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Written by:
Robin Miller
08/27/2008 - 06:45 AM
Indianapolis, Ind.
Hello open wheel types and thanks for all your questions. I intend to answer your questions every week during the season, so just e-mail them to openwheelmailbag@gmail.com. Don’t feel left out if I didn’t directly respond. I appreciate your interest and passion.
~Robin Miller
Q: I’m not a IRL guy but used be a CART fan years ago and have now switched to NASCAR. Since the race was in Sonoma this past week I decided to go and see what the IRL is all about. I was really disappointed and I could see the series failing right in front of me from wherever I wanted to sit in since there were only a handful of fans at the event. The first thing I noticed is it’s all Honda all the time. Don’t get me wrong I like Honda but the series desperately needs variety of Chevy, Ford heck even a Dodge motor to mix it up and give the fans something to rib each other in the stands. I am sure this has all been hashed out before but what can be done to save it? Love this form of racing and would hate to see it go away.
Steve from Modesto, Calif.
RM: The most depressing thing about the weekend to me was the so-called crowd. I saw where an Infineon official said it was "up" from last year and that's even more depressing if it's true because it was pathetic out around the track on race day. There wasn't a 1,000 people watching practice or qualifying on Saturday and I asked some fans about the NASCAR weekend there and they said it was solid all three days. The track itself needs to be widened and changed to try and give at least one passing zone (ditto for Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca) and when turbocharged engines return in 2011, they also need push-to-pass and optional tires (which will happen) to try and make the show entertaining. Last Sunday's race was AWFUL in every way. Tony Kanaan said the same thing and he finished third.
Q: Since the split I was on the Champ Car side because I always thought it had the best product. Now that all that is past I just happy to see one series and hoping everything works out. I don't care who won, but everytime I hear someone say the IRL won I can't help to wonder what winning is as fans. Is it to have a merged series named after your favorite one, the owner of the one you used to like, or to have the product you like, and with the changes that are coming (turbos, more street and road courses), isn's the IRL looking a lot more like Champ Car? Now my question. I know it's been said tons of times that there's not gonna be a new car until 2011, but is the only reason for this the 100th anniversary of Indy? Hasn't TG been rethinking the whole thing? It seems to me he should. I love street and road courses, but it's painful to watch those ugly and slow looking cars at them and if they really want to attract new fans they have to do something.
Felipe Caicedo, Colombia
RM: First off, NASCAR won and open wheel lost, that's a fact. There does seem to be a lingering anger among Champ Car fans and I totally understand their feelings
about missing the Panoz, the turbo Cosworth and some of the good circuits. But CART failed because the owners couldn't run it properly and Champ Car failed for the same reasons. The IRL isn't any smarter or better but it does have the Indy 500 and right now that appears to be the only thing that any sponsor is interested in. Is it a fair deal for the Champ Car teams? Certainly not competition wise and they're going to take their lumps but it's still better than two half-assed series. We'll get turbos back in 2011 and a new car and hopefully Cleveland and Elkhart Lake and Phoenix will be back on the sked soon.
Q: When it comes to open wheel in the U.S. you are the top authority on getting the scoop and saying it the way it is. I get a big chuckle when the diehards at Track Forum bash you to death, but your threads get the most attention as they obviously can't resist reading your columns. What's it gonna take for them to realize their tunnel vision views of Tony George and the IRL were wrong?
Anthony,Wellington, Fla.
RM: Thanks, but I imagine I'm the oldest authority and I should get scoops and inside information because I've done it for 40 years. As for forums, when I use to work at ESPN on RPM2Nite, John Kernan (the host) would read the forums every day and fret over what they said or what they liked or didn't like. I always laughed and told him to quit wasting his time because it was about 30 people doing all the bitching. And most of them think IndyCar racing started in 1996. It's great to have passionate fans, don't get me wrong, but a lot of those "experts" on the forums who hated CART's diversity are now praising the IRL for being the toughest series in the world because of the different types of tracks. As for me, I quit worrying about whether anybody liked me 30 years ago. Having the respect of Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney and Parnelli Jones means a helluva lot more to me than whether some schmuck thinks I made up the story about unification or Tony Kanaan going to Ganassi.
Q: It seems like Servia & Power are always fast on road/street course qualifying sessions, but it does not look like they have the race pace of the big three? Is this due to KV Racing not having enough race experience with the Dallara chassis to set it up correctly for the race? Also Power seems to always have problems as the race goes on in every road/street course this year even though he usually qualifies up front. Is this due to Will pushing the car harder than the big three’s driver during qualifying to just be at front?
Wa, Visalia, Calif.
RM: You correctly pointed out that KV Racing has clearly adapted the best of all the Champ Car teams and that's because of Jimmy Vasser's relationship with Ganassi, Dave Higuera's IRL knowledge and the fact it's a good group of mechanics, engineers and drivers. Servia and Power have been on pace during the race several times but Power has been plagued by many mechanical issues. I'm sure the mechanics are learning the nuances of the gearbox and the car itself but it takes time and they're five years behind.
~Robin Miller
Q: I’m not a IRL guy but used be a CART fan years ago and have now switched to NASCAR. Since the race was in Sonoma this past week I decided to go and see what the IRL is all about. I was really disappointed and I could see the series failing right in front of me from wherever I wanted to sit in since there were only a handful of fans at the event. The first thing I noticed is it’s all Honda all the time. Don’t get me wrong I like Honda but the series desperately needs variety of Chevy, Ford heck even a Dodge motor to mix it up and give the fans something to rib each other in the stands. I am sure this has all been hashed out before but what can be done to save it? Love this form of racing and would hate to see it go away.
Steve from Modesto, Calif.
RM: The most depressing thing about the weekend to me was the so-called crowd. I saw where an Infineon official said it was "up" from last year and that's even more depressing if it's true because it was pathetic out around the track on race day. There wasn't a 1,000 people watching practice or qualifying on Saturday and I asked some fans about the NASCAR weekend there and they said it was solid all three days. The track itself needs to be widened and changed to try and give at least one passing zone (ditto for Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca) and when turbocharged engines return in 2011, they also need push-to-pass and optional tires (which will happen) to try and make the show entertaining. Last Sunday's race was AWFUL in every way. Tony Kanaan said the same thing and he finished third.
Q: Since the split I was on the Champ Car side because I always thought it had the best product. Now that all that is past I just happy to see one series and hoping everything works out. I don't care who won, but everytime I hear someone say the IRL won I can't help to wonder what winning is as fans. Is it to have a merged series named after your favorite one, the owner of the one you used to like, or to have the product you like, and with the changes that are coming (turbos, more street and road courses), isn's the IRL looking a lot more like Champ Car? Now my question. I know it's been said tons of times that there's not gonna be a new car until 2011, but is the only reason for this the 100th anniversary of Indy? Hasn't TG been rethinking the whole thing? It seems to me he should. I love street and road courses, but it's painful to watch those ugly and slow looking cars at them and if they really want to attract new fans they have to do something.
Felipe Caicedo, Colombia
RM: First off, NASCAR won and open wheel lost, that's a fact. There does seem to be a lingering anger among Champ Car fans and I totally understand their feelings
Q: When it comes to open wheel in the U.S. you are the top authority on getting the scoop and saying it the way it is. I get a big chuckle when the diehards at Track Forum bash you to death, but your threads get the most attention as they obviously can't resist reading your columns. What's it gonna take for them to realize their tunnel vision views of Tony George and the IRL were wrong?
Anthony,Wellington, Fla.
RM: Thanks, but I imagine I'm the oldest authority and I should get scoops and inside information because I've done it for 40 years. As for forums, when I use to work at ESPN on RPM2Nite, John Kernan (the host) would read the forums every day and fret over what they said or what they liked or didn't like. I always laughed and told him to quit wasting his time because it was about 30 people doing all the bitching. And most of them think IndyCar racing started in 1996. It's great to have passionate fans, don't get me wrong, but a lot of those "experts" on the forums who hated CART's diversity are now praising the IRL for being the toughest series in the world because of the different types of tracks. As for me, I quit worrying about whether anybody liked me 30 years ago. Having the respect of Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney and Parnelli Jones means a helluva lot more to me than whether some schmuck thinks I made up the story about unification or Tony Kanaan going to Ganassi.
Q: It seems like Servia & Power are always fast on road/street course qualifying sessions, but it does not look like they have the race pace of the big three? Is this due to KV Racing not having enough race experience with the Dallara chassis to set it up correctly for the race? Also Power seems to always have problems as the race goes on in every road/street course this year even though he usually qualifies up front. Is this due to Will pushing the car harder than the big three’s driver during qualifying to just be at front?
Wa, Visalia, Calif.
RM: You correctly pointed out that KV Racing has clearly adapted the best of all the Champ Car teams and that's because of Jimmy Vasser's relationship with Ganassi, Dave Higuera's IRL knowledge and the fact it's a good group of mechanics, engineers and drivers. Servia and Power have been on pace during the race several times but Power has been plagued by many mechanical issues. I'm sure the mechanics are learning the nuances of the gearbox and the car itself but it takes time and they're five years behind.
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