Some food for thought....

[Ac.]

Here's a great article from Robin Miller discussing the challenges facing open wheel racing.

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/9632/

[KC]

No candy coating from Robin Miller.

[Fogelhund]

Ouch.

Well, lets thank the OWRS guys for trying to save this. Thanks to GF, for putting some money behind his passion.

If this is going to work, they really need to give KK some reigns here. He is a man who knows how to turn around a business and make it work. Despite everything we've heard so far, I expect some major changes ASAP.

I just hope that someone keeps PG as far away from making decisions as possible, and gives the guy a gag order. Thankfully he put up some money as well.

Go KK.

[CART_4ever]

Wow - Robin got up on the wrong side... Good points on the IRL status, though. And I'm glad someone else noticed TG's little acting debut outside the courtroom. (I commented on this in another thread)

[Tim Northcutt]

Good points on both Series...

Robin always has called 'em like he sees them...

But I will reserve judgement on what OWRS actually announces as finalized plans for this year and subsequent seasons....

I hope their "Plan" is different and better....because it would be tragic to follow the same road that CART followed in its final years...by doing so, will cost PG, KK and GF many, many millions to keep OWRS afloat....

[cartpix]

Here's a link to an article that shows where TG went wrong, last week. I think it's great, but then again, my wife wrote it. ;-)

http://www.deepthrottle.com/Essays/I..._thought.shtml

Jeff

[Brian W Keske]

Robin is completely right. No one won in court, 'we' all lost.

The more 'we' fight, the more 'we' will all be on crutches, limping around and around and around and...

[macdaddy]

Can't argue with you Brian. But if it were not for the "fight" that OWRS put up, we'd be "limping around and around and around" in counter-clockwise circles.

[paul-collins]

Good article cartpix! However, I believe the author left out one possibility:

Consider this, if you will, one of the following is definitely true:

a) No one working for Tony George was willing or able to tell the boss the difference between Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy

b) Tony George, in spite of all his advantages, is stupid and disregards the excellent advice he receives.

c) Tony's statements were deliberately misleading, to confuse the lay person who doesn't understand the difference between 11 and 7, but might have followed CART had it not announced (per TG) that "it would not conduct a 2004 season."

I'm thinking casual fans who would say to themselves "well, CART's not racing next year, guess I'll watch IRL."

Although I subscribe to the premise "never ascribe malice where stupidity will suffice." A sort of Occam's razor of human behaviour, I'd guess...

[Liz]

Originally posted by Brian W Keske
Robin is completely right. No one won in court, 'we' all lost.

As has been said in other contexts, and indeed in this forum repeatedly. You cannot compromise with someone whose only idea of a perfect outcome is to kill you.

As long as Tony George insists on being dictator for life of open wheeled racing, nothing further can be accomplished. If he really and truly desiers the "reunification" of open wheeled racing, and not in the sense where Saddam desired a "Greater Iraq" when he conquered Kuwait, he would step down and turn the power over to someone acceptable to both sides.

Since that is about as likely as Yasser Arafat being elected Chairman of B'nai B'rith, I will say no more.

And P.S., leave me out of that "we". I am an individual and I have no interest whatsoever in "reunification" with Tony George, now or ever.

[zerO]

I do apologize for not posting here as much as I'd wish, but my "home" happens to be Speed... and I do beatiful work on painting a realistic picture of the Split dilemma... if anybody is interested in reading spews that echo those of Robin Miller (except a "little" more stronger and to the point) go to = http://insider.speedtv.com/ to the Champ Car board and read my threads on te front page - currently my handle is "Zeus17" (prior to that was "Fuzzy15" and "zerO" - yeah, got busted twice, but everybody knows it's still "the same old zerO"...hihihaha) ?! Enjoy...

btw, last year I predicted in February that there won't be any "Bubble Day" on May 18th at Indy and there wasn't any... this year my prediction is: maximum 30 cars on May 30th at Indy ?!?!

Anyhow, if one day I'll get busted by Speed again - 10tenths will become my primary home ?!

zerO

[mueber]

Quoted from Liz: "You cannot compromise with someone whose only idea of a perfect outcome is to kill you."

The principals of OWRS ought to have this tattooed on the insides of their eyelids.

[SurfaceUnits]

They do. PG: "Fool me once, shame on me!"

[norman-normal]

Liz, I have to give you a perfect"10"

CARTPIX great article; but at times it could have been refering to that other "born rich" George.

Just curious, did Robin lose his job?
I saw him on windtunnel a couple of weeks ago; sounded like sour grapes to me. You don't just stop loving somebody unless you get in a nasty devorce.

[Ac.]

Robin did lose his job as a reporter on CART's payroll, but as far as I know he still works for Speed. That said, his article isn't sour grapes, it's the truth.

OWRS may be able to find a way to make Champ Car profitable, and TG may keep the IRL afloat by continuing to pour millions into it, but ultimately the future would best be served by a single series.

What we need is an outsider to buy both series and IMS, and then bring together both disciplines in a 23-24 race season.

Perhaps one of the closet billionaires here at ten-tenths could step up... how about you macdaddy, or are you too busy with your new hip hop career?

[Dov]

I thought Macdaddy was still with 'ZZ Top'!?

[norman-normal]

We have been over this unification a thousand times. It's nice to have new fans comming in, but every most rookies will start it up again as if they are the first to ever think of it..... Just ask DOV.

[Bizzo5000]

Yeah, I fell prey to the whole "We need to unite thing" when this mess started. Now I know we can't. A compromise is not falling on your sword. It sounds like these guys have a plan and I'm willing to let them.

[gttouring]

ouch-
Champcars have more presence on the street and camera than the big air box heavy looking IRL cars, maybe it'll work fro them, i hope so If they won't unify now, then screw TG for faking it this whole court fight bidding time- I hope he has to sell his clabber girl stakes and then Champcars buy the IMS and run the True Indycar from there.

[Snrub]

I particularly enjoyed this part: "When Toyota bolts IRL for NASCAR (with Honda close behind), George may find himself just as helpless as CART did in 2002."

I don't think any of Robin's recent comments have shown a particular bias in favour of CART. He has written some pretty negative things and from what I saw on Wind Tunnel was hardly telling everyone how much better CART is.

Open wheel is in a pretty sorry state in the US, but that doesn't mean that it can't come back to better level. Bottom line, if both series were in dire straghts, which one do you think can come back? The core of the IRL is Indy which diminishes in significance every year. The core of CART is racing.