Ok, kill the negativity, where do we go?

[Mark in Oshawa]

Alright, we have spilled enough blood and pain over Tony leaving. All us Champ Car fans got our kicks kicking the man while he was down and out and the IRL stalwarts who never grasped how we saw him fought a retreating battle to defend his past.

We have all had enough of that I suspect on some level, so lets move forward. Since I hope to be gone for a few days working again, I figured I would kick this one off.

Now that the IRL is sort of in flux, here is the blueprint I think I would look at.

In the next year, I would very carefully rebrand the series IndyCar. Ditch the IRL moniker and logo. We know what they are, lets call em that and leave it there. Two, I would find a front man/pitchman who could go places where Tony didn't go. Get someone really into going to the media and talking up the sport. We haven't had that in a LONG time if ever. Get him on ESPN talk shows. Get him in front of the sporting press. Get him on Letterman. You need someone however that has some celebrity. I think Tony had that idea when he hired Gene Simmons, but Gene had zero cred talking about racing. No, we need someone who can point out why this is different and perhaps better than NASCAR. Not sure who this person is, but some have floated Humpy Wheeler. I am not sure if Humpy would take this on or not, but someone in that vein.

Second, within a year or two I would do my level best to put the TV contract in the hands of someone who will listen to the fans. Most of us HATE the ABC/ESPN announcers and format. We like VS but alas they don't have the reach. I think SPEED and FOX must be approached. You may not make money on there for the start, but you need reach and you need crediblity. Those carriers would give you that audience and lets never forget they do racing of the NASCAR variety pretty well. Would they take it? Maybe....that is going back to the man up front. A Humpy Wheeler type could sell it to them, a Tony George wasn't going to try...

Third. Loosen up the rules, give the teams back some leeway and let the manufacturers compete. Spec racing of this nature is killing the competitive balance and there there is zero speed differential for passing on the ovals and not much on the road/street courses DESPITE steel brakes. Thank god they didn't allow Carbon fibre discs. Longer braking zones leads to more passing as well as taking away some aero dependency. Add Turbo's to the mix but leave the rules open enough that someone could put in a N/A car.
Will this add cost? Yup...but the teams with the money will spend it, so let them spend it on cars that will at least be interesting and provide some form of techinical growth. Right now, the rich teams have won all but one race this season. Tell me how this "equal" formula has worked so far?

Fourth, I would market the hell out of all the drivers, not just the one in the bikini. For all the great attention the GoDaddy Queen has gotten, it hasn't translated to eyes on TV sets past Indy. Danica may never win another race and isn't likely to go on a 5 race winning streak, so marketing just her is a BIG mistake. She is a great asset, but the ABC/ESPN cabal has spent so much time blowing her image and interest up that they have blotted out what is a very talented group of drivers. Out of the 21 regulars we see every weekend, about 10 of them could win a race if they had anything close to the right car. We have guys with great personality such as Helio, Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal, Justin Wilson, Dario Franchitti, and Scott Dixon but they are almost blotted out. Yes, we need American and Canadian names in the mix as well, but until you find a few of them coming up and get them in rides, you better market what you have.

5th, I would not want to dump any ovals that were drawing well, but at the same time, the racing has to be good on those tracks or they will have to go. That snorefest at Richmond did more to hurt the cause than 6 months of great promotion. THAT is where the IRL is really missing the boat. We cannot afford to have races that look like parades. I don't want to see gratitutious passing but there has to be an element of doubt in the outcome or people wont invest 2 hours watching.

I would tend to go to flat ovals. They provide better racing (Indy and Milwaukee were better than Texas and Richmond this year) for the most part, and with opening up the rules, you would see some speed differentials for cars that were set up and running really well.

Lastly, I would stick in North America for the time being. If the series is to go overseas, it would have to be a very careful move. Maybe Brazil for the start of the season, and put the eyes of racing fans on the Indycars from Feburary through to October. This avoiding the NASCAR chase and NFL football is stupid. Either you are a major league of racing or you are scared to death. Run the same weekends, take Saturday shows or Saturday night shows if you must in the fall, but stay on TV and in front of the fans as much as you can. I would aim for 22 races.

There...I shot my bolt for now boys...it is late.

Have at it, and put up some good ideas. Don't be knocking people..I want this thread positive on this note. We are now going forward...

[gofastandwynn]

Sounds good. Who's gonna pay for all this? You all got you wish and TG is out, but the CPA is running things now.

[chuck34]

I agree with most of what Mark says. Except for a few things.

I don't think that the IRL needs re-branding. I just don't think it's that negative except to a few die-hard CART fans. I have no idea how many that is, but in the grand scheme of things it can't be that many, as there just weren't that many people watching either series. Plus no matter what the "offical" name of the series is, they are still going to be IndyCars to most people, just as CART was even after the split. One more thing is that we don't need more confusion that would arise from a name change. There was enough confusion going on in the split days, and we don't need any more.

The other thing I don't agree with is a network switch. I think the best thing would be to keep things the way they are now with split races on VS and ABC, but come up with deal where the ABC races are the VS production and on-air crews, just shown on ABC. I have no idea if that would work business wise, probably not, but it would be the best thing IMO. A switch to another network just adds to the confusion element. The league needs a bit of stability right now, from the driver/team combos, to the network(s) it's on, to the schedule, etc. Plus I don't think that going to Speed would be any better than ESPN. Speed and ESPN are both on the NASCAR gravy-train, and don't want to do anything that might cause a derailing of that train.

The bigest thing that should be done, and can easily be done this year and next, is to open up the rules. I mean they regulate everything from wing angles, to wicker heights, to wheel base, to tire ramps, to anything else you can think of. Just de-regulating wickers and wing angles wouldn't cost anything, would open up performance gaps, and bring back some excitment and real racing.

Then in 2011 have AT LEAST a couple engine makes (posibly even allow in house builds like the "old days"), and possibly even a couple different chassis.

So bottom line, for me anyway, is stability in everything but car set-ups.

[I am evil Homer]

I would day if Brazil offers money to hold a race, go to Brazil. Beggers can't choosers in a global recession.

[Blancvino]

Sounds good. Who's gonna pay for all this? You all got you wish and TG is out, but the CPA is running things now.

Spot on. The numbers don't seem to ad up and, in my view, that is going to influence EVERY decision going forward.

[ShiftingGears]

I've held the opinion that bringing out a new IndyCar without a rear wing would give it a shot in the arm since you'd get a publicity boost and you'd get more overtaking as well. While it seems everyone thought the DP-01 was amazing, I think it didn't really exploit the potential of a spec series formula enough.

That is, if they're going to stick with a spec series.

[EagleEye]

Alright, we have spilled enough blood and pain over Tony leaving. All us Champ Car fans got our kicks kicking the man while he was down and out and the IRL stalwarts who never grasped how we saw him fought a retreating battle to defend his past.

We have all had enough of that I suspect on some level, so lets move forward. Since I hope to be gone for a few days working again, I figured I would kick this one off.

Now that the IRL is sort of in flux, here is the blueprint I think I would look at.

In the next year, I would very carefully rebrand the series IndyCar. Ditch the IRL moniker and logo. We know what they are, lets call em that and leave it there. Two, I would find a front man/pitchman who could go places where Tony didn't go. Get someone really into going to the media and talking up the sport. We haven't had that in a LONG time if ever. Get him on ESPN talk shows. Get him in front of the sporting press. Get him on Letterman. You need someone however that has some celebrity. I think Tony had that idea when he hired Gene Simmons, but Gene had zero cred talking about racing. No, we need someone who can point out why this is different and perhaps better than NASCAR. Not sure who this person is, but some have floated Humpy Wheeler. I am not sure if Humpy would take this on or not, but someone in that vein.

Second, within a year or two I would do my level best to put the TV contract in the hands of someone who will listen to the fans. Most of us HATE the ABC/ESPN announcers and format. We like VS but alas they don't have the reach. I think SPEED and FOX must be approached. You may not make money on there for the start, but you need reach and you need crediblity. Those carriers would give you that audience and lets never forget they do racing of the NASCAR variety pretty well. Would they take it? Maybe....that is going back to the man up front. A Humpy Wheeler type could sell it to them, a Tony George wasn't going to try...

Third. Loosen up the rules, give the teams back some leeway and let the manufacturers compete. Spec racing of this nature is killing the competitive balance and there there is zero speed differential for passing on the ovals and not much on the road/street courses DESPITE steel brakes. Thank god they didn't allow Carbon fibre discs. Longer braking zones leads to more passing as well as taking away some aero dependency. Add Turbo's to the mix but leave the rules open enough that someone could put in a N/A car.
Will this add cost? Yup...but the teams with the money will spend it, so let them spend it on cars that will at least be interesting and provide some form of techinical growth. Right now, the rich teams have won all but one race this season. Tell me how this "equal" formula has worked so far?

Fourth, I would market the hell out of all the drivers, not just the one in the bikini. For all the great attention the GoDaddy Queen has gotten, it hasn't translated to eyes on TV sets past Indy. Danica may never win another race and isn't likely to go on a 5 race winning streak, so marketing just her is a BIG mistake. She is a great asset, but the ABC/ESPN cabal has spent so much time blowing her image and interest up that they have blotted out what is a very talented group of drivers. Out of the 21 regulars we see every weekend, about 10 of them could win a race if they had anything close to the right car. We have guys with great personality such as Helio, Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal, Justin Wilson, Dario Franchitti, and Scott Dixon but they are almost blotted out. Yes, we need American and Canadian names in the mix as well, but until you find a few of them coming up and get them in rides, you better market what you have.

5th, I would not want to dump any ovals that were drawing well, but at the same time, the racing has to be good on those tracks or they will have to go. That snorefest at Richmond did more to hurt the cause than 6 months of great promotion. THAT is where the IRL is really missing the boat. We cannot afford to have races that look like parades. I don't want to see gratitutious passing but there has to be an element of doubt in the outcome or people wont invest 2 hours watching.

I would tend to go to flat ovals. They provide better racing (Indy and Milwaukee were better than Texas and Richmond this year) for the most part, and with opening up the rules, you would see some speed differentials for cars that were set up and running really well.

Lastly, I would stick in North America for the time being. If the series is to go overseas, it would have to be a very careful move. Maybe Brazil for the start of the season, and put the eyes of racing fans on the Indycars from Feburary through to October. This avoiding the NASCAR chase and NFL football is stupid. Either you are a major league of racing or you are scared to death. Run the same weekends, take Saturday shows or Saturday night shows if you must in the fall, but stay on TV and in front of the fans as much as you can. I would aim for 22 races.

There...I shot my bolt for now boys...it is late.

Have at it, and put up some good ideas. Don't be knocking people..I want this thread positive on this note. We are now going forward...

I agree on several points, and not so much with some.

I would agree to change the name to Indycar, but leave the logo. A suttle change will go along way, and the current logo (do you know who's car it was based on?) is quite good.

First, I would go to Honda and have them choose the engine specification that they want to run. Honda has remained a great technical and commercial partner, and keeping them onboard is crucial. They also want more suppliers, so they should be allowed to dictate the rules as they see fit.

Second, promote the series on TV! The VS product has been outstanding, and we have seen VS pull in some good numbers for the NHL. The league needs to do some serious co-branding with the sponsors, as NASCAR has done with theirs. The drivers in their suits NASCAR commercials has done wonders to bring brand and name recognition to NASCAR. It has worked for Danica, and could work for others as well. This would cost money, but the costs would be offset by sharing costs with the current sponsors. Imagine Graham Rahal pulling into a McD's drive through in his race car, TK walking into a 7-11 to get a slurpy, or having a slurpie drinking contest with Marco, Danica, and Michael. Ah, brain freeze! The marketing gurus should be able to put several things together to get the Indycar/IRL name out there.

Third, ditch the Dallara (unless Honda wants to keep it). There is a new generation car, all ready to go, the DP-1. Even if they use just the tub, I remain fazed why TC has not pushed for this unless there is some fear of running on ovals (I have been told there are not any issues with that). Have Dallara buy the license to build the car. Elkins and his group did a great job in creating a low cost chassis, which can be tweaked with body parts, wings, whatever. This could be implemented next year, and run until 2012, when a new evolutionary car could be introduced. Steel discs brakes, and use the same wings for ovals, street, and road races. Champ car was able to hold the wing package for races in Europe on both oval and road courses, why not come up with some wing set up, like they did with the mirrors. Or, maybe give them two options, single element, double element front and rear. No more junk hanging of the wings other than the end plate.

Fourth, agree 100%. Co-op branding with current sponsors....with commercials shown in prime time. And, add a prime-time race (s) at the start of the season to kick things off. Maybe a double header, oval/RC at Homestead, or Fontana, or maybe even Indy. Do it again durng the season after Iny at Cleveland. Even if the prime time numbers are low, you reach a bigger audience. And run a race on the Indy RC, labled the "US Grand Prix" the first week of May. If NASCAR can run at Daytona all month, lets spruce up the month of May so Indycar's remain in the headlines...

Fifth, gotta get with Firestone and come up with a tire that produces less marbles and dust. They need to maintain mechanical grip, but they should be able to run two-wide with out the constant issue of marbles. That will help on ovals and RC's.

While I'd like to see the serie focus on the US, some of the over-seas races help pay the bills. I'm all for Brazil, Motegi, Canada, South and Central America. I would ditch some of the faceless ovals and try to get the triple crown back. Races I would like to see the series at (in no order):

Indy 500
Indy RC 500K
Motegi 500
Fontana 500
Cleveland
Milwaukee (Pending their issues)
Mid-O
Barber
St. Pete
Long Beach
Road America (we can wish can't we?)
Toronto
Brazil
Edmonton
Laguna Seca (2nd wish)
Texas
Chicago
Iowa
Las Vegas
Kentucky
Watkins Glen
Phoenix
Loudon
Australia (3rd wish?)

I see the glass as being half full. With Justin's great win this past week, and the F1 an utter mess, the series could do a lot in a short time by making some good decisions.

[nigelred5]

It already IS the INDYCAR Series. I suppose they could simply drop the IRL across the top of the banner. They need to change the cars worse now than they did in what- 03 when the current Dallara came out. The cars are flat ugly. Look at what the COT is doing to NASCAR, it's essentially the same problem. The cars and engines are too closely matched, and the only real difference is the level of preparation. Even the drivers aren't that far off from one another that they can make a noticeable difference. Series like formula Ford have never had a major TV contract for a reason. It's great fun for the drivers, but woefully boring 90% of the time for the spectator.

[gofastandwynn]

Who's been paying up to now? The money wasn't coming out of TG's personal wallet. Marketing still needs to move forward.



TG has peen paying with the Hulman George family holdings, be it Hulman & Co., IMS , etc. And since TG's sisters got rid of him because he was spending too much it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the checkbook has gotten tighter, and everything Mark said costs money.

[Chaparral66]

I said this in another thread, so if you've seen it, bear with me. It also agrees with some points that some people have made, so bear with me again. And so it goes:

1) Get rid of the ugly Dallaras and bring the Panoz DP-01 and an updated Lola chassis and let them duke it out. Now. Dallara can stay in of they adapt to those cars specs.

2) Make sure these chassis go back to turbo engines, and make it the new 2.4 formula that everyone agreed to (including Mercedes-Benz) prior to the collapse happening. Re-approach Ford, Toyota, Merecedes, and even Porsche-Audi and BMW look at the series, so Honda will be deliriously happy to have competition. All turbo engines from previous CART/Champ Car designs can be updated, while the new guys take the specs and create Turbo engines of their own. This is somewhat simliar to an ALMS approach, but the fans will love it.

3) Let's go back to classic courses like Laguna Seca, Cleveland, Michigan, Mid-Ohio, and Fontana. Anything to revive tradition. On the ovals, work out a consistent weekend deal with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, with ALMS or Grand AM on the roadcourses, and aggressively promote the event, even reaching out to corporations with some incentive seating.

4) No more managment by owner committee. Those days are over. Put someone with respect, contacts and experience in complete charge. Sounds like Tony Cotman.

5) Put the timing of the Indy 500 back to a point where drivers can do a twofer with this race and the Coca-Cola 600, if they are up to it. Having this happen drove up interests in both races, but right now, Indy could benefit even more by it, since they are having a hard time keeping their event sold out.

6)Encourage Goodyear to update their technolgy in R&D and get them back in the series. It was always fun to see these rivals, Goodyear and Firestone, go at it. The problem with what we have now, a spec series, is that there is no suspense anymore. We all know Penske and Ganassi and to a certain extent Andretti/Green have over allmost everyone. Same motors, same tires, same body, etc. etc. There is very little room for any unknown factor to come into play. Wilson's win at WatkinsGlen was a real Cinderella story that endeared itself to everyone. Back in the day, that would happen once in a while. Today, yikes...

7) Absolutely no oval tracks under a mile. NONE. Which means get rid of Richmond. NOW. Keep Milwaukee, at all costs. Go back to making Australia a points race, and go back to Brazil. And go back to either Montreal or Calgary, if possible.

[jimispeed]

I said this in another thread, so if you've seen it, bear with me. It also agrees with some points that some people have made, so bear with me again. And so it goes:

1) Get rid of the ugly Dallaras and bring the Panoz DP-01 and an updated Lola chassis and let them duke it out. Now. Dallara can stay in of they adapt to those cars specs.

2) Make sure these chassis go back to turbo engines, and make it the new 2.4 formula that everyone agreed to (including Mercedes-Benz) prior to the collapse happening. Re-approach Ford, Toyota, Merecedes, and even Porsche-Audi and BMW look at the series, so Honda will be deliriously happy to have competition. All turbo engines from previous CART/Champ Car designs can be updated, while the new guys take the specs and create Turbo engines of their own. This is somewhat simliar to an ALMS approach, but the fans will love it.

3) Let's go back to classic courses like Laguna Seca, Cleveland, Michigan, Mid-Ohio, and Fontana. Anything to revive tradition. On the ovals, work out a consistent weekend deal with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, with ALMS or Grand AM on the roadcourses, and aggressively promote the event, even reaching out to corporations with some incentive seating.

4) No more managment by owner committee. Those days are over. Put someone with respect, contacts and experience in complete charge. Sounds like Tony Cotman.

5) Put the timing of the Indy 500 back to a point where drivers can do a twofer with this race and the Coca-Cola 600, if they are up to it. Having this happen drove up interests in both races, but right now, Indy could benefit even more by it, since they are having a hard time keeping their event sold out.

6)Encourage Goodyear to update their technolgy in R&D and get them back in the series. It was always fun to see these rivals, Goodyear and Firestone, go at it. The problem with what we have now, a spec series, is that there is no suspense anymore. We all know Penske and Ganassi and to a certain extent Andretti/Green have over allmost everyone. Same motors, same tires, same body, etc. etc. There is very little room for any unknown factor to come into play. Wilson's win at Watkins Glen was a real Cinderella story that endeared itself to everyone. Back in the day, that would happen once in a while. Today, yikes...

7) Absolutely no oval tracks under a mile. NONE. Which means get rid of Richmond. NOW. Keep Milwaukee, at all costs. Go back to making Australia a points race, and go back to Brazil. And go back to either Montreal or Calgary, if possible.


I Agree With You On Every Account!!

Plus the re-birth of the triple crown, using the Indy road course, the Vanderbilt Cup for the road course title, And a new cup for an oval title using someones name who would be legendary in oval history. Plus of course an all around championship trophy!!

Chapparal66 = BRILLIANT!!!

[chuck34]

I said this in another thread, so if you've seen it, bear with me. It also agrees with some points that some people have made, so bear with me again. And so it goes:

1) Get rid of the ugly Dallaras and bring the Panoz DP-01 and an updated Lola chassis and let them duke it out. Now. Dallara can stay in of they adapt to those cars specs.

2) Make sure these chassis go back to turbo engines, and make it the new 2.4 formula that everyone agreed to (including Mercedes-Benz) prior to the collapse happening. Re-approach Ford, Toyota, Merecedes, and even Porsche-Audi and BMW look at the series, so Honda will be deliriously happy to have competition. All turbo engines from previous CART/Champ Car designs can be updated, while the new guys take the specs and create Turbo engines of their own. This is somewhat simliar to an ALMS approach, but the fans will love it.

3) Let's go back to classic courses like Laguna Seca, Cleveland, Michigan, Mid-Ohio, and Fontana. Anything to revive tradition. On the ovals, work out a consistent weekend deal with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, with ALMS or Grand AM on the roadcourses, and aggressively promote the event, even reaching out to corporations with some incentive seating.

4) No more managment by owner committee. Those days are over. Put someone with respect, contacts and experience in complete charge. Sounds like Tony Cotman.

5) Put the timing of the Indy 500 back to a point where drivers can do a twofer with this race and the Coca-Cola 600, if they are up to it. Having this happen drove up interests in both races, but right now, Indy could benefit even more by it, since they are having a hard time keeping their event sold out.

6)Encourage Goodyear to update their technolgy in R&D and get them back in the series. It was always fun to see these rivals, Goodyear and Firestone, go at it. The problem with what we have now, a spec series, is that there is no suspense anymore. We all know Penske and Ganassi and to a certain extent Andretti/Green have over allmost everyone. Same motors, same tires, same body, etc. etc. There is very little room for any unknown factor to come into play. Wilson's win at WatkinsGlen was a real Cinderella story that endeared itself to everyone. Back in the day, that would happen once in a while. Today, yikes...

7) Absolutely no oval tracks under a mile. NONE. Which means get rid of Richmond. NOW. Keep Milwaukee, at all costs. Go back to making Australia a points race, and go back to Brazil. And go back to either Montreal or Calgary, if possible.

So basically bring back CART without the owners being in charge. Not saying that it's all bad, and no disrespect intended. You just could have saved a lot of typing. :-)

I do agree with a lot of this, especially point number 5. That decision was uber-stupid.

One other thing. I'm sure I'll regret bringing this up, but I have to know. Why MUST IndyCars have turbos? That seems to be just about the #1 request from so many people. I just don't get it. The boost levels they were running were so ridiculously low, that I'm not sure the actual chamber pressures were any higher than the "ram air" effect of the current air boxes. So what is it, just the sound? If you're talking turbo 4's then maybe you have a point. But I just don't see any reason for a turbo 8. Plus there aren't too many road cars (other than diesls) that have turbos, so why would manufacturers care about having them?

[V12]

I said this in another thread, so if you've seen it, bear with me. It also agrees with some points that some people have made, so bear with me again. And so it goes:

1) Get rid of the ugly Dallaras and bring the Panoz DP-01 and an updated Lola chassis and let them duke it out. Now. Dallara can stay in of they adapt to those cars specs.

2) Make sure these chassis go back to turbo engines, and make it the new 2.4 formula that everyone agreed to (including Mercedes-Benz) prior to the collapse happening. Re-approach Ford, Toyota, Merecedes, and even Porsche-Audi and BMW look at the series, so Honda will be deliriously happy to have competition. All turbo engines from previous CART/Champ Car designs can be updated, while the new guys take the specs and create Turbo engines of their own. This is somewhat simliar to an ALMS approach, but the fans will love it.

3) Let's go back to classic courses like Laguna Seca, Cleveland, Michigan, Mid-Ohio, and Fontana. Anything to revive tradition. On the ovals, work out a consistent weekend deal with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, with ALMS or Grand AM on the roadcourses, and aggressively promote the event, even reaching out to corporations with some incentive seating.

4) No more managment by owner committee. Those days are over. Put someone with respect, contacts and experience in complete charge. Sounds like Tony Cotman.

5) Put the timing of the Indy 500 back to a point where drivers can do a twofer with this race and the Coca-Cola 600, if they are up to it. Having this happen drove up interests in both races, but right now, Indy could benefit even more by it, since they are having a hard time keeping their event sold out.

6)Encourage Goodyear to update their technolgy in R&D and get them back in the series. It was always fun to see these rivals, Goodyear and Firestone, go at it. The problem with what we have now, a spec series, is that there is no suspense anymore. We all know Penske and Ganassi and to a certain extent Andretti/Green have over allmost everyone. Same motors, same tires, same body, etc. etc. There is very little room for any unknown factor to come into play. Wilson's win at WatkinsGlen was a real Cinderella story that endeared itself to everyone. Back in the day, that would happen once in a while. Today, yikes...

7) Absolutely no oval tracks under a mile. NONE. Which means get rid of Richmond. NOW. Keep Milwaukee, at all costs. Go back to making Australia a points race, and go back to Brazil. And go back to either Montreal or Calgary, if possible.


Agree with everything here, particularly as far as technical variety in terms of chassis, engine and tyres goes.

There are two main arguments for a spec series, the first, equality of competition, can be pretty much disproven by the onset of Penske/Ganassi domination since the series devolved into a Formula Dallara-Honda.

Even since 2003, you had things like Rahal and Fernandez doing well when the Panoz/G-Force had the edge on the Dallara, Sam Hornish's win for Panther when they first got their hands on the Cosworth/Chevy engine.

A lot of the great and unpredictable racing in the 1990s in CART can be attributed to the great melting pot of chassis, engine and tyres and their fluctuating fortunes, in 1999 there were theoretically 40 different C/E/T combinations (Reynard/Lola/Swift/Eagle/Penske x Ford/Honda/Toyota/Mercedes x Firestone/Goodyear). Yes the Eagle was probably only configured for Toyota power, and Penske with Mercedes, but it still illustrates a point.

Yes, more often than not a Reynard/Honda/Firestone was what you needed, but those days when a Newman/Haas Swift was dialled in, Goodyears suited the track or weather conditions, or when another engine manufacturer were in the ascendancy made "one-offs" like Justin Wilson's win at the weekend more frequent than they are now.

And secondly, the old cost-cutting thing - yes, costs go up, but if it improves things, interest goes up, sponsors and TV companies become more interested. I'm admittedly no expert on this (I'm interested in motor racing and motoring technology, not marketing and economics), but there's a lot to be said for focusing on increasing value for sponsors, TV companies etc. rather than endlessly cutting costs (only to see the top teams spend their way to the front in other ways anyway!!)

[methanolHuffer]

I always wondered about the low pressure they were running, too. It was almost like a muffler rather than a performance part.

I like that during the last 10-15 years or so, you don't hear much about turbo failures or fires.
It seems like the gremlins have been developed out of the race turbos in Champcar and I don't recall ever hearing of a turbo failure in Audi's TDi program or the other recent 911 GT2 turbos.

If racing turbos develops better usage, I'm all for it. Maybe it has peaked.

My Dodge diesel has a variable vane turbo that I know has no lineage to Champcars, but I love the sound.

[Chaparral66]

So basically bring back CART without the owners being in charge. Not saying that it's all bad, and no disrespect intended. You just could have saved a lot of typing. :-)

I do agree with a lot of this, especially point number 5. That decision was uber-stupid.

One other thing. I'm sure I'll regret bringing this up, but I have to know. Why MUST IndyCars have turbos? That seems to be just about the #1 request from so many people. I just don't get it. The boost levels they were running were so ridiculously low, that I'm not sure the actual chamber pressures were any higher than the "ram air" effect of the current air boxes. So what is it, just the sound? If you're talking turbo 4's then maybe you have a point. But I just don't see any reason for a turbo 8. Plus there aren't too many road cars (other than diesls) that have turbos, so why would manufacturers care about having them?

That's what a huge amount of people loved, were the sound of the turbo engines, especially coming around corners and on to a straight. They were hypnotic. I used to play a CART game on an original Playstation and they nailed the sound so well, sometimes I'd crank it to give me the same feling I'd get at a race. That was one of CART/Champ Car's strongest assets, the performance and the sound of their engines. They even had that over Formula 1. The IRL engines sound like a wild boar choking on stale alfalfa in comparison. The V8s just gave them more power which race fans like. They also were so reliable of you hardly had any break down, regardless of manufacturer. Give the fans that quality of sound along with a more visually pleasing racecar body design, and some of the fans we lost might starting looking at open wheel again.

Tell you what, here's another idea (OK, I'm dreaming): start a companion franchise in both Europe, South America, and Asia, like LeMans does with ALMS. Each continent will have a champion plus an additional 5-6 high placed drivers who all come to the US for an international winner take all event at a track like Road America or Laguna Seca. Each continent must have at least one home grown competitor, to drive up interest. But you don't this like AG1P, everyone races with their own team, and this event happens once, at the end of the season, in October or November. After 5 years, this even can begin to take place in other member host countries, after it is firmly established. Now this might not make Our Good Friend Bernie Eccelstone happy, but we all know what he can do...

[Mark in Oshawa]

TG has peen paying with the Hulman George family holdings, be it Hulman & Co., IMS , etc. And since TG's sisters got rid of him because he was spending too much it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the checkbook has gotten tighter, and everything Mark said costs money.

You want to succeed or just merely exist? DAmned right it costs money. I didn't offer a solution to that one because we know it will have to be an evolution. The rebranding however wont cost much. Marketing will cost some but spent properly, a little goes a wrong way. And as for Tony spending through the nose, I knew that ages ago but a lot of people on the IRL forums when Champ Car was still alive kept telling me how successful the IRL was and blah blah blah. Basically, it is funny for an IRL loyalist to tell me the whole thing was based on Tony's raiding the Hulman piggy bank while telling me how dumb and economically unviable CART/CCWS was. I heard enough of that.

We want out of this mess, they need money, but they wont get it by offering up the same crap we watched at Richmond.

New look, maybe a way onto new networks in the next 3 years, and new cars and venues. Damned right it will cost money but the status quo will be slow death.

The rebranding ( for Chuck's point it only matters to ex CART loyalists ) is necessary only in that it says it would reflect the reunification, show a depature from the Tony George era, and would be dispelling the bad blood and clear the decks image wise for the new era. There is no point in pretending that you can ignore any fans that were alienated in the last 14 years, you need EVERY LAST FAN. This is life and death kids....

[BrentJackson]

I would agree to change the name to Indycar, but leave the logo. A suttle change will go along way, and the current logo (do you know who's car it was based on?) is quite good.

It's clearly a ripoff of the logos for the NBA and MLB, so perhaps it works in that regard. Agreed folly on the name change. The IRL should be tossed in the bin - we can disagree about why till the cows come home, but it should be named, IMO, the *insert title sponsor name here* Indycar Championship Series.


First, I would go to Honda and have them choose the engine specification that they want to run. Honda has remained a great technical and commercial partner, and keeping them onboard is crucial. They also want more suppliers, so they should be allowed to dictate the rules as they see fit.

Honda will then dictate the rules that will most benefit them. That is a horrendously, ridiculously bad idea. I'd ask Honda what they'd want for rules and seriously consider that, but personally I'm with Mark - you need a variety. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think the ALMS P1 rules are where you should go, and work the rules to get a (reasonably) level playing field.


Second, promote the series on TV! The VS product has been outstanding, and we have seen VS pull in some good numbers for the NHL. The league needs to do some serious co-branding with the sponsors, as NASCAR has done with theirs. The drivers in their suits NASCAR commercials has done wonders to bring brand and name recognition to NASCAR. It has worked for Danica, and could work for others as well. This would cost money, but the costs would be offset by sharing costs with the current sponsors. Imagine Graham Rahal pulling into a McD's drive through in his race car, TK walking into a 7-11 to get a slurpy, or having a slurpie drinking contest with Marco, Danica, and Michael. Ah, brain freeze! The marketing gurus should be able to put several things together to get the Indycar/IRL name out there.

I can think of a few more idea for that, too. Paul Tracy and the Geico gecko could make for a hilarious commercial, and they need to make a repeat of the Target ads with Jimmy Vasser and Alex Zanardi, just with Dario and Scott, and perhaps Ashley. :) Izod fought like mad to get RHR in the series, why not make ads with him as a model for their clothing? And maybe one with Matos and his car making a landing with the Marines......


Third, ditch the Dallara (unless Honda wants to keep it). There is a new generation car, all ready to go, the DP-1. Even if they use just the tub, I remain fazed why TC has not pushed for this unless there is some fear of running on ovals (I have been told there are not any issues with that). Have Dallara buy the license to build the car. Elkins and his group did a great job in creating a low cost chassis, which can be tweaked with body parts, wings, whatever. This could be implemented next year, and run until 2012, when a new evolutionary car could be introduced. Steel discs brakes, and use the same wings for ovals, street, and road races. Champ car was able to hold the wing package for races in Europe on both oval and road courses, why not come up with some wing set up, like they did with the mirrors. Or, maybe give them two options, single element, double element front and rear. No more junk hanging of the wings other than the end plate.

The DP01 is another facet of the past, and IMO its too much formula car not enough Indycar. I personally am rooting for the Menard concept shown in 1996 to win - it's sleek, low, fast, great looking and has reasonable wings.

Also, I think that no money should be spared on safety, but after that the car should have medium but not very high levels of tech. I'd advocate a CF center tub and center section, but other than that an bonded-aluminum chassis, with fiberglass bodywork. This would allow for easier repairs for the teams and cheaper parts.

Another idea I've had that work with modern technology is to do away with wing mirrors altogether and instead use video monitors in the car with cameras hooked up to the screens to give the driver a 360-degree view around him/her. This can also be used to funnel various viewpoints back to the TV and any internet/pay-TV subscription services.


Fourth, agree 100%. Co-op branding with current sponsors....with commercials shown in prime time. And, add a prime-time race (s) at the start of the season to kick things off. Maybe a double header, oval/RC at Homestead, or Fontana, or maybe even Indy. Do it again durng the season after Iny at Cleveland. Even if the prime time numbers are low, you reach a bigger audience. And run a race on the Indy RC, labled the "US Grand Prix" the first week of May. If NASCAR can run at Daytona all month, lets spruce up the month of May so Indycar's remain in the headlines...

I'm in total agreement on the co-op branding in prime time, and the US Grand Prix idea, especially since Formula 1 decided that they wouldn't run at a reasonable sanctioning fee. I'd personally also aim for a four-crown of big ovals - the Indy 500, United States 500 (at Michigan), Texas 500 and Western 500 (at Las Vegas). Run both the Texas 500 and Western 500 at evenings on Saturday nights, and go big on the prize pots. Indy should pay about $2.5 million to the winner, the other 500-mile shows pays $1 million+. You advertise that - the fastest races on the planet, a million dollars to the winner with the weapons for the fight being the fastest cars in America.


Fifth, gotta get with Firestone and come up with a tire that produces less marbles and dust. They need to maintain mechanical grip, but they should be able to run two-wide with out the constant issue of marbles. That will help on ovals and RC's.

No arguments here, either. Though I would also invite other tire makers to submit tire designs for the series. I'm thinking that Michelin, Falken, Yokohama and BFGoodrich may try to enter the sport, too. If the tires work well and don't create many marbles, run it.

And I should also point out that the series should allow larger wheels as well as any wheel manufacturer to run if they want. Not dubs per say, but I'm thinking that 16-inch wheels would work well.


While I'd like to see the serie focus on the US, some of the over-seas races help pay the bills. I'm all for Brazil, Motegi, Canada, South and Central America. I would ditch some of the faceless ovals and try to get the triple crown back. Races I would like to see the series at (in no order):

This is true. I'd ask Honda if they would trade Motegi for Suzuka, the oval at Motegi always looks so sterile and Suzuka is one of the world's best road courses. Honda has to always outbid Toyota to get the Japanese GP at Suzuka instead of Fuji Speedway, so ask if Honda would run Suzuka instead. Get a joint race with one or two other series (perhaps Super GT) and have a couple of extra cars on hand for a couple of local heroes.

In no order, I'd run:

Indianapolis (SS, 500 miles)
Texas (SS, 500 miles, night)
Michigan (SS, 500 miles)
Las Vegas (SS, 500 miles, night)
Richmond (oval, night)
Milwaukee (oval)
Chicagoland (SS)
Loudon (oval)
Kansas City (SS)
Iowa (oval)
Road America (RC, labeled as US Grand Prix)
Watkins Glen (RC)
Laguna Seca (RC)
Mid-Ohio (RC)
Barber Park (RC)
Road Atlanta (RC)
Mont-Tremblant OR Montreal (RC)
Pacific Raceways (RC)
Mexico City (RC)
Suzuka (RC)
Cleveland (airfield, night race)
Edmonton (airfield)
Long Beach (SC)
St. Petersburg (SC)
Toronto (SC)

I'd also try for races in New York City, Miami, Hawaii and Washington, DC if at all possible.

I've had a few ideas for individual races, too:

Toronto - Toronto has a great festival every year called Luminato every year, work it out with the city of Toronto to have a sprint race on Friday night during the night, then run the main event on Sunday. I've also had the idea of doing a few layout changes, having a powerboat race in the harbor and offer race tickets as part of tourism packages and move some events around to get the race in the middle of a week of cool events in Toronto.
Cleveland - CART had the night street race at Cleveland in 2003, and it was a spectacle. It was a masterpiece which IMO should be repeated.

[MDS]

I do think the ICS needs to be rebranded, not because it has a bad reputation exactly, but because its largely irrelevant. Bring in some new owners at the end of this year or next year and build toward a sweeping change in 2011.

If I were controlling things I would announce a new ownership of the IRL at the 2010 Indy 500. Then as a new owner you'd have to set about completely undoing much of the damage Tony has done in the last four-five years.

Open up the rule book and introduce a second chassis manufacture: There are others out there that would like the business, Lola, Panzo, Scott, and let them compete. This would raise costs, but you can't let the fear of rising costs, which will go up anyway, stall you from making changes. Also, when you open up the rule book you increase the ability for smaller teams to hit on something before the big teams do.

Push the Indy 500 start time back to its traditional time: Among the NASCAR drivers who would like a shot at the Indy 500 include Dale Earnhardt, Robby Gordon, and others. Bringing in these drivers would be a huge boost to viewership, far in excess of anything gained by pushing back the start time an hour.

Make a series of big announcements: If VW or another manufacture is coming into the series do it during the pre-race ceremonies for Long Beach with fireworks and marching bands on national television.

Pick up the pieces of failing series: Both Speedcar and A1GP might not make it to their next season. Its a chance to pick up drivers like Jacques Villeneuve, Jean Alesi, and Vitantonio Liuzzi from Speedcar and a host of young drivers like Adam Carroll from A1GP. There are also some interesting international events left on the table by A1GP going bellyup. Maybe it would be possible to team the trip to Motegi with Chengdu, or maybe Sepang with Surfer's

Change the name: A rebranding is a good way get attention and regain credibility. What I would suggest doing is making a presentation on a big stage, like New York or LA with one massive announcement at includes the new ownership, all the team owners, all the drivers under contract, any new team owners, sponsors, chassis manufacturers, engine manufacturers, as well as the teams of the FIL and Formula Atlantic series all at once at big venue like California Motor Speedway or Las Vegas Motorspeedway. Get everyone in front of the media, make it big, built some hype, have some entertainers there giving a free concert to draw a crowd and you have yourself a successful re-launch.

New Schedule: This is what I would like to see in 2011, a 22 race schedule that's a good balance of ovals, street, and road courses.


March 13: Sam’s Town 500k Phoenix International Speedway

March 20: Tecate Grand Prix Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

April 3: Acura Grand Prix Streets of St. Petersburg

April 10: Road Runner 300 Kansas Motor Speedway

April 17: Toyota Grand Prix Streets of Long Beach

April 24: Coke Cola Grand Prix, Road Altanta

May 23: Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor Speedway

May 30: AJ Foyt 300 The Milwaukee Mile

June 4: Bombardier 550k Texas Motor Speedway (N)

June 12: Boston 300 New Hampshire International Speedway

June 19: Iowa Corn 300 Iowa Speedway

July 3: Honda Grand Prix Burke Lakefront Airport (N)

July 10: Molsen Grand Prix Streets of Toronto

July 17: Rexal Indy Edmonton City Centre Airport

July 24: Indy Japan 350 Twin Ring Motegi

Aug. 7: Suntrust Indy 300 Richmond International Raceway (N)

Aug. 14: U .S 500 Michigan International Speedway

Aug: 21: Camping World Grand Pix Elkhart Lake

Aug 27: Peak Indy 300 Chicagoland Speedway (N)

Sept. 4: T Row Price Grand Prix of Baltimore

Sept. 11: Patron 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway (N)

Sept. 18: Taco King 500 California Motor Speedway

[call_me_andrew]

I see no reason to drop the IRL name. Every series needs its sanctioning body, be it FIA Formula One or NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

I like the short tracks. I want more short tracks. I'd demand a race at Bristol, but I'm afraid the high banking would induce grey-outs. I want races in tradtionally NASCAR dominated markets. I want a 500-mile IndyCar race at Darlington on Labor Day weekend.

I agree that the current Dallara has to go, but I'm willing to wait on that. In the meantime, I believe it could use a few modifications.

1. No more carbon brakes on ovals.
2. Minimum weight of 1,600lbs on ALL tracks.
3. Smaller wings. Think F1 size rear wing (with smaller element), and a front wing that leaves the front tires completely exposed (as to reduce downforce while increasing drag).
4. Use the single-element "Indy wing" at 1.5 mile tracks.

Engines are the more pressing issue. Ugly as the car is, most arm-chair fans don't know a pushrod from a control arm. And companies like Dallara, Riley, etc. don't make street cars that the general public can associate with. There's a reason why Daytona Prototypes always name the engine first.

Of course the new engine will have to be turbocharged. And a turbocharged engine would have to have ≤2 liters of displacement lest you think 1,000 horsepower is a good thing (it's not). And a V8 that small would just be silly. So it'll need one of those flatulent 4-bangers all the ricers have.

The biggest question is can the Dallara be retofit to handle such an engine.

Hoop, I'm asking you. Can the Dallara be retofit to handle such an engine?

[Chaparral66]

I see no reason to drop the IRL name. Every series needs its sanctioning body, be it FIA Formula One or NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

I like the short tracks. I want more short tracks. I'd demand a race at Bristol, but I'm afraid the high banking would induce grey-outs. I want races in tradtionally NASCAR dominated markets. I want a 500-mile IndyCar race at Darlington on Labor Day weekend.

I agree that the current Dallara has to go, but I'm willing to wait on that. In the meantime, I believe it could use a few modifications.

1. No more carbon brakes on ovals.
2. Minimum weight of 1,600lbs on ALL tracks.
3. Smaller wings. Think F1 size rear wing (with smaller element), and a front wing that leaves the front tires completely exposed (as to reduce downforce while increasing drag).
4. Use the single-element "Indy wing" at 1.5 mile tracks.

Engines are the more pressing issue. Ugly as the car is, most arm-chair fans don't know a pushrod from a control arm. And companies like Dallara, Riley, etc. don't make street cars that the general public can associate with. There's a reason why Daytona Prototypes always name the engine first.

Of course the new engine will have to be turbocharged. And a turbocharged engine would have to have ≤2 liters of displacement lest you think 1,000 horsepower is a good thing (it's not). And a V8 that small would just be silly. So it'll need one of those flatulent 4-bangers all the ricers have.

The biggest question is can the Dallara be retofit to handle such an engine.

Hoop, I'm asking you. Can the Dallara be retofit to handle such an engine?

Indy Cars at Darlington? Are you nuts?

[call_me_andrew]

Nuts like a Fox.

[BrentJackson]

Nuts like a Fox.

OK then. But Chaparral is right. Darlington is too narrow, the race would be a parade at best.

[call_me_andrew]

I'm looking at the dimensions. Turns 1&2 are 79 feet (24 meters) wide and 3&4 are 62 feet (19 meters) wide. The turns at Indianapolis are 60 feet (18 meters) wide.

Worst case scenario: we set up foam blocks to force the cars to race on the apron instead of the banking. Which is how the track was intended to be run anyway.

[BrentJackson]

I'm looking at the dimensions. Turns 1&2 are 79 feet (24 meters) wide and 3&4 are 62 feet (19 meters) wide. The turns at Indianapolis are 60 feet (18 meters) wide.

Worst case scenario: we set up foam blocks to force the cars to race on the apron instead of the banking. Which is how the track was intended to be run anyway.

The bank section is maybe 25 feet wide. MAYBE. If you cannot stop them from running on the banks, it would be a parade. It's hard for the stock cars to pass there, forget Indycars. And setting up such foam blocks would time consuming, expensive and you'd probably still have a crappy race. Darlington is also rather rough, which again isn't good for Indycars.

[call_me_andrew]

Rough? Maybe before the track was repaved, but not now.

Foam blocks wouldn't be any more difficult to set up than cones.