No more Cart for me.

[kuchi]

Well here in Colombia Cart races were broadcasted by ESPNlatinamerica, but the network has decided to go to IRL, so next year I will have the Indy 500 but I won't be able to see all the street courses and stuff, I think Cart is loosing a lot of audience, and as some have said IRL is gaining popularity.

[Dr. Austin]

The good news is that you will be getting the IRL, and that is really good news. Watch a couple of the IRL races and I promise you will be a fan. There was no series in the world last year that had such thrilling action as the IRL. 220+mph and wheel to wheel the whole way, I have never seen anything like it in my 35 years as a motorsports student. I don't know how much longer the series can sustain this level of compeditiveness. I have really never seen anything like it.

[marcus]

Thank You Dr. Austin.

that what the IRL needs ..more fans saying how good the series is becoming.

I am a fan of both ..but when it comes to oval racing the IRL is far better than Champ cars.

but it is a shame that you wont get to see Cart anymore Kuchi

[cartfan1]

Ive enjoyed some of the IRL races though I don't really care for
some of the venues, Im not a big fan of short tracks or all ovals.
But hang in there they are working on their international TV package
so stay tuned.

[Crash Test]

Right on Dr Austin and Marcus.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm a race fan. CART, IRL, IROC, NASCAR, anything that has quality racing will always get my vote. Some of the IRL racing this year has been absolutely incredible....sure it might be 10mph slower than what CART would do, but if you can pick that, I owe you a cold drink.

F1 may the pinacle of technology and money spending, but it has nothing on what some of these IRL races...

[AAReagles]

Originally posted by marcus
Thank You Dr. Austin.

that what the IRL needs ..more fans saying how good the series is becoming.

Yah... Ol' AB got me into watching the IRL. How he got me to do that...



I agree, the IRL has been the most fun to watch with all the lead changes going on, but unlike F1, there's no "Schui-Swerve" which I know Austin misses.

Originally posted by Crash Test
F1 may the pinacle of technology and money spending, but it has nothing on what some of these IRL races...

Right on man.




I still favor CART somewhat, because that's what I grew up watching since I was a kid, but CART has been mismanaged terribly this year, so it shouldn't come as to no surprise the IRL would gain popularity from that fact as well as the good racing.

[Crash Test]

I'd have to agree with that- I've been a massive fan of CART for the past 10 years, and it will forever have a soft spot in my heart (maybe I should get a doctor to have a look at that...). Saying that, I absolutely love the IMS and the 500, no matter what other people say or think. If I could be in any place in the universe on the last Sunday in May, it would be at the IMS.

Just looking at the IRL calendar though, the sheer number of ex-CART venues is fairly staggering...

[Dr. Austin]

I think we are all sick how far CART has fallen. It was the only series I cared about until the ALMS was formed. I was pretty happy this year with 35 great OW races to watch, but it didn't take CART long to completely fall apart. I finally just stopped watching the CART races alltogehter (hadn't missed one since 1984) because I just couldn't bear it anymore to see them self destruct every Sunday.

I also gained an enormous new respect for the IRL this year. Sure, the league was below pitiful just a couple of years ago, but while we were laughing at them they pulled their thumbs out and got the racing perfected. It took a couple of years to get the formula sorted out and for the teams to learn the cars, but it all works pretty good now.

The IRL's marketing strategy targets disinfranchised (God, not THAT word again!) OW fans who feel CART is no longer their sport. For sprint and midget fans, this league is perfect. Patriotic Americans have more of their own to cheer for, something you won't get me to unnecessarily apologize for. The IRL has chosen it's market and successfully captured it, but the product is so good that it has sucked in others who swore they would never care for it, like me.

So we have a big slate of exciting IRL races next season. There are going to be some CART teams coming in which will raise the series' profile and step the competition up yet another notch. This is going to be sadly negative for some of the smaller teams, but there seems no way to protect them in any series. The fast eat the slow and no matter what rules you write, it is racing's #1 inevitability. I think the time is coming when all the IRL teams will have to become big, professional operations if they are to survive. The IRL started out being little guys thrashing around in CART team's dumpsters looking for parts, but those same guys will probably be squeezed out eventually. Sad for them (and those of us who cheer them), but the sport must grow and evolve. No one or no series has ever been able to stop it. Even Ken Tyrell, the ultimate privateer, got squeezed out of his sport eventually.

But the end result is that the future of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 500 is guaranteed for as long as Tony George is at the head of the table. Since this is the only responsibility he is charged with, I believe it is fair to judge his job performance on that.

[cartfan1]

I liked Indy growing up as a kid, but after going to places like longbeach and Montreal Im just not a big fan, I don't cut down
anybody else for liking it so much, but I will be at Mexico city next
year and maybe catch cart at Fontana.

[floid2000]

R.I.P. Cart We won't see 230MPH again for a few years with the IRL......

Such a pity

[AAReagles]

Well I can't blame teams like Penske or others for "defecting" to the IRL, when you consider how badly CART mismanaged itself, for instance, not settling things in ink with the engine manufacturers, until late in the season.

Not to mention racing events that were either cancelled, conducted poorly or delayed = Texas, Portland, Road America.

As well as not promoting itself (the CART series) more, to at least give north-american OW racing some recognition of being alive, instead of just allowing NASCAR to bombard itself on an uninformed, young audience, who would be potential fans in the years to follow.

It's a damn shame to see how CART is slowly fading into extinction like Can-Am and IMSA has.

[The Beer Baron]

Did CART wait n see when the drop in attendence and tv ratings would fall off before they'd turn the ship around?

[cartfan1]

Go ahead people, have fun while those of us who are not zenophobes
and could care less about sprint cars wait in the backround to see
whats really happening. I shall post no more for now.

Enjoy.

[Dr. Austin]

WARNING; this is satire


[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by cartfan1


"Go ahead people, have fun"

That's what being an IRL fan is all about.


"while those of us who are not zenophobes and could care less about sprint cars"

So now you have to be a xenophobe to like sprint cars?



"wait in the backround to see whats really happening."

Us xenophobes are just too dumb to figure it out for ourselves, right?



"I shall post no more for now."

Sorry to see you go, but take all those forigners with you, ok?


"Enjoy."

indeed.

[floid2000]

I"ve been a racefan (all types) for 30 years.I will personally miss CART when it folds.Just like (those of us who remember)IMSA a great series that died in the boardroom. ......Give the IRL a few years to "grow up" and we'll see 230MPH racing again. By the way.....What is a zenophobe ?