2014 State of the Blog

It's been a while since I have done a causal post. Everything this past month was plan, from revisiting the 2014 predictions to the previews for the final race weekend in V8 Supercars, Formula E and Race of Champions to the 2015 predictions.

With the year coming to a close, I think about everything that occurred over the 364 previous days. Not just in the motorsports world but in my personal life. Then I think about how far I have gone and yet realize how much things have stayed the same not just in the past year but in the past four years.  I started this blog on April 5, 2012. If you had told me January 1st, 2010 I would be writing a blog I probably would have dismissed it. Here I am though after being inspired by the many blogs I was reading.

Unfortunately, some of those blogs have closed up shop. Hopefully they won't be gone forever but I don't think they will be back. More Front Wing set the bar. That wasn't a blog. That was a full-fledged, IndyCar-dedicated website and I am sad to see it go because no one else covered IndyCar the way Stephanie Wallcraft, Paul Dalbey and John Lingle did and they weren't making a living off the site. Imagine what they could have done if More Front Wing was their livelihood?

I miss the More Front Wing podcasts the most. It is the type of discussion that a diehard such as myself needs. Part of me would love to pick up the ball and have start my own podcast but I don't know what to do and I need a co-host. There is no way anyone wants to listen me dribble drabble on about motorsports for who knows how long. Hell, I don't want to hear myself dribble drabble. I need someone I could have a discussion with and right now I don't have that. The other issue is having the time to do a podcast. You would hope you would have at least a half hour free each week to dedicate to it but that isn't always a guarantee. If I were to do it, besides having a co-host, I would want to be committed to doing it consistently for a full season and I don't want it to become a chore. I want it to be a professional but I don't want it to become something that seems like a hassle to do. I want it to be like calling my uncle and something I enjoy.

Besides More Front Wing, IndyCar Advocate and Pressdog have closed up shop. When IndyCar Advocate made it's final post in April, I thought about how long I would be doing this. I had just hit the second anniversary of the blog and wondered how long could I keep it up? Part of me hopes I never quit. That the time will always be there for me to post something. It might not be as plentiful as it is today but if I could at least find the time to post once a week I would be happy. Another part of me knows nothing lasts forever. Eventually this blog will die. It will become a shell of it's former self and just a wasteland of posts from races that have been long forgotten and speculations that couldn't be further from reality.

That death won't be for quite sometime... I hope. I don't remember where I heard this but I once remember heading it's not death we fear but we fear being forgotten. Sometimes I wonder if anyone will remember this blog. It's nothing all that special. It's not like I am the only source or I do something so spectacular that you can't miss it. I am a minute microcosm on the World Wide Web. The amount of people who don't know I exist greatly outnumber the amount that do.

I am thankful for all of you who do take the time out of your business days to read For the Love of Indy. I hope most of you read it because you enjoy it and don't hate read it because you think I sound like a fool.

The state of the blog is good. I think I get a healthy amount of views considering how little financially is invested into it. I think the quality of the posts have gotten better over the near three years posting.

I plan on being here for all of 2015 with the same format and usual posts. I will still be IndyCar focused and give you the Track Walks to preview a weekend and the Morning Warm-Ups to kick off a race day and First Impressions as I try to digest what the hell happened. I will still cover all forms of motorsports as I love all disciplines and, to be honest, because IndyCar just isn't enough. We have gone four months since the last IndyCar race. What the hell would I post? It would be a post a month and that wouldn't be enough. Plus, motorsports fans watch a lot of different disciplines as well so they are just as interested in a Formula One post or sports car post or MotoGP post as they are in IndyCar-related posts.

I like the Musings From the Weekend column as it covers a little bit of everything, touches on things missed and gets you ready for the weekend ahead of us. The Friday Five posts I did post-IndyCar season I enjoyed as I got to look at other forms of motorsports. I want to continue those but sometimes the posts won't feature five series as less than five series may be in action.

If you have any suggestions on what I should do or what you think I should stop doing, send a tweet to me @4TheLoveofIndy. I really enjoy communicating with those on Twitter. I have had some really enjoyable discussions on Twitter and look forward to having more discussions in 2015.

Now that we got that all covered, let's touch on some motorsports news that came out over Christmas.

I like the idea of FIA World Endurance Championship heading to Indianapolis. I have said this before: I think Indianapolis Motor Speedway has to get away from being "The Home of the Indianapolis 500" and became a place for world motorsports in the United States. Silverstone hosts many races, as does Spa-Francorchamps, and they aren't any less grand tracks for having multiple weekends. Same can be said for Bathurst and the Nürburgring. I am willing to embrace Indianapolis Motor Speedway a home not just for arguably the greatest motor race in the world but a home for MotoGP, NASCAR and sports cars.

The concerns I have with WEC at IMS is how much can WEC expand? They run eight races, seven of which are six hours long and then the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Would it be wise to expand? Would it price out teams? The teams do a lot of miles through race weekends and testing and I don't want the series to shrink because of those in charge want more. I'd love to see LMP1 cars at IMS but as along as it doesn't screw over LMP2, GTE-Pro and GTE-Am teams. It could be a great back-to-back with Austin in September and seeing as how WEC doesn't have to worry about going head-to-head with IndyCar, it would be a great opportunity to see some IndyCar drivers get one-offs. The race could be on a Saturday and begin noon local time and end around sunset, just how Indianapolis 500 qualifying use to be.

Pirelli World Challenge is shooting for a fly-away race in 2016. First, can IndyCar tag along? Second, I am not against PWC going abroad but I would rather see progress toward a GT3 World Cup. We hear about the possibility of a GT3 World Cup once a month but are no closer to it becoming a reality. I wrote on what I would like to see the GT3 World Cup be back in July. The top three from PWC will be invited to the Baku City Challenge, the final round of the Blancpain Sprint Series season, which I view as a step in the right direction toward a GT3 World Cup but only a baby step.

Let's end the year on an IndyCar story and the one that catches my eye is Ryan Phinny. The Californian is looking to break into IndyCar in 2015 and has Casamigos tequila as his sponsor. If you have never heard of Phinny it's ok because unless you closely follow Indy Lights he is rather unknown. Phinny has made his Lights debut at Long Beach in 2011 where he finished 16th out of 17th after a mechanical failure on lap ten. He would not return to racing for over three years and made five starts this past season in Indy Lights with finishes of 11th, 12th, 7th, 10th and 6th at Toronto and the doubleheaders at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma respectively.

I know what some of you are thinking: "Why should he get a full-time ride in IndyCar over the likes of Conor Daly, Gabby Chaves, Jack Harvey, Luca Filippi, Ryan Briscoe and so on?" To be fair, on results alone, he shouldn't. On experience alone, he shouldn't. In another era he would not get a license to compete in IndyCar because of his lack of experience however this isn't another era and experience is trumped nine times out of ten by a paycheck as we head into 2015. While he lacks experience and results, motorsports is much different than 50 years ago. There is a 17-year old going to debut in Formula One in March. A 16-year old competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans this past June.

Just go back a little more than a decade ago when Kimi Räikkönen made his Formula One debut. He was 21 years old when he made his Formula One debut at Australia and had done just 23 races in a car prior. He scored a point on his debut and we all know how the Finn's career has turned out. It's more unlikely Phinny won't have the same type of success as Räikkönen had but who is to say he can't be respectable in IndyCar? Remember how everyone felt about Carlos Huertas coming to IndyCar? His rookie season turned out pretty good considering he won more races than Josef Newgarden, Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Briscoe, Justin Wilson and Takuma Sato.

As much as I think the likes of Daly and Briscoe are more deserving an IndyCar ride in 2015, I don't think Phinny should be denied an opportunity. He is only 25 years old and who knows, he could win the Indianapolis 500 someday.

On that note, it is time to close out 2014. I thank you all for reading and I wish you a Happy New Year!