out) and they will say: "What's that for?"
Relevancy - that is the operative word - and unfortunately open wheel racing is no longer relevant. Can it be again? That is the big question...
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