Friday, June 29, 2012

Train Of Thought: The Aero Kit Dilemma

It is clear the price tag on the new DW12 chassis is more than first estimated and the owners aren't happy. Due to the extra costs, the aero kits that were postponed to 2013 and the owners are now calling for another delay. I want aero kits. The fan base wants aero kits. However, the series front office and car owners are split.

What led to this situation is the ICONIC Committee and their selection back in 2010. Looking back, the selection of Dallara was a political decision by the series because they were willing to build a factory in Speedway, Indiana and create jobs. We all know that. Don't get me wrong, jobs are fantasitc in this economy, but the fact is Dallara could have very well built their factory and not needed IndyCar's decision to have them be the sole chassis manufacture. Most, if not all, the five parties with proposals, DeltaWing, Dallara, Swift, Lola and BAT thought they were vying to become the new sole supplier of IndyCar chassis. In the past two decades we have grown to accustomed to the series making the decision of what the car will be. Maybe the series should not do that anymore. The series should regulate the chassis and if a proposed chassis does not fall into the guidelines set forth then they should take action. But if the car is legal, then it should be allowed to race regardless. My opinion has not changed, the series should have allowed all five parties to take part. We would have had five different looking cars this year and no worry about this aero kit garbage.

Randy Bernard has done a great job on different levels but it has been said time and time again; he does not know what it is like to be a car owner and needs help with decisions concerning them. We have heard suggestions of a hiring former team owner to help Bernard when it comes to those decisions and that is what he needs. He needs a Derrick Walker, Steve Horne, Ron Hemelgarn, Gil de Ferran, Jim Hall, Pat Patrick, Mo Nunn or Dan Gurney to, in a way, be a representative for the team owners, just like other professional sports leagues that have a representative for the athletes through a player's associations. Not saying the team owners need to form a union, the last thing we need are lockouts and boycotts, but someone to help Bernard understand what the owners needs and why a decision is not well recieved.

We can learn from this. I still want aero kits next year but maybe introducing them halfway or two-thirds of the way in would be better. Dallara has to work with the car owners are give them some type of deal. Randy Bernard would benefit from a liasion to the car owners and the series should be PREPARING NOW for the next wave of cars. They should invite the four parties that were not selected in 2010 and other potential chassis manufactures to build cars for, let's say the 2016 season, give them a set of rules and say as long as it falls within this criteria, you will not be turned away and if teams buy that car, then they can run it.