Cart May drop US ovals

[crazytrain]

ANy thoughts on this story?

http://www.tsn.ca/racing/readstory.asp?story_id=2437960

I hope this does not happen, thats what CART is all about road racing and ovals. But it may help CART have a distinct identity over the IRL. Pook must be thinking Let Nascar and the IRL have the ovals, we'll do road courses what we're best at. As long as the races don't resemble F1 (leaders being 45 seconds ahead of 2nd place).

[Flatspot]

I don't want to see all of the ovals go but it wouldn't break my heart to see the superspeedways go away. Most of the time they are boring races. I miss Pheonix,and Nazareth short but fast and I get a kick out of the traffic. If they were to have a superspeedway race Michigan would be my preference but its already gone. I understand why they may be thinking to dump 'em. If they do hopefully they will be replaced by natural terrain road courses, maybe another airport. Some of the European classics would also be nice.

[macdaddy]

Superspeedways? Boring racing? Let me tell ya, I've never left MIS feeling cheated! If four thousand lead changes in five hundred miles is boring... As for myself, I love superspeedways and 500 mile "endurance" runs. I grew up watching the Indy as a kid, and to me at least, these races are the root of the sport.

But it may prove to be good business sense to schedule most of the oval racing abroad, and concentrate on more downtown street racing in the United States.

[Flatspot]

Sorry macdaddy, personal preferences I guess. MIS is/was the exception to the rule and actually the Hanford device has made the long tracks good of late. Didn't mean to offend but the long tracks just aren't my favorite.

[Jordi]

We should build Michigans and Fontanas in Mexico, Australia and Europe, and have 3 500 milers outside US... it would be a full house for sure!

[macdaddy]

No reason to be sorry, Flatspot! I'm sure you're not the only person who doesn't like the big tracks, and I respect your opinion totally! But, again, I love 'em. I became a fan by watching the May 500 on TV, and then became a fanatic by watching my first live event at MIS. I'm digressing here, but I'll never forget approaching the fence for the first time during Sunday warmup, and just after a blur of colour and noise passed me by, my new hat was lifted right off of my head and tried to follow it. I just couldn't believe how fast these cars really were.

[Liz]

I will never feel the same way about fast ovals since Fontana 1999, but I agree with the idea to have fast ovals overseas and street/road courses in this country and the USA. Since the Europeans don't have that many venues available to see oval racing, this would mean Champ Cars would have a much better chance of drawing big crowds. The only really important thing would be to schedule the races at times when it is less likely to rain, and keep the prices reasonable. Since many of us, if not most, have friends in Europe, this would also be a great occasion for us to go over there and meet up.

By the way, if anybody is going to Rockingham and wants to apply for credentials and PROMISES to write stuff we can use and get it back here over the race weekend, do remember that your newsletter editor can possibly help in this regard.

[f1manoz]

Superspeedways like Fontana and Michigan have always produced spectacular racing, but unfortunately one-milers now produce predictable and rather boring racing. The cars just don't suit those tracks anymore, which is a shame.

[Neil C]

I agree w/ f1man. If I were running CART (as if!) I would make the following priorities:
1. Road Courses (including Cleveland)
2. Superspeedways
3. Street courses (keep Toronto and Long Beach)
4. Short ovals (keep one, maybe Milwaukee)