Open Wheel Wednesday

How does a guy in the middle of roundy-round country become a fanatical open wheel racing fan? Well, in my case it was the exposure I got growing up with a Dad that always turned on the Indy 500 every May. We're talking about the late 70's through the 80's. When it was a BIG deal; you know the names: Unser, Foyt, Rutherford, Andretti and a slew of others. But I can also remember watching the Long Beach Grand Prix when it was televised; or Laguna Seca and the famous corkscrew. But it all pales in comparison to actually being at an event.

Ironically, my first event happened to be the(gasp) 1995 Indy 500. Yes, you're right, the first post split 500. As a staunch CART and Champcar supporter it was a tough pill to swallow. You see, my Dad was widowed for several years and re-married a woman who still had family in Indianapolis. So the invitation was extended to travel to her family's and go with her brother on his season tickets to the 500. Part of their tradition was to pick two drivers out of the starting line-up as 'your picks' for the race. My first thought was, 'Who in the heck are these guys?' and shortly followed up with, 'Can we be back in time to watch the US 500?'. I think I picked Eliseo Salazar and Davey Jones(shows you how much I can remember of the field). The seats could not be any better. Here I was at my first race an I'm sitting about 40 yards shy of the start finish line at IMS. And looking to my right and to my left, into Turn 1 and Turn 4 respectively was breathtaking. And the mass of people; I have never seen so many in one place at one time.

But what really got me was the first few seconds after the famous words of "Gentlemen, start your engines". The subtle and somewhat sweet smell of burning methanol as it poured from the exhaust of the turbo v-8s of every car on the grid(yes, the first year post-split was run with CART chassis and engines). It sent goosebumps down my spine. And that feeling hits me every time I hear an engine warming up at the track or get a whiff of the methanol.

As history goes, Buddy Lazier, a journeyman racer, ended up winning and Eliseo Salazar wrecked coming out of Turn 4 on the last lap. Most of the names in that field would soon be forgotten.

I've since been to the track in Gateway, IL only to see Michael Andretti blow an engine(much to the delight of a majority of the crowd) as he pulled away from the field. Jaun Pablo Montoya won that one with Patrick Carpentier coming from a lap down, only to run out of race laps to catch him.

I've been to all but one of the recent run of Denver Grand Prixs. I've seen Paul Tracy punt Dario Franchitti when they ran for Kim & Barry Green. I've seen Paul Tracy lose his concentration and put his car in the wall while running away with the race. I've seen Sebastien Bourdais dominate and come through the field, carving it up like a surgeon.

I was at Texas Motor Speedway as CART pulled the plug on the morning of the race due to vertigo from high G's on the high banks.

I saw Gil de Ferran win in Houston while we snuck in a pit straight corporate booth because all we had were garage passes.

I was at the 1999 500 in Fontana, CA when Greg Moore lost his life. I miss that guy.

One summer I even went to Hallett Raceway, here in Oklahoma, because Marco Andretti was running in the Skip Barber Dodge Pro Series(he finished second).

I've seen a few IRL races; and now I'll probably be seeing more IRL races.

But that is how I became an open wheel fanatic.

I guess it's official

AJ Allmendinger is officially on the bench at Red Bull Racing, being replaced with Mike Skinner. I really don't have that much sympathy for the guy, leaving Forsythe Racing after the tear he went on with them. Maybe it's because, as a fan, to see an American do so well in open wheel racing is a chance to say, 'hey we do have talent here!'. I don't think Memo Gidley would have jumped ship like AJ did for Nascar, but what do I know?

I think the transition to a tin topper with all the weight they carry is quite the change for an open wheel guys. Do I like it? Hail no! We've now lost Dario(who was getting a little long in the tooth any way), Patreek(who I met when CART was to run at Texas Motor Speedway, he is truly a great guy), and Jacques(which doesn't mean a hill of beans to just about anyone even though he's an INDY 500 and F1 champion).

And what about Bourdais bad mouthing the series that gave him a life for the last several years? So he bolted for a backmarker F1 team, whoopee! How long before we see him with his tail between his legs and moving in to Nascar?

I hope that the IRL(please tweak the name, PLEASE) will be a step in the right direction to retaining talented open wheel drivers.

I know there are many more factors in play in all of this; and who can blame these guys for looking for the bigger buck out there. It's just a shame that it's taken 12 years of decimation to bring the powers that be to their senses.

For Better or Worse, It's Done

The merger that is. Love it or hate it, it's done. For the hardcore Champcar fans like myself, it's a bitter pill to swallow. Just like a racer, we wanted to win. We wanted to stick it to Tony George and his reproduction of CART, called the IRL. But each year we watched our series slide backwards instead of moving forward. Sure we watched the unveiling of a new chassis and new events but viewership and sponsorship faded into near oblivion. That can't be good.

From just a marketing perspective, this needed to happen and it needed to happen soon. I'm a big picture guy and I despise how the France family has taken NASCAR and done their part to fill the void that was created by the open wheel split in 1995. But now NASCAR has plateaued, in my opinion, and it's time to attack. It's the perfect timing to unify and start a marketing push to get Indy car racing back on the map. Will it happen over night? No way. Can it happen in the next five years? I think so. I think the IRL has always had the upper hand on Champcar from an advertising perspective and I think they really push now, to win back the fans that feel alienated from open wheel racing.

This can be done this year by championing the unification of the two series. "Don't miss this years 500 as we see the return of Paul Newman, Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, yada, yada, yada". I think you market the RETURN of everyone this year. I think 2009 needs to be built around the return of tracks that will fall off the schedule this year. It's a shame to see Toronto and Cleveland not get a race this year. I HOPE they return as well as Laguna Seca(need I remind you of Zanardi's move?)

There is nothing perfect in this unification and there never would have been any perfect scenario but they can build from this and work to get open wheel racing back to something similar to it's glory days.

Is it a done deal?

First Castro steps down in Cuba and word this morning that the merger could be complete with announcement some time this week.

Merger? No Merger? Champcar vs. IRL

It has been a whirlwind of gossip and quotes in the past couple of days around my beloved Champcar series. With Robin Miller’s article on Thursday we hear that talks are apparently hot and heavy. This has been reported before only to have everything fall apart; according to Kevin Kalkhoven due to leaks in the press(that in itself can stop a merger????). I truly hope that these two series can come to some type of arrangement but I don’t know how that can be done for the ‘08 season, no way, no how.

I had the chance to meet Kalkhoven and he acted sincere in what we thought about the price points for the RedBull suite tickets we purchased(for the Denver Grand Prix) and what we thought, as fans, could be done to improve for the following year.

Well, next year never came as it was cancelled for 2007, and along with it went my chance for a guys road trip. Maybe I can work out Wrigley Field somehow!

Here’s my take on the whole ball of wax: Remember when Honda dumped CART/Champcar for greener pastures in the IRL(to make it more like CART)? Now they may be in a position that can be a potential hurdle in the two series merging, due to the Motegi race date. Go figure.

Personally I WANT THIS MERGER TO HAPPEN. Have I mentioned that? BUT…..I cannot stand the Dallaras that the IRL uses. Hate ‘em, hate ‘em, hate ‘em. They’re boxy, loud, and sound like nothing more than a souped up NeckCar engine. I got to see them in action at Texas Motor Speedway from row 1. Which brings up another kick in the pants. I was at TMS for the CART debacle in which the race was cancelled on race day. I don’t blame them; I watched qualifying on Saturday and Michael Andretti took a line out of the front stretch kink that made me think he was seeing CareBears and unicorns. I didn’t want to see anyone die on that track.

I would love to see the DP01 for years to come but if they merge we may no longer see that chassis. It’s nice and has had most of the bugs worked out.

For now, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that something fruitful comes out of these talks and they can get a plan together for the ‘09 season.