I like the split!

[sifaka]

Someone chided me for not being a negotiator and trying to bring people together (for a grop hug maybe). It started me thinking. I like the split.

Right now there are probably 35 really competitive rides in both the IRl and CART. More drivers are driving OW than ever before. The crossover from CART to the IRL has been a tonic. It has made the races a whole lot mroe interesting and markedly raised the level of competition in the IRL.

For some time I thought that the only way for OW racing to survive was to have one series. That may be the case, but I am less certain than before. I think Pook has pointed CARt in the direction of its continuence as the most varied and challenging OW series in the world. I doubt we'll see any more CART teams only run an IRL team, like Penske, but just as they do in NASCAR, I think we'll see some more CARt teams follow TCGR and Nunn and run an IRL farm team. The CART and IRL teams will come together at Indy, and maybe for a triple crown.

In the mean time CART will run in front of 100,000s of fans at glamorous Street courses (like Houston ), natural road courses, and foreign Ovals. the IRL will continue its course as an American midwest oval series, but we may see some teams give Rockinham and Germany a try.

With a marked decrease in costs, it may not be necessary for one series to emerge. If is means that we get 35 OW races per year, I think it is great.

[Jim Cluny]

The split has helped a goodly number of drivers get OW rides that were only spectator material before. It has helped teams that were financially challenged continue on in OW racing. The influx of a seemingly endless flow of IMS money to/for drivers and teams has breathed new life into many careers and business ventures.

Without the split Unser and many other early CART cross over drivers would have been onlookers several years ago and of course the Shiggy type of driver would hardly dra comment.

The split has forced CART to go through a series of upheavals and mistakes to the point of being forced to commit to a plan that works. CART, in spite of all it's ills, is going to gain by leaps and bounds by the challenges tossed at it by the IRL.

I look for more and better racing by both groups and a significant upgrade of talent in the IRL. (Which we have just seen)

The winner, in any event, is the fan, without whom this would all be for naught.

But it may depend on how long Helio wants to drive in circles too.

Go Michael!

Jim Cluny

[backstroke]

OK, now I'm suspicious

[Jim Cluny]

Originally posted by backstroke:
<STRONG>OK, now I'm suspicious </STRONG>

Relax, it's just a car race.

Go Michael!

Jim Cluny

[ March 16, 2002: Message edited by: Jim Cluny ]

[16th&georgetown]

I agreee 100% with you on this topic. I enjoy the fact that I can watch 35 OW races a year in CART & the IRL...not to mention the Atlantics and the IPS.

[John_S]

"... glamorous Street courses (like Houston)"

I have gone to all the Houston races (live here) and agree completely with your sarcasm. If they do come back here, they need to race on the West side of downtown so they can scream down curvy Allen Parkway. Never could understand how they chose the original course. Really sucks for drivers and spectators.

[Sleepcheap]

Originally posted by Jim Cluny:
<STRONG>The split has helped a goodly number of drivers get OW rides that were only spectator material before.

Jim Cluny</STRONG>

I got news for you, a lot of these guys are STILL only spectator material.

[sifaka]

There is no doubt that there are more OW racers now than there were before the split.

Sadly, it also means that there are guys like Treadway, Hattori, Dr. jack, etc. who do not deserve to drive, but now can.

If the split ends, what will happen to all of the folks that have now made careers supporting the 43+ drivers currently running in the CART/IRL series?

Unlike a year ago, I'm hoping that it doesn't end. It is starting to become clear how the two series can co-exist and both succeed, but that's another post.

[Truth Detector]

No list of drivers who should be spectators can be complete without Tora Takagi.

And not only have we stretched the number of OW regulars to 45 or so, but we've done that while simultaneously losing our best (Zanardi, Villeneuve, Stewart, Montoya).

No doubt its dilluted.