Who is John Vannini?

[bobdrummond]

I like what he's doing, but I don't know anything about him. Where's he come from? What business is he in? Is he in for the long haul?
His letter to CART (www.speedvision.com) is superb. Pretty much aiming to take over and hand it to Chris Pook.

Is the $10million "Charge Against Earnings" referring to Indy Lights? And is the culprit Pat Patrick?

[SevenGrain]

Vannini is a private investor who now owns 7.8% of CART's stock. He also drives in the Barber Dodge series. He has the right ideas as far as removing the team owners from the board, but he is a bit of a loose cannon. He refers to the IRL as "direct competition" rather than acknowledging the need to work together. He insists that CART should command 5-6 million dollar sanction fees at each event. He refers to those that support the 3.5 litre rule (all the team owners except Forsythe) at "traitors". and he often sends long emails to amateur CART fan sites expression his views. Vannini and his associates, James Grossfield and Jerry Forsythe combined own nearly a third of CART's stock and are seeking to have the engine rules reversed.

I believe that reversing the ruling at this point would only serve to make CART appear more inept. Toyota has committed to 15-16 cars and Judd are willing to supply the rest as long as the specs are announced soon. Continuing to change courses only impedes progress.

[cartfan1]

Vannini is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what
is happening in cart, He believes that cart needs to stand on its
own and be a strong series with a very success full 22-25 race
schedule.

Believe me, cart needs this in the worst way, the team owners
have to be off the franchise board.
And Chris Pook is a man who gets respect from everybody Including
the team owners.

[KC]

Mr. Vannini is being used a stalking horse for Gerald Forsythe. CART does need a benevolent dictator to run the series and right the ship. I don't think running around like a gas can as Mr. Vannini has been doing is helping a lot but it does force a lot of the issues to be brought forth.

[Liz]

I am with Mr. Vaninni as far as Brand X Racing being "The Competition". I see no need to "work together" with them. I wish to defeat them, humiliate them, and obliterate their name from racing history.

For openers.

And Geraldo Forsythe is fine as dictator as far as I am concerned, if he will work with Chris Pook and Alessandro Zanardi as his lieutenants.

[MaxSport]

Liz-why do you want to see CART "humiliate" the IRL? How will this help CART?

TG, although I don't know him well, is a very nice Christian man. In any dealings I have had with him he has been professional as well as courteous. So why the hate for him and his organisation?

What you suggest won't happen, but your attitude is foolish. I doubt that those in the sport, at least the CART teams, feel the same way.

What is it that you think you can do anyhow? You continue to act like this is a holy war and that someone like you can somehow have an impact on it.

Are you some kind of insider who holds sway over the CART teams?

Sorry,the war is all but over.


KM

[Liz]

Sorry, I don't surrender just because somebody I've never met tells me to surrender.

And you never know what kind of effect you can have in the world until you try. I was part of the group that got us another year of Star Trek (all right, so it was not their best year, but the principle is the same), and Speedvision is still reverberating from the loud cries of those of us who do not wish to see them turned into All NASCAR All The Time -- they go out of their way to reassure us so we won't start up again.

People do listen to us.

As far as TG being "a fine Christian man" etc. I fail to see what that has to do with anything. My Southern Granny used to observe that Satan was probably a well-spoken, well-dressed, handsome gentleman or nobody would be seduced by him.