There has been a whole bunch of controversy over
the new Indycar series called the IRL. So being a fan of both CART
and IRL, I'm going to give my opinions which hopefully won't take too long.
One of the biggest problems with Indycar racing
is the cost. The Championship Auto racing Teams(CART) series has
been running races for as long as I can remember. CART has hosted
the likes of Mario & Michael Andretti, the Unsers, Arie Luyendyk, Rick
Mears, and AJ Foyt just to name a few. They have an established history
with many races around the world on many types of racetracks. I can see
why it's expensive. The cars are made of carbon/kevlar composite materials
that are hand put together to make the ultimate car for speed and safety.
The engines are turbocharged, either six or eight cylinders. Operating
cost for the average CART car is around $300/mile.
Tony George is the founding father of the Indy Racing League.
Tony's main objectives for starting the IRL were these:
1. Have lower operating
costs for the cars, around $200/mile.
2. Give more people
a chance to make it into the big time open wheel scene.
3. Bring open wheel
racing back to it's circle track roots.
Step 1, make the cars cheaper. Instead
of having several major engine builders make their own motors at very high
costs, IRL gave you two choices, the Infiniti V8 which is really a hopped
up Q45 motor and then Oldsmobile V8 which is a hopped up Aurora motor,
both are in n/a form(no turbos). This allows every team a fair chance
at having a competitive motor program without having to spend millions
on motors every year.
Step 2, let more people into the sport.
During the three years the IRL has been around, there have been several,
if not too many new people no one has ever heard of. Arie Luyuendyk
and Scott Goodyear both took seats in the IRL and quite frankly, made everyone
look stupid. But Tony was right, a lot more people have had the rare
chance to run in the Indy 500. Kenny Brack won the 1998 IRL title.
If you know where Kenny Brack came from, please let me know, I have no
idea.
Step 3, bring open wheel racing back to it's
circle track roots. Tony did this too. In the first year, the
IRL had four races, two of which were at brand new tracks. All of
them were ovals. Tony achieved all his goals. Is that good?
Well, I'll give you my opinion(s).
Opinion 1 The way I see it is this.
CART is perhaps the highest form of open wheel racing in the USA, and probably
second in the world to Formula 1. Basically, since F1 doesn't have
a US race on the schedule, if you want the elite for of open-wheel racing,
you get CART. CART is #1 for a reason. If you can't play with
the big dogs, then stay on the porch, or else race in the Toyota Atlantic
or Indy Lights series. CART is #1, so NO, it won't be cheap and YES,
it will be hard to find a seat for a season of racing. If you want
to race in CART, good luck. If you don't make it, race Indy Lights
till you do. If you want to play for the Yankees, good luck.
If you can't make it, play in the minor league, simple as that. CART
is the highest level of open wheel racing for a reason, of course it'll
be expensive, chill out.
Opinion 2 This relates to opinion 1.
In my opinion, the IRL is not even close to being on the same level as
CART. Yes, the cars are expensive, yes they go fast, and yes, they
get to race at Indy 500. But if you've been to a CART and an IRL
race, you'll know what I mean. I've been to the IRL races in Vegas
and Phoenix ever since the IRL started. I have yet to see a
sold out show, better yet, more that 50,000 people at either of the events.
IRL has the pre-race Formula Mazda and Formula Ford series out on the track
before the IRL does their thing. CART has the Indy Lights and Atlantic,
and they used to have the Bridgestone Supercars and NATCC Touring Cars
running during the race weekend. I can go to an IRL race and buy
a GA ticket for 25 bucks and get a seat anywhere in the house in any section
of the stands. Go to Long Beach for the CART race and unless you
get there two hours early, GOOD LUCK! CART races are packed with
people and I have yet to see a CART race disappoint me. The second
year the IRL cars ran out at PIR I left early because it was so boring.
I watch every CART race on TV, I have watched maybe a total of two IRL
races on TV(including the 500).
Opinion 3 The noise. Hearing
a CART race is fun. The sound of the turbocharged, high pitched engines
is a wonderful sound, I love it. The sound of an IRL car is downright
painful and annoying. It reminds me of a NASCAR. If I wanted
to hear a NASCAR, I would go to the NASCAR races. I highly reccomend
that Tony throws some Flowmasters on those IRL cars to shut them up, it's
getting annoying.
Opinion 4 All the circle track stuff.
Yes, a lot of the IRL drivers came from circle track roots in sprint cars
and stuff, but the vast majority of open wheel cars roots came from tracks
where you turn left and right. NASCAR's turn left and they do it
very well. Open wheel cars are cool because of their ability to turn
in both directions. In my opinion, if Tony G. wanted to make a series
that goes back to the circle track roots, he should have started a high
dollar sprint car series.
I have pretty much given my thoughts on the IRL/CART dilemma. You can
make assumptions based on what I've given, but it's pretty clear to most
people how I feel. Feel free to email
me your thoughts and if you like, I can add them to this editorial.