Welcome to the Unified American Open Wheel Forum

[stradlin21]

Originally Posted by Down F0rce

You can watch the races live on IndyCar.com, but are limited to only on-board cameras. You can change to drifferent drivers in real time though. I watched a race or two this way last year and it was quite fun . I ran on board with Dario in the final race last year, those final 15 laps or so were pretty damn intense.

Oh, you also get the full TV stream for qualifying and for Pro Series races.

they showed the Michigan race straight from ESPN2 live and you got to see what everyone saw on the tv

but usually all you get is a onboard camera

but there is some new sort of package coming from Indycar this season similar to trackpass of NASCAR so that might be worth checking out

[stradlin21]

Originally Posted by wills

I just hope that I will still be able to see some of the action this year, if they don't show any highlights on Eurosport or MotorsTV then thats pretty much killed off my interest in the series.

it will be live all season on Sky Sports

[wills]

Just great, a channel which I haven't subscribed to. Oh well so much for getting Indycars back on track here, I doubt Rockingham Speedway will ever be visited by them again anyhow...

[stradlin21]

Originally Posted by wills

Just great, a channel which I haven't subscribed to. Oh well so much for getting Indycars back on track here, I doubt Rockingham Speedway will ever be visited by them again anyhow...

Sky Sports is the best place for Indycar to be, just like it's the best place for NASCAR to be as well

It's the country's premier sports network

i believe you are suggesting that Indycar should be on terrestrial tv but no matter how big the series gets, that just ain't gonna happen, not in a million years

I much prefer Indycar to be on sky rather then be fobbed off like Champ Car onto tin pot channels like EuroSport and MotorsTV

[wills]

I much prefer the other way round as I've always watched Indycars on Eurosport since the mid 90s. I just can't subscribe to Sky Sports or else I will be in front of the telly 24/7 otherwise.

[stradlin21]

i see your problem there!

happens to me sometimes

[wills]

Save that extra £20 for something more productive to do!! And to be frank I'm not going to miss the coverage that much as its gone downhill since 2003. Looks like ALMS will be the series to follow from the states but I sure hope that indycars can survive as well.

[rush1]

Originally Posted by Xpunk75

An Open Wheel Series with Just Ovals cannot survive in America, in Europe, on Mars, or Uranis. So you can take the peace of paper with that idea and toss it in the trash cause its already failed for 12 years.

What was successful in America was an even split of road/street courses and Ovals. That way all the fanatics of each track type get a fair cut of the races for each season and don't ***** so much, and the rest of us normal fans who just like open wheel and want see what we use to see from 1979 to 1995 can watch a series thats worth watching and is exciting.

The all oval or all street and road course ideas are boring and stupid. What made Indy Car racing exciting and different was that it was the most diverse form of racing on the planet in terms of what types of tracks and drivers raced on. Thats what made it such a great proving ground for driver talent and why F1 teams had their eyes set on who ever was dominating the PPG Cart Indy Car series. It was also the reason why so many great drivers from F1 and other forms of racing wanted to come to Indy Car and show just how great they were behind the wheel.


Anyway I'm getting pretty tired of reading some of the crap people from both sides are saying. The split doesn't exist anymore so that means whatever bad blood you have with each other needs to stop, and we need to work together as fans to let the people charge understand what we want to see in a merged series.

I agree completely. We need a diversity of tracks like the old days. The business model was excellent, CART made tons of money (before the split) and its success was one of the reasons there was such a bitter fight for control of the sport - but that is in the past.

I think such a format really calls for an accomplished driver to win the series, it sets us apart from other racing series.

Also the IRL needs international exposure to attract additional sponsors - the IRL can't race exclusively in North America, there is too much competition with NASCAR. Japan and Australia of course are excellent and China would be great in the future (something for KK to work on perhaps). I would also like to see one or two races in Europe.

[rush1]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

Tony George really now has to guide the series to be closer to his original vision. That means mostly US drivers with a realistic opportunity for sprint and dirt-track racers to come in, low-cost cars, and mostly US races (perhaps mostly ovals as well). Right now we've got something similar but inferior to what we had before Tony decided to split - none of his original vision has succeeded, and the whole concept of open-wheel racing is weaker than before. The car count is the main symptom of this - why didn't George make an offer for ChampCar, plus $20m (perhaps also from his own money) to the teams, when the IRL had a bigger field and was attracting ChampCar teams? It remains to be seen how many of the smaller teams will survive into 2009.

The IRL needs to attract those considered to be the best drivers in the world, not the best out of the US. US dirt track racers can all make tons more money in NASCAR.

If you bought into TG's vision of his series that is very naive, it was always about power and money - on both sides.

Its all about business even if you don't like it. Look, if you are a car owner going to a major corporation like Best Buy here in minnesota and you can tell them the series you compete in draws crowds of 100,000 in Australia or maybe 100,000 some day in China it sets you apart. Many major corproations go after such markets and a presence can help the series obtain more sponsors.

Either way, the days of Billy Boat and Mark Dismore are over.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by rush1

I agree completely. We need a diversity of tracks like the old days. The business model was excellent, CART made tons of money (before the split) and its success was one of the reasons there was such a bitter fight for control of the sport - but that is in the past.

I think such a format really calls for an accomplished driver to win the series, it sets us apart from other racing series.

Also the IRL needs international exposure to attract additional sponsors - the IRL can't race exclusively in North America, there is too much competition with NASCAR. Japan and Australia of course are excellent and China would be great in the future (something for KK to work on perhaps). I would also like to see one or two races in Europe.

It's hard to say 2-3 years down the road exactly what the irl is going to look like and exactly what demographic will be watching. But I'm confident there are other untapped sponsors in the American marketplace where nascar might not be the best fit for them.

[Purist]

Well, I don't think anyone is in the Northwest at the moment; so that would be an area to look into building back into.

Having a third event on the Far East swing (with Motegi and Surfers) wouldn't be a bad idea, if there's a suitable market/venue; exactly when is Macau anyway?

[Amar7605]

Macau is mostly a motorcycle race, isn't it?

[Down F0rce]

They have both F3 and WTCC at Macau. The F3 race is probably the biggest one.

[wills]

What attracted me to indycars was the diversity of the tracks where some shone on ovals and others shone on road/street courses. I especially loved seeing cars at superspeedways such as Michigan doing 220mph side by side with at least 4 lead changes in a lap(and all without such gimmicks such as push to pass button).

One make series will never get the limelight so I would like to see different chassis and engines used just like in the good old days. Imagine Panoz against Lola and Dallara - that would make an interesting series.

[Dutton]

Mixed chassis, mixed engines, and mixed tracks.

That would certainly ultimately be what I would prefer, and, I think, a lot of other people feel the same way.

However, such things are far better coming to in a planned, logical manner, as opposed to being so rushed that they cripple any chnace at success there ever may have been.

[Bob Riebe]

Donnybrooke, outside Brainerd MN, has a new owner who LIKES racing; its five thousand foot straight follwed by a eighteen degree banked corner, is just the type of road course Indy cars need BADLY.
Bob

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Bob Riebe

Donnybrooke, outside Brainerd MN, has a new owner who LIKES racing; its five thousand foot straight follwed by a eighteen degree banked corner, is just the type of road course Indy cars need BADLY.
Bob

I have a friend that does instruction work there from time to time and apparently this new owner is in fact sinking a lot of money into the track. I've not seen exactly what has been updated nor inquired about it, but certainly would like to know more. I'll ask my friend what he thinks about running irl cars there.

[Purist]

The real question would be, how fast would the Indycars be going on approach to Turn 3 (after they've been flat or nearly flat for a mile and a half). The start/finish straight itself is 4700ft. The straight between Turns 1 and 2 is 1350ft, and the straight from Turns 2 to 3 is 1300ft. I don't know how much length the corners add to that, but that must give an overall length of that run that is spmewhere over 8000ft (and Turn 1 is noticeably banked).

[botsquad]

its all so sickening.
tony wins using his brute force.
he gets long beach for nothing.
that 30 years of something for nothing.
i wonder what hes going to do to screw it up. i know he'll try.
tony is bush

[Amar7605]

Originally Posted by botsquad

its all so sickening.
tony wins using his brute force.
he gets long beach for nothing.
that 30 years of something for nothing.
i wonder what hes going to do to screw it up. i know he'll try.
tony is bush

Now now, I feel the same way and I am sure that deep down most of us here feel the same as well. But we've got t move on. Let's have patience and see how this season goes.

Restraint, my friend. Restraint

[rush1]

Originally Posted by botsquad

its all so sickening.
tony wins using his brute force.
he gets long beach for nothing.
that 30 years of something for nothing.
i wonder what hes going to do to screw it up. i know he'll try.
tony is bush

This is impressive, KK was smiling at the press conference, everyone seems happy so who really cares?

[Knowlesy]

I sometimes wonder what people really want from all of this?

Good grief, we have one series which is what we all wanted. Now, it would have been great had CART been run properly back in the day and ground IRL into the ground early on. Sadly, it did not and we have a different winner.

I use the term 'winner' losely as I don't actually believe anyone has won. Just a couple of groups of people have been made to look inept.

However, they (mostly, Mr Forsythe) want to move forward now so let's get excited about the future instead of dwelling on the well trodden past.

[JohnSSC]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

I sometimes wonder what people really want from all of this?

Good grief, we have one series which is what we all wanted. Now, it would have been great had CART been run properly back in the day and ground IRL into the ground early on. Sadly, it did not and we have a different winner.

I use the term 'winner' losely as I don't actually believe anyone has won. Just a couple of groups of people have been made to look inept.

However, they (mostly, Mr Forsythe) want to move forward now so let's get excited about the future instead of dwelling on the well trodden past.

Exactly.

As far as "the Split" goes we all lost. I do not think anyone could say that any one person, party or entity "won" that particular chapter of open wheel racing history.

It was either reunify or everyone goes down the crapper. The fact that this was finally recognized and acted upon is a "win" for all of us.

[Bob Riebe]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

I sometimes wonder what people really want from all of this?

Good grief, we have one series which is what we all wanted. Now, it would have been great had CART been run properly back in the day and ground IRL into the ground early on. Sadly, it did not and we have a different winner.

I use the term 'winner' losely as I don't actually believe anyone has won. Just a couple of groups of people have been made to look inept.

However, they (mostly, Mr Forsythe) want to move forward now so let's get excited about the future instead of dwelling on the well trodden past.

Putting this: Now, it would have been great had CART been run properly back in the day and ground IRL into the ground early on. in the above post make the entire post hypocritical.

[Knowlesy]

In what way, pray tell?

Oh dear.