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Originally Posted by FishFan
A lot changes in seven, eight years, doesn't it? Of course the landscape of racing and the IRL will change from year-to-year. Racing changed from year-to-year before the birth of the IRL. You could take quotes for any industry 7-8 years ago and point out flaws in people's vision. It's business. I don't see the point of all of this?
As for the last quote, I would hope Tony George would hope the IRL is the premier racing series in five to ten years. Even though it wouldn't happen, you need to be optimistic about the future of the series. If you just concede to NASCAR and F1, you will fail Just ask CART about that.
It's amazing that people are still bitter over the split that happened almost 10 years ago. I was bitter when it happned, but continued to watch both series' over the next few years until CART got so boring I couldn't stand it anymore. The IRL had more exciting races and as more and more drivers made the jump to IRL, I had no other reason to even tune into a CART race.
I'm not saying the IRL is the premier racing series in the world, but they have definitely put on a better show than CART over the past two years.
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I guess the whole point is that the IRL is turning into the exact same thing CART was when Tony George pulled out. He has shown no consistency over the years. Am I bitter? Yes. George took what was once the best series in the world and turned Open Wheel racing into the mess it's in today.
The drivers "jumped to the IRL" were forced by their contracts with their owner or engine manufacturer. Ask Scott Dixon or Dario Franchetti. I can't name one driver that came from CART that wasn't bound by a contract (I guess Manning this year). Dixon and Manning (and I guess Franchetti) have hopes of getting into F-1, and I feel bad for them because they'll never get there through the IRL.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I can't watch IRL races. The cars are ugly and the engines sound like crap. You have to love all the debris yellows at the end of the races. They love to bunch the field up so they can have the last lap photo finish and maybe get on SportsCenter. Thumbs Up Tony.
How about safety. Wanna know how many CART drivers missed races due to injury this year..... 1 and it was a mild concussion. The IRL had 11 injuries, all which were more serious than a concussion including a fatality. What was the IRL's fix to this.... they reduced speeds by about 5 mph and made no changes to the body of the car. Kenny Brack is lucky he's still alive and I really think (despite what he says) that we won't see him in an IRL car ever again. I wish I could say the same for Tony Renna.
There's one very important thing that Mr. George has to realize if he buys CART's assets...... CART's fans don't come with them.....