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CART CHAMP CAR SEASON FINALE CANCELLED DUE TO WILDFIRES
INDIANAPOLIS (October 29, 2003) – The California wildfires that are currently burning in Southern California have led to the unfortunate cancellation of this weekend’s King Taco 500 at California Speedway, the race that would have been the final event of the 2003 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.
The race was cancelled Tuesday evening by California Speedway management due to the spread of the fires. The first cars were not scheduled to be on track for this weekend’s King Taco 500 until Friday morning but the Speedway determined that the situation would not improve enough in that time to allow the event to continue.
“Our thoughts are with those families dealing with the disaster in Southern California and we hope for a speedy end to the situation,” said CART President and CEO Christopher R. Pook. “Our diligence in pursuing the continuation of the race was only to ensure that we had exhausted every option available to us. CART Champ Car regrets that the event has been cancelled and we offered to explore every possible avenue, including running the event on Monday or Tuesday at Phoenix International Raceway – which is owned by California Speedway’s parent company International Speedway Corporation – or running at the California Speedway track sometime next week, allowing us to run this race in a safe manner and have a proper end to the 2003 season.”
The cancellation will put an end to the 2003 Champ Car World Series season at 18 races, meaning that Bruno Junqueira will finish as the runner-up to champion Paul Tracy, who clinched the title last weekend in Surfers Paradise, Australia. Junqueira was the season runner-up last year to Cristiano da Matta. Michel Jourdain Jr. enjoys the best finish of his career as he is third in the standings followed by series Rookie of the Year Sebastien Bourdais and Patrick Carpentier. The champion will be crowned next Tuesday night at the CART Champ Car Awards Celebration at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa in Palm Springs, California.
Warlock!
10-29-03, 02:20 PM
Huh...
Sucks.
Warlock!
that F&%$!@! SUCKS! We all knew Cali didn't want us there in the first place.
Looks like ISC got in their last middle finger to CART.
Call me relieved.
After Tony Renna...
I wasn't in the mood for a superspeedway race.
Lizzerd
10-29-03, 03:00 PM
From California Speedway:
California Speedway?s King Taco 500 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford event scheduled for Sunday, November 2nd, and the NASCAR Winston West Series King Taco 200 scheduled for Saturday, November 1st, have been postponed due to the state of emergency declared in San Bernardino County and surrounding counties as a result of the wildfires burning in the area. Potential alternative dates for rescheduling the events are being reviewed, according to Bill Miller, president of California Speedway.
From Chris Pook:
CART Champ Car regrets that the event has been cancelled and we offered to explore every possible avenue, including running the event on Monday or Tuesday at Phoenix International Raceway - which is owned by California Speedway?s parent company International Speedway Corporation - or running at the California Speedway track sometime next week, allowing us to run this race in a safe manner and have a proper end to the 2003 season.
So what's the story? Did the two parties REALLY try to find an alternative? If so, how hard did they try? Miller seems to say that the Speedway wanted to find a way to race, and Pook makes it sound like CART tried but was met with resistance. Which is it?
Warlock!
10-29-03, 03:18 PM
Originally posted by Lizzerd
Which is it?
Yes.
Warlock!
dirtyboy
10-29-03, 03:55 PM
Am I ever glad I was lazy this year and just decided to pick up tickets at the gate instead of preordering them.
Three cheers for being lazy.
pfc_m_drake
10-29-03, 04:32 PM
Unfortunately, some of us were proactive when it would have been better to be lazy :(
However, I understand the decision...it was the only one to make.
Call me relieved,,,,,, after Tony Renna?
Better find another sport, sport
Ziggy
cartmanoz
10-29-03, 05:02 PM
Sad to see no big end-of-season spectacular, but I agree with the sentiment that after what happened to Renna, I don't think anyone could handle watching another 180 minute race on a speedway just yet...
jonovision_man
10-29-03, 05:38 PM
Originally posted by cartmanoz
Sad to see no big end-of-season spectacular, but I agree with the sentiment that after what happened to Renna, I don't think anyone could handle watching another 180 minute race on a speedway just yet...
Aren't we being a tad over-emotional about this?
CART at Fontana isn't any more dangerous than it was before Renna died at a different track driving for a different series.
jono
Ever since Greg Moore's crash, I haven't been able to really enjoy a race at Fontana. I'll watch, but the fear/fun ratio is a bit too high for me.
That said, one of the things I enjoy about CART is its diversity, and the variety of tracks a driver must compete on.
I don't think you can be both in favor of diversity and against superspeedways. Love 'em or hate 'em, they have a place on the schedule. I'm just glad we only race on them once or twice, not 10 or 11 times.
Exactly JoeBob, thanks for bringing this into perspective. Car racing is dangerous. Car Racing in the IRL is very dangerous. I have been to 4 Hanford 500 mile races, and for a big understatment, they are a bit on the tense side. This is how you EARN the word "hero"... No Nancyboy has ever finished a 500 mile grind on the lead lap....
Racecar driving is serious business. You need talent, savy, car preperation, bravado, pace and luck. You go hitching your star to any of these, and you will wind up busting your bottom.
Ziggy
Originally posted by Ziggy
Exactly JoeBob, thanks for bringing this into perspective. Car racing is dangerous. Car Racing in the IRL is very dangerous. I have been to 4 Hanford 500 mile races, and for a big understatment, they are a bit on the tense side. This is how you EARN the word "hero"... No Nancyboy has ever finished a 500 mile grind on the lead lap....
Racecar driving is serious business. You need talent, savy, car preperation, bravado, pace and luck. You go hitching your star to any of these, and you will wind up busting your bottom.
Ziggy
Not to mention a big pair of sphericals. Brass ones. Otherwise known as the Colin McRae specials.
Originally posted by rabbit
Call me relieved.
After Tony Renna...
I wasn't in the mood for a superspeedway race. What he said.
jcollins28
10-29-03, 07:45 PM
Call me relieved. After Tony Renna...
I wasn't in the mood for a superspeedway race.
And what does that have to do with anything CART is doing? Renna's death was in a IRL boeing 747 not a CHAMPCAR. I really have a hard time understanding what brings people to make comments like this. I will agree that the memories of 99 will haunt all of us forever. Yet that was a freak accident were everything that could go wrong did indeed go wrong. Not a result of a faulty design on a race car that makes said car take flight.
I was looking forward to the race this weekend. I live in Rancho Cucamonga about 5 miles from areas of the city were the fire was burning. Today is the first day that we have had direct sunlight. Yesterday you needed your headlights on in the middle of the afternoon just to see. The smoke/ash was so thick that it blocked the sun just leaving a orange darkness. Cancelling the race was the right call at this time.
Superspeedway racing was what drew me to CART. My first exposure to racing was watching the 1981 Indy 500 on TV as a seven-year-old. The first race I attended in person was the 1995 Michigan 500. Two hundred-plus mph wheel-to-wheel around a big oval is a hallmark of open wheel racing to me and I enjoy it immensely. Yes it is dangerous. I have seen many drivers walk away from big hits in the many races I've attended at Michigan and Indianapolis, and I've seen a few taken off on stretchers.
That said, I'm just not in the mood for it right now. Maybe that's part of being a journalist. I knew Tony Renna. I'd covered his career since his early days in Lights and watched him quietly progress into a very real threat. So I took his death a little more personally than maybe some of you. Maybe after a little time I'll be able to look at superspeedway racing with a little more fondness, but not right now.
And to say death on a superspeedway is an IRL-only problem and doesn't concern CART is extremely naive. Look at the faces of the drivers and the team owners on a superspeedway weekend. They can't wait for it to be over. They thank their stars when everyone walks away from the weekend. Yes there is more danger in an IRL car. But a Champ Car is not a fool-proof way to get around a superspeedway. There is no fool-proof way to get around a superspeedway. It's a crapshoot every time.
And right now, I'm just not in the mood for a crapshoot.
Railbird
10-29-03, 08:21 PM
Toronto '96
Krosnoff
80mph
ChampCar
get over it
Everyone please put your racing on hold till rabbit gets over it. Hey buddy, I realize it is not an IRL only problem. What I do realize, is that this has been brewing for quite sometime. Therefor, I was neither shocked nor appalled when Mr. Renna meet his untimely demise.
I was saddened, but hey, 220 mph, automobile, what else do you need to know?
It will happen again...
On flying racecars
As a journalist, I think this may be the time for you to throw down the gauntlet. Rather than "shameless plugs" of the obvious, why don't you ask your boss to spring for some gas money and drive over to Indianapolis and ask some of the questions that so far, no one has felt the need to ask? You could write to your audience and then contact Fred Nation, the IRL and GForce. This would set the stage for either a good approach, or complete rejection. As a journalist, you are preaching to the choir on message boards. I doubt anyone who has followed this sport for any length of time garnered one iota of insight from your pen. I know I didn't.
I have been nice about it, so far.
Here is a head start on the questions that maybe you, with journalist credentials, might want to ask. You also might want to contact a University in your area and get in touch with a physic's grad student.
At what degree of pitch deviation does the front wings of an IRL car stall? The rear?
How much downforce is on the front of the car? The rear?
How far with an IRL car fly at what speed and attitude? What are the entry speeds to curves, at what tracks and how far away is safe?
What was the track temperature and how much heat where in Mr. Renna's tires?
Did his car spin? Did it rotate in the air?
How much force was needed to stretch the fence as far as it went? That would mean the car was going how fast? What was the total duration of the flight? length Impact force? Rebound?
Just what are the responsibilities of a catch fence? Are they to keep cars, or parts of cars, out of the stands?
While many are quick to condone the Speedway for the quick cleanup, Im sure they had their reasons. (BTW, I would like to hear their reasons.) I for one, realize these are the same people that brought you the vision, the equal playing field, The American Driver's big casino, NO ENGINE LEASES, No Captain Liverspots, No big team advantage ad nausea.
Nothing, and I mean nothing they do surprises Me. The sentiment of IRL friendly boards is no doubt heartfelt, but hey, how long will that last and who is going to say anything against the company line?
Im off to California, as I had tickets to attend Fontana. I plan on visiting the long forgotten landmarks which shaped American Racing, and maybe a cemetery or two... The Fontana tickets will go with my Texas version...
Best of Luck
Ziggy
Warlock!
10-29-03, 10:09 PM
Originally posted by Railbird
80mph
80?!? How many have you rolled tonight, 'Bird? ;)
I'd 'a guessed well over 150...
Warlock!
Zig, I think you need to get a grip. Geez. It wasn't like I was asking the world to come to a halt. I only said that I personally didn't really feel like watching a superspeedway race right now. I don't. End of statement. So sue me. And the "IRL-only" comment wasn't a reference to you. It was a reference to another post. I know better than to call you "naive".
And if you think you can convince my editor to spring for the trip, well then by all means go for it. You know what, it aint gonna happen. You know why? Because our readership doesn't give a rats arse why IRL cars are taking to the skies. Our readership doesn't give a rat's arse whether the IRL or CART ever turn another lap. The main reason my openwheel columns are so few and far between is because there is little-to-no demand for any racing news outside of NAPCAR.
And I am soooo sorry my pen has been so ineffective at enlightening you. :rolleyes: I never proclaimed to be the greatest racing mind of all time nor do I strive to be. I am well aware of your knowledge of the sport and also aware of the rarity of such knowledge. I don't seek to enlighten you, but rather enlighten Joe-6-Pack who knows little of the sport.
I post here because before I was ever a journalist, I was a fan. In a few years I will no longer be a journalist, but I will still be a fan. I post links to my columns on occasion because posters here have requested them. Calling them "shameless plugs" is a weak attempt at self-depricating humor. I'm not looking for pats on the back. I couldn't care less if I ever got another atta-boy for one of my columns. Atta-boys on a message board don't put food on the table. In a few years from now, when I go to the track, it won't be to rub elbows with Robin Miller or Gordon Kirby or David Phillips. It will be to rub elbows with guys like Warlock, Napoleon, Railbird, Lizzerd, devilmaster and the many other real race fans I've met in recent years.
Heck, I might even go to a superspeedway race with them... and enjoy it! :thumbup:
jcollins28
10-30-03, 03:44 AM
And to say death on a superspeedway is an IRL-only problem and doesn't concern CART is extremely naive.
I agree 100% and no where did I intend to paint that picture. I'm just tired off the knee jerk reaction's that have come out since Renna's death. What has transpired at Texas and Indy does not have any effect of what may or may not happen in a CART race at a superspeedway.
Originally posted by Railbird
Toronto '96
Krosnoff
80mph
ChampCar
get over it
Exactly where do you come up w/80mph? Krosnoffs car ends up in the runoff off at the end of the straightaway, they are doing 80 shortly after the turn onto that straight, I don't think 80mph would carry the car all the way down the track, somewhere in the 145-160mph range would be more like it. AND at least his wheels were interlocked causing the launch, he didn't run over a small piece of debris or launch mysteriously...
Originally posted by Foxman
Exactly where do you come up w/80mph? Krosnoffs car ends up in the runoff off at the end of the straightaway, they are doing 80 shortly after the turn onto that straight, I don't think 80mph would carry the car all the way down the track, somewhere in the 145-160mph range would be more like it. AND at least his wheels were interlocked causing the launch, he didn't run over a small piece of debris or launch mysteriously...
Let me give this a shot. Maxed out in race trim, they're gonna see around a buck eighty-five down the straight, I honestly can't remember the sequence of events, but they were in the braking zone when the accident happened. Stephan either came in hot or was taking a look at whoever was in front of him and he moved down on Jeff who was seriously taking a look at Stephan. Either way, I would guess that 'Bird is pretty close to accurate, and that the wreck happened at around 80 or 100mph.
Originally posted by jcollins28
And what does that have to do with anything CART is doing? Renna's death was in a IRL boeing 747 not a CHAMPCAR.
don't insult Boeing like that :p
and I was really young but my memories recall Krosnoff launching himself on Stefan's wheels in the braking zone
Originally posted by JT265
......look at whoever was in front of him and he moved down on Jeff who was seriously taking a look at Stephan. Either way, I would guess that 'Bird is pretty close to accurate, and that the wreck happened at around 80 or 100mph.
Just watched the replay thanks to Warlock for sending it. The accident occurs just before and into the beginning of the braking zone, krosnoff goes to pass stefan, stefan went to pass someone else, they were carrying more speed than that, if they'd been going 80 or 100 I'd venture to say that the front of the car would not have been torn off the way it was.
Could be Fox, my only memory of Jeff's deal is walking away from it against the throngs of people rushing down there. I'm just thinking that in road course trim, they are gonna lose 20-30mph just by lifting, but they were just entering the braking zone as well.
Railbird
10-30-03, 05:51 PM
80mph or 150mph
you decide, they are both well below the speed CART was going to generate at Fontana yet he was still launched high into the catch fence.
my point was that racing is dangerous regardless.
what do you suppose Gonzo's speed was when he whacked the fence head on?
When the greenflag drops the bool**** stops boys and girls.
staying home under the bed won't change that one bit.
Zig time to stop being so nice....
fourrunner
10-30-03, 08:30 PM
This is a thread where you learn something... This is a Good thing!! Thanks for the knowledge of experience!!
As far as High Speed Ovals go, I'm with Railbird... I've been watching them since I was 16 and find them Exciting. I LOVED when CART had the "Triple Crown". Occasionally someone gets hurt, which I'd prefer not to see, but it's part of Racing as long as I can remember. 95% of these races (CART style) end the way they should, without a moment of Silence. But sure it tragedy happens in CART, but also in CART, It's Car, Driver, Track. In the IRL its Car, Track, The Drivers just along for the ride, foot to the floor, and Luckiest guy wins. Thats whats dangerous, and to me anyway boring.
:thumbup: :cool:
Originally posted by Railbird
what do you suppose Gonzo's speed was when he whacked the fence head on?
The final report stated "between 70mph and 80mph".
Heck, I'm just glad the championship was decided in Oz. What would they have done if it hadn't? Just declare PT champ and not give Bruno one last crack at him?
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