Jeff Gordon Confused About AOW Racing...

[GP Racer]

I watched Jeff Gordon on windtunnel last night, and I have to say, that what he said, or didn't say, show's just how far open wheel racing has fallen here in America.

When DeSpain told Jeff, if he could be the commissioner of open wheel racing, what would he do? Well, he started off by saying, "CART, or whatever they are calling themselves these days, what is there name?" Dave told him, embarrassingly that it's Champ Car. For the rest of the segment, he seemed confused about who had the Indy 500 and most other details. He had no such confusion over F1 though, as he was very well versed on that.

Jeff sounded like any typical American who know longer knows, cares or wastes his time on AOW racing. He seem's, like so many other's, to have long given up on it. What shocks me, is that he was destined for AOW racing in CART, but they foolishly rejected him. CART teams wanted the driver to bring money and a sponsor. Not NASCAR. This is a problem that continues to haunt our sport today.

What might have been...

[Xpunk75]

Wow, I missed that but there you go. That's the prestiege and popularity Champ Car and IRL have left in america with Drivers and Fans. When Jeff Gordon knows more about F1 that is sad. Ofcourse I know Jag was showing him around but even so he is an American Racing Driver and should know about Americna Open Wheel racing and the fact that he didn't know the diffrence betweent he two or who race at indy I just find funny and really sad. If American Racing Drivers don't know what the hell the sport is about then how are the fans.

This is even more proof and reason why the two need to unite because there both going to die because no one cares except super hardcore fans like us and even we are starting to get tired of them fighting over tracks, drivers, teams and fans.

Xpunk Out

[BootsOntheSide]

Everythign you've both said so far is very true. There is perhaps no greater measure of how much this form of motor racing has faltered than by how little the country's top motor racing star knows about its current state of play. Let's hope the Amigos and Tony were watching and taking notes.

[Mike.ca]

I agree with most of your post. It's a good commentary on how low OW racing (IRL or CCWS) ranks in the consciousness, not only of the general public, but of many other people in racing. And yet there are still people on racing forums who try to claim that things are better now than in '95. When I was a kid, the top Indy drivers (Andretti, Foyt, the Unsers, etc) were household names. Now the only racing drivers who are household names in America are NASCAR drivers. One of the interesting consequences of that is the eagerness (bordering on obsession) that some people have with pushing the children of past Indy stars into the IRL even if their records don't really justify it. I suppose it's one way to solve the problem of name recognition.

The story that "CART rejected Jeff Gordon" is a bit of a myth, though. Yes, Jeff Gordon came up through the ranks with USAC. And, yes, he wanted to go to Indycars. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Jeff Gordon was a Ford driver. He was Michael Kranefuss's protege. Ford had no presence in CART racing at that time and Kranefuss wasn't too interested in steering Gordon toward a series Ford wasn't involved in. Ford didn't want him in Indylights for the same reason. There was talk of F3000 then F1. Kranefuss and Gordon decided that the best solution (at least for Ford) was to send him to Buck Baker's stock car racing school then on to the Busch series. There is a rumor, sometimes seen on internet forums, that Gordon approached Roger Penske, who rejected him. Gordon himself has said that it never happened. At that point, all of the top CART teams were using Chevrolet power and had Chevy backing. He didn't approach any of them. Ford didn't return to CART until 1992 (it only provided engines to Haas and Ganassi that year). By the time Ford's CART program was up to speed, Gordon had been lured away from Ford by Hendrick. Maybe if he had been willing to cut his ties with Ford in 1990... There's no doubt in my mind that Gordon would have been a star in CART. But would that have prevented "the Split"? Who knows. I love IRL racing but, apart from Tony Stewart, it hasn't created any new stars from among the midget/sprint/Silver Crown ranks either.

[Xpunk75]

Seriously though I think it’s very clear our Sport Sucks and has sucked for 10 years. Yes there has been great racing OH MY FREAKING GOD I JUST SAW AN IRL COMMERICAL ON ESPN lol ok back to what I was saying lol. Yes there has been great racing in both CHAMP CAR and IRL and we Hard Core Fans have enjoyed it but no one else is watching and both companies have struggled Money wise. Everyone is to busy watching the Wrecks in NASCAR.

I think the only thing that there might be left to do is for Us the Fans, The hard core fans to get on the owners cases on trying to fix what there doing wrong. Petitions, Petitions at race tracks, People we live in America where Free Speech is are Right We should be making signs saying please Indy & Champ Car get back together for us, For the Sport. People will see them on TV and start to talk about them something will come out of it.


Maybe we should boy cot races till they agree to open up talks and form one American open wheel racing series. Maybe its time to get drastic in order to save the sport we love before NASSCAR permanently take over for good. Something has to be done if you think that the to can exist or one can beat out the other one its not going to happen. There both going to kill each other. Wake up they both have been just barely hanging on for 10 years. Its time for us to take action, were the most important peace of the puzzle, were the fans that bring in the money.

I think thats what we should be concerning our selves with not who is going to take Gill Defarrins place annoucing the races . Who cares can't you people see theres more important things going on in are sport. Trust me who ever they get to replace them will know what he is talking about.

[shiny side up!]

Originally Posted by Xpunk75

Xpunk Out

We'll have none of that "Seacrest Out" crap around here!

[Xpunk75]

Edit.

[macdaddy]

I fail to see how "boycotting races" could possibly help anything! Wouldn't it do the opposite?

I think thats what we should be concerning our selves with not who is going to take Gill Defarrins place annoucing the races . Who cares can't you people see theres more important things going on in are sport.

You'd rather a forum with one thread, only one thing to discuss?

[Snrub]

I witnessed a bigger problem during the Formula Mazda race last weekend. Rahal's son was interviewed and asked about his future ambitions. He mentioned several times that he was interested in ALMS or Grand Am. He mentioned Champ Car as well, but he didn't sound overly enthusiastic about it. I realize that Formula Mazda is the ALMS feeder series, but he's still driving an OW car. The fact that the son of a multiple time champion driving a one step from big league OW car is more interested in non-OW racing is not a positive sign.

[GP Racer]

Originally Posted by Snrub

The fact that the son of a multiple time champion driving a one step from big league OW car is more interested in non-OW racing is not a positive sign.

I'm sure Bobby is being straight up with his son, telling him to stay out of the chaos that is open wheel racing today. The lack of stability or a firm future has to be in the forefront of many young drivers thoughts, as they decide which way to go.

If anything the 2 amigo's and that other guy, have gained quite a reputation for having salaries, purses, and bonuses going unpaid, and contracts nullified. Tommy Kendall has attested to that! Add to that the recent driver manipulation involving Tag, and the shabby treatment of Carp, along with having to bring money and a sponsor for a seat, well, I would stay away to! It also seem's to be a dead end to anything "better". Just look at Sebastion's F1 rebuffs.

Looking at the above, I would have to say that out of the two, the IRL is the place to go for open wheel racing. Thats not to say that they don't have problems as well!

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by GP Racer

along with having to bring money and a sponsor for a seat, well, I would stay away to! It also seem's to be a dead end to anything "better". Just look at Sebastion's F1 rebuffs.

I didnt know this only happened in CCWS, it happens in all motorsport even in IRL, so I dont think that was a fair assessment.

Yes Sebastien was knocked back Williams, but then so was Dixon. Actually the last driver who competed in CCWS that has competed in F1 is Monteiro, Dominguez might be next (hope not though)

[Snrub]

That's fine if Bobby is just being "straight" with his son, but if anything that would make the situation I've outlined WORSE. "Son, I'm in OW, it's a sinking ship."

I wasn't trying to be partisan about it, but since it was brought up: I thought it was 2003 that there was a problem in CC paying prize money, but I was not aware of any since then. Did TK elaborate beyond that? The money for seats thing might be true, but that's because of the difficulty getting sponsors. A Rahal might not have such difficulties. As for "the place to go," if you want to prove something, which has the stonger lineup? (I'm not asking your opinion, what is the general concensous among pundents, etc?) If you want credentials more easily recognized by other series, where do you go? While that earlier stuff makes CC look bad, he didn't even mention the IRL, where he can surely get a seat on his father's team. Q: Want a seat on your father's championship contender team? A: No thanks!

As for Bourdais, it was pure stupidity that kept him out of F1. Regardless of your thoughts on the series, the way he drove was just too good not to warrent consideration. The fact that Dixon was even considered over other IRL drivers is proof enough that F1 teams don't always look at the best.

Frankly I think the issue was that he just wasn't interested in OW - either series. That's a brutal reality check for OW.