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| View Poll Results: Fontana: The Last 500? | |||
| Enjoy it. You'll never again see anything quite like it. |
   
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7 | 53.85% |
| Someday, someway. Maybe in America, maybe in Europe. |
  
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6 | 46.15% |
| Voters: 13. You may not vote on this poll | |||
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Thread Tools | Display Modes |
27 Oct 2002, 22:32 (Ref:415067)
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#1 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,125
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Fontana: The Last 500?
The poll is simple.
Will Fontana be the last 500? I'm afraid that it will. And it breaks my heart. When the checkered flag falls next weekend, it may very well turn another page in the CART history books. No more "endurance" racing. No more 240mph. No more 7-pitstop runs. No more of the races that made people such as Rick Mears shine. I hope soon Pook et al kick sand into the face of the ISC. |
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27 Oct 2002, 22:54 (Ref:415086)
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#2 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 7,294
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Just remember: you cannot blame CART for their decision, because realistically there is nowhere else to run a 500 miler now.
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Sunderland Til I Die! |
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27 Oct 2002, 23:27 (Ref:415115)
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#3 | ||
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Racer
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 254
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Given the SMI suit against ISC over the Texas dates there may be a case for an anti-trust suit against ISC if they have locked CART out of the superspeedways although given what happened at Texas last year some people won't be too worried and Pook has a better use for CART funds than filling lawyers pockets.
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greg |
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27 Oct 2002, 23:33 (Ref:415118)
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#4 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 4,936
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The Zanardi and Moore wrecks, to me, have proved that the cars are just getting too damn fast on these tracks. Michigan is the only one I miss.
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__________________
"Put a ****ing wheel on there! Let me go out again!" -Gilles Villeneuve, Zandvoort, 1979 |
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27 Oct 2002, 23:43 (Ref:415129)
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#5 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 5,276
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Hopefully not. I want to see 500 milers. Bring this kinda racing here in Europe please!
And Lee, I gotta disagree with your first statement. Not with the second, because I also miss Michigan. |
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"Many people depend on motor racing for their livelihood, to them it is a business. To me, it is a sport." -Jim Clark |
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27 Oct 2002, 23:44 (Ref:415131)
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#6 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 5,276
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post 1400!
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__________________
"Many people depend on motor racing for their livelihood, to them it is a business. To me, it is a sport." -Jim Clark |
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28 Oct 2002, 00:09 (Ref:415139)
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#7 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Feb 1999
Posts: 12,451
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I don't like superspeedways so I won't miss Fontana. It will always have the spectre of death over it for me. I like road courses and street courses where I can move around and get different points of view, anyway. Guess it is the same reason I can't sit in front of the TV and watch three hours of sitcoms. I want to interact, not be spoon fed.
Anyway, I suppose they'll have to find one to race on if they don't do the F1 feeder deal, so those who want to race in the IRL 500 will have a practice ground. |
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"If we won all the time, we'd be as unpopular as Ferrari, and we want to avoid that. We enjoy being a team that everybody likes." Flavio Briatore |
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28 Oct 2002, 00:16 (Ref:415144)
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#8 | |
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Veteran
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 5,702
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Does Toronto or Laguna Seca still have the "spectre of death", Liz?
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28 Oct 2002, 00:26 (Ref:415147)
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#9 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jul 1999
Posts: 6,038
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I have mixed thoughts on the 500 milers.... I'm not an oval fan, and the idea of sitting in one place watching cars drive in circles doesn't really interest me, and then there's the danger... Some of the older drivers might not have a problem with it, but I'm not sure the same can be said of some of the younger guys coming up through Barber Dodge and Atlantics... they don't like to think of it as risking their lives.
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__________________
"I used to hate writing, but now I enjoy it. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!" - Calvin and Hobbes |
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28 Oct 2002, 01:18 (Ref:415163)
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#10 | |||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 7,294
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Quote:
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__________________
Sunderland Til I Die! |
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28 Oct 2002, 10:09 (Ref:415311)
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#11 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 10,040
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I'm a great fan of the 500 milers, and it is i think a shame that this will possibly be the last one for sometime.
There is really nothing CART can do though, which is a shame, i really loved the superspeedway enduro's. |
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__________________
"The Great Race" 22 November 1960 - 21 July 1999 |
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28 Oct 2002, 12:37 (Ref:415417)
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#12 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Feb 1999
Posts: 12,451
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Mac, I was not at the races in Toronto or Laguna Seca where drivers were killed. If I'd been there, it's likely that spectre would be there for me too.
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__________________
"If we won all the time, we'd be as unpopular as Ferrari, and we want to avoid that. We enjoy being a team that everybody likes." Flavio Briatore |
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28 Oct 2002, 14:10 (Ref:415449)
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#13 | ||
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Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 89
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Any one who was at Fontana last year won't have minded sitting in one place for the duration! I sure as hell didn't! Probably the best race I have seen in years (other than this years Clio cup series of course!)
I was at the British GP earlier in the year and covered about the whole circuit on a scooter during the race I was bored rigid! In fact by the time the cars got to Beckets on the first lap they were all spread out!!!! Long live CART and hopefully they will race again on the super speedways. |
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28 Oct 2002, 17:03 (Ref:415628)
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#14 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,125
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I agree. Sure, it's different strokes for different folks, but I can assure you that I was never bored at Michigan. Of course, I was never bored on Belle Isle, either, but a superspeedway experience is unique unto itself. The speeds, the noise, the wall of air that hits you if you stand too close. The BYOB policy was always nice, too! Some of the racing I've seen has already become the stuff of legend.
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__________________
Don't make a fuss, just get on the bus! |
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28 Oct 2002, 23:04 (Ref:415949)
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#15 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jul 1999
Posts: 6,038
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I was at that Toronto race in 96... but I never learned of the death until the next day. That was before I really got to know the drivers and teams so it didn't hit home so much.
To be honest, since Greg's death my thoughts during every 500 miler have been "let's just get this over with".. I remember Dr. Sid Watkins (The Steve Olvey of F1) saying he had the same feelings at Monza. I hate to say it, but my thoughts are the same going into this weekend. |
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__________________
"I used to hate writing, but now I enjoy it. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!" - Calvin and Hobbes |
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29 Oct 2002, 11:28 (Ref:416305)
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#16 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 13,000
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At least IRL still has them, and the racing is fantastic even if the politics are not. Zanardi's crash would have been the same severity on any oval without a wall sepearting the pitlane from the track (that's the lesson to learn; all Zanardi would've suffered had there had been woul;d've been humiliation)
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29 Oct 2002, 18:21 (Ref:416577)
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#17 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 5,276
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I am still a great fan of Greg, but I love the racing the Handford device produces. I just don't think something will happen, and I believe that's what the drivers think.
Plus, I think the Reynard's "droopy" wings for oval races look great! |
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__________________
"Many people depend on motor racing for their livelihood, to them it is a business. To me, it is a sport." -Jim Clark |
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29 Oct 2002, 18:50 (Ref:416590)
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#18 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 4,553
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Who says this will be the last 500 race?
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29 Oct 2002, 19:19 (Ref:416618)
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#19 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,125
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Nobody says it will be that last 500. It's just that there are none on next year's calendar, and CART really doesn't have access to many superspeedways anymore. And if they continue in the direction they're in (street venues), it may well be some time before we get to see one again.
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__________________
Don't make a fuss, just get on the bus! |
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29 Oct 2002, 20:00 (Ref:416670)
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#20 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,125
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Hey! What's going on here? Am I losing my mind?
Fontana seems to be on the 2003 schedule! I was sure that this year was the end of the contract. |
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__________________
Don't make a fuss, just get on the bus! |
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29 Oct 2002, 20:20 (Ref:416684)
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#21 | ||
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Racer
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 403
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Europe has a few obscure ovals. I hope that CART keeps at least 3 ovals, because it's the difference they shoul keep from F1
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29 Oct 2002, 20:31 (Ref:416697)
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#22 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,301
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I was going to say something Macdaddy but thought you knew something I didn't. I think there was probably confusion when Toyota pulled their sponsorship from the race.
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A good friend will come bail you out of jail. A true freind will be sitting next to you saying "Damn...that was fun!" |
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29 Oct 2002, 20:44 (Ref:416706)
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#23 | ||
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Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,125
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Thanks, Flatspot. Too late now, as I've already made rather an arse of myself in this thread!
POLL: "Fontana: The Second-to-Last 500?" Duh. |
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__________________
Don't make a fuss, just get on the bus! |
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29 Oct 2002, 23:43 (Ref:416909)
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#24 | ||
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Rookie
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 14
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Who cares about if this year Fontana 500 is the last or the second-last? The thing is, all the greatest tracks are quitting from the top-series in the world. I dont' know but I think 2000 world speed record posted by Gil de Ferran is a thing to think about it. The recently Spa miss, I'm very sad.
But, fellows, we must to get used to this. The things ain't gonna like were before. Well if we can sue ISC, TG, France Monopoly, Ecclestone, Heitzler, Toyota, Honda, the f****ng pop-off valve, et al... Yeah, it will be a trial about "motor sport racing fatal damages"... Let me awake, I was sleeping for a while... |
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__________________
The devil is a man with a plan, but the evil the real evil, it's a collaboration of men. (Fox Mulder The XFiles 9x20) |
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30 Oct 2002, 03:15 (Ref:417038)
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#25 | |||
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Racer
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 147
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Quote:
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Brian's Wish - ALS - Cure Lou Gehrig's Disease |
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