Looks as though things are off to a raring start as the season opening event in Brazil is apparently cancelled. How does this stuff continually happen to Indy Car? Indycar Racing News | Racer.com - IndyCar: Brazilian promoter announces event cancellation BHW
Brian Barnhart has been named Race Director. Indycar Racing News | Racer.com - IndyCar: Familiar name confirmed to return as Race Director BHW
the Brian Barnhardt thing really pisses me off...the guy literally got run out of the job by Penske and Andretti...now he returns and the word is "insiders like the guy"...REALLY? did you ask all the insiders? another argument was that the talent pool for that position was really small...well, a) hire someone else in that pool! and b) that's the problem with American racing, it's such a closed, nepotistic system that idiots keep getting, losing, and finding other (or in this case, the same) jobs. in the long run that only hurts the sport.
and just so I'm not all piss and vinegar... I'm looking forward to this season in IndyCar, the competition has been great the last few years. aero kits will hopefully make the cars look better without ruining the racing. I think losing Brazil is a good thing...now they just need to replace it with a short oval or road course in the US Phoenix or Sebring would be nice...
The problem is, post-IRL, Indy Car has shot itself in the foot so many times now, there ain't much foot left. Here they are on the brink of a new season, there has hardly been any news what so ever coming from Indy Car or its teams. Then, like a cold January slap in the face, we get the news that Barnhardt is back in the saddle and the first race of the season is cancelled due to economic issues in Brazil. Deep in halls of the fake wood paneled walls of Daytonner, the hand ringing continues. Just give Indy Car a long enough rope and they'll hang themselves and their eventual sale will be for pennies on the dollar. BHW
Haven't looked at the whole Indy Car schedule, but isn't it still the case that the ISC kicked them out of all their tracks with the exception of Fontana? Seems to me, that was a pretty heavy-handed move on the ISC's part and so inclusion of Indy Car at Sebring and Phoenix would be remote at best. Doubtful too that Indy Cars would go too well on the full Sebring circuit, those concrete runways would brutalize an Indy Car chassis. The ISC throws Indy Car a bone by allowing them to race their finale at Fontana, a night race which IIRC began past 10:00PM EST and had all of 2,500 fans in the stands (when was that like back in July?) so at least Indy Car's checks must still be clearing. Aero kits, a few driver moves, etc. aside, Indy Car seems to be stuck in a rut. There's no magic bullet obviously but perhaps it's time to rethink the spec car approach and put some truly diverse cars on the track again. BHW
most/all Indycar teams test extensively at Sebring...they'd be fine racing there. I'm not sure if ISC is locking Indycar out, or just tired of losing money hosting races...Indycar loves to blame the tracks/promoters but if they had put on a good show, maybe people would have shown up I agree re: spec chassis, but there's no money for multiple chassis development...and I don't think it's fair to say IndyCar is stuck in a rut, lots of great new drivers in the last few years and some excellent on track competition. it's better now than it's been since the late 90's IMO.
Agree totally that the racing has been great, even the IRL produced good races after it got past its early Keystone Cops phase. The issues seem to be in the administrative, marketing, branding and TV end. The success of the Indy 500 doesn't necessarily translate to their other venues and those in Indy can't seem to get past this. Hopefully, they're listening to Derek Walker. A series where I have to do a search to look up to remind myself who won the championship last year is in a rut. It just seems as though the season ended a century ago and looking at the 2015 schedule, they'll be done again in August. The cars aren't resonating. Until this year with these aero kits, which we've still not seen, the cars are the same, same same. The only exception being when they run in the low drag configuration at Indy where they actually look pretty neat. Yes, Indy Car tests at Sebring on the short test course, not on the full 12 Hour circuit. Those huge bumps coming off Turn 17 and up the Pit Straight would batter an Indy Car chassis and that has always been the hangup and why owners are reluctant to race there. Arguably, one of Indy Car's best drivers, Mike Conway, has been confirmed to do the full WEC season for Toyota. Good for him, bad for Indy Car. If Indy Car was an attractive option for former F1 drivers, they'd be coming over by the droves as they did in the 80s and 90s. But, as we're seeing, ex-F1 guys like Heidfeld and Trulli are opting for Formula E instead. For 2015, more good racing on the track without the heavy-handed penalties and board room nonsense will serve Indy Car well. Not holding my breath though. They ought to put Robin Miller in charge of the whole shebang. BHW
btw if Indycars can withstand the bumps at a street circuit like Baltimore, I think they'd be OK at Sebring....
They were just trying to appeal to a younger market by launching the cars off the Light Rail tracks. And you guys say they never try anything new..
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but the Baltimore race no longer exists does it? Aside from the RR tracks jump, my enduring memory of that circuit was half the ALMS field getting tangled up on a botched start which blocked the entire front straight. BHW
No more Balitmore GP. I went to the last one Labor Day 2013 and loved it. It was awesome being close to the cars and easy to walk around to bars and restaurants next to the action. I think street courses are not as fun to watch on TV, though. I'll try to go to the Alabama GP at Barber Motorsports Park (designed more for motorcycles in terms of passing...not cars). I'm hoping it's not cancelled, but just in case, I'll be in town the following weekend for Talladega if it comes down to that.
Last year for Baltimore was 2013. The reason for the botched ALMS start was the cars needing to split the chicane they had to put in before the Light Rail tracks. Someone got into Scott Tucker who spun sideways and all hell broke loose. They shouldn't have counted it as the start to the race since the incident happened before the start finish line.
Is see all the love that Indy Car lost remains. Another exciting year of temper tantrums, bad behavior and no one watching. Time moves on.....Indy Car remains the same. Makes you wanna pucker up doesn't it?
Indy Car needs to let loose of the reigns a bit and allow the teams to go testing at least and at the most, they need to bring back a "Spring Training" sort of event which gets some media and fan interaction. In the CART days, testing started the week after the previous season ended and continued virtually unchecked right up to the start of the next season. This was good as it kept generating news about CART and built an anticipation for the coming season. Having not seen any mention of Indy Car teams testing yet and a mention about the aero kit tests taking place in early March, what are they waiting for? Get the cars on the track by any and all means, the teams have the budgets to do it. When all the news we get about Indy Car has to do with staff shake ups and planned changes, it's little wonder they start off the season on such a down note. BHW
It needs a lot more than that. Try turning the rule book back to the way it was and let people use those ugly words again...........creativity & innovation.
look at how much press Nissan (and by default, the WEC) have gotten in the last 24 hours.... I'd love to see multiple chassis and engine manufacturers, equivalency rules, tire battles, etc in Indycar (and everywhere else for that matter), but where do the budgets come from?
Well, Indy Cars need all these things too but lets take small steps first. They're generating zero buzz about the 2015 Indy Car season. No wonder the sponsors are standing in line to get in. BHW
Try living within a budget and not spend everyone into oblivion. Racing is at its bests when the manufacturers stay out. Great ideas come from when you don't have a billion dollars and have to do creative things in order to compete. Some of the neatest ideas come from those on a shoe string budget rather than from unlimited resources. Racing in the 70's is proof enough.Good old Smokey comes to mind !
Smokey Yunick had several factory programs at any rate, developing new chassis and engines takes millions....nobody's going to shoe string budget or crowdsource a competitive Indycar chassis today...so like it or not, we're married to manufacturer programs now.
Respectfully disagree. It can be done. Turn the rules back and I will be more than happy to show you how its done.
show me how you could do an Indycar program-design, build, test, campaign-on a shadetree mechanic budget, in a formula that is as fast and as safe as today. I simply don't think it can be done. and reverting to tube frame or aluminum monocoque technology isn't "progress", it's rose-tinted nostalgia. also known as USAC
Enjoy your humor. Several of us are working on it now. You might be surprised to know what is being considered. One should never underestimate the human condition and its will to overcome great obstacles. Lets hope 2019 brings a rules change that permits the human spirit to take on new challenges unfettered by the politics of business and connected people.