As NASCAR’s Big Show moves from Daytona to southern California, news broke this week that IRL and Champ Car are on the brink of announcing a formal merger. The great chimera of reunification of American open-wheel racing is at hand after a bitterly debilitating twelve-year civil war.
Will this desperate, eleventh-hour deal save Indy car racing and mark the beginning of a long road to a successful rebirth? Or will the damage done prove too difficult to repair?
Obviously, it would have been much healthier to have done the deal three or four months ago before both series announced their 2008 schedules with their own contracts and commitments, and there’s sure to be plenty of fall-out from stitching Champ Car’s remnants into the IRL at this late date. What of the dozen Champ Car races and their local fans and media left in the lurch, disenfranchised by reunification?
What about Panoz and Cosworth, also apparently left with the short end of the stick? And it will also be a terrible thrash to get Dallara chassis and Honda engines into the hands of Champ Car’s teams so they can do some basic testing before they start racing the cars and engines against the IRL teams. You can imagine plenty of room for grumbling from many sides.
The big challenge remains the same. Leadership is desperately needed to heal the wounds, get the series going again in the right direction and create the right formula for the future that will attract engine manufacturers, car builders, sponsors, fans and serious media coverage.
The first step appears to have been taken. The next series of steps will be even more difficult.
This should have been done years ago. It is not too late if the get on with it. Although I am a long time stock car junkie (I worked as an official in Nashville a few years ago), I enjoy watching open wheel racing.
The biggest problems with IRL and Champ Car has been the size of the fields and limited events. One bad crash could wipe out half the field, leaving a dozen or fewer cars to compete. Also, with so few races, we fans had a tendancy to forget about them between events.
Although IRL was founded to lower costs and simplify equipment, it would be a win/win situation if the current suppliers for Champ Cars could have a place in the new league.
Those of us who enjoy racing, have been waiting for this for years.
Tom Williams
Tony George finally got his way!!! What a waste of time and money. He maintained control of his track but destroyed Indy type racing in the US for the next decade.