Cleveland

[F3L]

Always a great race and I hope Lanigan gets the race back into the series but as per the present layout and not an oval. I love the ovals but Cleveland has its own special track which has made for some of the best races.

[Tim Northcutt]

Cleveland always had great racing, but with the big crowds and Honda's involvement at Mid-Ohio, which is about 90 miles or so from Cleveland, that race at Burke Lakefront Airport won't make it onto the schedule.

[gomick]

Surely with the crowds that the road courses get compared to the oval tracks, there must be a chance for some of these tracks like Cleveland & Portland etc...

[JagtechOhio]

I went to a CART race there, probably '86, and it was the only road course layout I have ever heard of where you could see the whole circuit from the grandstands.

My impression was that it cost the city a fair amount to stage, but was never wildly popular or well attended. Turn 1 was magic, it was a great wide sweeper and interesting to watch the different lines that were chosen by the drivers.

Tim's probably correct, Mid-Ohio draws a pretty strong local crowd and I think it is a venue preferred by the participants. I think they sell RC Cola there, too.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

I went to a CART race there, probably '86, and it was the only road course layout I have ever heard of where you could see the whole circuit from the grandstands.

My impression was that it cost the city a fair amount to stage, but was never wildly popular or well attended. Turn 1 was magic, it was a great wide sweeper and interesting to watch the different lines that were chosen by the drivers.

Tim's probably correct, Mid-Ohio draws a pretty strong local crowd and I think it is a venue preferred by the participants. I think they sell RC Cola there, too.

Overall Cleveland pulled good numbers for 25 years while Mid Ohio was iffy at times. I'd rather have both tracks, but if choosing one over another then I would go with Cleveland.

As explained to me by my contact at Honda, the Mid Ohio race now basically happens due to the largesse of Honda and without Honda floating the costs for tickets for employees and others along with other payouts it probably wouldn't happen. As I mentioned in another thread, apparently Honda has been swinging the axe furiously to cut costs and the Mid Ohio extravaganza could be a victim.

The Cleveland race, now that it's gone, is probably never coming back. I watched a Cleveland CART race recently from 1995 and it brought back how good it once was and the pitiful mess it is now. Quite sad really all that is gone.

[AndrewF31]

Cleveland is one of those long gone distant memories of Indy Car's glory days. I used to follow Indy Cars with a passion until the mid-90s when it even challenged Formula 1 for popularity and Cleveland was one of those fantastic places with good races.

Who can forget Laguna Seca, Road America, Vancouver, Michigan speedway, the streets of Belle Isle, Detroit, Surfers Paradise. A good balance of street courses and ovals!

Oh well....

[D.R.T.]

Thats a good point Andrew. How different the series is in 2009 compared to the 80s and 90s.

Alot of great tracks have bitten the Indycar dust and replaced with, well not exactly events we will be talking about in 10/20 years time.

[Flyin Ryan]

Originally Posted by gomick

Surely with the crowds that the road courses get compared to the oval tracks, there must be a chance for some of these tracks like Cleveland & Portland etc...

Like Edmonton that lost $5.3 million last year?

I do like Cleveland and Portland as road courses. I'd rather see them on the sked than Toronto, Belle Isle, or Long Beach for example. Long Beach isn't going away I know. Here's what I say: Drop Motegi, add New Hampshire. Drop Belle Isle permanently, add Cleveland in its place. Put in Portland to be the Northwest track.

Andrew F31: Who can forget Laguna Seca, Road America, Vancouver, Michigan speedway, the streets of Belle Isle, Detroit, Surfers Paradise. A good balance of street courses and ovals!

Laguna is a nothing circuit with picturesque scenery and one good turn, the corkscrew; the track is far too narrow and there are only two places on the whole track where it's possible to make a pass on a motorcycle, let alone a car; it's desparately in need of renovations and track widening which they won't do. The only thing that ever happened there I remember is when Zanardi dirt-tracked to the win. Road America is a good track. Vancouver was a pain in the ass to watch. Michigan was great and used to be the 2nd-largest purse for Indycars, I wish ISC would better promote nowadays. I've never met a person in real life that enjoyed a Belle Isle race, the only people I've ever found that like it are seemingly internet robots. Surfers Paradise is halfway across the world and it does not make business sense to race there (I have the exact same opinion on Motegi, although that's to satisfy Honda).