Any Irl Fans Out There?

[volinbham]

I've been a long time Indy car fan. I've been to the Indy 500 about 18 times since 1983 plus several other tracks (CART at the time).

IMHO, the IRL is suffering from a lack of names and familiarity. However if you watch an IRL race it is quite intense. The speed is astounding and the racing is close. They run primarily on ovals (many from the NASCAR circuit) but have added some road courses.

If you are a racing fan, sit down an watch one -- or better yet, go to one and feel the speed. You'll be amazed at how on the edge it is.

For example, when NASCAR races at Indy they average about 180: IRL pushes about 230. At Chicagoland (a mile or mile and 1/2) its up in the 200's. It's friggin' nuts.

I thought Tony George was nuts to force the split with CART but it turns out it was the right thing to do. CART was taking on the worse traits of F1 without the upside.

 

[Vols4life]

So I take it Volinbham you have been out to the Barber Motorsports Raceway?

 

[RockyTop08]

Originally posted by volinbham@Apr 22, 2005 12:19 AM
I've been a long time Indy car fan.  I've been to the Indy 500 about 18 times since 1983 plus several other tracks (CART at the time).

IMHO, the IRL is suffering from a lack of names and familiarity.  However if you watch an IRL race it is quite intense.  The speed is astounding and the racing is close.  They run primarily on ovals (many from the NASCAR circuit) but have added some road courses.

If you are a racing fan, sit down an watch one -- or better yet, go to one and feel the speed.  You'll be amazed at how on the edge it is.

For example, when NASCAR races at Indy they average about 180:  IRL pushes about 230.  At Chicagoland (a mile or mile and 1/2) its up in the 200's.  It's friggin' nuts.

I thought Tony George was nuts to force the split with CART but it turns out it was the right thing to do.  CART was taking on the worse traits of F1 without the upside.

IRL is weak

Reasons:

1. The shifter is on the back of the steering wheel.
2. The racing is boring because they dont pass.
3. It doesnt take as much skill as Nascar driving.
4. Its foriegn stuff that nobody likes to watch.
5. Again Nascar is so much more competitive its not funny.
6. Nascar American made racing.

Watch your language.

- milo

 

[milohimself]

It's just a marketability problem. No familiar faces or fan favorites, and I have heard the owner of IRL is a terrible business man. I personally think that IRL is 10x as exciting to watch as NASCAR, but I don't watch either that much.

 

[volinbham]

Originally posted by RockyTop08+Apr 22, 2005 5:58 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (RockyTop08 &#064; Apr 22, 2005 5:58 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-volinbham@Apr 22, 2005 12:19 AM
I&#39;ve been a long time Indy car fan.  I&#39;ve been to the Indy 500 about 18 times since 1983 plus several other tracks (CART at the time).

IMHO, the IRL is suffering from a lack of names and familiarity.  However if you watch an IRL race it is quite intense.  The speed is astounding and the racing is close.  They run primarily on ovals (many from the NASCAR circuit) but have added some road courses.

If you are a racing fan, sit down an watch one -- or better yet, go to one and feel the speed.  You&#39;ll be amazed at how on the edge it is.

For example, when NASCAR races at Indy they average about 180:  IRL pushes about 230.  At Chicagoland (a mile or mile and 1/2) its up in the 200&#39;s.  It&#39;s friggin&#39; nuts.

I thought Tony George was nuts to force the split with CART but it turns out it was the right thing to do.  CART was taking on the worse traits of F1 without the upside.

IRL is weak

Reasons:

1. The shifter is on the back of the steering wheel.
2. The racing is boring because they dont pass.
3. It doesnt take as much skill as Nascar driving.
4. Its foriegn stuff that nobody likes to watch.
5. Again Nascar is so much more competitive its not funny.
6. Nascar American made racing. [/quote]
I disagree with most of your points.

1) not sure about the shifter = it used to be a sequential shift on the right side of the cockpit. Not sure why that is an issue anyway.

2) you are mistaken about passing. The lead changes quite frequently. Watch them at Michigan, Texas, Chicagoland, Phoenix, etc. Michigan in particular is known for having multiple lead changes during the same lap&#33;

3) I can&#39;t imagine how you determined it doesn&#39;t take as much skill as in NASCAR. These cars have a much greater HP to weight ratio. There is less room for error in traffic since contact in open wheel racing can lead to disasterous results. Closing speeds are much greater.

4) Foreign stuff? 1/2 the drivers are from the US. A little xenophobic are we?

5) NASCAR is more competitive in terms of # of teams. However, NASCAR is starting to go down the road that doomed CART. Top teams (Hendrick and Rouse are fielding 8 - 10 cars that are gobbling up the points.) The same teams are at the top every year. IRL is growing and there are 3 top teams that split the wins.

6) Same comment as #4. If you don&#39;t like anything that&#39;s not American, I can see why NASCAR is the only choice for you.

Bottomline, if you don&#39;t like it that&#39;s fine. I just think you are jumping to conclusions that are not bourne out by the facts.

I know RockyTop just let a few expletives fly, but please don&#39;t repeat them.

- milo

 

[volinbham]

Originally posted by Vols4life@Apr 22, 2005 12:24 AM
So I take it Volinbham you have been out to the Barber Motorsports Raceway?

We are very lucky to have the Barber Motorsports Park. It&#39;s kind of a stealth thing here but it has a top reputation in the business. I know an AMA Superbike competitor. He confirmed that this track is at the very top of where they race.

We had a chance to get the top level of motorcycle racing in the world FIM but Bernard Kincaid and the :censored: city council held Barber for ransome. FIM was going to leave Laguna Seca and come here. This sport is watched by more people than the Superbowl&#33;

To any of you within driving distance of Bham. Check out the event schedule Barber Motorsports a plan a trip down.

 

[volinbham]

Originally posted by milohimself@Apr 22, 2005 7:32 PM
It&#39;s just a marketability problem. No familiar faces or fan favorites, and I have heard the owner of IRL is a terrible business man. I personally think that IRL is 10x as exciting to watch as NASCAR, but I don&#39;t watch either that much.

Tough call on Tony George (head of the IRL).

Everyone thought he was nuts when he forced the split with CART and started the IRL. He held the trump card - he owns Indy.

Smart moves:

The Brickyard 400 - it was his idea to bring NASCAR to Indy. While it&#39;s not the best race, it is very popular with fans (attendance about 400,000) and the drivers.

F1 - he brought Formula 1 back to the states, again at Indy. He totally rebuilt the infield to make road course. Again, a very popular event by F1 standards.

Improvements at Indy - Indianapolis is a palace to speed. He has upgraded the facilities so much it&#39;s incredible. I&#39;ve been to about 7 tracks and by far Indianapolis is the most impressive.

Questionable moves:

To form the IRL he basically forced CART out of the Indy 500. The Indy had always been independent (a non-points race in the CART season). However, the best open wheel drivers outside of F1 were in CART. So he forced out big names. As a consequence, the Indy 500 has lost some luster. The CART drivers are back but it hasn&#39;t regained the glory it had through the early 90&#39;s.

However, CART was on the decline just as NASCAR was on the ascension. CART was becoming uncompetitive in the sense that F1 is uncompetitive - huge disparaties been have&#39;s and have nots. Indy was built like NASCAR, from the dirt tracks (USAC, Sprint car, World of Outlaws, etc.). The idea behind the IRL was limit the money teams could spend and have stricter rules to ensure competition. Also, IRL originally ran ovals only. Now they have picked up some road courses.

The jury is out. I think though that Tony George saw the writing on the wall (decline of CART and growth of NASCAR) and did the only thing he could. It took cajones&#33;

 

[TigersTalons]

I like the fact they produce so much downforce at full trottle they could race on a ceiling?&#33;?&#33;I got this from History channel Mod Marv&#39;s I think..

 

[milohimself]

With the right tweaks, I think might be able to do that with an Indy car.

 

[volinbham]

Originally posted by TigersTalons@Apr 22, 2005 8:20 PM
I like the fact they produce so much downforce at full trottle they could race on a ceiling?&#33;?&#33;I got this from History channel Mod Marv&#39;s I think..

Yep, it&#39;s true. The air over the top pushes the car down and the ground effects underneath suck the car down onto the track.