A Shrug At Unification

It looks as though Champ Car is finally on its way out. It’s being reported that the series is on its way to declaring bankruptcy. The 12-year open-wheel war of attrition will finally be won by the Indy Racing League. For some reason, I’m having a hard time getting excited about it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be glad when there’s only one major open-wheel series. Champ Car/CART has been irrelevant for much of the 12-year split. How can you be true Indy Cars when your series doesn’t race in the Indy 500?
Some definite good will come from Champ Car’s demise. The biggest benefit is more teams in the IRL. With the exception of Indy, most of the IRL’s races have 18-20-car fields. That’s not enough. With the addition of the refugees from Champ Car, it should add more great drivers and teams to the grid.
It will also make open wheel stronger because of a unified front. If major open-wheel racing is to try and win back fans from NASCAR, having one series with all the drivers and teams is important. It should make acquiring sponsorships easier since there will no longer be competition between two open-wheel series.

Seriously, Misunderstood

It appears some readers misunderstood my letter concerning Kasey Kahne’s clash with the security guard at Homestead-Miami Speedway. My intent was to use a ridiculous premise as an attempt at humor. The letter was only a joke.
I respect and honor the generations that have gone before me, and I don’t want Kahne to fight any more older gentlemen. In life, we only have two options — we either grow older with each passing day, or we die. With any luck, I want to become a senior citizen with many decades of life experience behind me. It would exhibit exceptional hypocrisy if I showed true disrespect to people with some of the qualities I hope to one day possess.
I recognize Kasey Kahne is a talented driver and one who has performed many generous and kind acts. Unfortunately, in Miami, four police officers reported they witnessed jockey-sized Kasey “pushing” a 62-year-old Archibald Huchison to the ground. When you stop to think about it, an absurd scenario. If it’s true, Kahne probably used poor judgment during the situation.
Our heroes are not infallible. They are human and sometimes they screw up. It doesn’t diminish their many accomplishments if we laugh at their few mistakes.

Gimme A Break!

Come on, guys! I read the letter from Paul Luiz about Kasey Kahne and thought it was a funny bit of satire.
He wasn’t degrading anyone (especially older people), but pointing out the absurdity of Kahne’s actions with the Homestead security guard.
I suggest that for any of you that were offended to read it again. It was not a put-down of “old people.” Give me a break!

Calling London

Gary London stated, “If IRL and Champ Car should merge, what we will get is CART circa 1995 all over again — a very low point for open-wheel racing.” Apparently, Mr. London needs a history lesson regarding open-wheel racing in 1995. Here are some of the facts in no particular order:
There were two tire suppliers (Firestone and Goodyear), three constructors (Lola, Penske and Renard) and four manufacturers (Ford/Cosworth, Honda, Menard and Mercedes-Benz). Twenty teams and 46 drivers took the green flag during the course of the season with nine different winners in 17 races run on super speedways, short ovals, road courses and street courses. Each race had a minimum of 26 cars, and Indianapolis not only had bumping, but the most prolific team at Indy — Marlboro Team Penske — sat in the stands while a young Canadian completed 102 laps to win “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing.”
The teams included Bettenhausen, Hall and Patrick along with “softer” teams such as Penske, Newman/Haas, Ganassi, Forsythe and Green. Drivers Jacques Villeneuve, Al Unser, Jr., Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti, Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Emerson Fittipaldi, Eddie Cheever, Danny Sullivan and rookie of the year Gil de Ferran all took the track.
If this was a “very low point,” please, Mr. London, enlighten the readers as to what year you would consider a high point. While you are at it, I would be curious as to which change in 1996 has been killing open-wheel racing in North America ever since — Dan Gurney bringing Toyota and the All American Racing Eagle into the mix, or was it Tony George telling everyone to play by his rules or go home? Hmmm, for as skewed as his article was, I suspect he will say it was all Gurney’s fault.
Please bring back the open-wheel racing action circa 1995 without all of the politics which caused the split. The fans have been waiting 13 years for it to return.

Anthem Travesty

Brian France should be ashamed of the way the National Anthem was performed at the Bud Shootout. It was an insult and a kick in the face to every veteran who ever served defending the freedoms he enjoys.
He owes the American public an apology and needs to fire the employee who hired those two clowns who butchered our nation’s song.

Cheers For Olson

I commend Chris Economaki for making Kevin Olson in his headline about the Chili Bowl. Kevin, you sure brought back many memories for me. Enjoyed riding back with you in 2007, with Jason Dull during the ice storm.
Great picture of KO in the Jerry Hardy car.

Jeers For Olson

I don’t understand the editor’s praise for Kevin Olson’s appearance at the Chili Bowl. I accept the removal of the right-side cover and wearing an open-face helmet, but not wearing a firesuit was plain unsafe, and I’m amazed that officials allowed it.
What’s the next step to gain the editor’s approval? Elimination of the roll-cage, no safety harnesses and a cloth helmet?

And More Cheers...

How neat was that to see Kevin Olson driving a midget at the Chili Bowl Nationals with a sleeveless T-shirt and open-face crash helmet? Leave it to Kevin to do something like that.
We haven’t had a racer like Kevin since the “Clown Prince of Racing” Eddie Sachs kept us laughing during the 1960s. I thought I was back in the 50s when I saw the picture.
Keep the humor in racing, Kevin. The sport needs some of the good old times like it used to have.

In Total Control

Chris Paulsen’s recent column highlights just how controlling NASCAR has become. They spec the race car, the gear, the shock/spring package, the bore diameter and a hundred other items in their quest for parity.
With a few more of their cost-saving measures in place, next year’s Daytona 500 can pick a winner with a game of rock-paper-scissors.

So Long, NASCAR

Busch, Craftsman, Budweiser, AAA — all leaving or gone, like rats leaving the NASCAR ship just before it goes down. That’s what greed, bad cars and bad racing will do.
NASCAR says it is getting “back to basics.” Ha! If that were true, they would go back to stock-looking cars like they have always used.
I have never heard NASCAR admit that it was wrong about anything.
May the grandstands at Daytona be only half full. So long, you’ve lost another one.