Flat Out Oval Racing

[Jordi]

No, the last Michigan race was the one where Carpentier won his first race - with a little help from Tagliani. Franchitti and Jourdain were in a dead-heat for 2nd place, too.

[nickyf1]

the one at michigan when tony kannan won by such a close margain against... juan pablo montoya i believe?

[macdaddy]

Michigan:

1998
3:00:48.785 Moore
3:00:49.044 Vasser
3:00:49.052 Zanardi

1999
2:41:12.362 Kanaan
2:41:12.394 Montoya
2:41:20.815 Tracy

2000
2:48:49.790 Montoya
2:48:49.830 Andretti
2:48:51.411 Franchitti

2001
2:54:55.757 Carpentier
2:54:56.000 Franchitti
2:54:56.000 Jourdain

Franchitti and Jourdain in 2001: Picture

In 1999, Kanaan won by virtue of Papis having run out of fuel in T4.
2000 was the most-exciting race I've ever seen, live or on TV.
(1995 Michigan was pretty cool, too)
2001 was a stand-on-your-seat finish as well.

[Hazza]

With out going off topic too much, that picture has allways intreguied me as to why the timing line is behind the s/f line...

[Omega99]

Michigan 2000 was one of the first champ car races I ever watched on TV. It's one of the reasons I became a fan and started following the series and racing in general.

[D.R.T.]

Champ Car should put together a DVD release of Michigan races. Some of these memories would be great to watch on hand whenever you got the urge.

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Champ Car should put together a DVD release of Michigan races. Some of these memories would be great to watch on hand whenever you got the urge.

Problem with doing that is it will reinforce that things now are not what they were

[Jordi]

That's not a problem though, k-b, it's just a fact.

It may sound like we're never happy, but the truth is that I think it's great that Champ Car racing still exists and that it is somewhat flourishing, but it could be even better in my opinion.

[luke]

I would rather see oval races not flat out as they tend to be just about sticking down low and slip streaming, I would rather have a little less action but knowing the drivers are driving as they are having to lift, or go about it differently.

[Xpunk75]

I think the solution to the problem is for Champ Car to put some Super Speed Ways on their Scedule. 2 or 3, the problem is what tracks could they race on?

Tony George owns Indy. And Daytona and Talledega are the home of NassCar so the Champ Cars couldn't race there, but I think if they could race at a couple of super speedways and they promoted them well like they have with these new Street Races like Edmenton and San Jose that people will show up for the races.

I think if they put on a good show they would bring better turn outs each year. I also think that Champ Car has to make a big deal out of these races. Give them a theme or a gimmick like indy has so that a win at these tracks means more then winning at lets say one of the odinary street tracks that Champ Car usually races on.

I'm sure that if they did put super speed ways on the scedule that the smart guys running champ car at this moment could think of a way to put the driver ability back into the racing. Ether by reducing down force for the oval races and even go to more extremes like using that Handard Device thing you guys were talking about. It seems like the owners of Champ Car are really trying to build these cars better for the tracks their racing at. The new design for 2007 is suppose to make it easier for these guys to pass each other on the tight street circuits they race on. I'm sure they could put the same effort in developing a version of that same car that would make oval racing more exciting as well.

I've said this before and i'll say it again, this formula both Champ Car and IRL because in theory their both trying to do the same thing but are screwing it up. The best form that a open wheel racing seris could take in Norht America would be to race on Street courses, Road Course, Ovals, and Super Speed Ways. An equal mixture of all four spread out in a variety order over the season. This series use to be the fastest, most diverse, most exciting racing i ever saw before 1996. It's a shame what its become now but I think that Champ Car is doing everything they possibly can to improve it.

[macdaddy]

LongBeach = GrandAm = ISC = Superspeedways.
Let's just keep our collective fingers crossed.