Posted on 05/10/2008 8:52:59 AM PDT by Floratina
It's that time of year again and this here's a thread to discuss the events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for those of you interested in that sort of thing.
I remember when Indy was a USAC race. International superstars competed. Then CART, finally the minor league IRL. Bringing CART back into the fold will help, but greed and mismanagement have taken their toll. It remains to be seen if the franchise can be rebuilt.
Is there a ping list for the 500?
It’s big business these days anyway ya cut it. Everything is run thru a computer and a wind tunnel and a CPA.
Over at Nascar, the rules book is gonna soon eclipse the Los Angeles White pages in thickness, as will the skulls of the powers that be at Nascar, the numbskulls that made racing just so much pro wrestling, without the cute ring babes.
Now we see Indy and F1 drivers moving to Nascar, going where the money is good, I guess.. for now.
With Rick Mears tutoring the Penske team, my money is on one of the red and white gang to sit on the pole !!!!!!!
Go DANICA !!!!
Wow! IRL and CART are merged? When did that happen? Whose cars are they using?? What races are they going to have on the schedule. I really like IRL racing, but haven’t followed it for a few years.
Hey everybody, it’s Pole Day! Looks like the ABC broadcast for today begins at 3:00 (ET)
ESPN 2 on the air now.
Oh muh gosh people are already posting here! I love it. I composed a list of names from last year’s race thread and posted my last comment to them, but I don’t know how to do a ping-list thingie...
I’m gonna stick my neck out and pick Danica.. kit and kaboodle
She needs to overcome adversity and nailing one of her own pit crew and race in a mishap. The stage is set. Besides , she ain’t getting’ any younger. ;-)
I don’t either.
Thanks so much - I didn’t realize that it was already on ESPN 2!
Yeah, I’m not a big fan of Tony George. Looks like he finally got his way...
I have been out of the Indycar loop since a couple of years after the split (with the exception of the Indy 500) so it’s good to hear that Mears is still with Penske. Glad also to see that there’s a young Rahal out there.
Ol’ Helio gave the series a lot of good PR, didn’t he?
Yeah, the merge came as a shock to me, too. I looked at the TV Guide a few weeks ago and saw a listing that said ‘IRL at Long Beach’ and couldn’t believe it. I googled away and sure enough, the thaw in AOW racing was over. As of that weekend the reunification had happened already on paper but that weekend was the last weekend that the two series put on their races separately, so it was Champcars that raced at Long Beach and Danica had won that IRL race the day before in Japan, I think it was.
That live scoring is pretty nifty
Be nice to see Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon in the mix. Kinda like payback for them sending their drivers to NASCAR.
Those are two of my very favorite drivers. Tony’s my number one. Here’s what he had to say this week on the subject: http://www.pjstar.com/stories/050808/JAN_BGIF9QN6.080.php
Champ Car World Series Schedule (PDF)
And the web site:
I guess the "unification" is that there are no Champ races scheduled around the Indy 500, which mean Champ drivers can race.
Meanwhile, the main event! IndyCar!!
TV InformationEvent Ticket Information
3/29 - Homestead-Miami Speedway - 8 p.m. ESPN
24/06 - Streets of St. Petersburg - 2:30 p.m. ESPN
4/19 - Twin Ring Motegi - Midnight live ESPN2 / 3 p.m. ESPN
4/27 - Kansas Speedway - 5 p.m. ESPN2
5/25 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Noon ABC
6/01 - The Milwaukee Mile - 4 p.m. ABC
6/07 - Texas Motor Speedway - 10 p.m. ESPN2
6/22 - Iowa Speedway - 1 p.m. ABC
6/28 - Richmond International Raceway - 8 p.m. ESPN2
7/06 - Watkins Glen International - 3:30 p.m. ABC
7/12 - Nashville Superspeedway - 8 p.m. ESPN2
7/20 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - 1:30 p.m. ABC
8/09 - Kentucky Speedway - 6:30 p.m. ESPN2
8/24 - Infineon Raceway - 5:30 p.m. ESPN 2
8/31 - The Raceway at Belle Isle Park - 3:30 p.m. ABC
9/07 - Chicagoland Speedway - 3:30 p.m. ABC*
All times are Eastern
And also the F1 Grand Prix in Istanbul tomorrow.
Please elaborate what you mean by this. I have posted the seperate IRL and Champ schedules and web sites in my previous posting just above this. No unification is visible from these!
She seems quite thin like cardboard!
Everything after Long beach is null and void. They merged in February and LB was the only conflict they couldn’t work out. So, the former Champ racers are following the Indy car schedule, period, now.
http://www.thatsracin.com/other_series/story/12459.html
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/19/report-irl-champ-car-unification-a-done-deal/
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/08/champ-car-and-irl-working-on-truce-for-2008-season/
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/22/breaking-irl-and-champ-car-unification-agreement-signed/
It was my understanding that Long Beach was the last race where the cars from these two series were to compete separately. Check out these links...maybe I have the details wrong :)
Here’s quote from this article about the Indy 500 on ESPN.com yesterday http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/indycar/columns/story?columnist=blount_terry&id=3388635
“The merger meant extra chassis and parts were needed in a hurry. Some teams have only one backup car for two drivers.
That’s a temporary problem. So is the 2008 schedule. Some of the better Champ Car venues (Toronto, for example) had to take a year off but will return in 2009.”
Thanks! Yes. First off the schedule I linked above is wrong. Apparently CART/IRL hasn’t bothered to remove or revamp the web site.
Many / most / all of the races listed on the CART schedule will not be held in 2008. The Portland race will not be held per the Portland Internation Raceway web site. I see similar results for others.
IRL isn’t doing a very good job in the transition of explaining things. IRL has always suffered from some lack of management expertise, and it’s showing again! Hopefully they get on it soon.
thanks for all the links.
I don’t know, Jack. The IRL site is just fine.
Yeah, loooks like Edmonton and Surfers Paradise will be added to the IRL schedule in 2008 and all other CART races are CANCELLED.
OOPS!
Yeah, loooks like Edmonton and Surfers Paradise will be added to the IRL schedule in 2008 and all other CART races are CANCELLED.
OOPS!
Yeah, it’s not bad. The CART site is confusing though, as it still lists a 12 event series that is NOT TAKING PLACE. Perhaps the deal isn’t all the way through yet, but if IRL owns CART then it’s their job to fix that site, no?
I’ve worked on many acquisitions with my firm. There is always a Day One Plan that includes external web. A top priority.
It’s on ABC now
I was at the track this morning and watched a few runs. Saw Wheldon’s qualifying run. Nothing beats Indy in may. Best drivers in the world.
It’s very exciting to me just watching this on TV...you get to just drive over there at will to see it all. I’m so jealous! I’ve never been there.
You really need to check out the race in person sometime. There’s nothing like it. I’ve been to every big track in the country and nothing holds a candle to Indy. I really miss the days when the first day of Quals drew 250,000 every year. It was really something.
the 500...the 500...the greatest race in the world!!
they really didn’t merge...it was more of a takeover by Tony George with the bozo’s who ran Champ Car into the ground unable to do anything about it (I’m a CC fan who also likes IRL)...
they are using the IRL-Honda cars....they are suppose to integrate more of the CC street/road circuits for next year...the CC drivers ran Long Beach this year in the Panoz chasis the same weekend Danica won the IRL race in Japan...they are also running in Edmonton this year....so far the CC drives have been doing well on the street circuits (Rahal won St. Pete w/a combined field) but have been getting thumped on the ovals as expected...
Ovals rule. Street course are a gay European thing. Real American racing takes place on OVALS. Oh yeah! IRL is like NASCAR only 10X as bad. Open weels baby!
Soooo, where is the REAL LIVE Indy 500 Thread... those Nascar peeps got theirs up already !!!
Who’s doing Ours ???
An absolutely gorgeous day in Indiana for once on Memorial Day weekend Sunday.
Soooo, where is the REAL LIVE Indy 500 Thread... those Nascar peeps got theirs up already !!!
Who’s doing Ours ???
—
I’ll toss one up, I did last year.. Back in a bit with a ping to the thread. ;-)
LIVE Thread! Indy 500 92nd Indianapolis 500 ... 12 Noon p.m. (ET) on ABC
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2021039/posts
I was planning on this one being the all-purpose Indy 500 2008 thread. But I reckon the title lacked immediacy...
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