Indycar News & Rumors.

[Formulahistory]

Good move from CFH.
What's for Hildebrand now?

[NaBUru38]

According wto Wikipedia, there are open seats at Andretti, Herta, Ganassi, Dale Coyne (2x), KV and Schmidt.

Drivers without seats include Briscoe, Wilson, Huertas, Saavedra, Serviá, Hildebrand, Davison, Karam, Chaves and Veach.

[LeonardBernstein]

I wonder what awaits for Justin Wilson, it's all gone very quiet on Andretti, KV, Coyne, or anything for him. Surely Honda are going to do everything they can to get him in at Andretti - he'd be a major contender.

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by LeonardBernstein

I wonder what awaits for Justin Wilson, it's all gone very quiet on Andretti, KV, Coyne, or anything for him. Surely Honda are going to do everything they can to get him in at Andretti - he'd be a major contender.

I certainly hope so. Great guy too, terrific with the fans.

[NaBUru38]

IndyCar 2018 by Randy Bernard

I don't agree with everything, but I certainly agree with the core of his thoughts.

If an NFL team wins, they sell tickets.

You show me a winning NFL team and I will show you a marketing genius. Take a marketing genius to a losing NFL team, unless its Green Bay, and I will show you a marketing guru who will struggle.

You must have your product right before you waste a lot of money on promotion.

Product is king. I believe that IndyCar is an amazing product, but some may disagree. IndyCar certainly lacks promotion.

IndyCar drivers should be perceived as the greatest, most versatile drivers in the world, because Formula 1 or NASCAR cannot argue this.

Anything that can separate IndyCar drivers from the rest of the pack and show their skills only increases the value of your product.

Of course there's rallying drivers, who drive on tarmac, gravel, snow and ice. But yes, IndyCar drivers are more versatile than other circuit racing championships.

I don’t believe speed makes a difference at the actual race, but I do believe it is essential at qualifying.

Don’t make it onto SportsCenter because of a fight after the race, make it because history is once again being made.

I also agree with that.

I think the Speedway was always a major part of development for what we see in the future of cars, so it needs to go back to that

IMS needs to meet with Detroit’s Big Three manufacturers and their engineers now and discuss what is going to be important to the car industry in 10 years.

Well, I'm afraid that Ford, Chevrolet and Fiat Chrysler won't be the most important manufacturers in the next 10 years, but Volkswagen, Renault Nissan, BMW Toyota, Hyundai Kia and the Chinese.

[gaaaazFR]

Gabby Chaves confirmed for a full time drive at BHA.
That leave us 6 available seats with one almost sure (Karam @CGR).

AJ FOYT RACING (Honda)
#14 Takuma Sato
#41 Jack Hawksworth

ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT (Honda)
#25 Marco Andretti
#27 TBA
#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
#34 Carlos Munoz

BRYAN HERTA AUTOSPORT (Honda)
#98 Gabby Chaves

CFH RACING (Chevy)
#20 Ed Carpenter and Luca Filippi
#67 Josef Newgarden

CHIP GANASSI RACING (Chevy)
#8 TBA
#9 Scott Dixon
#10 Tony Kanaan
#83 Charlie Kimball

DALE COYNE RACING (Honda)
#18 TBA
#19 TBA

FAN FORCE UNITED (TBA)
#5 Stefan Wilson

KV RACING TECHNOLOGY (Chevy)
#11 Sebastien Bourdais
#17 TBA

RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING (Honda)
#15 Graham Rahal

SCHMIDT PETERSON MOTORSPORT (Honda)
#7 TBA
#77 James Hinchcliffe

TEAM PENSKE (Chevy)
#1 Will Power
#2 Juan Pablo Montoya
#3 Helio Castroneves
#22 Simon Pagenaud

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by gaaaazFR

Gabby Chaves confirmed for a full time drive at BHA.

Good for him! I remember him in Formula BMW Americas, back when that was actually a thing.

Seriously, I hope he does well. Personable, friendly, had some success in the junior series, what's not to like?

[David A Scott]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

I believe that IndyCar is an amazing product, but some may disagree. ..

I would be one of them. One of the many. Why do you think that no one watches or goes to the races anymore? Their product sucks. Someone once called the irl the "The onion gum of motor racing".

How long have you been watching North American open wheel racing? Do you remember what the ChampCars were like in the mid 2000's? They exploded out of tight corners and were nervous on the limit. You had to DRIVE them. These slugs have too much downforce and not enough power. They waddle out of corners. Even with all that downforce these clowns can't get through a street race without a red flag for blocking the track.

[PZippy]

Does anyone really think Fan Force United will take the grid? I haven't heard anything about FFU in months. Certainly we would have heard an engine announcment by now.

Originally Posted by gaaaazFR

Gabby Chaves confirmed for a full time drive at BHA.
That leave us 6 available seats with one almost sure (Karam @CGR).

AJ FOYT RACING (Honda)
#14 Takuma Sato
#41 Jack Hawksworth

ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT (Honda)
#25 Marco Andretti
#27 TBA
#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
#34 Carlos Munoz

BRYAN HERTA AUTOSPORT (Honda)
#98 Gabby Chaves

CFH RACING (Chevy)
#20 Ed Carpenter and Luca Filippi
#67 Josef Newgarden

CHIP GANASSI RACING (Chevy)
#8 TBA
#9 Scott Dixon
#10 Tony Kanaan
#83 Charlie Kimball

DALE COYNE RACING (Honda)
#18 TBA
#19 TBA

FAN FORCE UNITED (TBA)
#5 Stefan Wilson

KV RACING TECHNOLOGY (Chevy)
#11 Sebastien Bourdais
#17 TBA

RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING (Honda)
#15 Graham Rahal

SCHMIDT PETERSON MOTORSPORT (Honda)
#7 TBA
#77 James Hinchcliffe

TEAM PENSKE (Chevy)
#1 Will Power
#2 Juan Pablo Montoya
#3 Helio Castroneves
#22 Simon Pagenaud

[Paradise City]

I like Indycar well enough. But I don't think it can be a mass sport anymore. The motorsport space is shrinking and Nascar basically occupies all of that space. I think the public has fallen out of love with motorsport generally, fan acquisition is a problem for every series and the Indycar recovery has been caught in the headwinds of that. Indycar finds itself in a situation of trying to get warm during the beginning of an ice age.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by David A Scott

I would be one of them. One of the many. Why do you think that no one watches or goes to the races anymore? Their product sucks. Someone once called the irl the "The onion gum of motor racing".

How long have you been watching North American open wheel racing? Do you remember what the ChampCars were like in the mid 2000's? They exploded out of tight corners and were nervous on the limit. You had to DRIVE them. These slugs have too much downforce and not enough power. They waddle out of corners. Even with all that downforce these clowns can't get through a street race without a red flag for blocking the track.

If the kids are enthusiastic enough to hang a picture of these cars on their bedroom wall, I'd have no fear for a sustainable Indycar albeit at a readjusted threshold of popularity. It needs to be either stunning/sleek or intimidating/terrifying looking. These cars look like chubby junior single seater formula however. I'm not sure the bodykits change that calculus much - although I hope I'm proven wrong in this respect.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by David A Scott

I would be one of them. One of the many. Why do you think that no one watches or goes to the races anymore? Their product sucks. Someone once called the irl the "The onion gum of motor racing".

How long have you been watching North American open wheel racing? Do you remember what the ChampCars were like in the mid 2000's? They exploded out of tight corners and were nervous on the limit. You had to DRIVE them. These slugs have too much downforce and not enough power. They waddle out of corners. Even with all that downforce these clowns can't get through a street race without a red flag for blocking the track.

That's the elephant in the room which many, most importantly the series itself, refuses to admit is there. The product sucks and until that changes the revolving circus of a schedule and all the gimmicky stuff they do will never work.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by PZippy

Does anyone really think Fan Force United will take the grid? I haven't heard anything about FFU in months. Certainly we would have heard an engine announcment by now.

The FB page hasnt been updated since August, and their website seemingly since April.. doesnt give you the confidence that a big program is in the offing...

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by David A Scott

Why do you think that no one watches or goes to the races anymore? Their product sucks. Someone once called the irl the "The onion gum of motor racing".

How long have you been watching North American open wheel racing? Do you remember what the ChampCars were like in the mid 2000's? They exploded out of tight corners and were nervous on the limit. You had to DRIVE them. These slugs have too much downforce and not enough power. They waddle out of corners. Even with all that downforce these clowns can't get through a street race without a red flag for blocking the track.

I get thrilled at every IndyCar race, very unlike F1 which I watched since a baby.

IndyCar is unpopular in the United States, just like rugby or volleyball. It's not because they are boring, but because other sports are more popular. Tastes change.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I like Indycar well enough. But I don't think it can be a mass sport anymore. The motorsport space is shrinking and Nascar basically occupies all of that space. I think the public has fallen out of love with motorsport generally, fan acquisition is a problem for every series and the Indycar recovery has been caught in the headwinds of that. Indycar finds itself in a situation of trying to get warm during the beginning of an ice age.

I think as a mass sport motorport's space in general is shrinking, just look at what's happening in F1.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

If the kids are enthusiastic enough to hang a picture of these cars on their bedroom wall, I'd have no fear for a sustainable Indycar albeit at a readjusted threshold of popularity. It needs to be either stunning/sleek or intimidating/terrifying looking. These cars look like chubby junior single seater formula however. I'm not sure the bodykits change that calculus much - although I hope I'm proven wrong in this respect.

I've got a 17 year old son and I'm not sure if he is typical of his age group but despite my efforts, he has no interest in motorsport. Sports wise it's American Football and Rugby, both of which I introduced him to and which he plays, otherwise it's playing bass guitar, something I also got him into and computer games and as for computer games, not one racing sim.

[Salamus]

Sounds like a typical male teenager. I remember when I was in high school (4 years ago), my friends would tease me for watching motorsports. Wasn't a big deal but they never understood how I could watch a 24 hour race or even a 500 mile race.

I think one of best ways to get people interested in motorsports again is to provide content that no other sport can. Sometimes they put a camera on a guy's feet to show how much work he's doing in the car. Or near a tire to show the stress being put on a car. NASCAR has headcams on pit members. We've seen stuff like this before but it should become more common.

[David A Scott]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

IndyCar is unpopular in the United States,

It wasn't like that before. Back when they had proper cars bump day was sold out. The Toronto Indy had twice as many grandstands erected and they were packed. They had good tv ratings. Real sponsors, multiple engine, tire and chassis manufacturers. Thank god Tony George fixed that.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by David A Scott

It wasn't like that before. Back when they had proper cars bump day was sold out. The Toronto Indy had twice as many grandstands erected and they were packed. They had good tv ratings. Real sponsors, multiple engine, tire and chassis manufacturers. Thank god Tony George fixed that.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Salamus

Sounds like a typical male teenager. I remember when I was in high school (4 years ago), my friends would tease me for watching motorsports. Wasn't a big deal but they never understood how I could watch a 24 hour race or even a 500 mile race.

I think one of best ways to get people interested in motorsports again is to provide content that no other sport can. Sometimes they put a camera on a guy's feet to show how much work he's doing in the car. Or near a tire to show the stress being put on a car. NASCAR has headcams on pit members. We've seen stuff like this before but it should become more common.

If he is a typical male teenager, then the future fan base for motorsport doesn't look good.

Would providing content that other sports don't provide, make a difference? I personally think teenagers my son's age just don't find motorsport itself particularly interesting. For example I suggested we go to the Formula E British round at Battersea Park, as we live near by and his response was to immitate the sound of an FE car. Maybe as he gets older he might get interested but at the moment I won't hold my breath.

[Salamus]

Well we definitely know that interest in cars has steadily declined. But at the same time, I think people are starting to find new forms of motorsport instead of just watching F1 and NASCAR. I know a lot of people who have started to watch sports cars and all of them come from a NASCAR background. Going to a live event usually changes people's minds. Maybe your son will give it a chance one day.

My rational is if Top Gear can get huge audiences, then surely there are still enough people out there that like cars. Surely the majority don't watch for just the comedy. The challenge for promoters is to try to attract those people that like cars and try to make them watch for 2 hours.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by David A Scott

Do you remember what the ChampCars were like in the mid 2000's? They exploded out of tight corners and were nervous on the limit. You had to DRIVE them. These slugs have too much downforce and not enough power. They waddle out of corners.

They maybe tame, slow and spec in compared to what they used to, but show me a modern single seater that's hyper poweful and challenging to drive? They're all the same today, same boring meh-ness. At least ICS still has the bumpy, unspoiled tracks to make up for some of it, and not sterile asphaltdromes with identical features like it's European cousins.

[rwintle]

Sigh.

This thread is "Indycar News & Rumors", not "let's once again re-hash the old chestnut about How Great Things Used To Be But Aren't Anymore". Please.

Back on topic - I also doubt Fan Force United will make the grid. Where there's smoke, there's fire... but I detect a distinct lack of smoke.

[mountainstar]

In regards to declining interest in cars and motorsport, I don't believe that's the case. Tons of road courses and ovals have been built in the USA over the past 20 years and many of them stay busy.

Do I think that we've gotten too far into our phones, internet and virtual reality? Yep, especially with younger folks. But the car is not dead yet.

In regards to professional motorsport, it's not enough to say "I am the pinnacle of the sport", you have to be it, live it, look like it and right now it is not. The general public has no interest in it because it's totally boring.

[BudLightJaguar]

Originally Posted by Salamus

Sounds like a typical male teenager. I remember when I was in high school (4 years ago), my friends would tease me for watching motorsports.

I don't remember being teased for watching motorsports. But I do remember being teased for watching other forms of motorsports than F1 and WRC. That's because it was and it's still all about F1 and WRC here in Finland. Or actually 35 years ago it was all about WRC, even Keke Rosberg was booed by the Finnish media before his championship season. Finnish media even had a nickname for him: "Keskeyttäjä-Keke", which means something like DNF-Keke. Or Keke D.N.F Rosberg.

Couple of years after his championship year Finnish media started to give him some recogniton, but it was too late. Now he does not speak to Finnish reporters except a few chosen ones and Nico does not speak Finnish. So if I were old enough, maybe I would've been teased for supporting Keke between 1978 and 1981.

But what I originally intended to say is that though Finnish drivers have been successful almost in every form of motorsports, only those ones who drive in F1 or WRC really get any recognition. And those fans who watch those 'minor leagues' are basically considered as weirdo's who eat children and sniff gasoline.

There are few exceptions; when JJ Lehto moved to US and started a new career in Champ Car (or CART in 1998) he had solid fanbase (though smaller than Häkkinen's) and we even saw the CART races live on national TV. I have no idea about the figures but I think those races were quite popular though harder to follow than F1 because of the -7...-10 or +7...+9 time differences. Of course when Lehto was sacked from CART, live coverages were gone and so was any wider knowledge about North American motorsports. And today to for the major audiences JJ is an F1-reject and the accident with a motorboat didn't excactly help with it.