Comments on: How Competitive Will It Be In 2010?

By: pressdog

pressdog — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:05:14 +0000

I appreciate the spirit of this, but I have no reasonable hope, barring some change, that 2010 won’t be just more of the same. Three teams have won all ovals since 2005, after all, with just two teams winning them all this year. That’s worse, not better. For people who get satisfaction out of the more esoteric points of racing, or the occasional non-big-two road win, it’s probably still worth watching and more power to those people. Unfortunately that’s maybe 5% of the public. I hope the league does something to shake it up and create interest that retains current customers and attracts new ones. The marketplace is pretty brutal. If the business strategy is to explain to bored customers why this product really is exciting just won’t work.

By: Brian McKay

Brian McKay — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:21:04 +0000

Hear, hear! Justin Wilson, Oriol Servia, Tony Kanaan, Graham Rahal…

May I say that “when Aussie Vineyards didn’t return for 2009, Power was unemployed” is incorrect insofar as Penske Championship Racing hired then employed Will Power?

By: redd

redd — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:20:58 +0000

Without Ganassi and Penske, what would happen to the IRL. I’d like to see some other teams improve, but their dominance doesn’t really bother me that much.

Look at all the Hendricks or Hendricks-affiliated drivers dominating Nascar right now–Johnson, Gordon, Martin, Stewart, Newman. Combine the second-best team (not sure who that is) and that’s pretty dominant too.

I know even less about F1, but it seems to me that the Ferrari team was pretty dominant for a long time.

Seems to me that competition will get better only if the IRL can survive the current economic climate and start attracting more teams and sponsorships.

By: tim nothhelfer

tim nothhelfer — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:13:42 +0000

With the equipment as good as it is there is always the possibility for some talented driver to perform beyond previous expectations and win. I look forward to next year.

By: PC

PC — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:23:46 +0000

Something I though of after I posted… As bad as the domination was in 94, there was hope for the next season – mostly because of what I said in my first reply. As a fan, I have zero hope that 2010 will be any different. It really sucks because as a life long fan (Im only 34), I have really started asking what difference does it make – whether its looking for IndyCar news or even watching races. If mergification hadn’t shaken things up last year, we’d be going on several years of same ‘ol…

By: PC

PC — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:14:08 +0000

The big difference between 94/95 and now as others have pointed out is the variety of equipment back then and varying rates of development. CART stayed half-way interesting in its prime because one year the Lola would dominate, the next year Reynard, then maybe at a track or two the Swift would be strong. Then the Mercedes might have horsepower but a reliability problem or something, or someone else, etc, etc. There were a lot of variables shifting year to year. There are no variables now. None. Plus it seem luck has been largely eliminated with de-tuned 100% reliability and cars that never reach the “edge”. Worse, only the fans seem to see a problem. Maybe leadership does, but who is the leadership and when’s the last time they spoke?

By: oilpressure

oilpressure — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:36:05 +0000

Well, I’m at work so I’m doing this from memory which is a scary thing. Many teams did move over to the Reynard chassis which was in its second year. I believe that Ganassi was the only team to run it in ’94 and many teams ran it in ’95 including Ganassi, Walker Racing, Forsythe, Team Green and (I think) Pac West. Also teams fpor one-offs at Indy that carried it were Team Losi (I remember them because they loaned a car to Penske when they were trying to get into the race.) and Hemelgarn.

Also, the Honda engine made great strides that season while the Ilmor, which carried Mercedes branding for all of its teams, continued a long gradual backslide. Plus, Firestone tires made its return in ’95

So it’s true, there were many different variables back then. That just goes to prove we need more variety in chassis and engine manufacturers. But leave the tires alone. There is no good that can come from a tire war.

Thanks for commenting. – GP

By: oilpressure

oilpressure — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:23:38 +0000

You are so right. I completely forgot that Sharp drove for RLR in the Patron car. I stand corrected. Thanks. – GP

By: The American Mutt

The American Mutt — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:19:41 +0000

Another minor point of contention. Correct me if I’m wrong but the transition from 94 to 95 saw a change in many peoples cars and engines. There is no such transition here.

By: The American Mutt

The American Mutt — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:14:46 +0000

A minor point of contention. in 07 they were a two car team–they fielded Simmons then Hunter Reay in the ethanol car and Scott Sharp in the Patron car. They only spent the 08 season as a one car team (with a forgetable one off by Alex Lloyd at Indy).