Comments on: The In-Season Silly Season

By: The Speedgeek

The Speedgeek — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:51:25 +0000

Leigh, you mean “Alcatraz”, as I think derek Daly used to call him? I remember him fondly. I always enjoyed guys who made it to F1 yet flunked my “have I heard of you before?” test. That’s a pretty tough test, too, since guys like Max (or Massimiliano, as he still was then) Papis, Andrea Montermini, Memo Schiaterella and Noberto Fontana all actually passed that test. Aaaaaahhh, the gold old days…

By: Leigh O'Gorman

Leigh O'Gorman — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:38:55 +0000

Hahaa… the memories – Speedgeek, do you remember the enigmatic Jean-Denis Deletraz as well??
Lovely drivers with plenty of cash, but never F1 drivers..!

By: The Speedgeek

The Speedgeek — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:03:19 +0000

Hey, “doorknob” isn’t necessarily a bad thing to call the guy. Personally, I’ve been calling him “Bob Doorknobs” since his F1 days, simply because it sounds great and that’s what his last name almost is (adding a letter and switching two others). It’s no Giovanni Lavaggi (literally, “Johnny Carwash” in Italian), but it’s not bad.

As for the musical chairs, I don’t think it’s surprising. There are 10 or so drivers with bags of money of varying sizes, and so when one driver gets laid off at one team, another team is going to want what’s left in that bag of money, especially if it’s a bigger bag than the one that their current guy has. As the economy improves, and teams start to attract bespoke team sponsors, this situation will improve as well.

By: J Wilson

J Wilson — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:17:52 +0000

I don’t think leaving NHL is such a bad move. They aren’t the well-funded team they were in CART, etc. NHL seems to laying their chips on young Graham. I hope all these guys do well no matter where they end up.
PS. No reason to call him “doorknob”. Kind of a goofy thing to say…. but that’s just me.

By: jerrycruz

jerrycruz — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:55:20 +0000

Man, oh man! I agree with you George…Bruno Junqueira is the best driver out there without any ride. I have always though what a great career Bruno could had if he did not suffer the back injuries at Indy. It would do him justice if you could write a column for him, soon, while we are at that point were teams need to fill seats and look for the future. I’m a IRL guy since 2001 (coming from CART as a Penske and ovals fan) and I think he still has a future on IndyCars from what I have seen the last 8 years. He has the skills and the winning attitude to ride on top equipment.

Think about this opportunity! As always, great blog.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:45:47 +0000

I think that you hit the nail on the head.

By: PC

PC — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:48:01 +0000

HVM may be an upgrade for Doornbos. We all know chemistry is everything and things clicked for him with these guys in 2007. HVM may be a backmarker, but Micheal Cannon is the man (Allmendinger, etc. w/Forsythe). These two clicked and Doornbos looked liked a future Champ Car star winning twice with an underdog team. NHL may be light years ahead of these guys, but there was obviously no chemistry. Those familar with Doorbos’s work expected MUCH more from him this year.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:25:53 +0000

I’m not going to posit whether IndyCar racing offers a good return for marketing dollars invested by sponsors during the current television distribution, but I’ll agree with you that top-tier open-wheel racing has to be on the upswing, post-unification, and that the field will only swell.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:28:00 +0000

Too many experienced drivers, not enough money or seats.

I wonder if the move of the Acura ALM’s teams to the IRL next year will be a significant impact on the car count? The reports I have read would seem to indicate at least 4 new cars in the field. If Penske goes to a 3 car operation (big if) and Ganassi brings the Princess on board, there’s a potential for some 26 – 27 car fields. Of course, all of that could be offset by AGR cutting back to 2 cars, and some of these back marker teams (HVM – DRR) cutting back as well.

Regardless of what happens, with some small signs of improvement in the economy the good news is that the IRL seems to have survived. Car counts and sponsorship can only increase from here.

How’s that for a glass half full view of the situation?

By: John McLallen

John McLallen — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:23:09 +0000

I think that Bobby D just had a snit-fit.