Golden chance for the IRL

[seppefan]

Now is the chance for the IRL to step up back to the old US open wheel popularity if only because other series are going to bite the dust. If Toyota are selling fewer cars will they want to be in F1 ( and so far not winning ) and NASCAR if it becomes a one make series with Ford, GM and Chrysler all living on reserves and making no money. NASCAR is in real trouble as also loads of sponsors will quit. Superleague, A1GP. World series by Renault, GP3, GP2, F2, Euro F3, Formula Masters, Formula Nippon, Atlantics, Indy lights. Too many series and too few sponsors. Will it be the IRL that bites the dust? With the 500 and lowish budgets I doubt it. OK Champcar was a better business proposal in terms of costs but if TG stops wind tunnel development and similar costs then it would be cheaper and closer racing as well. This is a golden opportunity. Keep Surfers, get Montreal, get BMW etc ( with a capped spend and multiple year development freeze ) if F1 goes one engine. As the other series fail IRL will become more viewed as fans look for their drug. It will take balls but in three years times will be on the mend, just got to get there and have a bullish strategy to win in a financially conservative fashion. Grand Am in 2010, little chance. Why is Perera going back to europe...its started.

[philipbain]

I think I can see your point, that if IRL gives better value to suppliers, manufacturers and sponsors it will not only weather the storm of global financial chaos, but has an opportunity to grow at a time when other forms of motorsport are standing on shaky ground.

I agree that it appears that NASCAR is potentially vulnerable as the last few years have seen massive growth in the series and that this rate of growth can't be sustained, it must plateau at some point and looking at the attendances this year and general sponsor interest it could be argued that NASCAR may have already peaked. It's current position makes it difficult for the series as it is to sustain its momentum, budgets have positively soared over the last decade as more and more investment is required to be competitive, this being gained from sponsorship that has been available as the series has continued to grow, but as sponsors have less and less cash to spare we are likely to see a combination of sponsors down-scaling thier involvement and withdrawing altogether, though this will affect all forms of sport to some degree.

I also agree that there are far too many series out there and that a potentially contracting market can't sustain them all, I just hope that the series that go are ones that are more like manufactuer product placements then truely competitive series. There are too many one make series out there, perhaps some championships would do well to consolisate with similar championships to create properly competitive series where manufacturers compete in a controlled a reasonably colaborative way in order to deliver a good product whilst controlling costs.

Going back to IRL, I think a lot more can be done to give better value to all parties involved, firstly a standardisation of parts and an end to development need to take place, allowing teams to do development in a formula that has become a one make series makes no sense, if a couple of makes wre involved it would be justified as a measure to ensure parity. Also get rid of less popular races and take the racing to the people, as Champ Car did latterly, race in the streets and the people will come, not only does this satisfy sponsors but it also gets the public engaged and grows the fan base. Another thing is to get the manufacturers back, they are good for a series as they not only gain publicity from the series but its also in thier best interest to promote thier involvement too. If a formula has good quality cost controls that make sense the manufacturers will get value from thier involvement.

Another key factor is quality media coverage, in print, through the internet and most importantly on TV. This is the one thing that concerns me the most and I feel is the biggest barrier to making a series more popular. The new US TV deal for IRL seems a step back to me, screening on a network that isnt included in most basic cable packages puts an automatic cap on the amount of people able to access coverage. Its the same problem as we have in the UK with IRL, its screened on Sky Sports, a premium subscriber network best known for screening live English Premier League football, not particulary motorsports, hence most subscribers would get it for football and not watch motorsports and conversely motorsports fans who watch less football will find it hard to justify the expense of having Sky Sports just to watch IRL, although they do screen NASCAR too they have little in the way of popular motorsport that british audiences traditionally watch, such as F1 and touring car racing (both of these are carried on much more accessible free to air network TV). This is an area that NASCAR wins on currently in the US, the TV package was the key to getting such enourmous growth over the past few years. So even if you get everything else right, if you don't get the coverage right you have done everything else for nothing as no one will be watching.

[anthonyvop]

Now is the chance for the IRL to step up back to the old US open wheel popularity if only because other series are going to bite the dust. If Toyota are selling fewer cars will they want to be in F1 ( and so far not winning ) and NASCAR if it becomes a one make series with Ford, GM and Chrysler all living on reserves and making no money. NASCAR is in real trouble as also loads of sponsors will quit. Superleague, A1GP. World series by Renault, GP3, GP2, F2, Euro F3, Formula Masters, Formula Nippon, Atlantics, Indy lights. Too many series and too few sponsors. Will it be the IRL that bites the dust? With the 500 and lowish budgets I doubt it. OK Champcar was a better business proposal in terms of costs but if TG stops wind tunnel development and similar costs then it would be cheaper and closer racing as well. This is a golden opportunity. Keep Surfers, get Montreal, get BMW etc ( with a capped spend and multiple year development freeze ) if F1 goes one engine. As the other series fail IRL will become more viewed as fans look for their drug. It will take balls but in three years times will be on the mend, just got to get there and have a bullish strategy to win in a financially conservative fashion. Grand Am in 2010, little chance. Why is Perera going back to europe...its started.

And what makes you think the opposite won't happen?
Maybe Honda, Toyota, BMW and others will drop the other series and concentrate just on F-1?

[MAX_THRUST]

With all the poor decisions being mae in F1 at least the IRL has a solid sysyem of rules and are fairly enforced. Why not jump ship, cant see it but you never know.

[seppefan]

And what makes you think the opposite won't happen?
Maybe Honda, Toyota, BMW and others will drop the other series and concentrate just on F-1?

My point is that both Honda and BMW have said they are not looking for a one engine rule in F1 but if it is implemented....

[indycool]

A lot of things can happen this time of year that NASCAR and/or F1 have no effect on in regard to the IRL or Indy. The IRL must find its own course to run and not worry about the others -- like the others don't worry about them. Already, Franchitti has returned to Ganassi's Indycar team. This is the time of year when you hear all kinds of rumors about new teams and the like. Old oval saying: BS stops when the green flag drops.

[Jag_Warrior]

A lot of things can happen this time of year that NASCAR and/or F1 have no effect on in regard to the IRL or Indy. The IRL must find its own course to run and not worry about the others -- like the others don't worry about them.

Quoted for truth.

[Mark in Oshawa]

The IRL just has to get a new car, maybe open up to other manufacturers in engine and chassis...but like NASCAR keep a tight reign on the rules to keep the "box" they work in tight and the racing close. Then just let nature take its course. Many fans love OW over NASCAR but all race fans like close competitive racing with the outcome always in doubt between 10 or so drivers. Right now we don't always have that but since there is only one OW series...it can develop. The important thing is all the best teams and drivers are back together again and the series just needs to have slow growth and keep doing what got OW racing in North America to where it was 15 years ago. That is good racing on a variety of circuits with names the people can recognize and cheer for. We got away from that with politics and in time...we can get back there.