"I think we will have 19 cars no problem, maybe 20" Chris Pook

[crazytrain]

Check out this dandy article from CARTRACING .com

--------------------------
http://www.cart-racing.com/news/2002/item_2064.html
--------------------------
CART CEO Chris Pook has admitted that the job has been much harder than he had anticipated. In an interview with Autosport magazine, he admits that although he knew things were going to be difficult when he took over, he had no idea of the scale of the struggle facing him. "I never believed it would be this intense" he said. "I never believed it would take so much work and there would be so much bad blood. It´s been brutal. There´s absolutely no doubt in my mind that some guys were trying to put us out of business."

Even without the specifics of names, it´s not difficult to assume that one candidate for "some guys" would be rival series owner Tony George. "Our decisions aren´t going to be dictated by a series that can only turn left," he said of the IRL, which runs only on oval tracks.

But Pook states that the battles within CART have hit the hardest. "The worst part was being trashed on the inside by our own people who had made their living, made their careers, made a lot of money in the series." He continues, "I found that disgusting and immoral, as well as all this **** about "I´ve got to make a living." Don´t trash the series that put you where you are today. People who do that have major character flaws in my opinion. Those are harsh words but they are true."

Following many blows from teams, engine manufacturers and drivers along the way, Pook has however worked hard to devise a survival and hopefully recovery plan for his series. Doing a u-turn on the decisions to run normally aspirated engines in favour of a spec Ford Cosworth turbo and convincing both Ford and Bridgestone to become title sponsors. "We had to build credibility to put up a viable series," he says. Something that Pook is convinced he will have in 2003. "I think we will have 19 cars no problem, maybe 20. We don´t want to have more than 22 because of the space in the pits at most of our races and space on the aeroplanes to overseas races. This is about quality not quantity. We´ve got new blood coming in, new young drivers, new owners and the bar is going to get raised."

He also feels the 2003 regulations will create a better spectacle for the fans too, with the removal of traction control allowing wheel spin once more and producing passing and better racing. "You´ve got to drive the race car," he insists.

Whether Pook´s brave new CART world survives and succeeds remains to be seen by us all, but one thing is for certain you can´t fault the mans desire and determination to see his series prosper on the big stage again.

[Liz]

But Pook states that the battles within CART have hit the hardest. "The worst part was being trashed on the inside by our own people who had made their living, made their careers, made a lot of money in the series." He continues, " I found that disgusting and immoral, as well as all this **** about "I´ve got to make a living." Don´t trash the series that put you where you are today. People who do that have major character flaws in my opinion. Those are harsh words but they are true."

Can there be any doubt at all which Deserter Team this is aimed at?

P.S. to all of you who maintain that any form of prostitution is fine as long as you call it "business", I am very glad Chris Pook does not share your view.

[Lee Janotta]

Originally posted by Liz
P.S. to all of you who maintain that any form of prostitution is fine as long as you call it "business", I am very glad Chris Pook does not share your view.

Here here!

I just pray Pook doesn't get in the habit of bending over for Bernard the Troll.

[Liz]

Please, I'm eating my lunch!

[FastCar5]

Lets hope he is merely venting his frustrations over the Quislings and not on the verge of desperation from the lack of results for next years team line ups/race venues. I'm getting a little worried.

[sgw2]

Pook still hasn't learned to get an underling to vent the vitriol. This is not a good characteristic in a CEO. That is what "independent of the leadership" personalities like James Carville for former President Clinton, or Fred Nation for IRL are. To keep the negative image off the leader, and hence off the product.

Get the man a muzzle and hire an hatchet man.

Liz are you saying Pook is a street walker or are you saying he is a pimp mad at one of his "walkers" for finding another?

[Russfeld]

Pook is just fluffing PR. He knows as well as any team owner this is a business and that business has to sometimes come at the expense of personal tastes.

[Brian W Keske]

If memory serves, most of these comments were made by Pook months ago.

Most, if not all, these quotes are not news at all. They are taken way out of context in terms of time.

[Flatspot]

I beleive Brian is correct for the most part regarding timeline. Olds news.

I do think Pook is well founded in his statements about insiders working against the machine. Personally I like a guy who has the balls to say what he means without having to stand behind a front man. You only need a frontman if you tend to be wrong alot.

[jslone]

I like what Chris is saying and has done for Cart,so far.I also do not hope that the Baron von Bernie comes on in any form,that I will dispise.

[f1manoz]

Everything Chris Pook said is true. The way some of the deserters acted was disgusting. And at least he's trying to keep CART a motorSPORT rather than a motorBUSINESS.

Pook For President!!

[Liz]

I'm not saying Pook is anything negative -- he's an honest man who lays all his cards on the table; you always know where he stands, and I respect that most of all characteristics in man or woman. Only guys like Bill "I did NOT ... " Clinton and Tony "I don't know" George need front men to say what they're afraid to say for fear of hurting the feelings of some backstabber.

I got the Autosport tonight and the article is good. Even Autosport seems to respect the man. Even AUTOWEAK is starting to sound positive.

Champ Cars will be just fine, thanks.

[rush1]

Mr. Pook is getting a little bitter in his advancing years. Where are the teams that are making up this field? Where is Mario, Emerson and Stephan with their team announcements? What about Carl Haas? When is that big press conference for the CART Spa race? Has the board authorized you to spend the $30 million on the teams next year Mr. Pook?

If you are dumb enough to be a shareholder in CART you might want to know these answers.

[The Snout]

If you are dumb enough to be a shareholder in CART you might want to know these answers.

You're right, we do want to know these answers. As much as you want to know when your boyfriend is getting home.

[djb]

keep it polite folks, that is why this forum works. No personal attacks.

[Liz]

I have rush1 on "ignore" but I wonder why he continues to come over here.

[indycool]

Good point, djb...that's what's good about this forum.

Up front, I'm NOT a Pook fan. I don't see anything that he's done that warrants deification.

And I believe his little "pookie" floaters and outright lies (like "Milwaukee will have the largest open-wheel, oval-track crowd outside of Indy" and other attendance nonsense), plus saying things like "CART's a feeder series to F1," or "our fans don't smoke Winstons, drink Bud or drive pickup trucks," detract from CART's veracity, propriety and image.

I've seen this asked on several forums and solid answers seem to be pretty anemic: What has Pook done to warrant the praise some give him?

[BootsOntheSide]

Pook has basically had to correct all of Joe Heitzler's mistakes whilst facing up to corporate greed regarding Indy, which has overtaken the racing for several sponsors. Honda and Toyota have been paying their teams under the table to go to IRL, purely for the sake of one race, and Marlboro are among many sponsors placing the 500 above all else.

With all this in mind, he has persuaded new teams to join, helped with sponsorship costs, corrected the car formula to what provides exciting racing, dropped the unprofitable races, worked in bringing CART to some of the world's great race tarcks such as Spa and Brands Hatch, and forged alliances with 2 of the world's biggest car-related firms. Impressed now indycool?

[Brian W Keske]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
Pook has basically had to correct all of Joe Heitzler's mistakes whilst facing up to corporate greed regarding Indy, which has overtaken the racing for several sponsors. Honda and Toyota have been paying their teams under the table to go to IRL, purely for the sake of one race, and Marlboro are among many sponsors placing the 500 above all else.

With all this in mind, he has persuaded new teams to join, helped with sponsorship costs, corrected the car formula to what provides exciting racing, dropped the unprofitable races, worked in bringing CART to some of the world's great race tarcks such as Spa and Brands Hatch, and forged alliances with 2 of the world's biggest car-related firms. Impressed now indycool?

All these things are true, but Pook has also been at the helm during CART's bigest 'nose dive' on the stock market (compared to even Joe's tenure).

There are allot of reasons for this I guess, but if CART is to maintain itself as a public company this is a very big concern. The only value this company has today is it's cash in the bank, and it sure seems as though that is going to be liquidated within the next year or two if new sponsors/associates do not come on board. Pook is obviously seperating himself from Wall Street, even refusing to have monthly teleconfrences regarding the stockholders, and the companies direction for the future. Seemingly he has nothing positive to say, or else he would be very willing to talk about what is happening to make the company a valid public stock entity.

Or, the company really is preparing itself to go private, and thus these concerns are minimized by the Board.

Pook has good idea's, but is it too late? I dunno, we will see. But first and foremost, this is a business (I know certain folks don't want to hear this) and all Pooks idea's may satisfy us CART fans, but are they founded in positive business growth, i.e. is it a good investment to stockholders/sponsor/manufacturers/teams? And from that perspective, Pook knows he is still on a very steep uphill battle. Simply filling fields with 'grab'm up teams' will not bring back what CART has lost over the last couple years.

In addition, there have been no anouncements on the European front, so the last paragraph of your post has yet to be seen as a positive.

[gaines]

The demise of our series to what it is now didn't happen overnight. It was brought on by years of mismanagement, greed and politics. You can't fix years of destruction in one or two years. It's going to take five years to get CART back to where it was seven years ago in terms of on track performance when it was the most popular motorsport in America. Give the guy some time.

The next two years we build the teams back up and get sponsors back into the series while luring new engine manufacturers into the series. In the meantime all these young guys will be maturing into superstar drivers and the new teams will have solid foundations and probably the ability to expand. You can't just throw together a great series, you have to build one and that isn't going to happen right away. Pook is the man and over time he will prove it. The stock price is just indicative of where the series is as a business. You don't spend money the way CART did then lose half your teams, most of your suppliers and alot of sponsorship and do well as a business. What they had to do was cut costs, clear the board of the political sabotage that had gone on over the years and change the entire attitude of the organization. To this point Pook is doing that. Thanks to the IRL taking the big bellyachers off the board, Pook is free to build this series so that everyone benefits, not just Penske and Ganassi.

I look at the CCWS as a rebirth, not the demise everyone else looks at. This isn't the end, it's the beginning. Onward and Upward, Mr. Pook and when the rats who deserted the ship try to jump back on when Tony George is homeless and the Indy 500 is owned by the France family, shoe 'em in the ass and send those money grubbers exactly what they deserve, a thank you letter, for getting the heck out and giving our series a breath of fresh air.

[macdaddy]

If Heizler had still been in charge, Ford and Bridgestone likely would've bailed too. And then there wouldn't be a series at all. So Pook must be doing something right!

Honda and Toyota were decided on bailing before Pook ever took to the helm. It was out of his hands. The defecting teams are a direct result of the engine exodus.

What Pook has done, other than lining up two major "sponsors" in Bridgestone and Ford, is bring in some fantastic new venues. Montreal, Mexico City, St.Pete's, and hopefully more to come in Europe. And Miami has excellent potential. He's been able to present a series that is strong enough to hold on to many of the existing teams and their sponsors, as well as enticing several new teams and new sponsors.

In my opinion, Pook is doing a fantastic job. The ship he took over was beyond "sinking", it was partially submerged. But he fixed the holes and bailed the water better than perhaps anybody else could have, and the ship has risen far enough out of the water now that it can continue on its journey.

[indycool]

I'm respectful of those who differ on this subject and I may well be in the minority.

Taking a look at Boots' list:
New teams -- one, Rocketsports, has been announced unless you count's Coyne's return.
Helped with sponsorship costs -- the shareholders' money goes to the car owners, as usual and again.
Corrected car formula -- by keeping the same cars that gave us this season? Granted, elimination of traction control and those hokey pit stop rules will help.
Dropped unprofitable races -- Promoted Chicago at a $2.1 million loss.
Spa and Brand's Hatch -- Neither deal's done and it looks like it'd cost a lot of $$ to upgrade Brand's Hatch.
Forged alliances with two big companies -- there's little cash in those deals, just a few TV spots. The teams aren't even getting free tires in the Bridgestone deal. Granted, it puts a couple big names on the title to assist credibility, which was needed.

So, I apologize if it offends anyone, but no, I'm not impressed and he has been offensive on more than one occasion.

Take his quote about Winston-Bud-pickup trucks that I mentioned above. If you're holding the sponsor money with Bud, would you find a market in that? If you manufactured pickup trucks, would you find a market in that?

Or the consistent references to being an F1 feeder series, which have offended many CART fans who regard the series as "standalone."

Again, sorryif some find this offensive, but IMO, I'm just not a Pook fan on most of this stuff.

[Snrub]

I think it's too early to pass judgement on Pook. I think many of us can see the foundation is being built, but I don't think it's fair to critisize so soon.

Just because the rumblings of news hasn't panned out doesn't mean it won't happen. I'd say it means it's likely to happen. Did anyone question when PT was signed on to Players or JPM was signed on to Williams? Judging from the amount and spread of media talk, I think the Europian races will happen.

It will be interesting to see how Spain reacts to Servia. I think Brits are a bit ****ed with F1 right now, so CART @ Brands might be an easy sell. The dutch are very open minded and love their motorsport so I think they'll be a good market for CART too.

I think Pook has put greater emphysis on giving sponsors return on investment. CART clearly does not make a good short term stock investment. Most investers are interested in only this. Keep in mind when someone wants to sell shares and no one is keen on buying the price drops quickly. The road to finiancial success is to provide good sport. Without sport there can be no business. In the short term Pook is sacrificing CART profits so that sponsors, organizers and teams can make money.

[Liz]

Gaines has an excellent summary IMO. And let's remember that we are not hearing 1/10th of the stuff that is actually going on and likely we never will.

I admire and respect Pook because he's talking to us himself, saying what we would say, and from my many years of hearing people say "Trust Me" and then turn out to be liars and four-flushers and traitors and 'businessmen' in the Tony Soprano sense of the word ... I do not trust people just because they ask me to trust them. I want to see them doing something that looks to me as if they are doing something I would do. And from trying without success to build Rome in a day, and reflecting on what happens when you build a mansion on a sandbar, I'm willing to give him time to get it right. If he's still treading water in 2 years and saying the same thing with no results, then I'll start wondering.

But look at F1 in 1993 when they had 28 cars on the grid and all kinds of people on the podium -- although two of the strongest racers in history were competing on two of the stronger teams -- with a variety of teams and cars, most of them privateers, and Jean Alesi and Gerhardt Berger in that dog of a Ferrari putting it on the podium anyway ... and look at what you've got today ... and then tell me why you think F1 is not about to disappear but you think Champ Cars is.

Champ Cars will be just fine, thanks. Pook knows what he is doing. IMO.

[f1manoz]

Considering the shambles Pook took over this year, I think he's done a fine job in the time he's been at the helm. It won't take an overnight cure to fix what has been a problem for CART over a number of years.

I say cut him a bit of slack. Sure, his initial forecasts may have been out there, but I don't think there is a man out there who could have done a better job so far.