Shadow
07-15-03, 08:06 PM
Below is an article that this so-called sports writer wrote in the Sun in May 2002. I took exception to his CART birthdate and told him so. His reply to my note follows the article. When you try to deal with a dolt like this you can't win.
-------------
_May 12, 2002
Indy glory returns
By DEAN MCNULTY -- Toronto Sun
_The prospect of drivers from the CART FedEx Championship
Series once again dominating the Indianapolis 500 surely has
Tony George as nervous as a frog in a snake pit.
_But if there's anyone who knows his way around a snake pit,
it's George -- a member of the family which has operated
Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1945.
_Yesterday, Bruno Junqueira, out of CART's Chip Ganassi Racing
team, won the provisional pole with a record 231.342 mph
four-lap average, making it possible that a CART driver will
win at Indianapolis for the third consecutive year.
_For more than half a century, the Indy 500 was unquestionably
the most prestigious automobile race in the world.
_The racing world stopped in May while drivers from every
series, Formula One to NASCAR, made their way to the Brickyard
in Speedway, Ind., to spend three weeks, testing and qualifying
for the U.S. Memorial Day race.
_It was at Indianapolis that racing's eccentrics also made
news. Who can forget Andy Granatelli, bringing his No. 60 STP turbine-powered
Lotus to Indy?
_Indianapolis became a testing ground for pushing automobile technology to its
outer limits.
_Then in late 1995, George decided he was more than the trustee
of a racing legacy. Legally, as head of the family company that
owned the track, he could do whatever he wanted with the Indy 500.
_And what he wanted was a crown jewel for his newly minted Indy Racing League.
_As a result, a majority of the top teams and their
internationally recognized drivers boycotted Indianapolis. Thus
CART racing was born and the Indy 500 has never been the same.
_This year, however, many of CART's drivers, driven by millions
of sponsors dollars, are back.
_It will be the most competitive Memorial Day since Canada's
Jacques Villeneuve won that final race where the best Indy car
drivers in the world filled the grid at Indianapolis.
_In that race, three Canadians had realistic chances for
victory. Villeneuve won after Toronto's Scott Goodyear's
controversial passing of the pace car while leading the race.
_And Paul Tracy was only just becoming the Thrill from West
Hill, but his aggressive style was out there that day for all to admire.
_Villeneuve will start 17th today on the A-1 Ring at the F-1
Austrian Grand Prix. Goodyear was in the television booth
yesterday as an analyst for ABC's Indy 500 qualifying coverage
as Tracy, in a Barry Green prepared Dallara Chevrolet, was the
only Canadian trying to qualify for the 86th version of the race.
_TRACY WIPES OUT
_Tracy crashed his primary car in morning practice yesterday
and needed a short visit to a local hospital to have cuts on his knees and
heels treated.
_Tracy likely will use a backup car today for a second chance to make the grid.
_It has been a long week for the lone Canadian as he struggled
to get used to the Dallara chassis.
_"Usually, when we show up at a track, I jump in and go fast
right away," Tracy said. "But I haven't had any time in these
cars and I haven't been here in six years. The car is completely different than
a CART car."
_Tracy still hopes that a few more days in the Dallara will bring him up to speed.
_"We turned our fastest lap of the month (Friday) and are
definitely making progress," he said. "We still aren't where we
want to be but we are seeing improvements."
------
His response to my email follows:
The "glaring error" you speak of escapes me. On Labour Day weekend in 1995 Tony
George altered the rules that would make teams racing in the then CART series
illegal in the 1996 Indy 500. Most of the best teams said they were not going
back to Indianapolis and Tony was left to form the IRL and the new CART
Championship series — without any reference to its Indy car heritage — was born.
George's dream of racing only on American ovals with cars using aspirated
engines in less costly chassis has struggled to say the least. His decision has
been a costly one for all of open wheel racing.
So much so that open wheel racing in North American now takes a back-of-the-bus
seat to NASCAR Winston Cup racing which has captured the racing public's heart
and wallet.
Cheers,
Dean McNulty
-------------
_May 12, 2002
Indy glory returns
By DEAN MCNULTY -- Toronto Sun
_The prospect of drivers from the CART FedEx Championship
Series once again dominating the Indianapolis 500 surely has
Tony George as nervous as a frog in a snake pit.
_But if there's anyone who knows his way around a snake pit,
it's George -- a member of the family which has operated
Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1945.
_Yesterday, Bruno Junqueira, out of CART's Chip Ganassi Racing
team, won the provisional pole with a record 231.342 mph
four-lap average, making it possible that a CART driver will
win at Indianapolis for the third consecutive year.
_For more than half a century, the Indy 500 was unquestionably
the most prestigious automobile race in the world.
_The racing world stopped in May while drivers from every
series, Formula One to NASCAR, made their way to the Brickyard
in Speedway, Ind., to spend three weeks, testing and qualifying
for the U.S. Memorial Day race.
_It was at Indianapolis that racing's eccentrics also made
news. Who can forget Andy Granatelli, bringing his No. 60 STP turbine-powered
Lotus to Indy?
_Indianapolis became a testing ground for pushing automobile technology to its
outer limits.
_Then in late 1995, George decided he was more than the trustee
of a racing legacy. Legally, as head of the family company that
owned the track, he could do whatever he wanted with the Indy 500.
_And what he wanted was a crown jewel for his newly minted Indy Racing League.
_As a result, a majority of the top teams and their
internationally recognized drivers boycotted Indianapolis. Thus
CART racing was born and the Indy 500 has never been the same.
_This year, however, many of CART's drivers, driven by millions
of sponsors dollars, are back.
_It will be the most competitive Memorial Day since Canada's
Jacques Villeneuve won that final race where the best Indy car
drivers in the world filled the grid at Indianapolis.
_In that race, three Canadians had realistic chances for
victory. Villeneuve won after Toronto's Scott Goodyear's
controversial passing of the pace car while leading the race.
_And Paul Tracy was only just becoming the Thrill from West
Hill, but his aggressive style was out there that day for all to admire.
_Villeneuve will start 17th today on the A-1 Ring at the F-1
Austrian Grand Prix. Goodyear was in the television booth
yesterday as an analyst for ABC's Indy 500 qualifying coverage
as Tracy, in a Barry Green prepared Dallara Chevrolet, was the
only Canadian trying to qualify for the 86th version of the race.
_TRACY WIPES OUT
_Tracy crashed his primary car in morning practice yesterday
and needed a short visit to a local hospital to have cuts on his knees and
heels treated.
_Tracy likely will use a backup car today for a second chance to make the grid.
_It has been a long week for the lone Canadian as he struggled
to get used to the Dallara chassis.
_"Usually, when we show up at a track, I jump in and go fast
right away," Tracy said. "But I haven't had any time in these
cars and I haven't been here in six years. The car is completely different than
a CART car."
_Tracy still hopes that a few more days in the Dallara will bring him up to speed.
_"We turned our fastest lap of the month (Friday) and are
definitely making progress," he said. "We still aren't where we
want to be but we are seeing improvements."
------
His response to my email follows:
The "glaring error" you speak of escapes me. On Labour Day weekend in 1995 Tony
George altered the rules that would make teams racing in the then CART series
illegal in the 1996 Indy 500. Most of the best teams said they were not going
back to Indianapolis and Tony was left to form the IRL and the new CART
Championship series — without any reference to its Indy car heritage — was born.
George's dream of racing only on American ovals with cars using aspirated
engines in less costly chassis has struggled to say the least. His decision has
been a costly one for all of open wheel racing.
So much so that open wheel racing in North American now takes a back-of-the-bus
seat to NASCAR Winston Cup racing which has captured the racing public's heart
and wallet.
Cheers,
Dean McNulty