I think anyone who is remotely knowledgeable about racing in America is excited about the merger between Champ Car and IRL. This old race car mechanic is very excited.
The merger won’t fix all the problems, but it’s a positive step forward. Unfortunately, Indy-car racing has eroded to its current state, but that’s water over the dam and it’s time to move forward.
At this writing, projections show at least 24 cars at every IRL (let’s call it Indy car) race this year. That’s a positive, and 24 cars for an Indy-car race is a good number. The two series were struggling to get 18 cars per race.
Now fans can look at one series with all the best drivers. The ability to grow is there. Indy-car racing used to create household names like Foyt, Andretti, Rutherford, Unser and Mears. It’s always been a melting pot for the best drivers in the world from sprint cars, F-1, NASCAR, sports cars and midgets. In 1995, the year before the split, Indy-car racing was at an all-time high. The competition was fierce, the teams were strong, stands were packed, and TV ratings were great. To compete in 1995, it took a budget of around $20 million.

We must get innovation back into the competition of Indy-car racing. Thirty-three Dallara chassis with 33 identical Honda engines? BORING. It makes tech inspection easy. Let’s forget about easy tech and open up the rules to some creativity.
“Easy” and “success” don’t go together.

The ball is in Indy Racing League founder Tony George’s court. He won the war. What will put Indy-car racing back on top from the fans perspective?
In my opinion, eliminate spec cars and engines. It’s gotten sterile and very boring from the technical standpoint. Innovation and technology gives Indy-car racing personality. The cars and teams are as important as the drivers. Fans like to see race teams that will do whatever it takes to win. Certain spec components will ensure safety and control cost while being transparent to the fan and won’t alter the car’s performance. Spec components help control costs without making the race look like a slot car event.
Remember A.J. Watson, George Bignotti, Junior Johnson and Smokey Yunick? They had fan followings. Everyone watched to see what they were going to do next. A.J. Foyt was a great mechanic and people used to admire the way he did his own engines and chassis. In later years, it was Dan Gurney’s Eagles, March, Lola, Galmer and Reynard. Who remembers Davey Hamilton’s dad, Kenny, who came to the speedway in 1982 with the Eagle Aircraft Flyer, a very radical design.
We must get innovation back into the competition of Indy-car racing. Thirty-three Dallara chassis with 33 identical Honda engines? BORING. It makes tech inspection easy. Let’s forget about easy tech and open up the rules to some creativity.
“Easy” and “success” don’t go together.
It evolved to this sterile, spec state because the popularity went into the toilet after the split. Teams couldn’t secure sponsorships because of lack of fans and TV ratings. The reaction was to cut costs by going spec. The cost of racing is self-policing. It’s controlled by the popularity of the series.
Is NASCAR an example to study? I think so. There’s a lot of concern about the high cost of racing. Teams work on $25 million budgets. Six years ago it took $10 million. The enormous popularity in recent years attracted sponsors to spend extra money. Moves are being made by NASCAR to control costs. Now, there are empty seats in the stands, sponsors are leaving, TV ratings are down, and that magic feeling in the garage is starting to go away. Is it because of the spec CoT body that makes the cars look the same? Could it be because there’s no panic bodywork being done by the crew chief looking for an advantage? Possibly.
The IRL can look at a budget in 1995 ($20 million) compared to $8 million today and say, “We fixed that.” But did they? No, they just eliminated the business case for the sponsors to be involved. Sponsors and fans flock together.
The merger is a great thing. The moves made by the IRL need to be calculated and precise. They’ve tried many marketing gimmicks, but have ignored the most important part of the problem, the spec nature of the cars. A field of identical cars may make for close racing, but it doesn’t make an exciting series.
An NFL game played with robots could be very competitive, statistically. Think about it.