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11 Apr 2012, 19:28 (Ref:3057350) | #1 | |
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Roger Bailey, his own words
Anyone who knows open wheel racing in the USA knows who Roger Bailey is, so he needs no introduction, but he's been booted by Rodeo Randy or rather given the option to gracefully resign.
Gordon Kirby interviews him about his career and his views of the current state of the "sport". http://gordonkirby.com/categories/co..._is_no330.html Excerpt: Bailey also believes IndyCar has seriously lost its way. "I look at the cars today and they're all the same. George Bignotti said to me last year, 'In my day Roger we used to look forward to the first of May. You wanted to get to the Speedway to see what Wally and Lujie and I had built. There was excitement in the air. Now you come to see what color they've painted them.' And he's right. Apart from a smaller engine with a turbo they all look the same and they're all running pretty much the same. All they've done in my opinion is duplicate what we had for the last seven years. "All we've done is replace a seven-year old car with a different-looking car that's not necessarily better and done it at great expense to everyone. It's got a different sound, a little bit of a different exhaust note with the turbo and that's good. But it's cost everyone a pile of money and what have we done? We've got the same thing. In my opinion we missed a great opportunity to bring some interest back into Indy car racing and what did we do? We created another Dallara garden party. "I'm also a firm believer that we should have gone with multiple chassis and introduced some competition. People say competition costs money but when a company's got a captive market they can charge what they want because they know you've got to pay them for it. How does that save money? "And the other thing is they've driven the American racing industry--guys like Chris Paulsen and C&R Racing--out of the Indy car business. We've alienated a lot of people in the industry. The American racing industry has been driven away from Indy car racing and I think that's a very sad and very damaging thing. We've gone badly wrong, but nobody will listen. Roger Bailey's era has come to an end. The sport has been passed into less experienced hands with different goals and agendas. But it's a serious mistake not to listen to the advice and wisdom of men like Bailey. As we all know, those who ignore the lessons of times past are doomed to failure. |
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11 Apr 2012, 20:10 (Ref:3057380) | #2 | |
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No, I didn't know who Roger Bailey was (is).
Thanks for pointing him out. Gordon Kirby's article was extremely interesting - what a wealth of knowledge and racing experience there is wrapped up in Roger. Like his thoughts on what the IRL's done as opposed to what could be as well. Rodeo Randy's stacking the chairs. He needs to after his baby, the last season Vegas finale, backfired on him hugely. For the life of me I can't figure why he wasn't indicted. |
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11 Apr 2012, 23:12 (Ref:3057507) | #3 | ||
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Well, I don't believe the mantra, encouraged by some chasis-makers, that you can't have a cheap multi-chasis formula. The Dallara deal was very sweet for Dallara, it kinda works for now with smart racing but when the teams have this car cracked and solved will the racing still be as good?
It's not to knock Bernard but I never bought into the sassy corporate logic about Indycar needing a 'non-racing guy' as CEO. Someone who knows the stakeholders, has a business brain and has the constitution to tough it out with them was what needed. Last edited by Paradise City; 11 Apr 2012 at 23:25. |
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11 Apr 2012, 23:31 (Ref:3057514) | #4 | ||
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The trouble is, I don't think anybody with a "new school" business brain is competent for the job anyway.
The "old school" fellows are what we need, but they aren't the sort to go for blood to climb today's executive ladders in current business circles. Also, a lot of these "old school" gentlemen don't have that much more time before they kick the bucket. |
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12 Apr 2012, 14:23 (Ref:3057855) | #5 | ||
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12 Apr 2012, 18:09 (Ref:3057952) | #6 | |||||
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Quote:
You see multiple chassis in something like USAC for example where you can have 5 or 6 in a 20-car race, but that's a lower technical requirement to build a car than an Indycar and far less cost as well (plus a larger potential customer base). If you want more people building cars, you cheapen the cost required to build the car and "dumb down" the technology while increasing their customers. I don't know of many companies in the world that can make a profit building a high-quality chassis capable of winning races only having 4 or 5 customers unless they're just doing racing because it's a heavy marketing vehicle: Audi at Le Mans, F1 teams, but Random Indycar Chassis Builder is not going to get the money or publicity those do. We live in a world where mass production rules the day because it is cheaper to make 1000 of a product than to make 10 because you can amortize costs required for production (overhead, employees, tooling, testing) over a larger number of items. I actually considered this at one point building an aerokit. I'm a regular guy, I'm not rich, but I'm an engineer, and I've done a bit of racecar design before for a guy before. So after I pour my life savings into this and work hard with my own limitations, someone like Dennis Reinbold or Kevin Kalkhoven is going to come take a chance on my chassis that may be a complete failure? Which does not only hurt me, but hurts them in the future getting capable drivers and sponsors which if they don't have either the team could cease to exist? This is what is happening with the Lotus engine in Indycar right now. Quote:
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Last edited by Flyin Ryan; 12 Apr 2012 at 18:37. |
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12 Apr 2012, 18:24 (Ref:3057955) | #7 | ||||
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Quote:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...-both-barrels/ Quote:
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14 Apr 2012, 16:14 (Ref:3059002) | #8 | |||
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