Why don't the Champ car teams take part in this year's Indy 500?

[Snrub]

I would REALLY like someone to explain to us why some sort of agreement can't be made on cooperation like running a couple of shared races, a league based system or an outright merger. Perhaps few really know outside of an inner circle, but it seems inconceivable that they can't work together in some aspect. There's only one engine and tire manufacturer in the two series, that has to make it more possible than ever. The Cosworths could be branded Honda if required. Recall that Honda did fire up one of their old 2.65L turbos last year when it seemed like something might happen.

It's cannot be that tough to develop a fair equivilancy formula when each series runs one chasis, engine and tire and have reasonably close performance. Surely they can find a way to each dump an underperforming race and work together for their common good. Running a shared Indy would be good for everyone, but especially TG, thus the IRL should probably participate in two CC races like Long Beach and Toronto. That would work pretty nicely because the LB thing would give both some needed publicity towards the start of the season and created a buildup for Indy. Toronto is a little further along but it gets both into the important Canadian market.

[Alwaysfirst]

Long Beach & Toronto would be good but the big advantage with Indy is the 33 car limit. 33 cars round Long Beach or Toronto would be way too many & considering that there are still 33+ entries to Indy each year if the series combined some serious bumping may have to happen. This is why I suggested Road America. It's a big race on a long track (more space for more cars) with room down the pit straight for a pitlane expansion towards the first corner. If they were to combine for one or two races then space would be the biggest issue IMO & therefore places like Miller Motorsports Park, not as good as a Mid-Ohio or Road Atlanta for layout but with so much more space, would be the obvious choices.

[Snrub]

But realisitically with perhaps a couple of exceptions the IRL runs those extra cars to ensure that they hit 33. The very bottom rung CC and IRL teams might not participate in the crossover races. (eg. no DCR @ Indy or Vision @ LB) I just checked and they had 28 cars at Long Beach in 2001. I'm not going to figure out if they ever crammed even more in, but I imagine it's possible to get a good number in there.

[climb]

Originally Posted by Snrub

I would REALLY like someone to explain to us why some sort of agreement can't be made on cooperation like running a couple of shared races, a league based system or an outright merger. ....

Very good point, and very fascinating perspective snrub; I think the main problem is connected to running different cars, therefore:
- Someone must decide which chassis is run in those races (with the consequence of creating an experience gap between the usual users and the ones coming from the other series)
- Purchasing cars just for a couple of races would be a high cost, hard to cover.


The only example I recall is the internat'l F3 races (like Macau); albeit running the same chassis, the mere fact of choosing a certain tyre brand put the teams which use others in their series ina condition of disadvantage.

Ok it's true that at Indy there is a month of testing, and that a special period for not regular teams could ultimately be set; about the economic side, the host series should provide the comers with some help, like a kind of renting.

[icemachine]

I don't see why its necessary to utilize a common chassis. I think with the amount of management Pi provides wih the ECU, and perhaps a different nose cone, their is no reason that the DP01 could not be setup to be on par with the IRL cars

[JohnSSC]

It is not so much the cost to make the adjustments, it is the cost of determining what adjustments to make. I think it would take a fairly significant amount of track time at Indy to determine what will work.

Some wind tunnel time might be needed because a front wing change will need to provide downforce in both clean and dirty air.

It would be interesting though to see a "mixed bag" of vehicles out there though.

[Leighton Irwin]

Unless a team has its shop in the Indy area running Indy is very expensive. You are there for a month and unless you are based nearby with the crew all living nearby you have motel and food costs. Eight or nine motel rooms X 30 X $100+. Probably closer to $200 a night plus food, rental cars and assorted expenses. Not a huge amount in the big picture but certainly something to be considered.

[climb]

Of course you need some basic funding, but you have top consider the money prizes which are very generous even if your driver retires at the first lap