Now they've done it !

floid2000 · 20 Jun 2000, 10:16 (Ref:18191)

I heard that the irl is running at Homestead next year.Does that mean Cart will be gone and No spring training? I hope not.
A LITTLE HISTORY
A businessman/racer from Miami named Ralph Sanchez put a street race together in Miami some 15 years ago.Our south florida rain made it more like a hydroplane race BUT, we still came. Finally after years of trying to build a track down here Hurricane Andrew came to the rescue. The town of Homestead was virtually destroyed and needed something new.
"Let's build a race track" said Mr Sanchez. And so it was done. He tried to get nascar to race at his track but Dale Earnhart said" redesign the turns and put in more seats"(another 5 million dollars). Even though Emerson Fitipaldi was in on the track design Bobby Rahal said "its unsafe" Redesign it.(another 3 million) Well, by now Mr Sanchez and the city of Homestead were about broke.
But, WAIT ,"THERES MORE"
Enter the "evil" Mr France(of nascar fame) and Mr Penske
In some kind of a business move ,I dont understand ,they took Mr Sanchez's track away from him leaving him with a 10%
share of the track he busted his ass to build.They also gave 10% to a Mr Huyzinga (local gangster and owner of the marlins,panthers,dolphins)
The track immediately became a lot less fan friendly,food went up and so did drinks and ticket prices.
Cart drew 42 thousand people to Homestead this year.
Good Luck selling more than 5000 tickets to an IRL race.
Have any of you been to Homestead ?
I'd like to hear your thoughts

marcus · 20 Jun 2000, 15:21 (Ref:18264)

ive never been there but if I remember correctly it was first used in 96 ..but in 95 they ran on a street course there as the oval wasnt ready...i watched this race again the other day and have to say its a much better track than the oval..maybe they should use it again ???

Regs · 20 Jun 2000, 17:32 (Ref:18290)

Personally, I'd rather see them race at Sebring or Daytona's road course. Homestead is yet another oval in the world of ovals that we have here. Races at either of those venues would be successful. I think the historical appeal of those circuits would be a big plus. The fact they're road courses would be a big help. There really is a demand for road course racing in this market, so they have nothing to lose if they dropped Homestead. CART should shake the dust of the place off it shoes and never look back. And I'd be fine with CART dropping a couple of domestic ovals for domestic road courses. Considering that both Rockingham UK and the Lausitzring(sp?) are ovals. Let Homestad go then, if thats the case. I'd like to see CART reach out to Don Panoz and work with him.

Heeltoe6 · 20 Jun 2000, 19:07 (Ref:18314)

I believe that new development/construction in downtown Miami have removed the park area CART used to run. But they could easily find another site to run. Or Sebring Preferably the latter, but I suppose it would need some repaving.

KC · 20 Jun 2000, 20:05 (Ref:18328)

Homestead is one of the races that is doomed for CART. The Miami Grand Prix used to rival Long Beach in its appeal and spectator showing, but has lost almost all of its appeal after being moved to the oval at Homestead Air Force Base. The track does not generate really good oval racing and is anything but spectacular looking. Also, it almost always competes directly with the resurgent American LeMans Sebring event at or near the same time. As Don Panoz seems very interested in CART and holding an event at Road Atlanta and the teams almost always do loads of testing at Sebring I would imagine an event there would be easy to set up either just before or after the endurance race. Florida is perfect for starting off a race season becaus eof the weather, but I think Sebring would make a better event for CART than Homestead does.

floid2000 · 21 Jun 2000, 07:05 (Ref:18430)

Well , I guess I won't get any sympathy here. But really people , wouldnt you fight to keep your local track running your favorite series. Oval ,street, whatever I just like having a race track in south florida and so do 42,000 other Cart fans . BUT remember.... when "the evil" Mr France comes to your town. "If it aint nascar you're a' hankerin' I suggest you get a Satelite Dish. cuz' ther ain;t gonna Be no yankee racin ' and No Feriners" he said' drooling tobacco juice profusely

KC · 21 Jun 2000, 13:04 (Ref:18477)

No doubt. I feel for the fans of CART in Miami. Already they have lost their showcase downtown event, and now they appear to be losing what's left. I feel the same way about losing the St. Louis round as it is closest to where I live. I have not been to the race, but I was planning for next year. I do understand that the race has not been the success it needed to be and will be lost now. It is a shame, but I think that CART should have gone to Heartland park road cicuit in Topeka, Kansas before going to another purpose built oval circuit.

Regs · 21 Jun 2000, 14:43 (Ref:18506)

Do you ever get the feeling that the folks over at CART just don't get it? There seems to be no creativity in how they handle anything. Perhaps this is why the IRL series seems to hang on. You can say what you want about TG but at least the guy seems directed. He knows what he wants his series to be and works on it. So far he has gotten a good TV deal for the IRL. They put out an advertising campaign last year that showed some cleverness and it seems this year the IRL profile has gone up a little. CART, on the other hand seems to have no handle on what they're about of they want to be. And I'm not sure they pay much attention either to the fans or the trends around them. They seems too confused. Let alone the idea that they themselves can create a trend, if they try. I'll say it again, I think the US market is ripe for a racing series where there is more of an emphasis on road and "non traditional" race venues (like the airport circuit) as well as some ovals. Don Panoz, to his credit is aware of this. And we'll see how the ALMS does in the future. Does CART have a long term future?