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View Full Version : There is a precedent...



stroker
07-04-09, 12:18 AM
for what I'm going to propose.

I was reading that Milwaukee was all but DOA and I had a thought. Very few people here will remember 1975 (or was it '76?) at Road America . The management held an Invitational F5000 event. I remember it because Al Unser won the F5000 race on Saturday and then refused to race in the Invitational on Sunday because he was concerned about the speed differential of the cars. :shakehead They had some fake BS for the crowd's consumption about him having stomach flu as an excuse for not racing. I have no memory of who won the Invitational and I don't even remember it as being much of a race. What I WAS interested in was the fact that they'd invited some guys running McLaren M16's and Eagles from the USAC trail. I was REALLY interested in seeing them at RA. My memory is fuzzy but I don't recall either of those cars making a significant impact--they were very minor teams. Contrary to later ads by Road America, I believe that was the first time that "Indy" cars had appeared at the venue.

So. Here's my idea. We're all sitting around depressed because the BRIC and the June Sprints are the top events for RA in 2010, as near as we can tell. The Mile will be empty. The IRL is on the ropes. Let's pitch the idea to RA management to run a "micro" series--two races. They run RA and The Mile. Run whatcha brung. Drag those dusty old Champ Cars out and limber up some methanol. Fire up your Crapwagon and ditch the spec aero. Run what you want. Hell, fire up an old F5000 car with a current SBC. You ought to have about 300 more hp than they did 30 years ago with the 305's. Sell the tickets as a set--can't have one without the other. Run 'em consecutive months with as big a cash prize as you can do for the best results over two races. See if Speedvision will run it live. Take a chance. Start a website and see what the reaction is. Promote the mofo if you decide to do it. Call it the Wisconsin Cup or something. See if the Dairy Council will sponsor it. Run Atlantics and Star Mazda for support races.

Any thoughts?



(Road America held a similar Handicap event the next year for Sports Cars. This was the year before the start of Can Am II, IIRC... I think some guy named Hall won it in a red 2-liter Lola (B-Sport?) that was VERY quick. I remember the race for the Cosworth Mirage I'd seen in Autoweek and wanted to see in the flesh. I was disappointed with how slow it was compared to the Can-Am cars... )

miatanut
07-04-09, 12:53 AM
There are vintage series that run relatively new open wheelers. F1 and CART. They can provide cars and drivers. They have an organized class structure.

Doing something new with professional or semi-professional racing would be tough these days.