Any CART fans here? (1 Viewer)

[ChrisR]

A question about the announcment of fox broadcasting the grand prix of Long Beach. Is it Going to be on Fox or Fox Sports?

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I am a CART fan, there are still some of us around. It won't happen overnight but I believe that under the new leadership of Chris Pook that CART is here to stay and will grow substantially over the next few years.
The Long Beach Grand Prix will be carried on the over-the-air FOX network, not the regional Fox Sports nets on cable. This coverage will be race-only, with the practice, qualifying, and pre-race on SPEED Channel.
The FOX broadcast will use the same producers and announcers as the excellent SPEED Channel team that debuted in Monterrey.
http://www.cart.com/News/Article.asp?ID=2958

 

[CharlesD]

I'd agree with Michael, with Pook on board CART has a rosy future.

I do think, however, that there is not room for two top-level open wheel series in the US. The IRL has the recognition of the Indy 500 (and now Marlboro/Penske) but not much else. CART has the depth, professionalism and engineering know-how. If CART pursues a future as the premier North American racing series it can win in the end IMO.

 

[John Tillman]

Didn't they just announce a switchover to IRL type power/cars within a year or two? If so, I would think they'll eventually merge.

Also, I thought I read somewhere that CBS will pick up some CART racing this year. If so, our first HD racing broadcast could become reality. Longshot yes, but possible.

 

[AjayM]

Well, CART is "buying" time (kind of like an infomercial) on CBS for a few races, CBS won't do any kind of promotion for it, if the race runs long there won't be any kind of extension of time, etc.

CART did announce a very similiar package like the IRL, but they had to. They screwed around so damn long they were going to be without any major engine manufactures in the series. Although it's not an exact match for the two series specs, there will be some differences between the two packages.

Do I think CART can survive? That's a maybe in my book, I think Pook can do the job (he's one of the few who managed to stick it to Bernie), but he has to first dig himself out of one helluva hole that other people dug for him. But he's also got the proverbial gun to his head as well, he has limited control because of all the boards, and all of the self serving teams vote what is best for them, not the series. Luckily he has had full support, but if that changes then he's going to have problems.

Also, if Tony George would ever suck up his ego and do some road course type events instead of all ovals, I bet he'd kill CART in a year, the teams would move over there to get the sponsorship package's you can get with the Indy 500, plus have some of the same tracks and cars (well as of next year), what's the point of being in CART.

Andrew

 

[Seth Paxton]

Well I love what Tony George has done with the IRL. I just watched another incredible race, something getting to be standard with the IRL.

33+ lead changes, a 200 mph race average I think, few incidents at all, wheel to wheel and a finish that had Sam beating J. Lazier by about 2 feet.

For road racing with elite teams dominating the circuit...gee, doesn't F1 already do that and do it with higher technology.

I don't knock what CART wants to do, but American circuit open-wheel oval racing is a tradition and I'm glad it's being kept alive. So many great racers come up from dirt tracks, midgets, etc and it's nice to have a major circuit that celebrates that spirit.

I actually think CART would be better to shift to just road courses to establish it's product as different.

But honestly, watching Panther run with and do better than Penske tells you that IRL drivers and teams are not "second rate" as they were automatically considered after the split.

And it's nice to have races like the Cali race today and the 2 Texas races every year...wide open with lots of drivers in the hunt.

As an Indy resident for most of my life and someone who went to the race from age 1-13 and a total of about 20 races in my life I can honestly say that most of the best 500's were IRL 500's. Better than years when Sneva was 3 laps ahead till his engine went, only to be replaced by another driver 2 laps ahead of everyone.

It's too bad that all this open-wheel racing (CART, IRL, F1) has to sit way behind NASCAR in popularity. The Brickyard is half the race that the 500 is and half of what last years USGP was, and I've been to many Brickyards including seeing all 3 races in the same season 2 years ago.

And you don't hear booing at the 500 or USGP like you do on another certain circuit.

 

[Charles Bober]

Big CART fan here. I was so disappointed to see Penske go to the IRL. To me, this further clouds open wheel racing in the U.S. I don't like the URL because they do not have any road courses and honestly with that goes less skill (IMHO).
Can 2 rival leagues co-exist? Personally I don't think so. I don't have any answers but all I want is THE absolute best, most competetive racing possible. I want the speeds to keep going up and the restrictive rules to go down. I want to see more of the skill and creativity of the racers to be accentuated.
How this all happens, I don't know. CART has always been my favorite and I anticipate it always will be.
Go Michael!!! This may be your last shot at the Indy 500.

 

[CharlesD]

Well I'm a CART fan too and don't care too much for what Tony George has done to Open Wheel Racing in the US. Of course CART has done a lot of shooting its self in the foot over the last few years. If someone like Pook had been in charge all along the IRL would have been dead and gone already, Indianapolis not withstanding.
One of the problems I have with the IRL is that the cars are "dumbed down" ala NASCAR, so that "anyone" can win (so long as you driver for Penske or Panther Racing) Juan Pablo Montoya, when driving a less-restrictive than normal IRL car at the Indy 500, commented that his Grandmother could drive one...
IN any case I don't have much interest in oval racing as it is. I must say, however, that I would rather watch an IRL replicar oval race than a ridiclous CART Handford Device leap-frog event.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Random thoughts:
I saw some good racing today...some IRL races are good, some are not...same as CART. IRL racing could be even better if the cars weren't so watered down; a low-rev limit on a highly banked speedway lets everybody run flat out...requiring a lot less skill than keeping an early 90s ChampCar (yes, the CART Hanford is as bad as the low IRL rev limiter) on the edge on these courses. Why settle for racing that is less than what it can be? And no IRL Indy 500 compares to the glory days of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Nope.
If you add CART and IRL TV viewership together, you get fewer viewers than open-wheel racing had before the split.
IRL has a good TV package, but actual attendance is terrible. They refuse to release actual attendance, only ticket sales that include giveaways (I went to the IRL race in Kentucky for FREE last year, and the promoter flunky who gave me the tickets told me that over 20,000 seats were given away; there were less than 30,000 people there - season ticket holders agreed with me), yet the IRL and the speedway claimed attendance of 47,000. Reports for the Fontana race today estimate butts-in-the-seats attendance at 10,000 to 15,000, Homestead FL at 24,000, and Phoenix at 16,000 - which is less than Phoenix used to get for the midgets when you didn't have to buy tickets for the new 'main event'.
Busch series Nascar racing used to be blown away by open-wheel racing in both physical attendance and TV attendance...until the split. Now Busch series is the number 2 racing in the USA by both attributes. Why? The split, that's why! The split has done more to help Nascar than anything else ever could!
I used to think Tony George was evil in creating the IRL. Now I just think he's been hoodwinked by NASCAR...a patsy if you will. And I don't think he even realizes it yet! Bragging about a decent TV deal and the arrival of Team Penske is fiddling while Rome burns...and the France family is laughing their asses off!
If the 'split' has done anything but hurt open-wheel racing in the USA, I'd love to hear an explanation.
Yes, if open-wheel has any chance of returning to its former glory in the USA, there will be one series, not two. But the IRL still seems to think that CART might disappear...it ain't happening, folks. Attendance for CART is good and there are a ton of followers in the overall NAFTA region; and growing support overseas. If there is ever to be a merger, Tony George better snap the hell out of it and realize that he can't make CART go away. Time to break bread, let bygones be bygones, and fix this horrid mess.