INDYCAR: Miller's Mailbag, 12.3

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Miller’s Mailbag, 12.3

We've got a fever, and the only thing that'll satisfy it is More Mailbag. Here's the latest batch of Q&A items from the best Indycar scribe on the planet.

Robin Miller | Posted December 03, 2009 Indianapolis, IN

IndyCar opens 2010 on a street circuit where local warmth and beauty is in abundance, but compared to a proven product like the Gold Coast in Australia, the event faces challenges to gain the same kind of following. (LAT)

Hello open wheel types and thanks for all your questions. I intend to answer your questions every week during the season, so just . Don’t feel left out if I didn’t directly respond. I appreciate your interest and passion.

~Robin Miller

Q: Just read where the IRL will open the season on the "streets" of Sao Paulo. While I am excited to see the IRL go to Brazil, I am also stunned by the circuit choice. I travel to Brazil often on business and I will set my next trip up to be around this date. But the "streets"??? The roads in Sao Paulo are worse than any roads I have seen in any major city. These cars will fall apart on the streets!!! Why not use the Interlagos circuit? It is right there and is a BEAUTIFUL, flowing, rolling course. I don't get it.

Chris, Bloomington, Ind.

RM: You are 100 percent correcto about Sao Paulo, the streets and the horrible traffic jams but it sounds like Tony Cotman has found a decent place near the water so I trust his judgment. Bernie wouldn't let Indy cars unload at Interlagos, let alone race there, but it's a nice thought.

Q: I just found an article online from the Edmonton Journal that said the airport/street race cost 9.2 million in losses. You can read it here: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Edmonton+Indy+bottom+line+wreck/2267958/story.html
My question is, as a street race lover, how can you say those should replace ovals on the schedule when they can be just as big (if not bigger) financial disasters than ovals? Ovals are suppose to be hard to promote but I don't recall any of them bombing as bad as Edmonton at the clutches of Northlands. Doesn't this show the problem isn't the track, its the promoter? I'd rather see Bruton Smith take the reigns with the Las Vegas and New Hampshire ovals than more make-or-break street races.

Daniel Robbins

RM: You make a very lucid argument, which is backed up by the fact sooooo many street races have come and gone because they were financial disasters. But, while ovals are already in place and don't require all the fencing, walls and massive reconstruction, most of them have lost their luster for Indy cars. The street circuits all get decent crowds but obviously not nearly enough to turn a profit. Edmonton is the one place that surprises me because in the first two Champ Car races I've never seen so many paid spectators in three days. Which brings us back to your point, if Edmonton can't make money, how can a little joint like St. Pete expect to make it? I guess the answer is corporate sponsors. Long Beach has had Toyota for three decades and I've got to believe that's the main reason this race has survived and become such a big deal.

Q: Our local rags say that the Edmonton Indy lost so much money, $3.9 million CDN, that the city may choose to opt out of the rest of the contract. What gives? I was there and saw huge crowds, a full slate of corporate suites, an event sponsor, banner ads everywhere and people spending money like crazy (I did my part!). So is someone cooking the books? I mean shouldn't the business model mean a break-even, or modest profit, if the event is as "successful" as Edmonton's event is? Can you enlighten us as to the back-room wheeling and dealing?

Earl McKenzie, Edmonton, AB

RM: As I stated in the letter above yours, it baffles me that Edmonton loses millions because there are always REAL fans in the grandstands. The first year of Champ Car there were actually 50,000 people on the first day and it was POURING. They had a legit 200,000 for three days. The last couple years it's not as big but still the third or fourth largest crowds on the IndyCar circuit. As I said, it must come down to title sponsors, sanction fees and the cost of the circuit, which is why Edmonton should be even cheaper. It's an airport so you don't have to close streets, erect walls and a bunch of fencing -- it should be one of the few places with a chance to turn a profit.

Q: Just noticed the new schedule. Looks good but I can't watch it. The reason I bought Direct TV was they had VERSUS. I only wanted two channels Speed and VERSUS. Could care less of the other 500 channels. Now each company is pointing fingers at why they can't come to an agreement, I called both companies, I am out of patience and energy. Old news but still burns me. I have been a supporter of this series for over 20 years. Traveling to several events, beating the INDY car drum. Nothing like the smell of methanol. I live in the Northwest, there are not too many tracks around here so it's a effort. Can't do it anymore. There's too much great racing to watch and to attend. Hell I have access to over 500 channels plenty of racing every weekend and it won't be at an INDY car race.

Todd Hutchens

RM: I understand your frustration (I'm also a DIRECTV guy) but there could be some relief with this Comcast/NBC deal. The way I understand it, VERUS might be a spinoff channel like ESPN is to ABC and that would solve our problems because it would then be available in 90-plus million homes. Something like that better happen or IndyCar is going to lose more fans like yourself.

Q: Can you expand the "IRL for sale" facts, rumors and things in the best interest's of OWR fans.

Paul, Kansas City, Missouri.

RM: Jeff Belskus, the man in charge at the IRL and IMS, recently said to me and many other media types that the league nor the Speedway were for sale. I said on WIND TUNNEL the other night that I'd heard that Tony George wanted to put together a couple people and buy the IRL (which makes sense since his sisters would prefer somebody else to pay for it so they just concentrated on IMS) but I saw TG last night and he didn't sound like that was in his plans. I do think the series could be sold if the right people were involved for the reason I stated above but as long as Mari Hulman George is alive, IMS is not for sale. She's said that repeatedly.

Q: Short and sweet-now that Will Power has a full-season drive, can he take the championship back from the Ganassis?

Mike Beranek

RM: I would think he and Ryan Briscoe will battle Dario and Dixon to the last race.

Q: This is a bit of a rant regarding VS… not so much about its availability or its race telecasts (which I think are the best for series in years) but something I happened across when channel surfing one day over the past weekend. VS was showing one of those “Sports Blooper” type shows (forget the precise name) and I just caught it when they showed what was kinda just an average sprint car flip. What came after appalled me: An amateurish graphic of a guy in a wheel chair and the announcer saying something to the effect of “After a wreck like that all this driver might be able to do is play wheelchair basketball”. How disgustingly insensitive can you get, knowing of drivers like Brad Doty, Sam Schmidt, Alex Zanardi and Clay Reggazoni (just to name a few) who ended up in wheelchairs due to racing accidents? What’s next – showing a dangerous check from behind from NHL highlights and saying this guy “Might be the next Travis Roy?” (The BU player who was paralyzed on his first college hockey shift) The only programs I watch on VS are Indy Car and NHL Telecasts – I certainly would never watch such tasteless crap as I saw on the “Bloopers” show and hope other racers and race fans agree with me!

John Weaver, Camp Hill PA

RM: I imagine the folks who put those shows together don't concern themselves with anything but laughs and I would imagine most racers would react just like yourself.

Q: I have to speak up when I see that in your list of desirable tracks (in answer to a question last week), you fail to include one location in the Northeast! While I realize that Watkins Glen might not have historical significance to the IRL, you have to admit its significance to open-wheel racing. Living in the Northeast, it's difficult being an IRL fan when there are so few races within a reasonable distance. Being there in person is just so much better than only having a TV broadcast to watch. Given the population density of this area, the IRL really needs a presence here.

Susan Yarnell, Elizabethtown, PA

RM: I thought I had Loudon but maybe I forget it. That's a place that put on some great CART races (and drew 50,000 in 1995) and I know Jerry Gappens and his staff want IndyCar to come back. Pocono is sadly too rough and Nazareth was just too tight. But there are legions of open wheel fans in the east and you are correct -- there needs to be a presence and Loudon might take some time but it could work again.

Q: Many other sporting leagues (NFL, NCAA, NBA, NHL, etc) have events on Thanksgiving that are highly attended and popular. The Detroit Lions are famous for playing on Turkey Day. Even if the IRL doesn't think it could fill up an arena on the holidays, why not go to Mexico for a Thanksgiving race? It could be on national TV, and would draw a huge audience (maybe even finish the season there?). Has open wheel ever run on a holiday before?

Concerned Chris

RM: Champ Car ran on a fantastic street course in downtown Las Vegas on Easter in 2007 and it was a flop but I don't think it was because of the date. I've always thought Indy cars should run on Thanksgiving, Easter and Memorial Day -- you have a captive audience and no competition from NASCAR.

Q: Love the mail bag when we talk about news and improving Indycars, and not complain. So to improve, why not change the qualifying format on road courses? While the knockout qualifying can be interesting, it ends up giving an advantage to the already faster cars. The faster racers get to have more time on track to fine tune the car than the slower ones. It might not be much, but it can make a difference. It's not like they have a ton of time for practice anyway. This extra time could be a difference of as little as half a second a lap, and that matters over a whole race. Since the same drivers are usually in the fast six, this spreads not only the race qualifying out, but potentially the championship. Why not give them all the same time on course and potentially bunch up these races? Stop making the strong stronger, and keeping the smaller weaker team at the back.

Kevin, Boise, ID

RM: I see what your saying but I have to admit, I think IndyCar's qualifying format for road courses and street circuits is the best TV and most exciting part of the weekend. Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal were able to show their stuff in that format all season (Alex Tagliani at Toronto as well) and it can reward a good driver/engineer.

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