Lead ballon?
I think it's time for a sober analysis.
Some people here has followed Indy Car racing since our lost youth and some of those (maybe only me) think that this is just a prelude to a resurgence of the sport like in their glorious days of the 60's and the 70's and, over all, the 80's when CART built tracks that included
everything: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the unforgettable Long Beach street race, superb tracks like Michigan International, short ovals like Nazareth, marvelous road circuits like Road America. Compared with that the Tilkodromes are exercises in boredom.
I can argue for hours about CART being the "
most competitive and challenging racing series in the world, demanding a level of versatility that not even Formula One could match". And I'm not inventing anything here. When was the last time you were on the edge of your seat in a race that wasn't a demolition derby, like last Monaco? The only excitement we can derive (be frank, c'mon, you guys) from F1 is crashes in the rain!
Perhaps the pinnacle for CART was reached in the 1993 season when 1992 World Champion Nigel Mansell competed throughout the season and added the CART championship to his lengthy list of laurels. Having said that, I expect you to have a good measure of my generosity: I won't mention the unforgettable season when JPM showed the world how racing should be done, when he won the championship in his rookie season (Oops. I just mentioned it...
).
Let's not forget that
the oldest track in the world is NOT Brooklands, no matter what britons say. The Milwaukee Mile (thanks, Lawrence) was built in 1871, hold its first car race in 1903 and it is the oldest continuously used track in the world.
Milwaukee was the home of Tom Marchese, the Bernie Ecclestone of North America (or, more correctly we should we call Bernie the Tom Marchese of Europe).
Mr. Marchese promoted more events since 1920 until 1961 than anybody in history (I think, or that's what I read in his biography years ago).
So, I feel sorry for those that predict the demise of such a well entrenched fan base for racing. In an incredible stalinist revision of history, now open wheelers seem to be an european thing.
Pinnacle of what? North America has
the most powerful, fastest, more incredebly built open wheel cars. They're not going to disappear because Max Mosley (
Max Mosley, for heaven's sake!) says so. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just let me say that I imagined
that will happen to some of you.
Nope, I'm not mentioning the fact that a Champcar car is as fast as an F1 car and costs perhaps 1/100th the price of an overengineered, over regulated F1 Ferrari,
I'm talking about drag racing, where a couple of cars have more power than the entire F1 grid. You haven't seen drag racing, you
haven't seen racing.
Now, FYI,
who is the most successful open wheeler racer in the world? Schumi? Ha! You're not even warm here.
Stop your ignorant posting,
go, read and learn who Ralph De Palma was. His record of over 2.500 open wheel races won has not been even scratched by the
self proclaimed "best driver in the world".
Compared with Indy Car racing (please, do not confuse THAT with IRL in your "short span attention posts"), IRL has been under a regular management. That guy whose name I won't mention (Tony George. Did I mention his name? Double ooops.
) decided to use foreign drivers. Who needs them in USA? People that wish to see how the crowds dwindle.
Of course, I don't think that South American drivers are foreign in US, they only feel foreign in Europe
. What's more south american than Queens or Florida? Nothing, I tell you. Even salsa was invented in New York.
If the rest of the 2008 season, and those that follow, feature Patrick and Andretti battling each other, with Rahal, Gurney, Speed, Hayden, plus a returned Sam Hornish, Scott Dixon, Dan Weldon and Helio Castroneves, racing on super speedways, short ovals, road circuits and street courses,
Indy car could again deserve the glory and lustre of the greatest spectacle in the racing world. Just pay drivers better, get JPM back to where he belongs and you'll see what happens. Drivers in Europe are up to his ears of being puppets in politicking. With a good salary Alonso wouldn't doubt for a second before moving to a good series, where drivers are drivers and managers work for them, not the inverse. Even Kimi Räikkönen feels already ---. I won't mention the sad spectacle that F1 bosses are giving to the world, nor the fact that F1 was stolen from FIA by FOMA (Oops. It seems I again mentioned the fact).
Those who disagree, with all due respect, haven't followed an entire Indy Car season.
And
it might even mean that Bill France's grandson and F1's Bernie Eccelstone would sooner than later find themselves and their series relegated to yesterday's news.
A1GP? Don't make me laugh, I have an split lip. Go, Indy Car. Not everybody forgets your past nor is inclined to think that the future is worse than the past. It could be, it will be, at least, as glorious. Looking for Bernie's help to revive the series is like allowing the Horse to enter Troy. Please, american fans, do not, I repeat, DO NOT allow that to happen.
NASCAR is peaking, I tell you. What after that? If those guys at IRL had someone with memory (as a minimum) they would have a clear example to follow. They just need a little latino enthusiasm, ehem.
No, this is not a rant! And NO, I'M NOT YELLING!
