Now It's Grand Am bidding on CART!!!

[Mags]

GRAND AM, and Others... Considering a Bid for CART Assets

The Indy Star is reporting that Roger Edmondson, the president of the Grand American Road Racing Series, is considering a bid for CART's assets. Grand Am is owned by International Speedway Corp., which also owns NASCAR.

Grand Am officials have signed the confidentiality paperwork with CART.

ISC also owns 88 Corp which created a stir at last month's CART bankruptcy hearing when its legal counsel referred to a possible bid. It is unclear whether the group is serious about a bid.

Paul Gentilozzi perdicted the winning bid would be over $14 Million, and spoke specifically to the merits of the bid by the Indy Racing League this afternoon.:

"His (Tony George's) vision is clear: He wants to oval race on NASCAR's tracks with a couple of road course races thrown in to satisfy a few sponsors. That's not our vision at all. We want to make CART great again."

[Tailwind]

This stuff is worse than Silly Season. Now what would Grand-Am want with CART. I way be off on this, but it seems like these bids are an effort muddy the waters.

[Tailwind]

This will make more sense:

I MAY be way off..

Sorry.

[Mags]

Originally posted by Tailwind
This will make more sense:

I MAY be way off..

Sorry.

Can't you just see those "hot wheels" DP's racing against the CHAMP cars.....

[Omega99]

Too bad there's no smilie for me to show that I'm throwing my hands up in frustration and confusion. Perhaps the traditional bag over the head will keep me protected until the dust settles.

[Mags]

Originally posted by Omega99
Too bad there's no smilie for me to show that I'm throwing my hands up in frustration and confusion. Perhaps the traditional bag over the head will keep me protected until the dust settles.

NO ONE loves this series more than I do.. and I am throwing MY hands up in the air!!!

[sgw2]

Grand-Am has open dates the weekends of Long Beach, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. GARRA has 20 DPs and perhaps 80 cars that will be at the Rolex 24 next weekend. There is no difficulty for this series, which features factory supported entries including a Toyota backed Ganassi effort with Scott Pruett and Max Papis, to supply the neccessary cars to fill the grid, and they have a TV package.

For GARRA and ISC it would be a way to take control of all road racing in North America, grab some much needed prestige for GARRA, and in effect cntain IRL to ovals and ALMS to a small niche status from which they could well perish.

It has long been a France family desire to control Road Racing, and the firesale by CART could be the ehicle for them.

BTW, I expect neither IRL nor GARRA to include Surfers Paradise in their venue bids.

[climb]

For apparent costs problems

[The Treester]

Okay, I’m going to play the devil advocate right now, since I’m affiliated with Grand-Am with a team.

I can see strategy of drawing fans, for having Champ Cars on Rovals because it allows an entire view of the track, USGP like. At the same time I have no clue how the cars would react to the “banking transition” on Rovals. I'm personally against Rovals!

This might sell to the non-true Champ Car fans that complain about not seeing the entire race/track. It might work to get more fans in the stands and maybe pull some of the IRL fans over. Also run Champ Cars with Grand Am like ALMS have done before. Since Grand Am is the road racing step child of NASCAR it might draw some fans from NASCAR, of course it would be the non-technically challenge fans that can handle complexity of the cars compared to NASCAR!



The lesser of the evils... Grand Am, just a personalize thought!

[GP Racer]

While I didn't predict an outright bid by GARRA, I did believe that GARRA would play a big role in the future.

I posted awhile back, stating that I thought the future "Big 3" of N American racing would be NASCAR, IRL, GARRA, simply because of the France/ISC/George tie in. There money and power gives them the marketing strength to put all of there rivals to shame. These series would cover stock cars on the ovals, open wheel on the ovals and road courses, and sports cars on the road courses. In other words, they would have something for everyone, under one big roof.

The strategy would be, simple to follow rules, and specs, alot of passing, action and lead changes, using simple, fairly cheap cars, and most important, marketing on a scale never seen before in the sport.

Call it dumbed down, or contrived, but I believe its the future. Smaller series simply aren't financially viable in todays bigger-is-better, mass marketed world. Almost every series out there besides NASCAR is in some kind of trouble, most barely surviving as they lose there fan base to NASCAR. The France family, who have rocketed NASCAR into the second most watched sport, will attempt and succeed in doing the same for GARRA and the "new" IRL.

Many people won't like this future, and I'm not sure I will either, but economics are going to rule here, not our feelings.

[KC]

Just a hypothesis...

Say that GARRA comes and and purchases CART lock, stock & barrel. They own the equipment and the contracts. Suppose the GARRA sees that with CART's formula it gives them a premiere series with which to headline their racing weekends with. If they were to leave CART alone and continue it with the current rules and regs and make them the show finale of a long weekend of racing with sports cars and open wheel machines they could effectively corner the market in road racing. They get access to the ever popular Long Beach and Cleveland and can give CART access to the Daytona Road Course and Watkins Glen. I know a lot of fans do not agree with the spec prototypes and I have my reservations about them as well, but the GARRA could offer CART a way to continue and not either go away or be folded into the oval only IRL.

[Fogelhund]

Grand Am? bwaaaah!!!!!! Why would multiple factions of the same group bid on the same asset?

Very strange.

Announced today, Coke is making a bid on Pepsi, a counter bid has been also made by Sprite. (Not really true, honest)

[GP Racer]

They could be bidding on different assets.

GARRA wouldn't want equipment, but race dates are a strong possibility. The IRL will want equipment. You don't see a tie-in here?

I guess you don't see a future for GA fogelhund?

[Fogelhund]

Well, you've got a point there GP Racer.. IRL group could bid on the assets and races they want, then GARRA could bid on the rest of the races. Perhaps the combined bid would be very financially competitive.

I don't like GA to be honest, it isn't the type of racing or formula that I wish to succeed. I don't know if there is a future or not. Much depends on how the "Pro" teams are managed, and whether or not "Privateers" have a shot now. That Bell has a good year was a great advert for them. That they have continuously driven away teams from poor management would be a concern. If they can keep teams happy, then it may succeed.

[GP Racer]

For better or worse GARRA will be part of the Big 3, for the reasons I mentioned in my earlier post.

[The Treester]

Originally posted by KC
Just a hypothesis...

... Suppose the GARRA sees that with CART's formula it gives them a premiere series with which to headline their racing weekends with. If they were to leave CART alone and continue it with the current rules and regs and make them the show finale of a long weekend of racing with sports cars and open wheel machines they could effectively corner the market in road racing...

...that sounds familiar.... ...but not as wordy!

[gttouring]

watch they'll propose tube frame oen wheel cars with body shells and flat bottms.
NA 5 litre V8's at least they be DOHC and spec MSD ignition so no Traction control- and when speed get out of hand they'll in stall roll hoop air dams and put a spoiler on the rear wing to " dirty upthe car"
hyuck hyuck

[Fogelhund]

I don't think GARRA is at all interested in running an Open Wheel series. I think this may, as GP Racer has stated be part of a bid for the "NASCAR THREE" to further take control over North American racing. IRL gets their date, GARRA bids on the rest to eradicate "CART" type series.

If successful, a VERY sad day for fans of Road Racing in North America.

What did my signature say?

[dirtfan]

Quoth the Treester: "This might sell to the non-true Champ Car fans that complain about not seeing the entire race/track."
I guess the "TRUE CHAMPAR FAN" would just as soon sit in the bar and just watch the lap board, or only watch one corner?
Just like the TRUE NFL FAN would just watch one linebacker?!

[GP Racer]

Hmmmm, interesting analogy dirtfan!

[The Treester]

bad analogy i guess....hmmm

individual vs. team, so I guess we can count a pit stop for the sake of a team or watch to see which linebacker makes the tackle first to make it a true analogy, i guess...

r we still mad about the dirt tracks????

I',m sure there's one on tv somewhere????

[dirtfan]

Sorry if I seem to be making snide comments, but sometimes I get tired of the supercilious attitudes expressed here.
I like all racing, including "rovals" like Phoenix, dirt-in-your-beer sprints, eardrum-busting Top Fuel and super speedway. Don't like Cal Speedway 'cause you can't see the back straight from my son's handicap seating. Back in Jurassic times, we'd go to Paramount Ranch and sit on the hill so we could see the entire course while listening to the V12 Ferraris.
Some day I'd like to go to Phoenix and watch the twilight Grand Am, sounds like a Readers Digest version of Sebring.

[The Treester]

Originally posted by dirtfan
Sorry if I seem to be making snide comments, but sometimes I get tired of the supercilious attitudes expressed here.
I like all racing, including "rovals" like Phoenix, dirt-in-your-beer sprints, eardrum-busting Top Fuel and super speedway. Don't like Cal Speedway 'cause you can't see the back straight from my son's handicap seating. Back in Jurassic times, we'd go to Paramount Ranch and sit on the hill so we could see the entire course while listening to the V12 Ferraris.
Some day I'd like to go to Phoenix and watch the twilight Grand Am, sounds like a Readers Digest version of Sebring.

and who has a supercilious attitude???

[dirtfan]

Possibly those who claim that NASCAR fans couldn't possibly understand the nuances of road racing, and that includes a lot of the posters here.

[The Treester]

I don't know about others but I go by encounters with folks I've experience trying to explain the concept of Champ Cars to people that watches racing. Not saying all fans of NASCAR, which is a lot, just the people I've encounter.

Your taking this way to personal, again!