Hi there. I'm a Newbie.
Wondering if any of you are Champ Car (formerly CART) fans...
I have been going to the races for a few years now. I'm really excited about this year, and the future of the series.
I love the rivalry between Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bordais. Great for tv. I tend to side with Tracy the past few incidents. Anyone watch the tv series Race Car Driver on WGN? Great behind-the-scenes action.
Anyway, hope to see some fellow Champ Car followers on this board.

 

Yup....I follow it...sort of. I've been to most of the races when it was in Vancouver. Too bad it's no longer there.

I still read up on it and if I'm ever in a town where there is a race, I'm sure to buy tix.

 

I follow it loosely any more. They need to ge their ***** together in open wheel racing. Not enought interest to support 2 series properly. Especially if they favor ovals! I want to see all the big names race each other again, like before the split, THAT was good open wheel racing.

Race car driver is a cool show that will hopefully generate some new fans. If not, NASCAR will continue to dominate .

Overall I am a sportscar racing fan at heart!

 

I agree time to end the fude in North American Open Wheel racing. Time to AXE the 2.8L turbo. Too bad the stuck in the past guys at [go]cart are so bound and determined to push NASCAR to the top. What is left of [go]cart in its glory days '80's and 90's before the split? NOTHING! Most of the drivers of the glory days are now IRL owners.

It is time for a common chassis and engine combination to bring everyone back.

Or maybe the [go]cart boys too afraid of being beaten by a GIRL!

Go DANICA! She's the best thing to hapen to racing since Lovely Linda Vaughn!

Let me put it another way. Without Indianapolis Motor Speedway we would all be watching sprint cars and NASCAR.

 

Used to, before the IRL/CART split. Last race I attended was Mid-Ohio 2001. Too much bitterness, infighting, ridiculous CEOs, not enough racing talent. Just a matter of time before the inevitable occurs...death of the series.

What I'd really like to see is a F1 feeder series for North and South America. Who knows maybe A1GP will catch on.

 

I stopped watching, attending, and in general caring about CART when Honda and the other manufactures left. But I still don't like the oval races, so no IRL... so I guess I'm left with F1 I do like the idea of an F1 feeder series!

 

I've been a CART fan since 1989 and I like it a lot. I miss the familiar names of Mears, Sullivan, Fittipaldi, Unser, and Andretti, but the races still have plenty of action. I tend to side with Paul Tracy (my favorite active driver) on the last few incidents too, but racing is racing. At least Paul and Sebastian leave it on the track when they are done. I think the current formula where everyone has similar equipment is also working out. I would just like to see them get back to a more balanced mix of superspeedways, short ovals, road courses, and street tracks.

P.S. - I'm a big Danica fan too. I also like Katherine Legge. They seem to respect each other instead of yowling and hissing, which speaks well of them.

 

Whoa, I opened up a can of worms!
I have to say that for a while, CART was on its death bed. And it did die. Champ Car took its place. At first, the future of Champ Car was bleak. I had my doubts, especially when they lost their engine manufacturers. For 2 years, I didn't watch the races as much (my fave driver, daMatta, went to F1). Plus the tv package was not so great (Spike tv).
Now under new owners, it is thriving. For all you ex-fans, please come back... you'll see the old feeling is back. I went to the Portland GP this year and it was like old times.
I can't get into the IRL. I don't like Tony George and his business, and I am not into ovals. Leave the ovals to NASCAR. Champ Car is still a good mix of road courses, some ovals, and street courses. Best open-wheel in the country. Someday you may see a reunification of both series, but both sides need to compromise a bit.
Until then, come back to the races... especially the street venues... they truly are 3-day Festivals of Speed. You won't be disappointed. At least check out the Australian GP this weekend -always full of action and excitement!

 

I sure hope it regains its glory. I used to regularly attend races at Belle Isle and MidOhio before CART turned its back on the venues. I still enjoy watching the races, when I'm aware that they are on. They've almost fallen off the radar as far as advertising and promotion. GREAT racing though, and it will get better!

 

Hey there Squirlz! I've also been to the races at Belle Isle and MidOhio. I definitely miss those venues. CART did turn its back on them, but those in charge now are looking at rebuilding what was destroyed a few years ago. I see the problem here is that CART lost a lot of its fans with the decisions it made in the past, and now that new ownership has taken over, it really has to prove itself and get those fans back. No easy task. I really believe in the series. I too lost faith for a time, but it has been renewed with the latest decisions and with the direction the series is headed now.
If you are still in the midwest, you should check out the Cleveland race next year, that's a great track!

 

No, Mid-Ohio is a great track. Cleveland is an airstrip, not quite as bad as when F1 "raced" in the parking lots of Vegas, but sorry, it's not a great venue. Nor for that matter are Sebring, Silverstone and some of the other converted airfields. What Cleveland and Champ Car did this year in honoring USGP tickets was commendable, and should be praised, but it really didn't win them over many converts (too bad). If Champ Car is to survive, it has to unmarginalize itself, bridge the rift and go back to being part of the Indy 500, racing a mixture of ovals, dedicated tracks, street venues as well as airstrips.

 

AMEN BROTHER PREACH ON!

The two GIANTS know that they have to be there. Formula one and NASCAR. Take a look at this way. The only race of the year that is bigger to the NASCAR guys is the Daytona 500. Tony Stewart winning the '05 Brick Yard was just as emotional as when AL Unser Jr won his first 500. Right up there as when Rubens won the drag race (OK SCHUMI Gave him that one!).

Brainless Bernie and Mad MAX know that to bring F1 back to popularity in North America (get the cash out of the only market where they don't dominate) they had to be at 16th and Georgetown! It may be a Mickey Mouse track lacking the butt puckering characteristics of say Eau Rouge, or the Tunnel - Chicane complex of Monaco. Especially after the FIASCO that occured in 2005. Still they are there.

It is almost like the game of Baseball in the movie "Field of Dreams". I live close to the track. (Yes, I am even closer to Indianapolis Raceway Park, I hear them every weekend!) and I still get goosebumps when I go past IMS. Even when the only thing on the track is dust and the only motor echoing off the grandstands is mine echoing off the back side of the grandstands.

I can only imagine what it will be like to take MIB on the track someday!

 

I'm sorry if I seem a little testy over this. I am an absolute Champ Car fanatic and want nothing to do with the earl, tonee or his many visions. CCWS is the future and the league is a joke at best. Tonee tried to buy out CART and kill it. Kalkoven, Forsythe and Gentiliozzi out maneuvered him and put together a full race year merely months after. Then Tonee tries to buy out Cosworth. KK et al out maneuver him again. Then Tonee goes after Long Beach. Guess what. Yup, still belongs to CCWS.

Unification? Already there. The Champ Car paddock is quite unified.

The "league" will hang on for a couple more years, maybe. It will now rely even more on tonee's charity and remain on life support. Tonee's league has morphed into everything he said he was against back on that dark day when the earl was hatched. Foreign engine manufacturers running the series, engine leases, powerful manufacturer supported super-teams, foreign drivers, huge bidgets etc.

As it stands today, the league has: a "condensed" schedule; A multitude of lost and ruined race venues; Danicamania is waning - she is not winning and her teammates are in near-revolt over all her publicity (check out Katherine Legge. She has actually won a race. 3 of them in fact and is scheduled to do some runs with Minardi for an afternoon.); Cheever's team is dead with a wimper and Red Bull is heading to CCWS and/or Atlantics; 497.5 ratings are a mere shadow of what they used to be - Danica did not win last May and remember, 33 is just a number; Horrendous tv ratings and race attendance; Chevy is gone and so is Toyota, leaving a single Japanese engine supplier (see Vision 1.0). I won't even get into the criminal safety record within the league. Those cars fly and the drivers get hurt, severly hurt. Ask the Chipster how much $$ he has spent on chassis' this year? How is Briscoe doing? Junquera? Paul Dana? Mario Andretti? Tomas Enge? Kenny Brack?

Without the 497.5, the league is nothing. With the 497.5, it is hanging on by its fingernails.

 

I'm really happy that Champ Car is going to be back at Road America next year. The new owners have done a great job and, while I fully understand the current emphasis on street circuits, Road America is definitely the place to watch and fully appreciate those cars. I've already made my reservations!

Mark

 

I just read that today about Road America and I went immediately to the Osthoff reservations site and they already have the date blocked out. I was hoping I could sneak in before they got wind.

 

Champ Car and IRL uniting? Could it be so? If so, could it be good?

Interesting AutoWeek article:

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../60221006/1001

 

I too am VERY happy Champ Car will be back at Road America.

I usually attend the Milwaukee and Road America races!