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PRUETT: Triple Stint, 8/12
The latest collection of thoughts from last weekend’s open-wheel and sportscar events and other assorted topics from Marshall Pruett.
Marshall Pruett  |  Posted August 12, 2009   Oakland, CA
Grids have been deleted almost everywhere in 2009, but Indy Lights have remained one of the stronger feeders series. Their ranks could swell in 2010 under IndyCar's new ladder system. (LAT)
Hi gang – I’ve put together a monster edition of Triple Stint to hold you over for the next two weeks while I'm busy with the Monterey Historics and then the IndyCar Series.

Straightening The Ladder

If you’ve read my column, you know I have a soft spot for the Atlantic Championship. I’ve spent my fair share of time with Ralt RT-1s, RT-4s, Swift DB4s, and Swift 008s as a mechanic or an engineer. It remains one of the most important series for a young driver to build or solidify their skills.

And all of that could be changing if what I heard last weekend in Mid-Ohio comes to fruition. IndyCar is reportedly interested in building its own ladder to straighten the path for young drivers to follow step-by-step as they work upwards towards the IRL. Sadly, Mazda’s Atlantic Championship isn’t in their plans, possibly making it the final casualty in the open-wheel wars.

More than a few owners, drivers and journalists involved in open-wheel racing have argued that a lack of a properly established ladder is what’s keeping more drivers from making it into IndyCars. And if what’s being discussed ends up taking root, all that could change for 2010.

“There are just too many junior series out there to choose from,” one IndyCar official told me. “The Atlantics are cool little cars, but we need a clear path. Having cars that are too similar [on the same ladder] doesn’t do anybody any good.”

With their plan in place, a hand would be extended down through the junior formulas to build a progression that starts with F2000, moves to the somewhat faster Star Mazda class, makes a significant leap to Indy Lights and then, hopefully, into to the IndyCar Series.

And their plans aren’t as simple as tagging existing series with an ‘official ladder series’ moniker; their plans are to align the rules, driving standards, officiating and the curriculum to steer kids towards IndyCars as smoothly as possible.

F2000’s have a rich history of running on ovals, and the Star Mazda series visited ovals twice this year. IndyCar’s plans would call for drivers to get a stronger oval education before graduating to Indy Lights – something the Atlantic Championship doesn’t offer.

While I think IndyCar should be commended for their efforts to straighten a path that’s become painfully crooked, I don’t believe their ladder gets stronger by leaving Atlantics out of the equation.

It's fair to say IndyCar’s decision to leave Atlantics out of their ladder follows the “It’s business, nothing personal” adage, and there’s plenty of history to support their position. The Indy Lights series is owned by the IRL – it’s no great surprise they’re backing their own horse rather than the privately owned Atlantic Championship.

Prior to ChampCar going bankrupt, the ChampCar Atlantic Championship was their pride and joy. While it simmered below the surface, the rivalry between Lights and Atlantics was just as strong as the one between IndyCar and ChampCar.

And It wasn’t so long ago when Indy Lights (under CART ownership) was regarded one notch above Atlantics. Its budgets were also higher. Over the past few years, much of that has changed, making the two classes far too similar. Today, according to two of the top Lights and Atlantic team owners, the costs of running a proper single-car effort in either series is nearly identical. As a result, and with car counts on the decline across the whole of motor racing, Lights and Atlantics now find themselves fighting over the same customers.
The Swift 016.a launched with great fanfare under ChampCar's ownership. Without the protective cover of ChampCar now a thing of the past, the Atlantic Championship could be in trouble if the IRL's plans go forward. (LAT)

Let’s be clear – the Atlantic Championship wouldn’t automatically disappear if IndyCar leaves them off of their designated ladder system, but faced with the question of where to spend $700,000 on your child’s open-wheel career, where would you put your money?

Would you go with the series that’s owned and sanctioned by the same people that own and sanction the IndyCar Series, or do you spend the same amount on a series that has been publicly shunned by IndyCar, and has no direct support or ties to North America’s only top-tier open-wheel series?

“It’s business, nothing personal.”

All isn’t lost for Atlantics – not at the moment, at least. Series owner Ben Johnston is reportedly talking with the FIA about becoming a recognized step in the European ladder system – the official American path to GP2. For parents with kids hoping to make it in Formula 1, it could be the salvation the series needs, but unless an agreement is made and announced quickly, Johnston could have a mess on his hands.

The thought of establishing itself as the pipeline to GP2 has its merits, but I’d wager that while most young American open-wheel drivers dream of going overseas, the serious ones move to Europe and join the familiar ladder system there.

Going back to an earlier point, the Atlantic Championship isn’t helping itself by offering a calendar without oval racing. IndyCar teams owners can’t afford to hire a kid straight out of Atlantics with little or no oval experience. Teaching a GP2 or F1 driver the ropes is one thing, but that’s not an exception they’re likely to make elsewhere.

Team owners don’t want to waste their time and money writing off cars or finishing last while their Atlantic graduate earns the education they should have gotten prior to the IndyCar Series.

It made sense when ChampCar owned the series and both raced exclusively on road courses, but with ChampCar now a distant memory, leaving oval racing out of an Atlantic driver’s education is part of the reason why Johnston’s series is being pushed out of the marketplace.

Speaking of Johnston, he didn’t do his series any favors last weekend when he made a highly visible visit to the Indy Lights paddock in an attempt to entice Lights owners to defect to Atlantics.
The IndyCar Series told me Johnston’s trolling the Lights paddock didn’t bother then, but I can’t help but think it only served to shift their mindset from “It’s business, nothing personal” to "hell yeah, it’s very personal."

I can’t blame Ben for trying – Atlantic car counts have been around 12 at each round -- but his ham-fisted (and very public) cruise through the Light paddock on an Atlantic Championship golf cart was always going to end in tears. After listening to Ben’s pitch, most of the Lights owners made a beeline for the IndyCar transporter to make series officials aware of the predator in their midst.

Tony Cotman was reported to then raise hell with Johnston and the Atlantic officials, which likely sealed the door shut on being ever being considered in IndyCar’s open-wheel ladder plans.

I’ll admit that I don’t have the answer for the Atlantic Championship right now. How the series attracts drivers to pay their teams to put cars on the grid in 2010 is an even bigger uphill battle than it took to get 12 cars this year. While the FIA angle is promising, Johnston is reportedly tired of writing big checks to bankroll the series.

He deserves immense praise for stepping up to purchase and support the series, and he has a well respected staff that run the series for him, but if the Atlantic Championship is to continue, leaving the Indy Lights recruiting trips to Vicki O’Connor would be a wise decision. Not only would Vicki have avoided such a public display, she’d have drawn on decades of relationships to pose a compelling argument for Lights owners to consider.

Provided all of this plays out next season, the impact in the Atlantic paddock could serious. It’s filled with quality teams like US RaceTronics, Newman Wachs, Condor, Genoa, and others that have made the series their home. A lot of people make their living in Atlantics – it’s how mortgages, car loans and daycare is paid for.

So why don’t Atlantic teams just sell their cars and make the switch? The economy is keeping Atlantic teams where they are because no one is buying used Swift Atlantic cars, and as a result, they don’t have the extra cash to buy a Lights car. Johnston and company are currently trying to get the current Swift chassis accepted by the SCCA for Club Racing use, and if that goes through, a used car market could open up. If and when that will happen is unknown.

Atlantics weren’t picked up when unification happened in 2008, and now that the IndyCar Series is looking to ‘unify’ the open-wheel ladder, my favorite junior formula appears to have some incredibly tough times on its horizon. From an entirely selfish standpoint, I grew up loving CART but that’s gone. I grew up loving the IMSA GTP series and that’s also gone. I really hope I won’t have to say the same about the Atlantic series.

As if they didn’t have enough hurdles to overcome, there’s one more problem that’s troubling the Atlantic Championship – the supposed $1,000,000 prize money the 2009 championship is due to receive.

I’ll save that story for the last page.

A New Addition To The Family

Join me in welcoming Sylvia Proudfoot to the Auto Racing section of SPEEDtv.com. Sylvia will be writing a bi-monthly Grand-Am column for us, and after many years working in the paddocks of both sportscar series, she brings a wealth of knowledge and respect to bolster our Grand-Am coverage. Her first column, If It ain't Broke... can be found on our Grand-Am page.

America’s Got Talent

OK, this is an obvious one, but I think it needs mentioning. Jonathan Summerton has had an up-and-down season, starting in Atlantics with one team (winning the season opener), shifting to another team (winning on Saturday), and has also raced in Indy Lights.
Summerton's angling for an Atlantic title in 2009, and continues to fulfill the promise he's shown over the last few years. (Phil Sedgwick/Atlantic Championship)

He’s needed a steady ride in a single series to show what he’s capable of, but in the absence of that opportunity, he’s making the most of the talent and promise many have seen in him. Now that he’s settled in at Newman Wachs, Summerton’s back on track and has his sights set on more wins and a possible title to move forward in 2010.

Will that be with USF1? In Indy Lights? IndyCars? He’s won in Atlantics, he’s won in A1GP, and had three top-5 finishes from six Lights races this year. One thing is for sure – he’s battled tested and is ready to take the fight to anyone in any series.

The next few months will reveal if the USF1 thing pans out, but personally, I’d rather see him stay home, spend a full season in Lights in 2010 and then look to make the leap to IndyCars in 2011.

At just 21 years old, he has plenty of time to finish growing his skills before he gets called up to the big leagues.

Bringing Your DP To Braselton?

Internet-based auto racing rumors have grown to epic heights of late, with sportscar racing serving as the most popular form of the sport to be riddled by speculation and self-generated intrigue. I tend to think of it as nothing more than an overgrowth of online Kudzu, but it doesn’t change the fact that the genuine news-to-online rumors ratio has been heavily skewed this year.

My favorite rumor since Le Mans has been about the ALMS will be opening their rulebook to allow Daytona Prototypes to compete. I don’t own a crystal ball, but I can say that if this rumor ever became a reality, anyone foolish enough to bolt the Grand-Am stable to race in the ALMS -- even for a single event -- would find the door to the Rolex series locked behind them.

When I posed the question to a senior Rolex official about whether a DP team would be welcomed back after running their car in the ALMS, I got a very short and concise answer: “Nope.”

‘Nuff said.

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