IRL is IrReLevant
Kim Wallen
After seeing today's race at Homestead I'll go back on my statement
that I'll watch the IRL races. I just lost all interest in the series.
After the WDW IRL race I wondered whether oval racing had to be that
boring. Now I know its the drivers and the formula in the IRL.
Homestead was a really good race with lots of passing and a good deal of
close racing. When the winner comes from 14th on the grid and second
place from 16th you now the series has depth. This is going to be an
exciting and competitive season.
So I think I'll take a pass on the IRL Phoenix race, check to see if
anyone finishes the IRL 500, and spend my TV seat time on the CART
season. I'm not even sure the IRL is a feeder series, just a doomed
series.
As my 13 yr old said when MA went from 14th to 5th in the first three
laps: "So much for the IRL, that's more passing than the whole WDW
race."
Kim
John Mikes
Kim Wallen wrote:
> I'm not even sure the IRL is a feeder series, just a doomed
> series.
>
My bet is that the IRL will emulate the World Football League. It will
live for awhile, perhaps even prosper in a few markets. Tony George will
raid the CART teams for some star drivers by paying them huge salaries
and will continue to subsidize the league with Speedway funds.
Eventually, however, the IRL will stagger toward collapse, it's better
teams absorbed by CART.
** John Mikes in Minnetundra SCCA GT4 Datsun 510 #38 **
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Randy Bohnlein
In article <5fdbdk$7...@sjx-ixn4.ix.netcom.com>, ad...@ix.netcom.com(Peter
W Lewis) wrote:
> ****I believe the IRL will be around for a long while. However, the
> best drivers will migrate to CART (like Richie Hearn) because they want
> to race against the best. BTW, if you want to see a feeder series
> that's REALLY starting to step up, take a look at the next Indy Lights
> race. They're getting good young American drivers as well as some
> talented guys from South America and F3000.
First of all, I agree that the Lights is a great, competitive series. To
tell the truth, their races are often better than the CART races. But
I'm not so sure they're going to enjoy continued prosperity.
Ask yourself what happens next year, when some of the better IndyLights
drivers want to move up but can't find a ride; or when some the better
IndyLights teams want to move up but can't quite come up with the $12 million
to do it right. Where will they go?
How about a series which may be running eight or ten races, offering network
television coverage, and purses that are at least ten times the purses
offered in Indy Lights? Then throw in the INDY 500.
There's been a lot of talk about how few IRL drivers would turn down a ride
with a decent CART team. How many Indy Lights drivers would turn down
a chance at a ride in the IRL for a CHANCE that they MIGHT get a CART ride
SOMEDAY?
Randy
Peter W Lewis
****I believe the IRL will be around for a long while. However, the
best drivers will migrate to CART (like Richie Hearn) because they want
to race against the best. BTW, if you want to see a feeder series
that's REALLY starting to step up, take a look at the next Indy Lights
race. They're getting good young American drivers as well as some
talented guys from South America and F3000.
Pete
In <331A24...@worldnet.att.net> John Mikes
Peter G. Olivola
In article <ranbo-02039...@bryn1-cs-15.dial.bright.net>,
Randy Bohnlein <ra...@bright.net> wrote:
>
>First of all, I agree that the Lights is a great, competitive series. To
>tell the truth, their races are often better than the CART races. But
>I'm not so sure they're going to enjoy continued prosperity.
>
>Ask yourself what happens next year, when some of the better IndyLights
>drivers want to move up but can't find a ride; or when some the better
>IndyLights teams want to move up but can't quite come up with the $12 million
>to do it right. Where will they go?
>
>How about a series which may be running eight or ten races, offering network
>television coverage, and purses that are at least ten times the purses
>offered in Indy Lights? Then throw in the INDY 500.
>
>There's been a lot of talk about how few IRL drivers would turn down a ride
>with a decent CART team. How many Indy Lights drivers would turn down
>a chance at a ride in the IRL for a CHANCE that they MIGHT get a CART ride
>SOMEDAY?
Unfortunately, about Indy Lights, you're probably right. But there are very
few series in racing that enjoy longevity in anything resembling their
original form. What will happen to IL (or IRL) is not knowable at this time
and probably not for quite a while. If the disparity between Disney and
Homstead is any indication, however, I expect the IRL's "reorganization"
won't be far behind IL's.
--
oliv...@netcom.com (Peter Olivola)
Don Leslie
In article <olivolapE...@netcom.com>, oliv...@netcom.com (Peter G.
Olivola) wrote:
As to IL drivers jumping to IRL, I wonder if rides are that easy to find?
Afterall, Scott Goodyear had to line up much of the sponsorship for his
car himself. How many IRL drivers are being paid a reasonable salary - or
being paid at all? I don't think the economics of the IRL have been
established that well yet - especially since it has its hand in the IMS
pockets. I note that de Ferran said a major difference between this year
and last year is resources. In other words, Pennzoil sponsorship of Jim
Hall was nothing like the sponsorship Walker has from Valvoline. So,
while Pennzoil moved some money to Pagan at IRL, I wonder if it is
adequate and anywhere near what Valvoline puts into Walker - even prorated
for the number of races and allowing for the fact that the IMS 500 soaked
up 35% of the CART teams' budgets prior to 96?
Don
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Stephen Barry
Kim Wallen wrote:
>
> After seeing today's race at Homestead I'll go back on my statement
> that I'll watch the IRL races. I just lost all interest in the series.
> After the WDW IRL race I wondered whether oval racing had to be that
> boring. Now I know its the drivers and the formula in the IRL.
> Homestead was a really good race with lots of passing and a good deal of
> close racing. When the winner comes from 14th on the grid and second
> place from 16th you now the series has depth. This is going to be an
> exciting and competitive season.
>
> So I think I'll take a pass on the IRL Phoenix race, check to see if
> anyone finishes the IRL 500, and spend my TV seat time on the CART
> series.
>
> laps: "So much for the IRL, that's more passing than the whole WDW
> race."
>
> Kim
Give that kid a big raise in his allowance! :-) So true, so true.
Stephen B.
Brian Jackson
Randy Bohnlein wrote:
>
> There's been a lot of talk about how few IRL drivers would turn down a ride
> with a decent CART team. How many Indy Lights drivers would turn down
> a chance at a ride in the IRL for a CHANCE that they MIGHT get a CART ride
> SOMEDAY?
Maybe. But the flaw in that logic is that after a couple of years
running all ovals the CART guys will figure that they're better off
grabbing a driver from F1 or from Lights/Atlantic which run on the same
mix of tracks that CART runs. It's been pretty apparent throughout the
past 30 years that road racers make the transition to ovals better than
oval racers acclimate to road racing. If I were a CART team owner I'd
have a hard time convincing myself that the IRL was a decent training
ground for drivers that met my needs.
As an aside, I find it immensely amusing to have the all-American
car/driver/team bit happens in CART (Andretti/Swift/Ford/Goodyear) while
the "all-American" IRL... :)
Brian
--
-------------------------------
Brian Jackson
bri...@pacbell.net
uva uvam vivendo varia fit