Thirty years ago, Dan Gurney sat down and wrote an intelligent, comprehensive, common-sense analysis of why Indy-car racing's growth had been stunted and it had failed, in every way, to reach its full potential. He correctly called the United States Auto Club weak and disorganized, as well as pointing out the inequities of the Indianapolis 500 purse.
The proud founder of All American Racers questioned the provincial schedule, poor purses and why competitors weren't privy to the bottom line numbers from television and tracks. Gurney also reasoned that car owners had the largest investment yet had little or no chance to break even regardless of performance.
Turns out that White Paper, as it was dubbed, has held the test of time quite nicely. Because here we are in March of 2008 and almost everything Gurney brought to light in 1978 rings true today.
Indy-car racing is still crying out for leadership, sponsorship, progressive thinking and a way to maximize its potential. The Indy 500 is back as the cornerstone of a united series, as it should be, but still lowballs the competitors. Fielding a car is a loser at any level and there's an identity crisis.
"I think I said in that White Paper the blueprint for what you ought to do is already laid out in other sports and you had to include NASCAR in there," said Gurney from his office in Santa Ana.
"Great leadership is very important and poor leadership is the death knell. Leadership raises all boats."
Of course CART/Champ Car was finally deep-sixed a few weeks ago -- a rudderless ship sinking in a wave of bad hires, poor decisions, no communication and a business plan less sophisticated than a six-year-old's lemonade stand.
The White Paper was the genesis for Championship Auto Racing Teams and the timing was right -- it needed to replace USAC's amateur act on West 16th Street.
But, as we learned during the past three decades, car owners are incapable of looking out for the overall welfare of open wheel racing because they're always looking in the mirror.
