Tough Times for Patrick and Fernandez

[BootsOntheSide]

IPS was supposed to help drivers from USAC and similar bridge the gap into the IRL, by giving them a chance to get used to cars similar to the IRL's, on the IRL tracks, but it hasn't worked out that way. Anyone signing an IPS front-runner and expecting himt o be ready for the IRL is pretty deluded really.

[Hazza]

The thing is, while CART and IRL have been slugging the **** out of each other...well, tripping over each other maybe, NASCAR has been laughing all the way to the bank!

Nascar is the reason why there are a lack of sponsers and drivers. If CART hadn't of self destructed the IRL would be nothing and we wouldn't be here*. If the IRL haddn't of happened, then maybe a more unified Openwheel series would be stronger than it is now.

As I see it, the current Open-Wheel state is a 'Series of unfortunate events'.


* By nothing I mean that it wouldn't pose that much of a threat to CART, sorta like in 2001/2.

[Snrub]

I don't know... Both US OW series say they want to home grown talent, etc. but it doesn't seem to be happening. List off some drivers who've come up through some sort of feeder series in the last few year that are in either OW series. List off the ones that are sucessfull. I don't know that there was a lot of intention to "bring someone from the ladder" from in the cases where someone has been brought up. ASTJ wanted an American, but it was run by a scandinavian and we know how that ended up. Danica is moving up next year, but that's more to do with gender.

As for people knowing who Medierios is, I'm not sure that they do. The IPS has a very low profile. F1 isn't as unpopular in the US as we tend to think and I think it's conceivable that a similar number people have at least heard of Briscoe.

[Tenoch]

buddy Rice and And AJ Almendinger

[Teretonga]

The shortage of Mexican funding is due to the contractions of the Mexican economy, a result of major players moving their manufacturing operations from Mexico to China. When NAFTA was first announced it looked like an answer for Mexico but it turned out to be temporary.
Both the IRL and OWRS are suffering and along with the lack of home grown drivers little is likely to change. The foreigners have backing from their local industry back home or contracts with the major players (like Briscoe/Toyota) while US commerce and industry looks to NASCAR where the real action for it's audience really is.
The open wheel owners need the $ and unable to secure it from US commerce (against NASCAR) they take the $ from the overseas drivers. US drivers can't secure the $ either because again the profile is so low it's hardly a blip on the radar against the NASCAR juggernaut. The reality is it will remain low until open wheel takes a significant percentage of the motorsport audience.
It's a catch 22 situation, and a circular argument that will go around and around till the audience rises or until open wheel actually disapperars from the radar altogether.

This is not impossible. Australia had a strong single seater culture in the 50'- late70's but it dried up in the 80's against the touring car culture and now open wheel in Australia is a shadow of its former self, with two competing series both vying for recognition and both similarly obscure, while touring car racing has gone from strength to strength, sucking money from all other forms of circuit racing in the process.
The US scenario has happened elsewhere already. You just didn't see it coming.

[GP Racer]

Great post teretonga. I can't argue with anything you've said.

I do find it interesting though, that after the U.S. lost so many jobs to Mexico, Mexico is now losing those jobs to China. It seems that NAFTA hasn't done anyone any favors...