Indycar News & Rumors.

[marc sproule]

Maybe they realized that if they did it on a Sun night it wouldn't get any where near the exposure in the media than if they'd done it on a week day/night.

This way it will be buried under World Series, Nascar and NFL news on Monday.

[gttouring]

They do need a dictator to steer this ship.
no questions and a simple rule book 2 pages long.

i don't know if Randy did so bad, but the new dallara deal didn't help and Wheldon RIP, did not either.
good luck.
I hope penske grabs the reigns.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

This is an absolute joke.

A very sad day.

I've been telling you all along but you kept pounding down the kool aid and telling me I had no idea what I was talking about. These people are a joke and have been for decades.

I can't say I feel any sympathy for those that hung their hat with these people.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by captain crunch

Looking forward to the justification for this, I could use a good laugh. Y'know, for years I always thought mountainstar was just being a negative nancy, but he's right. These people really are beyond saving.

You see I would LOVE to be all fuzzy wuzzy and positive about American open wheel racing, but I believe in reality and calling things as they are, regardless of how many names you get called(which I've been called many here over 10 years) or how much flack you get.

The reality is this family is incompetent and out of touch and couldn't find their way out of a paper bag. The indy centric approach brought the sport to it's knees in the late 1970's and once free it grew tremendously. Due to egos and conniving and scheming and undermining, they got their grubby hands on the golden goose, only to completely pile drive it right back into the ground again. The first time you could say is an anomaly, a business cycle, the second time around people just need to snap out of it and see it for what it is.

Some days I wish it could be 1994 all over again, but those days are now distant memories, long gone, nearly everyone from that era long moved on as well. These days NASCAR IS motorsport in the USA.

This time around I'm not sure anyone will care enough to reach in and save it.

I've said it in years past and I'll say it again, as long as this series remains under the thumb of the speedway, it will never ever ever be successful. Ever, ever, ever, never, ever, never, never, ever, ever. Ever. Ever Ever.

Oh, by the way, the series lost $7 million dollars this year. Just thought everyone should know if you didn't know already.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by marc sproule

Maybe they realized that if they did it on a Sun night it wouldn't get any where near the exposure in the media than if they'd done it on a week day/night.

This way it will be buried under World Series, Nascar and NFL news on Monday.

It would have been buried under all that regardless of the day.

I bet I could walk around the USA and take a random sample of 10000 people and no one or maybe 1 person would know or care who randy bernard is.

20 years ago, CART drivers were well known figures. These days when I talk to the general public and anything about the sport comes up, everyone knows Nascar, open wheel formula racing is totally unknown. If people do recognize any of it, F1 usually comes up instead. A lot of people don't even know the 500 happens anymore.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by gttouring

They do need a dictator to steer this ship.
no questions and a simple rule book 2 pages long.

i don't know if Randy did so bad, but the new dallara deal didn't help and Wheldon RIP, did not either.
good luck.
I hope penske grabs the reigns.

Penske is old and has far more business interests than he did years ago. I just don't think he's that interested.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

An emergency meeting of the board???

Since when has shooting themselves in an appendage or four taken an emergency meeting? Heck, they have proven they can do it as part of the normal business day...

What a bunch of idiots.

I speculated years ago and I still believe it to be true, that the hulman trust would exert influence at some point and that quite a few relatives belong to this trust and everyone wants their money.

My understanding was that there were many in the trust that were extremely angry to see tony george flush half a billion dollars down the drain over 15 years and that lead to the rise of the sisters and purging of tony. However the series continues to lose money.

My understanding was also that many of those in the trust could care less about the speedway or the 5 hunnert. They've got their own dreams and goals and just want their money. The series continues to lose money year after year and apparently the speedway itself is now under financial duress. The Brickyard 400 is now a drag and the F1 debacle and rebuild lost money. The 500 can't even fill all the seats anymore. So it's going to get worse for all those on the financial hook.

My understanding is also the once great accumulation of businesses and land by tony hulman has slowly been sold off to feed money hungry trust funders and also the financial armageddon that is speedway related. The wealth has withered tremendously.

I think once mari gets too feeble to exert any control or passes away, it's going to be game on and the fur is going to fly and that will probably result in the speedway getting sold. Might happen sooner, in fact I would not be surprised to see it all implode soon, but I think her fading away will be a definite kicking off point for more drama.

[one five five]

Bernard's position was really untenable in the end, not really his doing but all the bad press lately regarding Tony George attempting a purchase & then leaving the board, coupled with all the Bernard rumours since May.... one guesses they are clearing the slate....

....and starting all over again like they did in 2010.

[DS"]

Should we petition Roger Penske to buy IndyCar? He doesn't seem to be happy about the Bernard sacking. Or maybe he launches a series on its own, making it 1979 all over again. Well, one can dream at least, right?

[TWRv12]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

Penske is old and has far more business interests than he did years ago. I just don't think he's that interested.

Even if he just put his people to work, surely it would be better

[JohnSSC]

Originally Posted by DS"

Should we petition Roger Penske to buy IndyCar? He doesn't seem to be happy about the Bernard sacking. Or maybe he launches a series on its own, making it 1979 all over again. Well, one can dream at least, right?

I would speculate that along with Ganassi and Mikey, Roger was one of the unhappy owners.

Roger, by the way, was one of the major domos behind CART and helped engineer "reunification." He does things for his own purposes. I do not believe him to be at all interested in running the series from the front of the pack. He likes calling the shots from where he is.

MS, I suspect you are right about the pressure on the trust to keep everyone's silver spoon firmly in place. I also suspect that Mari is tired of the infighting and that the Speedway being put up for sale will happen sooner, rather than later.

If open wheel wasn't dead in this country prior to last night it is now, or will be when they announce that TG is taking over for Bernard. Can't wait.

[Yannick]

Randy Bernard has done a good job in reuniting the series. His sacking is not a friendly move by the board of directors whatsoever, but nevertheless, I hope the board will find a good successor. Given the fact that Tony "FTG" George was pressured to remove himself from the board before this, there is hope the board just staged this to get rid of Tony after all.

It is fairly obvious that the fans of the sport do not want Tony "FTG" George to have anything else to do with the sport than his co-ownership of Ed Carpenter Racing (or "Vision Walker" as I tend to call it).

So here's hoping the new CEO of IndyCar will be somebody who had nothing to do with the "Split".

What now for Randy Bernard? Reportedly, there are headhunters looking for a replacement for Bernie Ecclestone after his troubles in the Gribkowsky affair might put him behind bars. Bernie's age might also play a part in this. They surely must be looking at Randy's CV as well.

[JohnSSC]

Originally Posted by Yannick

Randy Bernard has done a good job in reuniting the series. His sacking is not a friendly move by the board of directors whatsoever, but nevertheless, I hope the board will find a good successor. Given the fact that Tony "FTG" George was pressured to remove himself from the board before this, there is hope the board just staged this to get rid of Tony after all.

It is fairly obvious that the fans of the sport do not want Tony "FTG" George to have anything else to do with the sport than his co-ownership of Ed Carpenter Racing (or "Vision Walker" as I tend to call it).

So here's hoping the new CEO of IndyCar will be somebody who had nothing to do with the "Split".

What now for Randy Bernard? Reportedly, there are headhunters looking for a replacement for Bernie Ecclestone after his troubles in the Gribkowsky affair might put him behind bars. Bernie's age might also play a part in this. They surely must be looking at Randy's CV as well.

I don't even know where to begin.

TG had to remove himself from the board as he has been putting a group together to buy IndyCar. It would have been a conflict of interest to remain on the board while doing so. Of course, with the cluster that IndyCar has become, I thought this was the least of anyone's worries...

Bernard had nothing to do with the split or the reunification process so really, whether they pick someone who did or did not doesn't matter, because the pack of Mutant Idiot Sharks involved with this mess will toss him/her just like they did Randy.

Actually, if they pick ANYBODY who "knows" this form of racing then they automatically get someone involved with the split/reunification.

Personally, I think they should hire Dale Coyne. Then you could have Pay Teams, Pay Drivers, Pay Admin Assistants, Pay Race Directors, Pay Competition Directors...it would be a great new business model. Then they could fire themselves.

Lastly, Randy Bernard would not even be a blip on the radar of those seeking to replace BE. If he was under-qualified to run IndyCar and could not deal with the Ship of Fools involved with the Speedway/Trust, how many miliseconds would it be before he was eaten alive by your average F1 Team Principal? Then there are the investors, sponsors, governments, promoters...

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

I've been telling you all along but you kept pounding down the kool aid and telling me I had no idea what I was talking about. These people are a joke and have been for decades.

I can't say I feel any sympathy for those that hung their hat with these people.

No no - you still have no idea. It just means you aren't alone.

[bjohnsonsmith]

I feel sorry for Ropin' Randy, he did a great job, considering the circumstances but was inevitably, always on a hiding to nothing.

I think this quote from Belskus really sums up the situation and shows how utterly misguided everyone involved in IndyCar is.

"The organisation is full of talented professionals, and we will continue to prepare for what will be a very exciting 2013 racing season".

Talented professionals? The whole thing has been nothing short of a bugger's muddle.

[Paradise City]

So we're back with mad king George? I'd sooner pol pot running the series than him. Not that George ever went away. Now it's just waiting game until the series disintegrates completely in some act of georgian insanity.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

So we're back with mad king George? I'd sooner pol pot running the series than him. Not that George ever went away. Now it's just waiting game until the series disintegrates completely in some act of georgian insanity.

TG is out too. No one is in charge. Sounds like a recipe for a breakaway series... ugh.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

I've said it in years past and I'll say it again, as long as this series remains under the thumb of the speedway, it will never ever ever be successful. Ever, ever, ever, never, ever, never, never, ever, ever. Ever. Ever Ever.

Ever.
I think I'm just about done. Morons.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

TG is out too. No one is in charge. Sounds like a recipe for a breakaway series... ugh.

I thought TG resigned because of potential conflict of interest because of his 'bid' to buy IMS.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I thought TG resigned because of potential conflict of interest because of his 'bid' to buy IMS.

He was offered a choice of resigning or being forced out and excommunicated forever.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

He was offered a choice of resigning or being forced out and excommunicated forever.

But wasn't that to do with the potential conflict of interest or was it due to something else?

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

TG is out too. No one is in charge. Sounds like a recipe for a breakaway series... ugh.

Randy getting the axe treatment is just a precursor to King George getting his throne back or being the puppetmaster for whatever regime replaces Randy.

George resigning from the board is just an empty formality to preserve the technical facade of independence before the consortium lead by him sweeps in and takes over.

I feel sorry for Randy not necessarily because he got sacked but because his reputation has been unnecessarily hit by these Hulman nutjobs.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Randy getting the axe treatment is just a precursor to King George getting his throne back or being the puppetmaster for whatever regime replaces Randy.

George resigning from the board is just an empty formality to preserve the technical facade of independence before the consortium lead by him sweeps in and takes over.

I feel sorry for Randy not necessarily because he got sacked but because his reputation has been unnecessarily hit by these Hulman nutjobs.

You might be right but it is a leap of faith to think any one of these morons is smart enough to pull something like that off. They can't even fire someone properly.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Canada ALMS fan

Ever.
I think I'm just about done. Morons.

Me too. There are some good teams and drivers in the series and that is why I continue to follow it. It gets more difficult every year. These guys make IMSA look like NASA... and I mean the space organization.

[JHamilton]

New article from Miller:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...ars-stupidity/