Robin Miller’s Mailbag for September 9

IndyCar

Robin Miller’s Mailbag for September 9

The amazing Chicagoland finish made all Indy car fans happy...yeah, right.

Robin Miller | Posted September 09, 2008 Indianapolis, Ind.

Three-wide action at Chicagoland Speedway. (LAT photo)

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: Went to see IRL at Chicagoland on Sunday, and I’m starting to feel it’s one of the best venues on the circuit. You could hardly ask for a better race, could not take my eyes off the three-abreast lap after lap racing, with cars running side by side the entire race. Sat next to people who were there because they had to buy the package, they were going nuts as the field circled at 214mph. Some said they had no idea what this racing was like, and far more exciting than their beloved NASCAR. Here’s the rub! This is what ovals produce, seeing everything, every lap, wheel to wheel! Can’t the people in control of open wheel put their finger on the pulse of the fans, give them what they want? Too bad if the “Green Card Racers” want road courses – they don’t buy the tickets, they don’t buy the products advertised. When you give the fans what they got Sunday in Chicago . . . actually Joliet . . . they go nuts! More ovals also means more possibility of transition from USAC, and other traditional American racing.

Jim Spence

RM: I think I can speak for all of us Baby Boomers who got hooked on racing and it was Terre Haute, Eldora, Milwaukee, Salem, Trenton, Phoenix and Indy that we grew up with. No question oval racing is Indy’s heritage and best show for the customers and TV audience. But I think we saw the IRL’s all-oval format didn’t work, so road courses and street circuits were added because they drew much larger crowds. They are also less expensive than all the damage inflicted on ovals and that’s a huge consideration in this economy. But I don’t see how you can say road racing fans don’t buy tickets or merchandise because those folks are just as passionate and loyal. The ideal situation for USACers would seem to be all ovals but, trust me, most would still have to bring money to get a ride. Also, other than Iowa, Chicago and Milwaukee, the ovals weren’t all that exciting this season. For all of CART’s shortcomings, it’s mix of 7-7-7 (ovals, street courses and road races) was the best mix and most challenging circuit in the world and that’s what it had international respect and a following.

Q: Helio is likely the greatest asset the sport has right now. I hate dancing shows as much or more than anyone, but his personality is key to any growth this series may see. Say what you will about his tactics in Detroit and elsewhere in trying to stay alive in the championship, but you cannot fault his competitive drive or enthusiasm…ever. He is the most gracious ‘1st loser’ you will ever hear, and he is ALWAYS grateful and excited for the opportunities he’s been given. I’ve enjoyed his antics thoroughly this season!

Jim Fisher

RM: There’s no doubt the fans and media respond to Helio and he is very good for open-wheel racing. Some of his competitors call him a great “actor” as well as a dancer but he genuinely has had an optimistic presence since we met him back in the late ’90s. Sometimes his personality and antics mask the fact he’s still a damn good racer.

Q: Is “Mr. Excitement” (Scott Goodyear) afraid he’s going to get into trouble with someone if he makes any kind of comment regarding what’s going on during a race? Ed Carpenter smacks the wall, ABC shows the replay from onboard and you can clearly see nothing goes wrong with the rear suspension, so based on the hit, it’s clearly a right-front suspension failure. Yet Goodyear states, “Well, I don’t want to say that’s what it was.” First words out of Carpenter’s mouth out of the in-field care center “Right-front suspension failure.” Milka leads five laps under caution because of her being off-sequence on pitting, and both Marty Reid and Goodyear act like it’s a huge accomplishment for her, and actually apologized for picking on her so often. Any IRL fan knows she was not there because of skill and sure enough as soon as it went green, Castroneves and Briscoe went blowing by her.

I’m pretty sure analysts and commentators are hired to provided analysis and comment on what’s going on. I had to laugh when Goodyear made the comment that he “challenged” Brian Barnhart about the Castroneves penalty in Detroit, because whenever Goodyear is on camera, it’s pretty much whatever the IRL says is right.

When I first heard that the IRL was moving to Versus for all but five races next year, I’ll admit that I cringed a bit, but after watching truly horrid coverage the last three races, I’m not really going to miss ABC/ESPN. Not once during Chicago did Goodyear or Marty mention what the cutoff was for Castroneves to have led the most laps. Now clearly I could have figured it myself, but they need to help create some drama. I thought Chicago was a damn good race, probably the best I’ve seen all year in any series and yet both Marty and Scott seemed to show no excitement when they were three wide for 1-2-3 and 3 wide for 5-6-7 all at the same time. Maybe I’m crazy, but I’d really like to hear someone on TV say something like “Holy S%^#, they are three wide for the lead and for 5th.” So, with all that, have you heard any rumors as to who Versus is thinking about to cover IRL races?

Chris, Portage, Michigan

RM: I agree that analysts should be critical when necessary and speculation kind of comes with the territory. Race fans don’t want to be stroked – they want to be informed as well as having their buttons pushed from time to time. But since I’ve never done any network TV (and likely never will with my mouth), I’m not sure what the announcers are told. I guess I understand pumping up the product, but I really don’t think sugar coating things is what the real race fan wants to hear on any telecast. Racing is mean, cut-throat, vulgar and thrives on controversy and most fans expect to hear about all that stuff. Haven’t heard any possible lineups for Versus but I’d like to see Gary Gerould do the play-by-play and Eddie Cheever be the analyst with me doing the reporting/rumors and arguing with Cheever whenever merited. It ain’t gonna happen but it damn sure would be more entertaining than what the IRL will likely assemble.

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