Newman-Haas significant step to IRL

[Down F0rce]

Newman Hass have been testing again.

At Phoenix.

Phoenix? For a team that only want to do The 500, why test at Phoenix, a short oval? I can't see any obvious atvantage to testing on a circut that could not be farther away from Indy, in tearms of track style. Unless thay are in fact planning on the full IndyCar series. Again, Bruno was at the wheel.

Have a read here - http://www.racingpress.com/publish/nhirl111403.shtml

[boom boom]

I wouldn't read to much into it. Roger tested and raced at Phoenix before his first Indy 500 with Gil and Helio. The more they know about the IRl car the better they will be at the 500 if they give it a go this year.

[gttouring]

i agree with BoomBoom- the better to under stand the settings and all for the short chutes at Indy, more knowledge is never a bad thing. Of course, are N-H weighing in that maybe the IRL will end up the only one when the dust settles?

[rush1]

But CART has a temporary date on may 16th in Las Vegas and the 23rd in Mexico (provided there is a CART next year). Those are the 2 qualifying weekends for Indy next year right?

The logistics on that would be impossible. Unless they have 1 or 2 seperate drivers for Indy.

I bet at least 1 car is coming over

[macdaddy]

Interesting observation, Rush. That part of it went right over my head when I realized that CART is racing thru Indy quals. Of course, it is the car that they qualify, not the driver, so Haas could call upon somebody else to put Bruno's car into the show.

[BootsOntheSide]

Why let facts get in the way of rush1's casual CART-bashing? macdaddy, you're a spoilsport.

[macdaddy]

Sorry, Boots!

[dirtfan]

Dropping races on qualifying dates was Andrew Craig's cute little trick to keep CART out of Indy and kill the IRL back in the late '90s. Has he been somehow reborn?

[rush1]

Originally posted by dirtfan
Dropping races on qualifying dates was Andrew Craig's cute little trick to keep CART out of Indy and kill the IRL back in the late '90s. Has he been somehow reborn?

Hopefully. It might force uncle Carl to make a choice between CART and the 500. I doubt he bought these cars, spent money to test them and then let them collect dust because of a scheduling conflict.

It could be CARTs last fatal error

[indycool]

Car's the first to hedge his bets. If CART answers the bell, Carl and Newman are down the road with CART. At a point where that may not happen, Haas may make his "call" the other way.

[macdaddy]

Rush...
I'll never completely understand your hatred. Ya know, if ya think about it, if it wasn't for CART there would be no IRL, and perhaps IMS would be condominiums.

[boom boom]

They key wording there is temporary dates. The Cart schedule is not permanent, exspecially with the sale looming or Cart runs out of money and colapeses. NH were not one of the many CART teams to all of a sudden try the 500 when CART teams started coming back for the 500, they dont to things half_____. If they do go for the 500 they will want to test as much as they can. All I see is NH trying to test as much as they can for the 500 right now. What series they run in will be determined later. And they have stated they want to stay in Cart. We will all see next year

[rush1]

Originally posted by macdaddy
Rush...
I'll never completely understand your hatred. Ya know, if ya think about it, if it wasn't for CART there would be no IRL, and perhaps IMS would be condominiums.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was around long before anyone ever thought of CART. And the drivers who became famous in CART, who made CART a household name - Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan, Rick Mears, all the Unsers, Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford, AJ Foyt owe their popularity to winning the Indianapolis 500. It wasn't some breathtaking duel at the GI Joe 200 in Portland that propelled the series to the lofty heights it once enjoyed, it was the Indianapolis 500.

I don't have anything against CART, or the supporters of the series. I wish the pointless open wheel civil war never happened and CART was stronger than NASCAR. But that is now not the case. We need one open wheel series and the quickest way to achieve that is for CART to die right now. I really don't care who controls things and you can call it what you want. Its just good entertainment to me. But CART is now an obnoxious embarrasement to open wheel racing with their unsponsored cars and pay as you go drivers. Sorry if that offends you Macdaddy but its my opinion.

Tony will keep a couple of street circuits like Long Beach and Road America as well. Once CART is kaput maybe we can make some inroads into the NASCAR fan base

[JamesJimmy]

Gotta say I agree with you, rush1. There needs to be one American open wheel series, and the best way for that to happen right now is for CART to fold, and fold quickly.

[indycool]

Macdaddy, you and I usually agree on things, but I respectfully submit this time that your carts and horses are parked askance.

If there was no Indianapolis Motor Speedway and no Indianapolis 500 with traditions and history back to 1911, with millions continually poured back into the world's largest seating facility, there would have been no USAC in 1956, no CART in 1979, no IRL in 1996, no Brickyard 400 in 1994 and no USGP at Indianapolis in 2000.

To say that IMS would be condominiums without CART is, IMO, way off the mark. Indeed, CART has never had anything to do with the "500." Teams running in the CART series have participated.

[BootsOntheSide]

I think it's a sahem that one race is seen as more important than an entire series. it's not as if Indianapolis was the first oval racetrack, as Milwaukee predates it by 6 years. The decision to return was not entirely taken by Penske, Ganassi or Andretti, it was taken by Marlboro and Target as much as anything. The fact that the event lasts a whole month is undoubtedly part of this. The fact remains that, for teh rest of the year, IRL's best attendances are roughly equal to CART's worst.

My real feeling is that the IRL now has most of the 'problems' CART had in its late-90s 'glory years':

The field is dominated by overseas drivers, with 7 of the top 10 beign form overseas. European road-racing graduates are the saught-afetr drivers among the top teams.

The costs are high enough to make it very hard for small teams to be competitive. The schedule has some unpopular rounds and is 'betraying its heritage' by racig voerseas. Greedy car manufacturers are holding the series to ransom over rules.

There are still question marks over the safety, although it's not as bad as some make out.

A lot of those things are, in my view, natural results of team srrategy. The overseas drivers seem to make a bigegr impression, even on ovals. America has no divine right to supply all the top drivers. In fact I expect more foreign guysin NASCAR over teh next 2 decades, especailly if international championships like ASCAR take off. Some selections are down to sponsorship, I appreciate that, but the funding has to be found somewhere.

CART may have been a victim of its own success, as its international appeal made US fans feel it didn't speak to them. It's strange, because in otehr countries, cahmpionships like the BTCC Touring Car series was more popular when overseas stars (some former F1 drivers) dominated.

[macdaddy]

Yeah, that "condominium" remark of mine was kinda silly.
After posting it, I'd realized that I'd had too much to drink, and logged off!

[indycool]

Understand....

[Down F0rce]

Drinking on the job, eh Macdaddy? That could cost someone thier mod job.