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MILLER: Two More Black Eyes for Champ Car
Written by: Robin Miller   
09/20/2007
Indianapolis, Ind.
 
A phone call from Tadevic (L) notified Dalziel (R) that his services weren't needed by PCM anymore. (LAT Photo) » More Photos


The standard line is that there's always two sides to every story. But not in these two cases. Ryan Dalziel and Oriol Servia have lost their rides because Champ Car needed two Mexican drivers to fulfill its contractual obligations for its season finale in Mexico City.

It had nothing to do with performance. Dalziel and Servia were served up like so much meat on a spit in yet another example of Champ Car team owners having their priorities wrong when it comes to selecting drivers.

Canceling three races in one season is bad enough but this amateurish treatment of two good racers illustrates just how little Gerry Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven understand about professionalism, continuity or racing.

The co-owners of Champ Car have known all year that local drivers were a must to have any chance to get a crowd in Mexico, let alone honor the contract.

Mario Dominguez, the only guy left in open-wheel racing who can hope to sell any tickets in Mexico City, should have been in the series all year instead of this last-minute B.S., which by the way won't fool any of the Mexican fans into thinking he'll be competitive.

Of course Forsythe had Dominguez for the first three races before cutting him loose and keeping Servia, who had stepped in for the injured Paul Tracy and finished second at Long Beach with virtually no practice.

Despite being sixth in the point standings with two races remaining, Oriol still got served his papers last week by Forsythe, who suddenly hired David Martinez.

Dalziel, who had turned in some fine drives for Pacific Coast Motorsports in its rookie year in Champ Car, found out Wednesday night he'd been terminated for Dominguez.

The insulting headline in the press release blared: "PCM signs Mexican superstar Mario Dominguez."

It should have read: "PCM Sells Out Dalziel."

Because that's exactly what happened.

"I was in the shop on Tuesday night talking about some changes for the test next week, I flew the redeye home to Florida and Wednesday night about 11 p.m. I got a call from
Tyler (Tadevic, PCM team manager) and he told me I was through," related Dalziel on Thursday night.

"All I can figure is that Mario found a big sponsor or Champ Car needed two Mexican drivers for their contract so PCM whored me out for money."

This late-season blood-letting is disturbing on several fronts.
Outperforming Tracy wasn't enough for Servia to keep his FCR job. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

Servia, a 33-year-old veteran now in his eighth year,
has been loyal to Champ Car and a class act in every way no matter how many times he was yo-yo'd by car owners. He's not a superstar, but rather a solid, dependable team player who has earned the respect of everyone in the paddock. He isn't the face of Champ Car but he's recognizable.

After a strong showing in Formula Atlantic, Dalziel got lip service and false promises from a couple Champ Car teams before finally landing with PCM this year. He'd almost given up on open-wheel until his good buddy Alex Figge's father decided to start a team.

PCM literally started from scratch in almost every department and it was slow boating until it rained in St. Jovite and Toronto. That's when the 25-year-old Scotsman shined, leading both races and headed for a podium at Toronto before a late altercation.

"To end a three-year relationship like this is what is so disappointing," said Dalziel, who teamed with Figge in Grand Am before they moved to Champ Car. "We were talking about next year a couple days ago and now I'm done? I'm totally confused.

"I don't know whether to blame PCM or Champ Car but I can't take too many more of these things from Champ Car. This has really been a bad day."

Asked if he'd spoken with Alex Figge, Dalziel replied: "No, and that's unusual because we talk every day but I'm sure he's quite disappointed."

Along with everyone else who knows what Servia and Dalziel have endured to make it into Champ Car. They weren't ride buyers, they were serious racers who didn't deserve this kind of bush league treatment.

Make it two more black eyes for Champ Car.
» More Photos

Robin Miller covers open wheel racing for SPEEDTV.com, SPEED Report and WIND TUNNEL. A lifelong resident of Indianapolis, an 18-year-old Miller stooged for his hero Jim Hurtubise at the Indianapolis 500 in 1968 and began covering motorsports for The Indianapolis Star in 1969. Besides working on Indy pit crews from 1968-78, Miller also competed on the USAC midget circuit from 1975-83. During the past 35 years he's also been a contributor for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver, ESPN The Magazine and several publications that folded and still owe him money. He is single, a degenerate gambler and despises the NASCAR phrase, "We had a Top 20 car today."

Robin Miller is not affiliated with RACER magazine and his views should not be considered representative of RACER or of Haymarket Worldwide Inc.


The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED Channel