CART in 3 years

[nickkeyiu]

I am curious to hear where you think CART will be in three years (2005). With all the rules changes, shake-up in CART management, Silly-seasons, Team movement, Tracks, Sponsors...there is alot in the air..who is in, who is out, where will you hear the roar of the engines (will they be turbocharged or normally aspirated), and who will you see on the track, and of course, where will they stand in relation to the, dare I say it here, IRL?

(Please, don't just bash the IRL...do that somewhere else)

[Lee Janotta]

I'll be truly amazed if CART is still around in any meaningful way in 3 years.

[nickkeyiu]

If CART isn't around, where will all the teams go? Who will survive and move to the other series, who will fold, who will retire, who will go to ALMS, NASCAR?

[Lee Janotta]

Well, Rahal's almost certainly going to the ALMS...
Honda's trying to bring a lot of teams to the IRL, especially Team Kool Green...

As for the rest, we'll probably end up with something like old F5000... Pure open-wheel road racing, not particularly high-tech, but providing tight and fast competition, and with a very low cost compared to CART. I'd previously mentioned the idea of F3000 cars with 3.0L turbo V6s... That's just the one that seems easiest to me. Plenty of other ways to approach it.

CART's got big problems with their public ownership, their rather bizarre and increasingly useless business plan, and their constant fight with the IRL.

If someone puts together a good series based on road courses, and maybe a small handful of street courses and even a roval (Pocono?), the teams and drivers will start showing up, as well as the sponsors, and the tracks will make room on their calenders... And the universal balance shall be restored... Okay, maybe not the last one, but there will certainly be plenty of room for such a series. There's no way ALMS can fill the void, the mini-endurance format doesn't appeal to a lot of drivers. Maybe it could even get more novel, with qualifying races like in the DTM series before the feature race. Run on Saturday so you're not up against NASCAR or IRL, and really pull in your entire audience...

CART's had a run _much_ longer than nearly any other successful North American-based series of it's kind... It's not F1, we can't expect it to last forever. We've survived the deaths of Can-Am, US F5000, the IMSA Camel GT championship... And the road racing scene in North America is still going strong. Perhaps not as strong as it once was, but certainly plenty strong enough to support a good racing series.

[nickkeyiu]

I honestly see CART continuing in the future, and here's a laundry list of how:

1. Keep Chris Pook
2. Go back to being a privately held company
3. No team owners on the Board of Directors
4. Keep the schedule they have now, eliminating ovals that do not have moderate attendance (they can get that overseas)
5. Continue to grow across the globe (Russia, China, South Africa, etc.) with the oval format
6. Bring back Brazil
7. Keep Twin Ring Motegi even though IRL has a date there...
8. Get Audi or Porsche to come on board, or get Toyota/Honda back
9. Keep costs to a minimum for teams
10. Schedule needs to run early February to late August.
11. Run some events on Saturday as to not conflict with other major events (Indy 500, Daytona 500)-face it, we wouldn't win.
12. Get Penske back
13. Market these drivers to the US Market as heavey as possible
14. Target teens and women, a segment only NASCAR has gotten to, and look where they are.
15. This one is a stretch, but I think it would help...let CART be a support series in conjunction to a NASCAR race once or twice a year, such as at Fontana or Michigan...bite the bullet and get the fans to see the product.

[MaxSport]

I agree with Lee that CART will be much like F-5000, only bigger and better.

The overseas **** that Craig brought about is the downfall of the series. No one can afford that.

The spec formula will allow CART to survive. I like what I see happening.

So Lee, how do you know that Rahal will be racing Audis in the ALMS? I find it hard to believe, unless the Audi folks are giving him the cars and the budget.

What company would pay the kind of sponsorship money needed to race an R-8 in the ALMS? They would be better off backing another Rahal CART team as it is now better value.

KM

[Rambo]

Oh, ****. Attendances have been falling at US ovals for years. Motegi could be fully booked if Honda didn't limit tickets because of traffic problems. They don't get any more in for the Moto GP, and Japs are bike-mad. And if Motegi is such a bad idea, why are the IRL looking to go there when 2 years ago TG swore they wouldn't race overseas?

Australia is an overseas race and has been on the calendar as long as I can remember - and has always been popular.

F1 doesn't make it's money from fans - the teams run on sponsorship and TV money. There are plenty of global businesses out there willing to stick their logo on cars. Petrochemical companies like Shell and Texaco, Red Bull (they sponsor so many cars the IRL team won't harm the chances) and other drinks companies, mobile phone companies, etc. Compared to F1 teams, CART is pocket-money. Some minor F1 sponsors could pay for an entire CART team's costs.


Are you just Xenophobic?

[macdaddy]

Alot of changes are yet to come after tobacco advertising is banned outright. Green and Penske will be free to do as they choose. OTOH sponsorship is already hard enough to come by, and when the cigs go there will be a massive void to fill. If CART is to stay afloat, they may need to showcase their product globally and intice sponsors from every corner. But as for road-course only? I'm not overly keen on that prospect. I love a good 500 every once in awhile. In fact, there should be three of them. A "Triple Crown" of sorts. And the street races are obviously where the money's at. I really enjoy the diversity of tracks and challenges. Hell, if this were a road-course only format, we might as well hand daMatta the Vanderbilt now.

[kwd]

Originally posted by nickkeyiu
I honestly see CART continuing in the future, and here's a laundry list of how:

1
11. Run some events on Saturday as to not conflict with other major events (Indy 500, Daytona 500)-face it, we wouldn't win.

13. Market these drivers to the US Market as heavey as possible
15. This one is a stretch, but I think it would help...let CART be a support series in conjunction to a NASCAR race once or twice a year, such as at Fontana or Michigan...bite the bullet and get the fans to see the product.

These are three excellent points.Their biggest problem I believe is the popularity of NASCARno1 and then competition of the IRL. When I first saw your NO15 suggestion I thought no way, then CART would be looked at as some sort of hanger on or minor league series. But the more I thought about it, it would be excellent exposure for the hardcore NASCAR fans to see high calibre talent of a different format on the track,Michigan definately being my personal choice of track.I can't believe that one is gone.

[macdaddy]

YOU can't believe Michigan is gone? I LOVE that place! Some of the best memories I've ever had are from the campground across the street. Especially back in the early-to-mid-90's when the crowds were considerable.

Sorry, I'm off-topic. Just that MIS and Belle Isle are sore-spots.

[Rambo]

No, Michigan is definitely worth crying about. It was my favourite race. The track was awesome and the racing fantastic. That was when I first worked out (watching Mansell's US expedition) that ovals weren't just 'left-hand circles'.

The IRL doesn't do it justice.

[nickkeyiu]

Yeah, Michigan is an incredible venue, it's too bad it is in a bad location for fans, but anyway, I may have not made myself clear...CART should not eliminate all ovals, just the ones that are not bringing in the dough, such as Fontana, yet, as I pointed out above in my laundry list, partnering with NASCAR at that venue would make it a viable option..tracks such as Nazareth and Loudon...scrap them.

As for Belle Isle, for a fan, it may be a great place. I have personally worked there in the paddock for CART, and have spoken to many teams and drivers, and I hate to say it is one of their least favorite places...if only they would pave the paddock and hospitality row!!!

[nickkeyiu]

Just a side note, I spoke to a good friend this past week from Team Rahal about the teams future...there are NO plans to go to ALMS...

[MaxSport]

Yeah-that's it, I hate all foreigners-except Brazilians,Mexicans and Canadians.

Since it is so easy to find sponsorship for a globe trotting series, why is CART down to 18 cars,Boz.. er..Rambo?

[Rambo]

Why aren't the fans going to the US ovals? Attendance has been slipping since before CART decided to come to Europe. And if Motegi is such a bad idea, why is Tony going there then?

Answer that one, Prat- er, I mean Max.

[nickkeyiu]

Who said Motegi was a bad idea?

And the reason fans are not going to US ovals can be summed up rather easily..#1 NASCAR is so huge, open wheel racing cannot comptete, that's why I say, if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em. #2 No one wants to watch a sport where there is so much bickering...Remember when the NBA went on strike and they only played a 50 gm regular season? Attendance was down 20%...

[Rambo]

Max seems to think foreign races are what killed CART. Ask him.

Indianapolis is what killed CART. The IRL ran with nobody at the other races the first few years. Only now are IRL attendances beating CART ones. For how long was the I500 sponsoring CART/IndyCar's oval races before TG stole it?

[nickkeyiu]

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway never sponsored a CART sanctioned event. Before the inception of the IRL, the Indy 500 was sanctioned by USAC. What has killed CART is indecision, poor planning and management, and making rash decisions without consulting anyont first (i.e. Honda and the NA engine fiasco last year in Houston)

[macdaddy]

Nickkeyiu, you have worked for CART in the Belle Isle paddock. That instantly leads me to ask a burning question...

Are YOU the guy who kicked me out year after year after year because of some kind of "no alcohol beyond this point" sign?

Kiddin. I've been there after (during) rainstorms and I understand the team's complaints. Nothing but the track is paved, and everywhere else is mud. Big-time mud. They spread straw all over the place thinking that will help, but it doesn't. But hey, it's the "Motor City" and the home of the corporate HQ for Ford. Who, I might add, is sole engine supplier next year. I look forward to a Detroit-area race next year. Lots of hospitality to be done.

My best memories from DGP? Not including meeting heros like Mears, J.Stewart et al, was bringing my girlfriend to her first big-time race. It wasn't raining that day! Must have been 207 degrees F! We had crossed the border with a whole lot of doobs and spent much of the afternoon sitting under a tree, behind the PacWest paddock, smoking them and watching the ducks swim in the pond. The turbos were like music, although we couldn't see them. But that was okay. We were people-watching and could hear the play-by-play. We sat there and picked at the grass and talked and laughed. I remember there was a cop standing right beside a pedestrian bridge, not 40 feet away, but we really didn't care. We watched the first 20 laps and the last 10, and in between we married eachother. We just didn't know it yet.

Wow! Did I ever digress! (again) Where will CART be in three years? Michigan, for one.

[MaxSport]

While not having Indy hurt CART, there are several factors that have led to the situation that they are in now. The expense of foreign races to the teams with no benefit to their sponsors is one of those factors.

I am the first one to say get rid of all the ovals,let TG have them as they are not drawing many fans.

Why are the IRL going to Japan? Because I am sure it was part of the deal if TG wanted Honda in his series.

KM

[nickkeyiu]

No, I didn't kick anyone out!! hahaha

Actually, I was the assistant to the CEO during race weekends, and if you remember, that was the weekend Andrew Craig was forced out and Bobby Rahal put in...let me tell ya, loads of fun...

[nickkeyiu]

One thing I think we are all forgetting is the role the title sponsor has played in all this...Fed Ex does absolutley nothing for the sport...hell, we had to pay normal shipping at the CART headquarters!!! And do they market CART in any of their ads? No...so let me add to my laundry list above..

#16- Get a new Title Sponsor that will do something for the sport

[macdaddy]

I mentioned in a thread many months ago that FedEx has trucks all over the place. Have you seen one today? Every one of those trucks should carry some sort of advertising for CART. Even something so small as a logo. They're like travelling billboards and a huge advertising possibility! I don't understand why CART and FedEx don't seem to work more hand-in-hand. CART advertises FedEx wherever they go, but there's no vice-versa.

[Jordi]

Overseas ****... Max... come on

[racer69]

I don't see CART doing any races with NASCAR, because IRL are very close to the ISC.

CART i feel cannot go just road course racing, the appeal for me has always been the ovals, hence why i have no problem with the IRL, but the mix of road, street and oval coarses has always been a great mix and variety, which was good. They also need more than one 500 mile race, i agree with what was said earlier, have a triple crown on the superspeedways, have one at Fonatana, and go back to Michigan and Pocono, as IMS is obviously out of the equation.

They need to get more American drivers as well, as thats were all the teams are based. They also need new teams to enter, instead of worrying about why Penske left, whether Green or Mo Nunn or whoever will leave, get other teams to enter, that way the fields will either be the same as now, or bigger.

If CART continue as they are now, i don't think it will be around in 3-5 years time. If it is, i see as people have earlier, just on road coarses, but 4th in popularity behind NASCAR, IRL and ALMS.