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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Owners Reject 2012 Car
What happens if the IZOD IndyCar Series builds a new car for 2012 and most teams refuse to buy it? We just might find out.
Robin Miller  |  Posted August 25, 2010  
Open-wheel racing appears to be headed for another serious owners vs series showdown, as the men with the money do not want to buy what the IZOD IndyCar Series has for sale in 2012. (Dallara)
The owners within the IndyCar series seldom can agree on anything but SPEED.com can reveal that last weekend in Sonoma they delivered a near unanimous message that carries some seismic repercussions.

They don’t want a new car for 2012.

“Yep, that’s what they told me,” acknowledged Tony Cotman, who has been hired to write the new rules for the 2012 car and engine. “I told them I didn’t agree but my job is to put together a new car deal and not respond to an owner’s revolt.

“That was a league matter.”

Just a few weeks after it was announced that Dallara would be building the guts of the 2012 chassis, the owners (except A.J. Foyt who wasn’t in attendance, and Gil de Ferran, who abstained) banded together to voice their concern.

“The league decided to do a new car and never consulted the teams and we’re all wondering how we’re going to be able to pay for new equipment given the current economy and value of the series,” said Eric Bachelart of Conquest Racing.

“We asked Tony (Cotman) what our investment would be for a new car and he wasn’t able to tell us so we’re all a little bit uncomfortable.”

Another owner, who requested anonymity, was more blunt.

“This isn’t a revolt and we aren’t going to start another series, it’s plain and simple, we don’t have the money to buy new cars. Roger (Penske) and Chip (Ganassi) are saying the same thing. But the IndyCar series signed a deal with Dallara to spend our money without us signing off on it and we’re the guys writing the checks.

“What are they going to do if nobody buys it?”

IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, who formed the ICONIC committee to choose cars and engines, said the ship has already sailed.

“We signed contracts with Honda and Dallara and we worked in good faith with the state of Indiana and we are not going backwards,” said Bernard. "Their main concern was reducing costs and we have.

“Gil sent out three pages of questions and I don't remember many owners mentioning possibly delaying things until 2013. This wasn’t a big deal then, so why is it a big deal today?”

But Dennis Reinbold called the meeting more of a sounding board than a revolt.

“It was a matter of addressing our concerns because there’s a lot of unknown things and we want a voice,” said Reinbold. “We stated our concerns and gave our input and basically shared our thoughts.

“We know we have to change something but maybe a lot of the current components (of the 2003 Dallara) can be rolled over. And maybe we can go with update kits because that would be a lot more fiscally responsible.”

Foyt sounded a little miffed with his fellow owners.

“I don’t think most of them know what they want and you can’t change your mind every five minutes” said the 4-time Indy 500 winner.

“Some of these guys who wanted that Delta Wing are bitching we’re going to obsolete everything we’ve got but the same thing was going to happen if we went with that Delta car.

“I talked to Dallara and if they do the things they say, I think it’s going to be a good deal. For me, I just know we’ve got to make racing cheaper or we’ll all be out of business.”

The current car costs $700,000 and the new Dallara was going to come in at around half of that and, with a grant from the state of Indiana for any locally based teams, reducing the cost of the first car to $250,000.

The Italian manufacturer has been the dominant chassis in the series since 2005, with the current car making its debut in 2003.

“We have great momentum right now, fans have asked for this and 75 percent of them believe we have made the right decision and they’re excited,” said Bernard. “We’ve got new sponsors and we’ve got 29 cars competing this weekend and I’ve heard from a lot of new car owners that want to join.

“Now all of the sudden they want to change but it’s too late.”

Read SPEED.com's extensive coverage of the 2012 IndyCar:

Tony Cotman 2012 Q&A

Cosworth 2012 Q&A

Honda 2012 Q&A

2012 Car Reactions

2012 Car Has Manufacturers Listening

PRUETT: ICONIC Thud Or Thunder?

Randy Bernard 2012 Q&A

PRUETT: 2012



Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82.

Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000.

In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.



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