So, Texas wants the season finale. Awesome I say!
But, we still have a hole in the summer (again!). Fill it with Road America/ALMS weekend!....or Kentucky....or Michigan....or Chicago!
The car races great! Use it! Showcase this thing! We will probably need a new sponsor pretty soon. Add the two races, give a sponsor the race GRATIS and show them off.
We just lost 8 million, American....or 2,463,726,873,864 yuan
Make a splash Randy! Add 2 races!
"I think there's only so many people that can take care of themselves, and can take care of other people. And the rest of the people … they're useful in terms of compost for the whole planet, you know." - Bill Murray
I was thinking the same thing. And Road America and Texas would both make money.
Road America will fill in the lost weekend, and Texas would be an interesting way to end the year.
Michigan and Road America together personify what this series is.Originally Posted by goldie19
So, Texas wants the season finale. Awesome I say!
But, we still have a hole in the summer (again!). Fill it with Road America/ALMS weekend!....or Kentucky....or Michigan....or Chicago!
The car races great! Use it! Showcase this thing! We will probably need a new sponsor pretty soon. Add the two races, give a sponsor the race GRATIS and show them off.
We just lost 8 million, American....or 2,463,726,873,864 yuan
Make a splash Randy! Add 2 races!
"Try some of these before or after your statements if you are not presenting them as facts. Things like - "In my opinion", or "I think that", JHMO, IMHO, IMO, JMO... Your opinions are not (necessarily) fact. That would clear things up some." - Seadog 03/25/2010 11:40am So the above is JMO.
Sounds good to me.
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So we want to uproot a race that has been in its place for a number of years? Guys, we can't keep playing musical chairs; that's why we're in the current mess. If Texas hosts the season finale this year, I'm sure it's only going to be for this year.
Who,is moving anything? I just want to add two! Talking this season only!
Now for next year, Texas should stay where it is...2 weeks after Indy. Milwaukee would slide back in after Indy!
OK, I took your post out of context. Sorry
No worries! You won't find a bigger proponent of locking in dates than me! Not locking in killed Kentucky, Michigan, Milwaukee.....but I digress! Just want to max out this year!
Uh, remember that it wasn't too many years ago when TX held two Indycar races every year. I wouldn't mind seeing that happen again.
I'm from a place called the internet. Nothing disturbs me.
If it weren't for the series sponsor requiring a minimum of 16 races, I would be against adding a race to make up for Qingdao. These teams have budgets. You can't just arbitrarily add races to the schedule or switch up the game in the middle of the series. I want more races too, but doing it mid season with minimal promotion, with team budgets in place, no sponsors or anything in place, we're just asking for those races to be publicity black eyes with empty stands. Not to mention you have the matter of TV rights for additional races (does ABC want another race, or does NBC Sports want to even broadcast another race that wasn't originally sketched in the 2012 schedule). To me, it would make us like a chump of a series if we just start adding races mid season. A schedule was released, budgets have been set, people's plans solidified, we need to stick to it as close as possible.
Besides, one of IndyCar's biggest problems has been the lack of commitment to sign long term contracts. NASCAR's tracks start promotional efforts as soon as possible, usually next years races are already being promoted before the season even ends! We haven't been able to do that as we jocky for tracks until the very last minute. The longer time we give promoters the ability to promote, the better.
These teams budgets were built to go to China! A road trip to Texas or Michigan isn't gonna blow the budget!
"MOM! THE CHECKBOOK!? MOOOOOOOM!?"
We don't have that luxury anymore.
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Correct. The teams budgeted for 16 races and we are now back at 15. I can understand not wanting to go to 17 but if they budgeted for 16 then it needs to be 16. IZOD isn't the only sponsor that expected 16 races this year either.
No sponsor would complain if they went to 17 races either. More exposure is always a good thing.
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With a nod to Ernie Banks?
"The series may be hesitant to say it, but the day is here for everybody that loves IndyCar racing to link arms and help each other out. Anybody who doesn’t want to do that needs to find something else to do with their time.”
-- Eddie Gossage, President, Texas Motor Speedway, ICONIC Advisory Committee & TrackForum member
Sounds good to me.
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Which China was paying for... But I'm glad you're in a position to speak for the teams.
I'm for schedule expansion, but the teams are prepared for 16 races. You can't add ANOTHER race in the middle of the season.
I hate this stock answer....spending others money! I am speaking for me and what the fans want. Are you actually telling me you would prefer to stay at 15 because you're concerned about the cash that the millionaires club has to spend to go racing? Gimme a break! These guys are all well off, the league is subsidizing most of them anyway, and if ya don't wanna go, ya don't have to go! Teams used to skip races all the time! We had 17 races the past few seasons, we need to get there again
Seriously, oh poor Roger and Dale and Chip and Barnes and Foyt and Dennis and on and on! Wealthy men that occasionally ***** about spending their millions. Run the freaking races!
Yet in the same breath people complain about about hobbyist owners. The sense of entitlement displayed here is ridiculous. These are businessmen with budgets. If they were doing this for fun they'd be driving themselves or in a much cheaper series.
Know who else has to run a business? Randy. This isn't the days of old where they could reach into the HG coffers and prop up things with that fortune.
Every race needs to be able to stand alone and generate money for all parties involved.
I will agree with you that having a schedule where teams skip races is reasonable.
The 16th race should be added to satisfy sponsorship commitments. This isn't just an opportunity to add races. This is a screwwup (probably an expensive one) and they are having to cover their butts.
More races are good (if they are profitable), but there is a time for putting together a schedule.
In a sense of the word, yes. It's easy for you to judge these "millionaire" owners when it's not you're money. Sponsorship packages were put together with 16 races in mind and the big Chinese payout. Going to another track is a huge loss from the teams and the series budget. If it weren't for the sponsorship obligation, we would be just dropping the race from the calendar.
And that is a half arsed way to run a series. Adding races with some expectation that not everyone can go because the series added races mid-schedule just results in a half-arses effort from a promotional and a competitive stand point. If you think it's a good idea to change your goal posts mid season just to appease a few people, then you only remind me why you aren't the CEO of IndyCar.Gimme a break! These guys are all well off, the league is subsidizing most of them anyway, and if ya don't wanna go, ya don't have to go! Teams used to skip races all the time! We had 17 races the past few seasons, we need to get there again
These guys aren't in the business of losing money. How many millionaires in NASCAR or IndyCar have closed their doors because they didn't have the money to run a team.Seriously, oh poor Roger and Dale and Chip and Barnes and Foyt and Dennis and on and on! Wealthy men that occasionally ***** about spending their millions. Run the freaking races!
Rusty Wallace's kid is out of a job because Rusty, a multi-millionaire, didn't have the funds to run the team. Sure, he could run the team out of his pocket, but any team owner, or hell, businessman, will tell you that if you're sinking your own money into you're business, then you're going to go out of business! Whether you like it or not, these team owners are businessmen. They're not going to sink their money into this. That's why they have sponsors, or a few of them run businesses so they can go racing.
Either way, adding races mid season just screws the team owners, engine builders, and promoters. Randy needs to work on making next years schedule longer and better, instead of following your advice at making some half-arsed change mid season.
Beat me to it.With a nod to Ernie Banks?
It's a Hoosier thing, you wouldn't understand...
I highly doubt they would both make money, if they did, they would be at both in a heartbeat.
These kinds of posts make me ill. Why should fans spend their time worrying about whether a team owner id making enough money. Who gives a flying flip! It's a sport. I watch it to see the cars and drivers race. I don't care a bit about who is making money or getting enough sponsor exposure. Maybe someday the series will be healthy enough that fan forums are for fans. It's not a welfare system, Indycar. If a team can't step up to the plate for big time racing then get out of it and let's get on with the teams that can.
Ever find yourself worrying about the Redskins having to afford the trip all the way to San Fran? No. And fans shouldn't have to. I have enough finances to worry about at my own homestead.
What makes you think there are always gonna to be teams to replace other teams who can't make it? Teams HAVE to make money. Yes, fans need to start caring about it or else we would have no series.
As for your latter point, yes I do concern myself about the finances of the Penguins and Sounders, but considering how finances in sports are these days, that shouldn't be a big issues. Racing is a different animal altogether, so it's not a fair comparison.
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It's also a business! If they can't make money in it, then we will have no teams, or very few teams.
I do too. And I want that to continue. You can't have it both ways. You can't disregard the team owners and expect to have drivers and cars show up without those team owners.I watch it to see the cars and drivers race. I don't care a bit about who is making money or getting enough sponsor exposure.
When we get to the point that we have more team owners trying to get in than we do out, then we'll talk. We're still very weak on teams. Know all the whining about how drivers like Tomas Scheckter, Buddy Rice and Paul Tracy can't get rides? Know all the whining about ride buyers taking "their" spot? We can't just care about is getting great drivers and watching cars race all while we turn a blind eye to team owners who can't get sponsors, who rely on ride buyers while we complain about good drivers sitting and "greedy" team owners. Do you have any idea how contradictory that is? You can't eat your cake and have it too. You can't say TO HELL WITH TEAM OWNERS, then say you want more and better drivers with more races if the team owners aren't on board.Maybe someday the series will be healthy enough that fan forums are for fans. It's not a welfare system, Indycar. If a team can't step up to the plate for big time racing then get out of it and let's get on with the teams that can.
If I were a Redskin fan and they were struggling financially, yes, I would worry about their expenditures because I want them to stay around! That is what fans care about. They don't focus on their own greedy desires while they turn a blind eye to reality. Sometimes your own desires mean less than the needs of the teams. Without teams, we wouldn't have IndyCar, the Indy 500 or anything else. There's no plethora of IndyCar teams who want to or can jump in. This is it!Ever find yourself worrying about the Redskins having to afford the trip all the way to San Fran? No. And fans shouldn't have to. I have enough finances to worry about at my own homestead.
China is not expensive if the promoter is picking up the shipping and the flight.
Teams Budgeted for 16 races the reason they were complaining about that as it was.
You cannot wrangle chaos. You can only try to plan for it.
In another thread I suggested adding RA and Chicagoland. But RA and MIS would work, probably better IMO. Either way, the dates (of all the races) need to be solidified so people can plan for them. IMO this cannot be emphasized enough.
I find it funny how people are wanting to add two races. Lets see how Milwaukee does before we add two more.
Tara was the name of our cat.
Agree, a "good" crowd at Milwaukee is important. Very important. Also, IMO, the date needs to be moved up a week. And kept there.
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