Portland Champ Experience...poor

[BuzzedHornet]

First a little background on me. I have been going to PIR since the early 70's and have had family race (CanAm) and very close friend of the family ran the track from day 1 until a couple years ago. (Dale LaFollette) I have also attended all but 3 CART/Champ races at PIR.

Well this weekend’s event was one of the poorest promoted events I have ever attended. The local grocery store chain in Portland does a better job promoting the vintage event each year.

- The Paddock was a joke

- The pace cars were 2 year old model Mustangs (come on I thought Ford was a title sponsor and they couldn't even put new Mustangs on the track, we should have seen a GT!)

- Trans Am was disappointing (whats with filling the field with GT1 and GTA cars who wont move over when a blue/yellow striped flag is waved lap after lap??)

- Drifting???? Bring back what all the true fans want, Go Karts in the AM!!

- Gasoline Alley had a couple tents with art for sale, a No Fear trailer and a Champ trailer...BORING! In years past I would spend a few hours and many dollars in Gasoline Alley. This year was a joke.

The race itself was OK. You can't go to a sporting event and expect a exciting event each time. But you can expect to see an event that is promoted well and see a good show.

If we are going to see Champ live much longer something has to be done. I will continue to support them and I will continue to go to a few races this year and on. However most people who go as local, casual fans will not be back after yesterday.

We need open wheel and sportscar road racing in the US! After the US GP this weekend and seeing first hand the lack of quality of the "show" at a Champ car event I wonder if we will all be forced to watch circle track racing in the US very, very soon!

Rant over, thanks for letting me vent.

~ Buzzed

[enemy-ace]

Here's an idea! Instead of venting here, try e-mailing Champ Car and tell them your concerns. My experiences with them have been nothing but positive. If your concerns are logical and constructive I can only imagine they will take them into consideration.

[macdaddy]

Welcome to 10T's, BuzzedHornet. Your first post was a pretty good one.

Could you elaborate on "the paddock was a joke" ?

Your observation about the pace cars is quite surprising.

However, your comments about "Gasoline Alley" (or the "Midway" as some other events called it) reminds me very much of last season's event in Vegas. It was the first time that I've been to a CC event and none of the team's merchandise trailers were there. The only ones present were from "ChampCar", "SpeedGear" and "NoFear". There was as much F1 memorabilia for sale as there was ChampCar.

Has the "midway" been like this for every event? Is there no such thing as the "Newman/Haas" trailer (for example) anymore?

[BuzzedHornet]

enemy-ace...I emailed them from a Starbucks WiFi connection before even leaving Portland. (I live in Seattle now) I have been a fan of CART forever. However I do not think the Champ Org has what it takes to run quality events city to city. Over the years I have been invited to dinner with Newman/Haas been a VIP with Team Green and have been involved with providing equipment to the Hospitality Tents in trade for tickets and VIP treatment by CART. We have had a wonderful relationship all the way back to 84 when I volunteered to work for ESPN for the weekend to help Dale out. CART knew how to ask for help and how to return the favor ten fold to make you feel like you were part of the family. I did not get any family feeling from this event this year. I have tickets to see them in San Joes in July, but after this past weekend I will use my flight to go to Monterey Historics and I will go to ALMS that weekend in Portland. So I respect your reply and I have done so. However this isn't CART anymore.

And please do not mistake this post as "hate mail" to Champ. I love open wheel racing in US and I want them to profit and run for years to come. I would love nothing better than to bring my grandkids here to see Champ/CART races in the future. (My son is only 17 so I hope that is many years from now!)

Lastly, I wanted to post here to see if others have had the same thoughts as I after seeing what CART is today.

~Buzzed

[Mackmot]

Originally Posted by enemy-ace

Here's an idea! Instead of venting here, try e-mailing Champ Car and tell them your concerns. My experiences with them have been nothing but positive. If your concerns are logical and constructive I can only imagine they will take them into consideration.

Hey enemy, I thought it was a good post, surely the idea of a forum is to voice your opinion and see if other people feel the same or whether you are just upsetting the applecart.

[BuzzedHornet]

macdaddy,

Thanks for the welcome. I have read many of your posts over the past week or so since finding this great forum and respect your thoughts as a true race fan.

The Paddock in Portland resides inside the track. You pay x dollars to go over the bridge to get into the Paddock. In years past that area was buzzing with excitement. You were rubber necked all day looking at nice pit babes, celebs and cars. You had to stay on your toes because there was so much going on. If you were not careful you would get run over. Now besides the car, tire and Champ transports there wasn't anything happening. No hot woman passing out pictures. Not a single driver. The teams were set up so far from the public that is was like they didn't want to involve you. Before you could stand there and have an intelligent conversation with a team member here and there. I understand they are not there to talk to fans, but it is all part of the show. CART used to make them very easy to get to and talk to, now they seem untouchable.

I brought my girlfriend to her first race and spent the extra $60.00 each to go to the Paddock and we walked over 3 times thinking it was just our bad timing, but no luck..just no excitement. She had a good time, but when I asked her if the event was enough to bring her dad next year for fathers day without me, she said no way.

After watching F1 tho, maybe I shouldn't complain too much! At least I had a race to watch!

~Buzzed

[mountainstar]

From all I've heard from people that were there was that the crowd was up on previous years and probably the best in over 5 years. Everyone sounded pretty happy with how things went. Kalkhoven has now said the event is safe for next year and I doubt he would have announced that if the event was a failure. Remember the race was on the chopping block if it didn't do well.

Attendance was up 18% over last year, so I can't complain.

From what I saw on the TV, it all looked good from all perspective and I'm really fired up about Champcar and were it is going. When you look back to 18 months ago, where we were facing imminent death of open wheel road racing in the US and to now, it is amazing. Whether one likes Champcar or not, at least there is another choice in the marketplace other than the NASCAB/IRL duopoly.

Concerning vendors and paddock excitement, let me relate this example. When I started attending IMSA races at Road Atlanta in 1994, sports car racing in this country was practically dead. Road Atlanta at that time reflected the state of sports car racing as the track was a dump. Vendors and paddock "excitement" was nil. Fast forward to 1999, having not attended since 1995, and what a stunner. In the mean time, sports car racing had got itself better organized and promoted with the American Le Mans Series and Road Atlanta had been rebuilt. The place was filled with people, with plenty of vendors on hand.

So my point is, the more people that buy tickets, the more sponsors that darken our door, like Intel this weekend, the more vendors, grid girls and other flash stuff you'll see. It's not going to happen overnight.

[marcus]

welcome aboard Buzzed hornet.

its a shame that touy feel this way about the weekend just gone.

i dunno what the answer is but i can agree with you that it sure aint drifting

anyway I hope you manage to get back to portland next year and hope its a better experience for you

[enemy-ace]

Originally Posted by Mackmot

Hey enemy, I thought it was a good post, surely the idea of a forum is to voice your opinion and see if other people feel the same or whether you are just upsetting the applecart.

and thus my right to voice my opinion in kind. My apologies to BuzzedHornet though, as I fear I may have come off as a bit of an arse. I had one of those maddening days where I heard a lot of "I can't do it because...." and no attempts at solving the problem. Then I come here to my favorite motorsports forum and think "Bloody Hell" it's a worldwide epedemic.
BuzzedHornet, I applaud your efforts in letting Champ Car know of your concerns. Too often people complain and never attempt at finding a solution. Your right in that it isn't CART anymore. They have fallen a long way and are still in the process of resurrecting a once great series.
Welcome to the forum, BTW!

[BuzzedHornet]

My only judgment is based on what I saw and the traffic going into and out of the track, but I have a hard time believing that there were 18% more people there. Maybe a few sponsors purchased lots of tickets that didn't get used tho. It used to take an hour or more to get out of the west end to I5. Yesterday it took 5 mins. I am not complaining about that! Just didn't seem like there were as many people. I am very happy to hear that Kal announced that there will be a race again next year!! Keep coming and I will keep buying tickets and I will be there. My guess is that the title sponsor GI Joes bought thousands of tickets to give out to vendors and such that went unused.

You make a great point. I need to look at Champ as a new series and stop trying to compare it to CART of old. I have seen Trans AM go through up and downs over the years and have always come back to see them until they left PIR a few years back. I hope Champ and TransAm can make it work.

But it still isn't enough entertainment value for me to make a trip to San Joes next month. I will support local races and I will see them when I travel for work, but I will not invest the time or dollars to take vacation and travel to see them right now.

Thanks for the prospective! Like I said above, I just needed to vent and now that I have I can see the light again=)

[jjspierx]

Originally Posted by BuzzedHornet

macdaddy,

I brought my girlfriend to her first race and spent the extra $60.00 each to go to the Paddock and we walked over 3 times thinking it was just our bad timing, but no luck..just no excitement.
~Buzzed

Then some ticket seller just pocket a bunch of your cash, cause paddock tickets weren't anywhere near $60. I think it was 25, MAYBE 30, but certainly not $60. I don't even think it was $60 for a 3 day ticket.

[BuzzedHornet]

No need to apologize! I am a big boy and I can defend myself. I commend you though for making sure the right people know how I feel. I do still have some "influential" friends in racing who were also copied on my email to Champ yesterday. So I hope to see some kind of resonse.

I thought by bringing my girlfriend I might be able to get her hooked and then she might understand why the Tivo is completely full of racing stuff. Oh well, maybe after the ALMS race. We will have the motorhome out for that one!

~ Buzzed

[BuzzedHornet]

Originally Posted by jjspierx

Then some ticket seller just pocket a bunch of your cash, cause paddock tickets weren't anywhere near $60. I think it was 25, MAYBE 30, but certainly not $60. I don't even think it was $60 for a 3 day ticket.

You are right, they were $15 Saturday and $25 Sunday so $40.00 total.

I did buy two sets however so I spent $80.00 to walk the Paddock 3 times...

[jjspierx]

Originally Posted by BuzzedHornet

You are right, they were $15 Saturday and $25 Sunday so $40.00 total.

I did buy two sets however so I spent $80.00 to walk the Paddock 3 times...

I will agree the paddock was pretty tame this year. Admittedly I was only there on Friday though, but still in past years it seemed more colorful. Some of the team trailers were barely even painted so it didn't seem like you were walking past a Champ car team trailer. I've also noticed the teams seem to move the cars further and further away from the front side of their trailers so the majority of spectators are further away from them.

For future reference, if you buy your tickets online from ticketmaster.com, a 3 day paddock pass was just $30 +3.50 service charge. A much better deal.

[lnin0]

The paddock isn't as spectacular as it has been in the past and gasoline alley is nothing to get excited over but for a series hurting for sponsorship on the track how much can you expect behind the cameras? In the future as Champ Car returns to its glory so to will the paddock. For now they might not have a ton of sponsers in there and the team's tight budgets might not afford them big painted hualers but I don't see how you can complain about the paltry fee for access this close to the machines and drivers.

I don't think anyone here isn't aware of Champ Cars struggles - so either support them and roll with the good and bad or go see how close $30 gets you to the USGP - probably the parking lot if you're lucky.

[BuzzedHornet]

Originally Posted by jjspierx

I will agree the paddock was pretty tame this year. Admittedly I was only there on Friday though, but still in past years it seemed more colorful. Some of the team trailers were barely even painted so it didn't seem like you were walking past a Champ car team trailer. I've also noticed the teams seem to move the cars further and further away from the front side of their trailers so the majority of spectators are further away from them.

For future reference, if you buy your tickets online from ticketmaster.com, a 3 day paddock pass was just $30 +3.50 service charge. A much better deal.

Yes I did mess up on that one. I bought my West End parking pass on line and my tickets but thought someone in our group would have a few Paddock passes floating around that we could all use.

[BuzzedHornet]

Originally Posted by lnin0

The paddock isn't as spectacular as it has been in the past and gasoline alley is nothing to get excited over but for a series hurting for sponsorship on the track how much can you expect behind the cameras? In the future as Champ Car returns to its glory so to will the paddock. For now they might not have a ton of sponsers in there and the team's tight budgets might not afford them big painted hualers but I don't see how you can complain about the paltry fee for access this close to the machines and drivers.

I don't think anyone here isn't aware of Champ Cars struggles - so either support them and roll with the good and bad or go see how close $30 gets you to the USGP - probably the parking lot if you're lucky.

I agree with you more now than I would have a few hours ago when I started this thread. I am reconizing the fact that this isn't CART in the hay days anymore. However I dissagree with the fact that I shouldn't expect much from an event like this. Paul and Kevin have been around long enough in racing and know enough to make a very good living off racing for years. They should know how to throw a party both behind the cameras and in front of them.

I'm not jumping off the bus, only pointing out that "The Show" needs lots of work to in order to continue to grow and become what it once was.

[brightline]

I thought the stands looked pretty good this year on TV after being empty bleachers in the last couple of years.

The pageantry may be on hiatus but the show is better than the last couple years with 4 different pole & race winners in as many races. I too was a little dissappointed with the apparent lack of sponsors, slowly but surely they will be coming back as major corporations don't like spending millions to not get TV coverage on a mid-to-back pack NASCAR team when half that amount could sponsor A Rusport car or maybe the whole HVM team, the same goes for the ALMS.

[Amar7605]

BuzzedHornet, you make some fine points!

Whenever my dad and I went to Long Beach, we thought that it was pretty cool because there was a lot of stuff to see - even in the paddock. Last year when CC came out of bamkruptcy I remember how the drivers were meeting and greeting the fans. And the whole paddock was abuzz with activity. It was great.

Too bad things weren't like that in Portland. And come to think of it, I agree with macdaddy on the lack of memorabilia trailers in Las Vegas last year. I wanted to get some Newman Haas stuff, but nothing was out there.

Maybe all of this has just as much to do with the race promoters as well as CC. So if I was you, BuzzedHornet, I would try to contact Portland International and let them know what you think as well. Maybe they can have some influence on what CC does.

[indycool]

CCWS IS the promoter at Portland in some deal with the city.

[BuzzedHornet]

I watched the race last night on Tivo. I have to say, that is one emtpy place. The grandstands at the chicane were full, everything else was spotty at best. It was good coverage as far as CBS goes. The coverage did a great job making Portland look like the cool city that it is.

I am still considering going to San Joes to support these guys. I do not want to loose open wheel road racing! They need all the support that they can get.

~Buzzed

[racinthestreets]

Great Buzzed. Keep the support and I believe that San Jose will have excellent attendance and be the event that you were hoping to see in Portland. As for team trailers I have not seen them at the races I have attended since 2003. My son and I had a good time at this year's race and it appeared to have more people than last year. More vendors were out, the Extreme Motorcycle Jumpers were nothing less than daredevils. Oh, the Paddock Babes were there - they had fruit baskets on their heads and were scantly dressed - sweet! Champ Car will define their market share and exploit it given enough time. Hope to see you in San Jose Buzzed.

[nsxr]

As for the drifting the reason it wasnt any good was most of the cars were from Drift Alliance. These guys get elminated at every FromulaD Event. there a bunch of guys who cant build a car to save them. Chris Fosburgs had both cars brake on him. he had to borrow a street car from a shop in Portland. But they had Orido in the white and red S14 from RS*R. if you get the chance watch this guy hes crazy in or out of a car.

[racerkeke]

Was Orido the one in the red and white race suit with the arm fringes and the silver disco stripes across the chest? He was also wearing a cheesy white and red cowboy hat in support pit lane before getting into the car. But he sure could drift. At least until he brought it in with an engine fire and we had to pop a bottle.

The crowd enjoyed the drifting, I gotta say. I just wish there were (a) more of them, and (b) that the cars lasted better. Most of them lost much bodywork, and later overheated. I think that detracted from their "show".

keke

[nsxr]

yep thats Orido in his americn style clothing. Drift Alliance is just in over its head. Pick up a copy of any Option DVDs in english to see some crazy drift action. The festival curves are perfect for drifting. Cleveland will have more cars involved. Including Ken Gushi in the mustang. Nice kid pretty funny too meet him at the LBC GP.