Excuse me, but did longtime Tony George hater Robin write these words?
(Tony) George has been beaten up constantly in this space (and rightly so) since 1996 but he's no longer the bad guy. His offer appears to have been as sensible as it was viable and nobody can say anymore that he's trying to block unification.I'd say we should fire up the Hallelujah chorus, but first I'm going to check outside to see if it's raining frogs or if the rivers have turned to blood.
But the real bottom line is that racing is a way of life for George and his family. He's not going away and he's got the only open wheel race that anybody in this country still cares about. He's also got the Brickyard 400 to pay for Indy cars.
It's not a way of life for Forsythe and Kalkhoven: it's a hobby, albeit an expensive one. It couldn't be a business or else they wouldn't run it so poorly.
(MORE from SpeedTV)
The Lamb and the Goat have fused as one. For the first time in my life, I'm just speechless.
Methinks Robin's trying to secure himself a hard card for IRL next year.
Champ Car ground up Robin's hard card. He's motivated to take it easy on them because ..... He's had a hard card for the IRL for a trillion years. I've always thought he was as hard on Champ Car, especially lately, as he was on the IRL. An equal-opportunity hater, perhaps.
Well 'Dog, RM has always admitted he preferred Indy Car racing from the 1950's, 60's, and 70's, with Offenhausers, roadsters, and 'murican born drivers who worked their way up from midgets and sprints. I'm amazed he even considers rear engined race cars allowable, much less race cars with wings. If you listen to Robin, nothing good ever happened in Indy Car racing after about 1970.
So of course he's an equal opportunity hater: CCWS and the IRL still race on pavement!
:^P
The Lamb and the Goat have fused as one.
In the words of Bill Murray: "Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - MASS HYSTERIA!"
I think it is time for the teams to defect one by one. If 2 or 3 teams leave champ car for the IRL, Champ car is done.
they're getting out the space heaters because somewhere just froze over
I think the CCWS future is now in the hands of the team owners. There aren't a lot of teams busting down the doors of KK and the rest of the Council of Four to get into the top tier of the CCWS ladder. Atlantic is still doing ok, but CCWS is very short on talent. As many have said, if a few of the smaller teams make the switch, or if one or two of the main teams such as NHL or PKV make the switch, it will be all over. Of course the same could be said of the IRL is AGR, GCR, or Penske made the switch back to CCWS, but I don't see that happening. The IRL, although not terribly strong, is on MUCH better footing than CCWS.
I stand by my claim that the CCWS will not make it through the 2008 season, especially now. It's three days 'till February and a total of 3 drivers have been announced thus far, leaving them far short of the 16 (minimum) they are contractually obligated to provide to get paid by their promoters. One or two cars move or don't answer the bell and the CCWS ceases to exist.
Which, of course, as a HUGE Enrique Bernoldi fan, I hope doesn't happen ;)
Everyone,
Keep your eyes open for news today of an announcement from Newman\Haas\Lanigan (1:00 PM Eastern). Conventional wisdom holds it will be to announce their drivers for 2008, Young Master Graham and Justin Wilson (NOT the Cajun chef) If it's CCWS for them, then the CCWS series lurches on for one more year. If there's ANYTHING IRL related, even an '08 run at the 500, it could be game over. Remember, Penske ran two races in '01 prior to jumping into the IRL with both feet in '02.