Mystery man: Stefan Johansson's CART team is shaping up, but who's paying the bills?

[Russfeld]

Im not saying I wouldnt do it, but i wouldnt blame someone for being *really* skeptical if my daddy was involved in the financing of my CART team.

[evo]

Thanks Russfield!! I had been looking for a pay driver with talent, and if you think Ryan is a pay driver, my search is over!

[Russfeld]

talent yes, but he's not ready for CART.

[evo]

I think he is. He was a rookie in Atlantics in 2002 and was the fastest guy on the track, won three races. I think he will adapt himself well to the Champcar.

[rush1]

Ryan will not be the first driver in open wheel racing to get help from his old man. The IRL's Jon Herb turned very slow laps for a couple of years in a sponsorless car and I always wondered who paid the bill. Than I read in Fortune magazine about a certain Herb (who happened to have a son named Jon who was a race car driver) that was worth around $900 million. Now maybe Jon worked a couple of jobs to fund his ride, but I kinda doubt it!

[Jay]

He's not exactly paying for his ride entirely, he's bringing money to the team, as are most other drivers in Cart and even F1 this year. There aren't many sponsors to be found out there, so I don't see why he should be faulted for having family help.

Also, Ryan has talent, and lots of it. He fully understands what he's up against this year, and knows the amount of work that needs to be done and that it won't be easy. Having Jimmy will help a lot, and with a bit of time, patience and support, I'm sure Ryan will be on the podium.

[f1manoz]

I don't care where Stefan gets his money from (well, as long as it's not illegal) but he's put two cars on the grid and has two Yanks in them. How about everyone just be happy about that instead of complaining about it?

Can some of you people never be pleased or be positive about anything? Geez....

[Jay]

Originally posted by f1manoz
Can some of you people never be pleased or be positive about anything? Geez....

Seriously! There are some people (many on this forum) that seem to have to look for the worst little bits in everything.

[GTRMagic]

The reason Andor would be involved would likely revolve around the franchise ownership and the income generated in prize money from that, for appearance fees. I doubt its an act of benevolence to underwrite the car costs

And yes we are negative because nobody has yet bothered to announce some positives... like team sponsors

[f1manoz]

Precisely Jay. Exactly what myself, you and a few other members think. Just constant negativity, even when there are THREE announcements within a day of each other, pertaining to three drivers getting seats, the expansion of two teams and most likely a couple of new sponsors.

And STILL people aren't happy!! I don't get it myself.

[indycool]

I think some comments -- including some of mine -- might seem "negative" because we're remembering two or three years ago when the announcements were about bigtime sponsors getting in or staying in or expanding, drivers with solid credentials joining the series and car count was not an issue.

I may be guilty of this, too, forgetting that the mission is different -- to get 18 cars on the grid at St. Pete with whoever in 'em to save the series.

I know I've been critical of some of the driver signings (Camathias, Lavin), guys I've never heard of, and possibly forgetting what the current mission is.

For the current mission, to save the series, it's coming together quite well with money-carrying drivers, Pookfare, the newfound sugar daddys and the like and CART will have 18 cars at St. Pete. Once that's done, the mission will change upward.

[f1manoz]

Too right. People seem to be forgetting that CART has been through a rough couple of years, and the announcements of late may not be grand like bygone years, but these are what will keep the series alive, and will provide the backbone of the series in years to come.

Pook and CART want 18 cars by St. Pete's and there is always the possiblity of more at Long Beach and even more thereafter.

Once this objective is achieved, you will see Pook and CART move onto the next mission which should keep everyone happy. At the moment, the only things that matter are cars, drivers and sponsors and getting them to St. Pete's and further.

[The Snout]

Here Here f1manoz, I've had a gutful too to the point where in another thread I've said I will be going to the Gold Coast this year when I wasn't going too simply cause all the negativity has made me want to support Cart all the bloody more.

Cart dipping into the bank balance to help teams isn't the greatest thing, we all know that, the goal was and is to save Cart and we seem in the immediately future to have done that.

What all the critics have forgotton is we are stablising the series for the next 2 years and I for one am not judging Cart too hard right now cause in all estimates it shouldn't even exist after the last 8 months. Lets spend some money, get the series stable, eventually get the company back into the black and begin to move forward.

Who would have thought 6 years ago Cart would be in this position ? Well guess what, in 6 years time Cart may be every damm bit if not more popular than it was 6 years ago. The job starts now, or more to the point it has already started, so as Cart's biggest shareholders (the fans), lets address what needs improving, focus on the positive of our series and make Cart the best open wheel series we can.

[Liz]

Not only that, but think that perhaps the drivers might be coming over here to see what we think of them. And while it's fine to have an opinion and they have to get used to it, some of these guys haven't had a big piece of the limelight before and will have to get used to having everything they do looked at under a magnifying glass.

Plus you can never tell what a guy is going to do when he gets to the big time. Michael Andretti was a miserable failure in Formula One, despite his famous father and a fair amount of success in lower formulae. But Kimi and Bunsen came in with relatively little experience and did very well. Maybe a guy who knows this is his Big Chance will come in and find more talent then he knew he ever had.

It's funny that people in car racing are routinely jeered at for having money and connections, while in every other walk of life these things are cultivated and coveted. As a journo I don't know where I'd be if I didn't make connections with people who could get me interviews and tell me things. And half the movie stars in Hollywood are the children of movie stars or have patrons who have connections and can give them a break. This is a GOOD thing. You'd all kill to have it, right?

[Liz]

Memo Gidley would for sure.