Unification Near?

[Kicking-back]

TG needs to be kept on side - keep your friends close and your enemies closer as they say.

[macdaddy]

Yes, I do think that he went there of his own accord. At least, to a large degree. Penske isn't about the be strong-armed into anything either. I believe that the natives are becoming restless, and TG has little to do with Penske's recent doings. The engine manufacturers - probably. But this has more to do with the Penskes, Rahals, Fernandez', Haas', Ganassis et al than it does the TG's and Hombres.

[Mags]

Originally posted by Kicking-back
TG needs to be kept on side - keep your friends close and your enemies closer as they say.

I suppose that's one way of looking at it. My least form of compromise would be we would run the Indy 500 and he owns the track - and that would be ALL. I don't want him to have have any say whatsoever. And that goes for any team owners as well. We can NOT go back to the same formula that set us up for this disaster in the first place!

[macdaddy]

It's my opinion that the IRL hasn't turned out to be exactly the way Penske had thought it would, and it's also my opinion that he is THE most powerful man in American OW racing.

[Mags]

We were hearing at Long Beach he wants to overthrow TG.

[jjspierx]

I don't see any reason that Tony George should be given any control over the future of Open-Wheel racing as a unified series. Before the IRL, Mr. George was simply the owner of IMS. The CART Board was nice enough to allow him a position on the board, which they didn't have to do. After being on the board for a short while he grew unhappy for many reasons(which I won't go into here) and decided to start the IRL. The only reason his series has lasted the past 8 years is because of the Indy 500, and that was enough to draw away several big teams and drivers over the years. He has had all the tools necessary to create a successful series and to crush the remnats of CART/Champcar into the ground, and yet he has not, because he is a bad business-man and because he has refused to give an inch on how he thinks a racing series should be run. Think of it this way, Tony George has most of the big name teams, the Indianapolis 500, and the name Indy in the series title. Imagine if OWRS had Ganassi, Penske and Andretti, along with the Indy 500, and if they called their cars Indy Cars. If those things were to come true, I can guarentee you Champcar wouldn't be giving away tickets away to races and still not be filling the grandstands. Any man who has had the means to run a highly successful series for the last 8 years and yet has failed miserably, has no place in being involved in the running of a race series. At most, if a unification occurs, TG should be given only a non-voting membership on the board of directors, as was given to him by CART.

[Kicking-back]

Originally posted by Mags
...that goes for any team owners as well. We can NOT go back to the same formula that set us up for this disaster in the first place!

This is true

[macdaddy]

Insight from Mags...
We were hearing at Long Beach he wants to overthrow TG.

You heard that too, I assume.
I've known since then that this was imminent.

[Mags]

Like JJ said. He has the engines, the teams, "the" race, and still can't get the fans. He's a lousy business man, and shouldn't be in charge of a popsicle stand.

[jjspierx]

If TG ran a popsicle stand, he'd only sell the red popsicles cause those are his favourite, and to sell any other flavours/colours would draw away from the prestige of the red.

[macdaddy]

Let's just hope that he doesn't let them all melt away, until they're good for nothing.

[Kicking-back]

There's another popsicle stand across the street.

It used to be good but the people who made the popsicles spent so long arguing among themselves, they melted too.

[Mags]

This is really bumming me out. You just know what this means. One of the drivers was trying to tell me this was happening in Portland, and now we know why Tracy is looking to go to NASCAR; because there is no way he will drive in a series that involves TG.

[jjspierx]

hehe...ok, I know I started this, but lets get back on topic.
this was in reference to the popsicle analogies, not to Mags statement

[Kicking-back]

If drivers don't want to drive in a united series, that's their loss.

The world does not revolve around Paul Tracy.

[Mags]

Originally posted by Kicking-back
If drivers don't want to drive in a united series, that's their loss.

The world does not revolve around Paul Tracy.

Sure it does! Just ask Paul.

[jjspierx]

Well that really depends on what you consider a united series, your vision of a united series, isn't exactly what many of us here consider a united series. Or what many of the OWRS drivers would consider a united series for that matter.

[Mags]

Originally posted by jjspierx
Well that really depends on what you consider a united series, your vision of a united series, isn't exactly what many of us here consider a united series. Or what many of the OWRS drivers would consider a united series for that matter.

Well put!

[macdaddy]

If he can pull this thing off, I've got hundreds of dollars worth of Penske coats, jackets, hats, zippos and autographed 8x10's that have been collecting dust in my basement for years. I'll start wearing them again with even more pride than I did before.

[Kicking-back]

I don't like what Tony George did with the creation of the IRL anymore than anyone else does.

However, common sense must win the day.

A united series is the only way to survive.

The general public have little to no interest in Champ Car or Indy Car - and if the infighting continues, that'll get worse.

[Fogelhund]

jj & others - I completely agree with you folks that TG isn't "the" business person that Open Wheel needs, and he shouldn't be at the head of the table.. He is just a card holder in this game, and those cards are needed. He is under pressure from the family for the $ spent (rumours I've heard), and I wouldn't doubt that he is part of this in some way.

As far as Tracy is concerned, NASCAR would be a good career move for the guy, if he could make it. The money is good, and you can remain competitive for longer in that series then he would in a combined Open Wheel series. Let's face it at 35 years old, the clock is ticking on an open wheel career. If he wishes to continue racing with a decent salary, it is his only long term choice.

[Mags]

But NOT with Tony anywhere near the power button.

[jjspierx]

Originally posted by Fogelhund


As far as Tracy is concerned, NASCAR would be a good career move for the guy, if he could make it. The money is good, and you can remain competitive for longer in that series then he would in a combined Open Wheel series. Let's face it at 35 years old, the clock is ticking on an open wheel career. If he wishes to continue racing with a decent salary, it is his only long term choice.

While I agree that Nascar could be a good career move for him in the future, I still think Tracy has a good several years ahead of him in Champcar where he could be competitive. He is getting up there in the years as far as open-wheelers are concerned, but he's obviously still in his prime as far as his racing game is concerned, and I hope he stays in Open-wheelers for as long has he remains competitive.

[Mags]

But something was up - I should have caught on. He was Negative Nelly when I interviwed him. And did you read his comments about Gerry yesterday? He knows that this series is in deep do-do.

[flyfishr]

Just my two cents worth. It's a shame that now that Champcar is just the way I like it, They have to go and try to spoil it with to many ovals. I hope the talks fall apart which shouldn't be much of a problem with TG's track record.