Mario Andretti sounds off

[rabbit]

http://www.limanews.com/display/inn_sports/Sunday/sports05.txt

[RTKar]

I'll say the same thing I said when it looked as if RA was off the schedule this year, why eliminate a race that has been supported for years by some of the most loyal fans in the series? Let me see...the tv ratings stink, Toyota and Honda in some ways fealt driven out, major sponsors are gone.....so let's PO are most loyal fans...:shakehead

[Cartisan]

If M-O goes away, based on Mario's quotes, I'd say (as I've said for a year or so, now), that it will have more to do with Honda wanting M-O to go to crapwagons than CART giving up the track. Though I know M-O may not fit in with Pook's urban strategy, manifested in the July 4 weekend race just up the road.

[Napoleon]

Originally posted by Cartisan
If M-O goes away, . . .that it will have more to do with Honda wanting M-O to go to crapwagons than CART giving up the track.


It will have everything to do with Honda. Thats Honda's home track and for years they have been one of, and perhaps the biggest sponsor that MO has had, based on the amount of signage and hospitality and display space they have rented, and I am not even considering that the use of the Civic in the Mid Ohio driving school may be part of a sponsorship package.

[RaceChic]

I would be thrilled if Mario Andretti bought CART and partner him with Paul Gentilozzi. Both of them are great with the media/public and are good for CART. :)

[rabbit]

From what I have heard, there is still a chance that Honda will still sponsor the M-O race, even with CART running there. Makes you wonder if the door isn't still open for a return to CART in '05 or '06.

{Not to change the subject, but where would that leave Tony's Tantrum League IF (big if) Toyota and Honda bolted back to CART? No engines. No sponsors. No teams. Maybe Penske was right, there will be one series and it will race in Canada.}

Everything Mario says makes sense to me. But I just don't see how, short of the extinction of one or the other, we can ever get back to one series.

[devilmaster]

Originally posted by rabbit
Not to change the subject, but where would that leave Tony's Tantrum League IF (big if) Toyota and Honda bolted back to CART? No engines. No sponsors. No teams. Maybe Penske was right, there will be one series and it will race in Canada.

This is my 2 bits on this....

As long as there is 2 series, neither one can flurish.

CART, although losing money right now, can stave off death by reaching out globally, while going city racing in America because you bring the people and the corporate accounts right downtown. The only problem with this is, it usually takes a few years for any type of event to garner big money. And with a good chunk of new events, you need to ensure that you have enough time to make these events work.

IRL, on the other hand, has a couple decent races, that garner some money, but at the same time, self-promotes alot of races, by renting the track from France or Smith and doing all the work themselves. In this, George puts alot of money out from profits made from, in my view, his 2 big races. (indy 500, brickyard 400)
The problem here is, the Indy 500 has been falling in viewership and attendance along with OW racing in general in America. OW has not hit rock bottom yet. But unless something drastic happens soon, it will keep falling. This is where I can see a power play being made for the track.

the Hulman/Georges have alot of money, yes. There is no denying that. That money is the only thing which probably makes this comment moot. But I have no doubt, that the France's are like the vultures circling the dying animal. What if Indy falls even more, the IRL falls more, and then Bill France threatens to pull the BY 400 and threatens to not allow IRL to race at his tracks.

Where would that leave IMS? I mean its well documented that Bill France and Bruton Smith were fighting each other for ownership of existing/new tracks in America. I'm sure both would love to have the IMS speedway under their ownership. Just like Daytona, France could have 2 races there. One on memorial day weekend for 500 miles, the other later in the summer for 400 miles.

Just a little bit of wild ass guessing by me. This is only one scenario that could play out. But never forget that the France's probably watch the split more intently than anyone else.... including us.

Steve