Does CARTs many different races confuse American audiences on what is CART

[Jimmyz360]

In CART they run many different races that include street, oval, and closed tracks. This is why I think CART is the best racing with the best drivers. But since CART is now expanding its going in all these directions. I think many people in America have been drawn away from CART by the confusion of CART with IRL and F1, because CART does all of the courses. IRL does ovals and f1 only does closed courses. CART is the only ones that run on streets, so if IRL and F1 are growing faster than CART because of their exclusitivity then would CART grow if they only ran on city streets? I dunno the answer, but it is obvious that 3 out 10 people at some of these races actually know the difference, and if u see cars that look the same (open wheel) on different courses then people dont know the difference.

[Jimmyz360]

It might be like Mercedes building many cars over 40k, just start to build cars to compete with toyota corollas. The car would not sell because people are use to seeing high price Mercedes that a change into a market totally different from luxury just doesnt fit. So should CART keep with its multitude of racing, or just conquer one? It seems that CART is actually trying that with America (notice less ovals in America, but moving to Europe where coincidentally there is no IRL) but F1 doesnt run ovals, coincidence i think not. I think CART needs to have commercials like the NASCAR ones for TNT...i watch "see nascars heroes on TNT" on like 3 commericals a day. Wow thats advertising. Do that...see carts heroes and advertise the fastest racing on earth and the crowds will come.

[Laagri]

But F1 does run on street courses - Monaco and Melbourne.

I don't want to start a nationalistic argument here, but I wonder if marketing is really the problem. Sure it's part of it, but is it the main aspect? It seems to me from my (probably biased) distinctly non-American viewpoint that the 'average' American sport fan and TV viewer is not interested in events where there is little American participation. The fastest racing on earth maybe, but so what if there aren't many Americans doing it? Most of us on this forum probably think the international side to CART is fantastic, but does the average American think that? I remember seeing reports on the BBC in 1996 concerning the state of American coverage of the Atlanta Olympics - that the focus was entirely on American athletes to the extent that if one finished second, very often it was impossible to find out who had won. If this is true, is that representative just of the American TV networks or of the whole viewing public?

And being as most of the sponsors are American companies, how long will they carry on if Americans aren't watching it anymore? I'm a European CART fan, so I know brand names like Target, K-mart, Kool, but I don't actually know what any of them are. These companies aren't targeting people like me, they need Americans, don't they?

And on a slightly related point, the USGP at Indy was a success last year, but how long will it continue to be? The only saving grace I suppose is that at least there are two Indy 500 winners in the F1 field, so that might help keep the interest up.

[floid2000]

As an American race fan, I can only speak for myself. I enjoy any kind of racing that has a good competitive formula .Right now F1 seems to be a game of follow the leader,which is why I don't follow it too closely . I do ,though, love a good road race (especialy at Laguna Seca) but the ovals are exciting to watch as well as attend,I dig the SPEED. If you,ve never been to an oval.The visibility from any (high up) seat is great. You can usually see 90% of the track. BUT,> beware of low seats< you tend to get "sandblasted"

[Liz]

The same argument (No Americans = No Interest) was made in a recent issue of Le Mans and Sports Car Racer in which a letter writer bluntly said that Audi should hire Americans because "Americans only want to see sports in which Americans dominate. That's just the way it is."

Personally, being an ex-pat American, I like the international flavour of Champ Cars and sports car racing, and I don't care what country the pilots are from or what birth certificates their parents can produce. And anyone who claims to be 'confused' by what they are watching, as far as open wheel racing goes, is probably able to tell the difference between NASCAR and Grand Am - just about as similar as Champ Cars and the Brand X Racing League, IMO.

[KC]

I think the anti-international talk stems strictly from the press and not the racing fans. I follow almost every kind of motor racing that I can go see or watch on television. I love the international flavor of CART. I also love to watch sprint cars, drag boats, motorcycle races, etc. The ones who constantly make comments about the field being non-American are typically American press types who follow only one form of motorsports. They are typically older and remember motor racing when they got hooked as the golden era. They always seem to forget that American motor racing has always been populated by international racers. The Indy 500 used to be on par with Monaco and LeMans as one of the biggest races in the world with thre best racers in the world racing for honors.

If enough media hacks espouse their opinion as the news, then the hordes of lemmings that follow motor sports casually consider it news and then it becomes the truth.

[Jimmyz360]

I think CART should keep its different kinds of tracks but I think CART will get really popular when it a) changes engines...to a louder all motor formula. Frankly I think the only reason people like F1 is because of the scream of the engine and a little because of the history. When you think about it...as fans you can only use two senses..hearing and sight, so make a car quiet such as the CART cars because of the turbos then you lose half their interests b) needs to advertise CART more...the name needs to be plastered up so its more recognizable to people such as NASCAR..every time people ask me what racing do i like I tell them CART...i have to tell them indy cars...even though that is IRL...just so they understand. I think its also because CART sounds like go-karting too. c) get more american drivers...yes racism does exist..that white people dont want to see brazilians for some strange reason as compared to seeing white drivers. Sure I dont mind it, but remember this isnt F1 where we travel all over the world (i know we do for about 6 races) but more than 3/4 of the races are in america so it would be wise to have american drivers. Its amazing how much Michael Andretti saved CART. Just like AJ Foyt for IRL.

[BootsOntheSide]

Americans can identify with IRL drivers, as they are predominantly your average Americans. Look at their names - Buzz Calkins, Sam Hornish Jr, Billy Boat, Buddy Lazier, All-American to the extreme. Americans struggle to relate to drivers called Kenny Brack, Helio Castro-Neves and Dario Franchitti. CART desperately needs a better publicity machine, and it seems changes are coming. IRL is technically called the IRNLS now. I'm convinced that it stands for Idiotic Rednecks Never Looking Skilful. There's no way it should be more popular than CART, or F1 for that matter.

[Old Clunker]

"Does CARTs many different races confuse American audiences on what is CART"

You can bet your sweet bippy this American piece of the CART audience knows exctly what CART is; People and machines involved in class act racing. If you have any doubts about the image CART portrays then you missed the activities in Germany this weekend.

CART is in a class of it's own and counts among it's personell some of the most capable teams and drivers in the world. These people and machines are capable of demonstrating their high degree of potential anywhere CART points them.

No confusion here

Alex! Get back to us.

Old Clunker

[Arneal]

I don't think that race or nationality has anything to do with CARTs lack of general popularity in the US. CART has the same problem that F1 and soccer have, it is boring.

CART only has a lot of passing when compared to F1. CART is a snoozefest when compared to NASCAR, football, or basketball. That is why it is not popular.

If NASCAR is popular because the drivers are American than the IRL should be equally popular. As we know, the IRL is not popular despite having a field full of Americans and the Indy 500 to promote their product.

[Laagri]

Originally posted by Arneal
CART has the same problem that F1 and soccer have, it is boring. CART is a snoozefest when compared to NASCAR, football, or basketball.

Sorry for the off-topic post.
It's strange isn't it that Europeans and Americans have such different tastes in sport. I'm European and I can honestly say I don't know of a bigger snoozefest than "football" (or "American football", as it's known here). Seems kind of like rugby without the rules and without the skill. The only thing that runs it close in terms of snooziness is baseball. Basketball isn't much better (popular here in eastern Europe, though). And "soccer" ("football" to me) is fine!
And yet we all like motorsport.

(How long before Americans start watching cricket, snooker and crown green bowls???)