Newman/Haas Racing's Commitment To The Champ Car

[Flavinha]

STATEMENT ON NEWMAN/HAAS RACING'S COMMITMENT TO THE CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES

The following is a statement regarding Newman/Haas Racing's plans for the 2004 racing season. The statement should be attributed to Paul Newman, co-owner of Newman/Haas Racing.

"Any rumor that Newman/Haas Racing is leaving the Champ Car World Series is a figment of somebody's imagination. We remain committed to the series and are looking forward to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach season-opener on April 18."

[macdaddy]

x 24

[Aus.CARTfan]

Thank you FLAVINHA for that great news. Pity they did not mention anything about michel joining their team .

Cheers

[Muzza]

Cheers Aus.CARTfan,

All signs given by Newman/Haas indicate that they will not run a three-car operation unless extremely necessary.

This came straight from the team.


Muzza

[macdaddy]

Sometimes, I can't help but wish that Mr. Newman was a part of the ownership circle.

[Muzza]

Sometimes, I can't help but wish that Mr. Newman was in the White House.

[Mike.ca]

Originally posted by macdaddy
Sometimes, I can't help but wish that Mr. Newman was a part of the ownership circle.

I think you're on to something there. I doubt that, at this point in his life, he'd want to do the full time, day-to-day stuff (besides, he still has his other career), but I could see a guy like PLN as a sort of "commissioner". You know, the public face of the series, the settler of disputes, court of last resort, philosopher-king, guiding hand, etc. Even with his role at N/H, I think he'd be even handed, but if he was willing to conder a job like that, I bet he'd eliminate the conflict of interest. As I said, I doubt that Newman would do it, but I'm beginning to think that that's the sort of thing Champ Car needs: not a CEO, but someone with no other agenda but to put the integrity of the sport first. With someone like that at the helm, we might have avoided some of the problems of the last two weeks. I wonder if there are any other possible candidates for such a job?

[Muzza]

Originally posted by Mike.ca
I think you're on to something there. (...)I wonder if there are any other possible candidates for such a job?

Great posting, Mike - very well-thought.

Mario Andretti is another candidate for the job you propose - but somehow I doubt he would accept.

[macdaddy]

Well... There was Mario.
But he's washed his hands with it, and I don't blame him.
He did his best - RA is an excellent example.
I'm curious to see if he's found often in the paddock this year.

[Dov]

Thanks for posting the good news, Flavinha!

Muzza, do you have any idea where Jourdain and Carp are going to end up (what are your personal feelings on how this mess is going to shake out)??

Cheers,

Dov

[Muzza]

Originally posted by Dov
(...)
Muzza, do you have any idea where Jourdain and Carp are going to end up (what are your personal feelings on how this mess is going to shake out)??
(...)

Oddly enough, I haven't heard anything about Carpentier and Jourdain for a while. Actually, they are big, hot potatoes on the hands of Champ Car management now.

As each of these drivers are "highly visible, strongly marketable, title-chasing candidates", it becomes quite very difficult to properly "allocate" them. Once these two pieces fall into place, the overall scenario becomes much easier to read. Until then, it is all a guessing game. Also, there is possibility that Carpentier decides to race in the IRL - where he would be most welcome, by the way.

Should OWRS management - and note that I am writing OWRS, and not Champ Car - be smart, these two drivers would be placed in smaller teams. This is a very tricky exercise:

1.) Champ Car badly needs to erase - or minimize - the bad publicity from the "poaching" (now widely confirmed) of pay-drivers by teams owned/managed by Los Tres Amigos;

2.) Both Carpentier and Jourdain are experienced drivers - potential title candidates, in fact. The only way of having them accepting driver for a "lesser" team would be by lavishly compensating them for this effort. Where is this money going to come from, in an enviroment where findind dough is so difficult?

3.) For all purposes, Champ Car aims portraits itself as a "purer" series, in contrast with the "money machine that the IRL is" (these are quite debatable statements, of course). Now, allocating drivers to specific teams - such as, in a hypothetic example, landing Carpentier at RuSPORT, would be a blatant manipulation of the principles of sport by Champ Car powers-to-be. Champ Car credibility has been seriously damaged since OWRS won the bankruptcy battle, and additional "injuries" should be avoided at any cost. Balancing between one thing (wildly free market) and another (a championship where driver-team combinations are "manipulated") is very, very complicate (this is the kid of thing that Bernie Ecclestone does quite well...).

In a nutshell, Dov, I have no idea where Carpentier and Jourdain are going to land. There have been many reports originated in Mexico claiming that Jourdain is going to drive for Newman/Haas - but these are, in my opinion, more of a product of wishful thinking than anything of concrete.

First, I (and other people too) have heard that Newman/Haas would like to avoid by all means to run three cars. Second, landing a top, well-funded driver in a powerhouse of a team does not add much to the series as a whole (quite the opposite).

Regarding Carpentier, currently he is more likely to find a drive outside Champ Car than in it.

Regards,


Muzza