How CART will succeed with the IRL

[sifaka]

The groundwork has been laid and the plan has been presented showing how CART will co-exist and succeed while the IRL continues too.

Pook said it when he said choose the IRL if you want a Chevy sort of series and CART if you want a BMW mercedes kind of series. Now that struck me an elitist and probably not a wise choice in today's climate. Then I thought about it some more and realized what Pook was saying.

If you want a Chevy sort of experience, you don't go to OW racing at all. You go NASCAR. The weak turnout at oval races is neither CART nor the IRL's fault, it is that the majority of oval fans want a NASCAR experience. The number of OW fans with similar tastes is small, maybe too small to sustain a series over the long haul.

So Pook knows this and says where do you get fans that aren't hooked on NASCAR? The wine and cheese crowd of course. Interestingly, they also have a lot of money, are mobile and buy expensive stuff. It's not lost on Pook that F-1 attracts the rich and famous and most could care less for the race, but they pack the venues at very big bucks.

That's all fine and good, but there's this problem. CART can't pull this off if it is losing teams to the IRL, but it can do just fine if CART teams run IRL teams, just like they do in NASCAR.

So Pook forces through a common formula. He knows, as does anyone who stops and thinks for a moment, that this only goes one way. CART guys can do great in the IRL (witness Phoenix), but there is little to fear of IRL guys coming over to CART. With the new formula, CART gets to develop very successful venues like Miami, Tampa/St. Pete, and ?. At the same time CART guys can run Michigan, Indy, and Fontana, the glamorous foreign ovals and leave the grunt tracks to the IRL.

When there are 6 CART - IRL teams then the CART guys are in the driver's seat. They've got the experience they need to cross over and they've got the equipment. Thanks to the prize structure of the IRL, they also get a lot of $$$ to corss over to the IRL, but they don't have to run their whole operation in the IRL like Penske chose to do this year.

No, it will be like the TCGR and Penske NASCAR operations with the added advantage that their CART teams can come over for the plums, while also supporting a full time Leadership Circle IRL operation.

Sure it's elitist, but that's where the money is and Pook's making it clear that survival of CART is not his goal. It is to dominate OW racing in America and compete directly with F-1 for the glamour racing dollar.

I think he's got better than a even chance of pulling it off.

[Truth Detector]

sif, while weaving through your obvious slants and biases you actually made a couple of decent points.

[sifaka]

I'm flattered. I know how hard that was to say.

[backstroke]

Pook did mention the Chevy / IRL connection, but I think if you check the original quote he didn't mention "bmw" or "mercedes".

[Turn13]

Here's a Pook quote, from the Dawn of the Split Age:

Commentary by Robin Miller
Indianapolis Star/News
INDIANAPOLIS (May 14, 1995)

CART is anything but a bunch of swell fellas who are out for the best interests of auto racing. They've been blind to reason, pencil-whipped by greedy lawyers and selfish beyond belief. A few of them actually hiss instead of talk.

"I was never taken seriously in those (CART) meetings, and this announcement may not be taken seriously . . . some may say he's blowing smoke again," said George, who resigned from the CART board in January. "But I guarantee you one thing is certain . . . the time for all the talking and positioning is over.

"It's obvious we are going in different directions."

"This is not going to be a blood bath. That's not our intention," said George. "I'm not trying to do anything on the spur of the moment so people don't have a chance to react. I'm not for causing any great hardship right now.

"We've got definite ideas of where we're going and, hopefully, they (CART) will work with us and participate."

George doesn't like what's happened.

"I think Indianapolis, and Indy-car racing, is missing some American flavor. I'm not opposed to foreign manufacturers and competitors, but it rubs me the wrong way that America's premier series has to look overseas for talent because they have a fat checkbook.

"Maybe I'm too idealistic that guys can still earn their way to Indy on their talent. Jeff Gordon went to NASCAR without any money, and you can't do that here anymore."

George wants his new series to be oval track-oriented.

"I lean toward oval tracks . . . because it makes sense in terms of more exciting races, easier television production and higher ratings. I don't mind some road courses and street races, and I wouldn't want to say they are totally out of the question."

Budgets for competitive, one-car Indy teams have risen to $6 million to $8 million, and the focus of George's series is to become more cost-effective.

"I'm concerned about the long-term health, because at the rate things are escalating, it's going to take $12 million to field a car capable of winning," he continued.

Chris Pook, who brought Formula One to the streets of Long Beach, Calif., in 1976 and then replaced F-1 with Indy cars in 1984, didn't sound alarmed.

"When we changed in 1984, the Indy 500 was one of the primary reasons and, without it, I'm not sure there is Indy-car racing," said Pook. "We want to hear more, but the Indy 500 is very important to us and, hopefully, we'll be included in his (George's) plans." - RM

[sifaka]

You're right backstroke: The quote:
<STRONG>

“If you want to go to the true championship of road, oval and streets, you stay with us. If your customers want to buy Ford and Chevy’s and Dodges, go to the IRL. If you want to buy Toyotas, Hondas, import cars, stay with us.</STRONG>

[ March 18, 2002: Message edited by: sifaka ]

[CrewChief]

Originally posted by sifaka:
<STRONG>

Pook said it when he said choose the IRL if you want a Chevy sort of series and CART if you want a BMW mercedes kind of series. Now that struck me an elitist and probably not a wise choice in today's climate. Then I thought about it some more and realized what Pook was saying.
</STRONG>

Only problem was someone forgot to tell BMW and Mercedes they are all about F1 and not likely to come to CART. I think CART is more the Honda type series, meaning they are the poor mans F1. Please don't take that as a rip because there is nothing wrong with it, CART can survive and have a good series if they realize that.

[silva]

&lt;&lt;If you want to buy Toyotas, Hondas, import cars, stay with us.&gt;&gt;

When I look around at the typical Toyota and Honda driver they don't seem to be motorsport (OW) enthusists.

Sure there are those bodyworked, nitros burning, low riding Hondas but the owners don't seem to be Cart fans to me. In fact, they had the big car show for "Fast and Furious" type cars at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on the same day as the Petit Le Mans.