Portland Rose Festival weekend......

[jimispeed]

Nothing to celebrate anymore........

No smell of turbos....... No Exotics in the parking lot.........

No open session.... Talking with drivers..... and what a beautiful weekend...

sigh

[Jag_Warrior]

Welcome to our brave new world. Ain't it grand?

praUaqWWLyk

[Mark in Oshawa]

What a great tune!. Talking about a time when the politics were second topic of conversation to the racing...

[bblocker68]

Nothing to celebrate anymore........

No smell of turbos....... No Exotics in the parking lot.........

No open session.... Talking with drivers..... and what a beautiful weekend...

sigh

Evolve or face extinction. Life sux. Get over it.

[ykiki]

Evolve or face extinction. Life sux. Get over it.

That's right NW race fans - get over it! IndyCar doesn't need fans in your neck of the woods. How dare you call yourself a fan and actually want a race near you. Who do you think you are?!?!** :rolleyes:


**saracsm alert**

[ykiki]

Two alternatives. Number 1 - enough spectators buy tickets and show up so that the promoter can at least break even, or maybe make a buck. Hmm, tried that, didn't work. Number two - the promoter raises the price of tickets to cover his/her costs. How many of those crying about losing the race would dig deep for the enhanced tickets? Oops, got to raise the price again cause the count went even lower.

The bottom line is that in almost every case where a race goes away, it's because of the economic viability of the event. I know some would like the promoters to put on a charity event for their enjoyment, but the real world does NOT work that way.

True, there are financial reasons why the Portland race no longer takes place. (Though there are plenty of places where corporations sponsor local events as a way of "giving back to the community" - i.e. treating it like a charity.)

However, I'm not going to bash a guy who misses his hometown race.

[jimispeed]

From 1984 until 2007 folks!! I was at a few great races there. Alot of great drivers/racing there. A shame that open wheel isn't there/Cleveland/Road America/Laguna Seca...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Prix_of_Portland

More than worthy of remembering, not to mention it being a great part of the Rose Festival for any open wheel fan.........

Seeing Zanardi there was breathtaking. And some years it was worth it just to see the cars in the parking lot!!!

[BT46B]

From 1984 until 2007 folks!! I was at a few great races there. Alot of great drivers/racing there. A shame that open wheel isn't there/Cleveland/Road America/Laguna Seca...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Prix_of_Portland

More than worthy of remembering, not to mention it being a great part of the Rose Festival for any open wheel fan.........

Seeing Zanardi there was breathtaking. And some years it was worth it just to see the cars in the parking lot!!!

Zanardi overtaking Herta in the hairpin at Seca - still galls me but what racing they had going on it was a wonderful track. Never went to Portland but heard the same about experiencing it. Back in the day.

[champcarray]

I feel for you, jimispeed. Early this spring, when the trees here in the northeast were finally starting to bud, I was thinkign about the many champ car races my wife and I attended at Nazareth. It must be a spring phenomenon, because hot summer days do not remind me of the champ car races at New Hampshire. (I hope to see NH on the IndyCar schedule next year!)

[jimispeed]

The soul of Indycar still exists, just needs the right tools. Hopefully the new "Indycar" can expose it again. It's sinking......

Indycar had better become the series it once was, or all we'll remember is, the series it once was.

[nigelred5]

I feel for you, jimispeed. Early this spring, when the trees here in the northeast were finally starting to bud, I was thinkign about the many champ car races my wife and I attended at Nazareth. It must be a spring phenomenon, because hot summer days do not remind me of the champ car races at New Hampshire. (I hope to see NH on the IndyCar schedule next year!)

I agree. I was at the same races. even the fall races at Nazeareth were cool. To be honest, the only HOT indycar races I've ben to were the July races when indycars first raced at hte Glen in the 70's. Summer Sundays are boating weather. Maybe that's one of Indycar's many problems. when you work 60 hours a week and have maybe a day 1/2 off a week, many people don't want to sit home and watch a race on TV on a warm sunny afternoon. I know I don't. I love early morning F1 races, saturday night races and watching races on the DVR sunday evening.

[Jag_Warrior]

The soul of Indycar still exists, just needs the right tools. Hopefully the new "Indycar" can expose it again. It's sinking......

Indycar had better become the series it once was, or all we'll remember is, the series it once was.

You're right.

In talking to some Freightliner guys from Portland a couple of years ago, according to them, there remained a lot of enthusiasm for that race, right up until it became obvious the powers that be thought they could still get people to turn out... even with a substandard product.

Do you think any A-list rock musicians are EVER going to write a song about Danica and the 17 dwarfs making their way from St. Pete to Iowa? Not likely.

The only hope is for this Bernard guy to realize that fans will buy a ticket (more than once or twice)... if you have something of value to see.