rec.autos.simulators

by **Trey Beh** » Tue, 18 May 1999 04:00:00

>CART and the IRL might be suffering from all this,
>but the Indy 500 is still THE premiere auto race in the U.S.

Open-wheel racing IS suffering from the splintering, greed-oriented actions of
Mr. George. New fans are completely confused, and end up turning to NASCAR
instead of helping to grow what was once a thriving racing venue.

As to the Indy 500, it can only cruise on its name recognition for so long. The
new fan tunes it in, and is completely bored by the Billy Boats and the
dentists. Its marketing reminds me of that Chevy they re-badged as a Cadillac.

If you want spec racing, go to IROC. At least it has a majority of known
drivers. Plus, its best-known figure doesn't get into stupid shoving matches in
Victory Lane.

The IRL, in and of itself, is not evil. But until it and its vendor grow up
some, it will represent more drag than thrust to the sport.

Trey Behan

by **Jay** » Tue, 18 May 1999 04:00:00

Actually, Tony George has had talks with the owners of the Calder
Thunderdome in Melbourne? and there are plans in the works to bring an IRL
race to that Oval Track sometime in the next year or two!!!

Just remember folks.... In the bigger scheme of things... 5, 10, 15 years
down the road the Indy 500 will be 100 years+ old as a race and will still
be the greatest spectacle in racing.

By then drivers in the CART FedEx series will be considered guys running a
feeder series to F1 and the IRL will be as popular as BGN is today!

True the series would be stronger together than apart, but what would happen
if the IRL and CART were to merge and they STILL only got 1.5 TV
ratings?!?!?!?!

Yikes!

ps: I live in Dallas TX, and have/will attend both IRL races at Texas Motor
Speedway, along with over 100,000 of my friends so when you (rrevved) say no
one watches outside of the Indy 500, thats a bunch of hooey!

by **Graeme Nas** » Tue, 18 May 1999 04:00:00

Oooh, I dunno - is "The Racing Dentist" Jack Miller still there? That's
one serious professional there....

Intermediate Racing League? Yes.

--
Cheers!
Graeme Nash

http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk
ICQ# 11257824
________________________________________________________________________________
"Sorry, my eyes were on screensaver"

(Calvin & Hobbes)

by **^Frett** » Tue, 18 May 1999 04:00:00

Touch John!! Good One!! <BG>

> The Indy 500 is dead? Why didn't anybody tell me? I wouldn't have
> wasted all my time in the hot sun and in the press room over the
> weekend, watching some of the bravest and fastest oval drivers on the
> planet turn laps around the majestic 2.5-mile Brickyard.

> Thank God Tony George isn't doing anything else stupid, like bringing
> NASCAR to Indy, or constructing a road course to bring F1 races back
> to America. Race fans everywhere would hate Tony George if he did
> anything THAT stupid, yessiree. Tony George IS truly evil for what he
> has done to the Indianapolis 500 -- and I'm sure former Indy winners
> Arie Luyendyk, Eddie Cheever, A.J. Foyt, and Al Unser, Sr., would
> agree with you, too.

> Still, if Indy is dead, I wonder why I encountered so many teams,
> cars, drivers, and fans converging at 16th & Georgetown this weekend?
> Must've been that wonderful Indiana weather . . .

> Get a clue. There are more Indy veterans running in the IRL than
> there are in CART these days. Not to mention the talented new drivers
> who have come on the scene in the past four years. CART is full of
> talent, too, both young and old -- don't get me wrong (who is this
> Montoya guy, though? Wasn't he that guy in the movie "The Princess
> Bride" who was looking for the guy who killed his father? <G>).

> CART and the IRL are two vastly different products now, though, and
> the Indianapolis 500 -- AND the IRL -- are getting along fine without
> CART, just as CART is getting along fine without the Indy 500. It is
> true that Indy, the IRL, and CART would probably all be doing better
> if some way could be found to unify the IRL and CART, but there are
> factions on both sides that are working on this issue, so give it
> time. In the meantime, there are still cars breaking records at Indy
> this May, and there's still going to be a race on Memorial day in
> Indy, so it seems to me that the Indy 500 is alive and well,
> Nostradamus.

> You ARE entitled to your opinion, but you know what they say about
> opinions and belly-buttons . . .

> -- John Bodin
> Publisher, The IRL Insider Magazine
> http://irlinsider.adnetweb.com/

by **Scott B. Huste** » Tue, 18 May 1999 04:00:00

Hell, I dont care about Indy either. Winning the Indy 500 now is
about the equivalent of winning a Saturday night heat race at the
fairgrounds.

Scott
PA-Scott

--
Scott B. Husted
ICQ# 4395450

by **Dean** » Tue, 18 May 1999 04:00:00

My opinion is that the veterans went with iRL to win races...

The quality of racing in the IRL is poor. I tried to stomach a few races
when it started (including INDY), but I couldn't take it any more. So in
some peoples opinion (mine included)... The Indy 500 IS dead.

>Nostradamus.

>You ARE entitled to your opinion, but you know what they say about
>opinions and belly-buttons . . .

>-- John Bodin
> Publisher, The IRL Insider Magazine
> http://irlinsider.adnetweb.com/

>>Indy went under Tony George's control...now the 500 is dead.

>>Papy went under Sierra's control...now Nascar 3, CART 2000, and probably
>>American sim racing as we know it is dead.

>>I should have been like my brother and been a golf fan instead of racing,
they
>>don't have any of these problems.

>>See you at the races,
>>Eric Brighton

by **Jay Wolf** » Tue, 18 May 1999 04:00:00

>The Indy 500 is dead? Why didn't anybody tell me? I wouldn't have
>wasted all my time in the hot sun and in the press room over the
>weekend, watching some of the bravest and fastest oval drivers on the
>planet turn laps around the majestic 2.5-mile Brickyard.
>In the meantime, there are still cars breaking records at Indy
>this May, and there's still going to be a race on Memorial day in
>Indy, so it seems to me that the Indy 500 is alive and well,
>Nostradamus.

dear heavily-slanted indycar buffoon-

this was taken from an ESPN article in 1998:

NEW YORK -- As far as television ratings are concerned, the Indianapolis 500
has become just another race.
Three years into the split between the CART and IRL racing series, the
Indianapolis 500 has lost household names and its luster.
The 5.6 overnight rating for this year's was down 18 percent from 1996, the
last time the race was run on Sunday, and 33 percent from 1995, the last
year before the CART-IRL split. (A rating point represents 980,000
households).
Last year's race, which ran on a Tuesday afternoon following two days of
rain, got a 5.0/18.
The beneficiary of the split has been NASCAR, which has quickly become the
ratings king of auto racing. NASCAR's weekly race ratings now regularly more
than double those of CART and the IRL.
The Daytona 500, the crown jewel of NASCAR's Winston Cup series, has
outrated Indy each of the last three years. The 7.7 overnight rating for
this year's Daytona 500 was 38 percent higher than Indy.
But even less glamorous races, like last month's Diehard 500 on ABC, which
got a 5.7, and Texas 500 on CBS, which got a 5.4, post ratings about as high
as Indy.

so, to summarize for you...
the indy 500 has done the following in ratings:
1995 = 7.4
1996 = 6.6
1997 = 5.0 (rain)
1998 = 5.6

NASCAR less-than-centerpiece races at secondary tracks received ratings at
the same level as the formerly marquee race. the daytona 500 was 38% HIGHER
than the cute little fenderless race and it got a 9.5 rating for this year.
i looked for the TV ratings of last year's brickyard 400, but i couldn't
find them. i'll bet you a nickel that it was higher than the pathetic indy
500, though.

go carts suck.

by **Scott B. Huste** » Tue, 18 May 1999 04:00:00

HAHAHAHAHAHAH

Yeah.. and the 12 fans in the stands (who got free tickets) and the TV
ratings equivalent to reruns of Carlton Sheetz infomercials at 4AM!!

CART will be around when the IRL is dead and barried with Tony Georges
Ego!

Scott
PA-Scott

--
Scott B. Husted
ICQ# 4395450

by **Scott B. Huste** » Tue, 18 May 1999 04:00:00

> >ROTFL. Now thats funny as hell. Who are they? Never heard of almost
> >any of them. Doh.

> Ditto most of CART's new talent. People in glass houses, Homer . . .

How about a new guy named Montoya who is doing fairly well as a rookie? Hell of
alot more talent and "names" in CART than the IRL. The Ignorant Racing League
gets "whats left".

Maybe until you realize that the Indy 500 is tainted and has lost its luster BIG
time. ABC was considering getting rid of its rights to broadcast it.

Carl Haas, Chip Gnassis, and Steve Green were even born,

"WAS" IS the operative word.

Well thats only 1 more year.

I guess that depends on how you define premier. If you are basing it on history
and past prestige you are right. However, if you are using issues such as top
competitors in the series, attendance, TV ratings, publicity, prestige, etc ...
you better check your facts. I believe the Daytona 500 is THE premiere auto race
in the US now. Hell, The Brickyard 400 is more prosperous than the Indy 500 is
currently!

I can't even tell you who won Indy the past few years?? Hell.. besides when
Tony Stewart was there, where did these guys come from. Billy Boat (is that a
correct name?). ROFL - real prestige.

Almost EVERY ordinary NASCAR event had better TV ratings than the Indy 500 last
year. Don't even go near Daytona or the Brickyard ratings.

Ratings and attendance don't lie. A series is not just history. If it were...
then the Trans-Am and Can-Am series would be thriving today.

Scott
PA-Scott
G.T.S. Racing - http://www.GTS-Racing.com
--
Scott B. Husted
ICQ# 4395450

by **Scott B. Huste** » Tue, 18 May 1999 04:00:00

> For whatever reason, Europe seems to turn out much better drivers than Nth
> America does.

DOH!! Don't go there Zonkie ;) LOL

Scott
PA-Scott

--
Scott B. Husted
ICQ# 4395450

by **Kai Fulle** » Tue, 18 May 1999 04:00:00

yeah like Micheal Shumacher. or Jeff Gordon for that, Indy 500 never did
have all the best drivers anyways... Not to say I don't think it's ruined,
it's just more diluted than it used to be.

>On Mon, 17 May 1999 10:10:35 -0500,

>>Just remember folks.... In the bigger scheme of things... 5, 10, 15 years
>>down the road the Indy 500 will be 100 years+ old as a race and will still
>>be the greatest spectacle in racing.

>It will never again be the 'greatest spectacle in racing', unless it has
>the greatest drivers and cars in racing.

>--
>// rrevved posts from mindspring dot com

by **ymenar** » Wed, 19 May 1999 04:00:00

-Raul Boesel did some F1 in 1982-83 for March and Ligier.
-Roberto Guerrero did 2 F1 race in 82/83 also (Ensign F1 team and Theodore
F1 team).
-Eliseo Salazar did some F1 in 1981-82-83 (Ensign F1, ATS Ford and Ram
March).
-Roberto Moreno raced and tested in F1 in 1987,88,89,90,91,92 and 1995
(Forti!)

I think that's all with Eddie Cheever.

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard/Nas-Frank>
-- NROS Nascar sanctioned Guide http://www.nros.com/
-- SimRacing Online http://www.simracing.com/
-- Official mentally retarded guy of r.a.s.
-- May the Downforce be with you...

"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise
how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

by **Chris Schlette** » Wed, 19 May 1999 04:00:00

And they all can't get a ride in CART either. :)

by **Chris Schlette** » Wed, 19 May 1999 04:00:00

Like what? I can't think of any (and there might be one or two) that were
F1 drivers that also got washed out of CART.

Sorry, but if I'm a young F1 wannabe, the last place I want to be driving in
is IRL....CART, F3000, IndyLights, Toyota Atlantic (which is running a race
this year as a support race for the Canadian GP), etc are the prime choices.
Think that the F1 bosses are going to look at you if you haven't proven you
can run on a road course? :)

by **Graeme Nas** » Wed, 19 May 1999 04:00:00

And what's he famous for? Being kicked and punched by Nelson Piquet on
live Worldwide TV at Hockenheim in 1982 :-)
Maybe AJ Foyt could hit him a few times so he feels at home...

--
Cheers!
Graeme Nash

http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk
ICQ# 11257824
________________________________________________________________________________
"Sorry, my eyes were on screensaver"

(Calvin & Hobbes)

rec.autos.simulators

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy

Papy goes the same way as Indy