Making Sense of it all

[Crash Test]

OK, folks, let's try and make some sense of the silly season; who will be going where and doing what?

Newman Hass
Looking for two new drivers

Fernandez
Fernandez to stay in CART, Nakano to IRL

Rahal
unchanged (?) possible third car

Forsythe
3 cars (?) Patrick leaving (?)

Chip Ganasi
3 cars (?)

Andretti-Green
IRL

PWR
(?)

Patrick
2 cars (?)

Herdez
2 cars (?)

Sigma et al
Where are they at (?)

Anyone else, anyone new?

What's the car count up to? 25 yet Mr Pook?

[marcus]

gee , by the reading of that i kight be able to snag a drive next year

[Jay]

There's certainly no shortage of drivers to pick from, it's more a matter of finding sponsorship. The one guy I would like to see get a ride is David Rutledge. He showed a ton of talent in Atlantics and I'm sure is ready for Cart....just needs that sponsor.

Then there are young guys like Valiente, Gurney and Fogarty...maybe a bit young...but then again, so were Scott Dixon and Greg Moore. I'd love to see any of the above get a ride.

Then there's the abundance of European/British drivers like Justin Wilson and Anthony Davidson who are probably good enough for F1, but can't get a ride.

Then there's IRL drivers like Buddy Rice and Tomas Shekter who've publicly stated they'd rather be racing in Cart and are probably talented enough to be in Cart. I do kinda worry Tomas might be another T Bell though...

It's going to be an interesting few months anyway...

[Crash Test]

But it's funny how the world works in cycles. Back in 1997 the IRL was the no-name series, but now it seems that a lot of the 'name' CART drivers are doing everything they can to get away from CART...

[DNQ]

I expect most of next years new talent to come from F3000 drivers who, like Jay said, just can't make it to Formula 1.

There are a hell of a lot of very talented drivers with nothing on their plates next year. While of course, most will not go to CART, there is a big pool of drivers....

[f1manoz]

Ganassi
Brack and Junquiera, and depending on what Toyota want, Dixon

Newman/Haas
Franchitti and two others

Rahal
Vasser, Jourdain and a third car

Players
Tracy, Tags and Carpentier 50%

Fernandez
Adrian to stay, Nakano in IRL

Patrick
Servia and Bell, depends on sponsorship

Herdez
Dominguez and second car

PWR (with Big Mo and Green)
2 car team. Plenty of drivers available

Andretti-Green
1 car in CART, 1 car in IRL probably

Plus Sigma might return and there will be others from Atlantics.

[macdaddy]

I don't think Carpentier will still be with Forsythe. And I foresee three cars for both Fernandez and Andretti. Adrian will run two in CART, Andretti one.

[BootsOntheSide]

"Back in 1997 the IRL was the no-name series, but now it seems that a lot of the 'name' CART drivers are doing everything they can to get away from CART..."

That's almost a total lie. Michael Andretti is pretty much the only top driver who wants to get away from CART, and that's only because he feels he can't hack it at the top level anymore. If you ask De Ferran or Castroneves which series they'd rather be in, I know they'd say CART.

And what about Walker and Mo Nunn? I could imagine Honda taking Nunn to IRL full time, but I'm sure Derrick will still be around, ideally with 2 cars.

[Liz]

Ganassi is very displeased with Brack, who costs as much as both his other drivers and has produced nothing; look for him to turn up in another team if anyone can afford him.

My guesses for NH are Franchitti, Papis and an American driver to be named -- Carl Haas is getting megabucks for da Matta's contract and will be able to purchase the best. If he doesn't snag Papis, Fernandez will for Nakano's current ride.

I'm guessing Justin Wilson will get a drive in Champ Cars as he has finally realised he will never fit in an F1 car no matter how talented he is, and he's a fine driver who deserves an international show. Possibly he'll get the second car at NH if Papis goes to Fernandez.

I am guessing that Michel Vallente will have a drive in Champ Cars this year depending on sponsorship. He is fast, he is a very nice boy, and he will fit in nicely. If PWR manage to get funding (Gugelman may have some influence here if he comes into the team) I'd guess Servia and Bell will be run there. Although Bell would fit at NH and someone there could teach him to drive with his eyes open -- heck, they taught Mikey! (Carl Haas could always sit on him.) Bell is American and Mario might consider him for that Mario car.

Nunn will keep Tony and I hope he'll get some more money to upgrade his car. All Tony's problems have been mechanical this year and he really deserves a break.

Champ Cars will have no shortage of drivers. But Mikey may be really surprised that nobody wants to go to the Invisible Racing League with him ...

[Crash Test]

What went wrong with Brack? He was on fire last year (until he kept finding ways of crashing into Max), and after joining a gun team like Ganasi, we'd expect a bit more from him...

[gaines]

Brack had great chemistry with the 8 Shell team last year but I don't see that with Target Ganassi this year. Brack should have been the favorite to win the title this year but who knew Damatta would become so dominating?

Another thing with Brack is that he is a great oval racer but has struggled on road and street courses. His IRL experience gives him a big boost when turning only left but he just seems to lack something on the road/street races. Also he just doesn't look motivated to me this year. He looks like he's going through the motions alot instead of pushing that car like he did last season. Of course he also has made some bonehead moves that have cost him early in a few races.

Brack is a great driver and nice guy. I met him here in Columbus last year as part of the Mid-Ohio week and got some autographs and listened to his band, RPM. Bobby Rahal is great and Max Papis was just silly but they were all really nice guys.

Bracks problems can be one of two things in my opinion.
1.) He is struggling getting used to the new team, car, manufacturer, etc.

or

2.) He got a fat contract with a great team and just expects that Target car to drive itself to victory lane. After all it got alot of other guys there over the years.

Then again, maybe it's the paint scheme. Maybe Chip needs to bring back the lightning bolts on the cars.

-Steve

[Jay]

Yes, I can vouch for Max Papis' silliness... He and the late Greg Moore are the only two drivers I've met that tease their fans as they sign autographs...

It's very difficult for drivers to make a smooth transition from ovals road/street racing... This is probably a big reason there aren't more American drivers..they're brought up on ovals and then can't cut it on the road circuits.

[Liz]

Brack never has been good on anything but ovals. I was very surprised when Ganassi signed him with the expectation that he was going to win a championship, and that he continues to jeer at Bruno who is actually his best chance at winning anything at all. Bruno is good on both ovals and road courses, he's second in the championship, and he gets along well with everybody. When Chip isn't screaming at him, he drives well enough to line up beside da Matta in F1.

Maybe Mikey could take Brack back to Invisible Racing? Then Vallente could have the other Ganassi car.

[gaines]

Originally posted by Jay
Yes, I can vouch for Max Papis' silliness... He and the late Greg Moore are the only two drivers I've met that tease their fans as they sign autographs...

Max is just silly anyway. I asked him about winning in the rain in Portland last year and he got this goofy laugh going as we was telling me that winning in the rain is just as good as winning in the sun. I love the fact that you get so many different countries in CART. Sense of humor goes beyond boundaries of Nations. If you're funny, you're funny.

It's very difficult for drivers to make a smooth transition from ovals road/street racing... This is probably a big reason there aren't more American drivers..they're brought up on ovals and then can't cut it on the road circuits.

There are more young American drivers who can drive road courses than you think it's just there isn't a reward for them here. NASCAR carries a much bigger payday than CART, LeMans, Grand America, etc. Besides there are only a handfull of good road courses to learn on in the States but there a thousands of little short track ovals that guys can race on for little cash. However we have a ton of young drivers looking to open wheel but it's more toward the IRL because there is less of a schedule than NASCAR and CART gets so much bad press here. Plus Rahal is the only American owner openly searching for American drivers. The Canadian teams always look to support Canadian drivers but the American teams don't. Brazilian and European drivers bring better experience on their resume. Not necessarily more but better. F3000, Brazil's kart circuits, etc.

[Jordi]

Can Brack do a Fittipaldi in Ganassi's NASCAR team 2003-04?

[macdaddy]

Jordi just reminded me of something! Remember when they first announced Brack's signing with Ganassi? When interviewed, Brack said that his decision was based largely on the depth of Ganassi's team, CART, IRL, and NASCAR. At the time, it seemed to me that the innuendo was that he would have a shot at the stock cars, but I quickly dismissed the thought.