Comments on My Name Is IRL: 2007 Theme: 18 And Under

Tomas is not under contract, although he is presum...

2006-11-09T15:39:34.811-07:00

Tomas is not under contract, although he is presumed to resign with Vision.

dude, what about sheckter?

2006-11-09T15:36:46.821-07:00

dude, what about sheckter?

The one thing that everyone has failed to mention ...

2006-11-08T18:42:43.234-07:00

The one thing that everyone has failed to mention in the "bury the IRL, stick a fork in em - they're done" articles and forum comments is the fact that the RACE count has actually increased from 14 to 17 for 2007.

While this certainly puts more pressure on teams to raise sponsorship for the increased operating costs, it also represents three more locations that are putting their millions of dollars in sanctioning fees where their mouths are - stating that IRL racing draws paying fans and makes for a profitable weekend for the tracks.

So, someone must be interested. I'm really tempted to book a ticket for the Iowa race right now, as I suspect that not only will it be a great race (like Richmond), it will have a rabid, racing-starved crowd and a homecoming-type reception.

I think it would be more useful to ask why open-wh...

2006-11-08T11:29:36.813-07:00

I think it would be more useful to ask why open-wheel racing is not as popular as NASCAR. There are a few things that are obvious, the most important is *exposure*. There is a lot of advertising of NASCAR and the drivers on TV and in the media, and the American public is a sucker for advertising. The second is *action*. While the popular conception of the average NASCAR fan is that of a redneck that never graduated from high school, that seems to no longer be true; however the mentality is the same: They watch because of all the passing, and banging into each other if not actually for the Big Wrecks.

Certainly, the sponsors are attracted to NASCAR because they know all this. Lowering costs is just treating the wrong end of the problem.

So what's the solution? That is not an easy question. Passing has to be easier than it is with the current cars, which have a very turbulent wake and destabilize the following car. Formula One currently suffers from that problem.

There should be more variety in the cars: The trend toward type-accepted race cars is going in the wrong direction because as I said, it is treating a symptom, not the disease.

So apparently, the answer is to make the racing more exciting and give it more exposure.