Why CART is Dying?

[Tenoch]

Evrywhere I read I see that CART is in nothing but financial woes, and that it may soon dissappear. Since i only became a fan last season would anyone care to tell me why it is that CART is dying?

[GARY SZYMKOWSKI]

BE PATIENT! LOT OF THINGS ARE RUMORS BUT CROWDS AT RACE WEEKS STILL SHOWING SUPPORT. I FOR ONE THINK ALOT IS THE ECONOMY AND CHAMP CAR WILL SURVIVE!

[gttouring]

The Split which created the 2 entities is the cause of current ills, and it is the fault of a one Tony George, ask around about him.
Although the IRL is getting pretty good, it isn't the CART and Indycars I grew up with

[Tenoch]

When I bacame a Fan I did not care fr the politics i jst loved what this series was doing, and this Tony George Character is refferred to alot when people speak of a split what split and whta dis Tony George do.

[racefanatic]

Well I'm happy to hear that CART attracted new fans last season! In the last two years CART has lost a lot of its teams and drivers to the IRL. Tony George owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He split from the CART board and founded the IRL. The series started out pretty weak and it's growing now. It has kind of "turned in to CART" because Honda and Toyota supply engines for them now, almost half of their field is made up of former CART drivers, and they race on tracks like Nazareth, Michigan International, and Motegi that used to be CART tracks.

[Dov]

Tenoch, if you would like to know a little bit about the history of the CART/IRL split, then you may want to read this:
http://www.netaxs.com/%7Egg1/race/cartirl.htm

[Liz]

Champ Cars are not dying. Come to a race and find out for yourself.

[Stephenw]

They're trying to stay alive, and going private is probably the only way right now...

Mainly because they are spending all thier cash to run the series and they are going to start posting massive quartly losses which is a huge disastor for a public company...

[marcus]

yes of course tony george is to blame for Carts misfortune and mismanagement , yeah right give me a break !!!

I dunno the answer , but i would say that maybe Cart isnt dying but it sure isnt as healthy as it could or should be but to solely blame Tony george for all the troubles certainly seems a tad lop sided to me.

[the_extreme]

Bernie E - is going to buy CART as well -

[Stephenw]

I highly doubt it...

[oily oaf]

I hope not, I've heard all the rumours of course and what with him being in bed with Pook its a real possibility. If the deal does come off u can look forward to CART in such mothwatering venues as Bahrain, China, Moscow in fact anywhere "The Poison Dwarf" can land his helicopter without too much hassle and you're allowed to advertise fags (thats an english slang term for cigarettes before any of u fellas in the US and Canada start panicking)

[oily oaf]

Did I just say mothwatering? Damn!

[corkholio]

Basically right now more money is flowing out of the CART bank account than in. Not good since CART is still a business. There is plenty of blame to go around but even if you manage to pin all of this on Tony George even if he deserves it, it ain't gonna help with the money situation.

Pook is a Bernie wannabe anyway. Wouldn't surprise me if CART ends up racing in Africa using landmines as chicanes or something, as long as them stands are packed. Might even help the TV numbers, which desperately needs help.

Oh yeah, there is also this little thing called NASCAR that's dominiating and over-saturating the American racing market. That and don't ever underestimate the shallowness of the American public.

[corkholio]

Originally posted by oily oaf
Did I just say mothwatering? Damn!

Well, those venues are surely more mothwatering that mought watering!

[racer69]

Originally posted by gttouring
The Split which created the 2 entities is the cause of current ills, and it is the fault of a one Tony George, ask around about him.

If you think it was all Tony George's fault then you need to do some research.

Partly Tony's fault, certainly, just as much CART's fault, definatly.

[BootsOntheSide]

CART's troubles didn't really begin when the IRL was founded in 1996, for years it remained dominant. However, a succession of organisational fiascos in 2001, coupled with US law meaning that tobacco firms can only advertise in one series, and a desire among top teams to race in the Indy 500, has lead to many of the leading teams leaving in recent years, to the extent that only 2 of the 2001 Top 10 are still in CART.

To replace these teams, CART has formulated an 'Entrant Support Programme' which gives teams money for entering. This has produced some impressive new teams such as Rocketsports and Conquest, but is costing money. Also, CART is having to self-promote many events, and has sadly made real losses on the European events.

The main hope for the future is of some new private investment. Bernie, we don't ideally want, as he seems to view CART as notjhing more than a feeder for F1, rather than a unique, thrilling, competitive series with some of the world's best drivers. Weatlhy team owner Jerry Forsythe may invest some money, which'd be good, Craig Pollock has been linked as well.

In my view, the IRl is not the right future for racing. Tony George cares about nothing but his own pocket, he has conned a succession of smaller teams by continually upping the costs (to the point that CART is now cheaper than its 'low cost alternative' as it was originally cited). Its oval only policy does not give the series wide enough appeal, as the attendances for everything except the Indy 500 show. The team owners in the IRL, such as Ganassi, Penske and Michael Andretti, ahve showed themselves up as selfish, short-sighted and ignorant about racing, while CART has lifelong fanatics such as Forsythe, Patrick, Gentilozzi, Johansson and Walker.

Is it too late top save CART? I certianly hope not.

[Jay]

Originally posted by Liz
Champ Cars are not dying. Come to a race and find out for yourself.

Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!! The best way to reassure yourself of Cart's future is to head to a race! That wasn't the case last year, but it is this year!

[sgw2]

Jay, Liz,

CART is doing absolutely fantastic in Canada, where you both reside. The fan base is strong and there is no competition really.

But in the US CART is in very deep serious trouble. And unfortunately the market and sponsor base in the US is about 14x that of Canada.

It would take 10,000 words to explain why CART is falling apart. But really it boils down to three things:

1) loss of Indy 500 connection
2) de-Americanization of the series content
3) forgetting the purpose of CART

Loss of Indy would have been less dramatic had CART used the seven years since to develope an unique identity with the American public. They had the ratings, sponsors, and ABC TV to do that. But they couldn't shake Indy.

The loss of a generation of top American drivers who never raced CART (Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Sam Hornish) effectively shut CART off from the up and coming generation of fans. Blame is shared by many in CART on this.

This dropping of America races for those outside the US. This was the number one factor that cost CART many of its' sponsors; Budweiser, Delphi, Miller, Pennzoil, Kool, Marlboro, Target and Toyota all come to mind.

IPO changed CART's charter from providing a vehicle for teams to get prize money (replaced by MPH shares) and attract team sponsors, to a company that had to make money. So CART hiked sanctioning fees, often replacing US races with foreign ones - there was a market demand.

Once the owners cashed out, they had no reason to stay. CART no longer helped them, but rather was at odds with their sponsors. So they started bailing. TV ratings began to fall, sponsors left. A vicious cycle.

That is why.

[Jay]

Thanks for the load of BS sgw2, we all know where you stand, what your opinions are, and where you'd like to see Cart. Bye now! There's another forum here that's perfectly good.

You want proof Cart is not dead, go to Cleveland!

[The Snout]

Originally posted by Jay
Thanks for the load of BS sgw2, we all know where you stand, what your opinions are, and where you'd like to see Cart. Bye now! There's another forum here that's perfectly good.

You want proof Cart is not dead, go to Cleveland!

Thing is Jay there's nothing ever happening in that other forum, it's a ghosttown, no one is interested in it, unless there's free tickets.

[jusafan]

Why CART is Dying?

I don't know, but I hope those who think it is dying are wrong. I believe that Chris Pook is a pretty sharp guy, and he seems to be doing everything he can to save the series. But the loss of big teams, major sponsors and TV revenue have hurt. And now we won't even be able to see the Road America race.

It didn't help to have some big names like Andretti and Francitti say bad things about the viability of the series. I think Pook is putting together a good show, and if we can make it out of this dark period things will be alright. But it is ugly right now.

[gttouring]

Racer 69-
Yes I know the rise of NASCAR and its feeder series didn't help, the Rise of all the touring car series and GT's didn't help the 'economic turndown' doesn't help, Powerade sponsoring NHRA instead of CART didn't help, so much doesn't help, least of all and if CART was united (evenif TG's original idea was noble and quaint at the same time)
This mess would be less of an issue and very likely it would be Indycars Vs. Nascar Vs. F1 Vs. whatever.
I, like all of you who frequent 10/10ths am aware of the storied and sordid history of the current state of Openwheel Racing in NorthAMerica...
and 100 event World of outlaw scheduals, Midgets, SilverCrowns, USAC- Everyone is to blame in some fashion, and if they are not helping they are still part of the problem... i for one will continue watching CART and going to shows and buying stuff, because it rules.

[Jay]

Originally posted by The Snout
Thing is Jay there's nothing ever happening in that other forum, it's a ghosttown, no one is interested in it, unless there's free tickets.

That's not true, it's good for a laugh at times. They actually think Sam Hornish has the talent to turn right!

[sgw2]

Jay,

That isn't BS. That is basically how it happened. How would you understand the changes and decline in the US? You weren't even born when CART was formed!

Now, what did I say that was inaccurate?

That losing the Indy connection hurt? That losing American drivers and Market focus hurt? That IPO and turning CART into a for profit marketing company destroyed the chemistry that held the organization and teams together?

You chose to deny CART's current difficulties and thus dodged the question. I tried to answer it, but without putting down any individuals. I simply identified well known factors that I think were critical and stated them.

As for a remedy, I don't know. The current consensus is NASCAR rules the US on TV and for attendance. Chris Pook does not believe that OW can compete for sponsors in the US. I do not know the attitude of the potential new ownership on that. But it is clear another major change of direction will emerge in the next few weeks.

No matter what happens, should CART continue, Canada will definitely play a large role. So in a narrow sense you and Liz are perhaps correct; in Canada CART definitely isn't dying.