Will all of that, the news has picked up. We are looking into the future. The year is almost over. The prospects of a 2019 season are enticing and we get ahead of ourselves because what else is there to do?
Once again, this is just for fun. In case you are new, this is my gut reaction to headlines without reading the article. Of course, the gripes I have may be answered in the article.
We have ten headlines from six series this month and IndyCar will lead off.
What if it doesn't? Nobody asks that question. What if it doesn't matter if Fernando Alonso is in IndyCar or Tony Stewart runs the Indianapolis 500? There is a greater chance Alonso doesn't "move the needle" than he does. People who aren't watching IndyCar right now aren't going to start watching because of Alonso, especially people in the United States.
Alonso is nobody in the United States. If you go to 1,000 sports bars in the United States and each sports bar had 100 people in it and you asked them do you know who Fernando Alonso is I would guess fewer than 100 would say yes and even of those 100, how many would care? They might know who he is but have no interest in what he does.
Maybe more foreign viewers turn on the television but how many more? How many are really tied to this aging Spaniard? If he leaves Formula One, they are still going to watch Formula One. Alonso isn't what is keeping them invested and if he leaves he will be forgotten. If he comes to the United States and succeeds they will not be interested in tuning in. What are they going to get out of that? If he comes and is competitive but not winning they will not tune in. If he struggles they will definitely not tune in.
Alonso could bring more eyes to the series but in all likelihood he will not. Prepare yourselves for that and not some grand explosion in popularity.
I will admit that I read this article but mostly because I knew who was going to be quoted and I wanted to see how ridiculous his words were going to be. It wasn't as Eddie Gossage heavy as I expected but I do think he shows that he is a man who runs a track by resting on its laurels and the boat is passing him by.
You can keep saying you are "America's Original Nighttime IndyCar race" but what the fuck does that mean and why should anyone care? If that is what you sell to people then it isn't a surprise the crowd has shrunk over the last 10 to 15 years. And the other thing, stop talking about photo finishes and victory lane drama being the standard. How IndyCar races at Texas is evolving and that isn't a bad thing. If Texas has photo finishes, great, if it doesn't it isn't the end of the world nor does it mean the racing is poor. You can have great races without photo finishes.
And the victory lane drama... A.J. Foyt assaulted Arie Luyendyk 21 years ago because of a scoring error. That is it. I am so fucking tired of seeing that footage because it does nothing. We get it. Foyt is "tough." Guess what, most people don't care. Stop playing it. Nobody is tuning into an IndyCar in 2018 because of something that happened 21 years ago. That might have worked in 1999 but 2019 is going to be here soon, find some other footage to overuse.
You can keep saying you are "America's Original Nighttime IndyCar race" but what the fuck does that mean and why should anyone care? If that is what you sell to people then it isn't a surprise the crowd has shrunk over the last 10 to 15 years. And the other thing, stop talking about photo finishes and victory lane drama being the standard. How IndyCar races at Texas is evolving and that isn't a bad thing. If Texas has photo finishes, great, if it doesn't it isn't the end of the world nor does it mean the racing is poor. You can have great races without photo finishes.
And the victory lane drama... A.J. Foyt assaulted Arie Luyendyk 21 years ago because of a scoring error. That is it. I am so fucking tired of seeing that footage because it does nothing. We get it. Foyt is "tough." Guess what, most people don't care. Stop playing it. Nobody is tuning into an IndyCar in 2018 because of something that happened 21 years ago. That might have worked in 1999 but 2019 is going to be here soon, find some other footage to overuse.
The American Formula One driver we have all been waiting for. Pietro Fittipaldi was born in Miami, Florida, so he is ours. It is impressive how someone who has done so little this season, and I am not saying this to knock the kid because he has been injured and he has been promising this year, can get Haas' attention but Alexander Rossi, who has won multiple IndyCar races this year and has been competitive in every race and is a championship contender and who has Formula One experience cannot get the time of day.
Haas said there was not an American driver ready for Formula One when the team first entered and yet there was Rossi, GP2 vice champion, a Marussia reserve driver and eventual race driver. It is amazing how teams in all sports get caught up on hype and youth while a proven but less sexy talent is passed over. Everyone looks at potential value and not actual value. Many get overlooked. It is unfortunate.
Except Novak Djokovic was at one point the best player in tennis and is arguably one of the ten greatest if not in the five greatest players all-time in men's tennis while Grosjean has yet to win a grand prix.
To be fair to Grosjean, he isn't a terrible driver. He has gotten results and he has been a big help to Haas in the team's early Formula One days. Grosjean's form has been more because of shaky equipment while Djokovic has had physical setbacks. I don't think the two rough patches are as similar as is being led on here.
Or you know what NASCAR could do? It could have actually templates that would not get tripped up by black paint on quarter panels. At least have templates on the ready if you think the teams are trying to game the system.
Even better is NASCAR is spraying temporary white paint on these areas so the teams with black quarter panels don't trip the sensors but what if spraying that temporary white paints covers up for the teams cutting the corner so when the car goes through it passes and when it wiped off the team still gets the advantage it hoped for? NASCAR, the series that believes everybody is cheating doesn't not think the teams would design the car so NASCAR could end up covering for the team? Come on NASCAR! The only thing that would make the series look worse is if the teams were able to pull the cap over NASCAR's eyes and get away with the exact thing NASCAR is hoping to prevent by NASCAR trying too hard to prevent it. Just have templates.
Even better is NASCAR is spraying temporary white paint on these areas so the teams with black quarter panels don't trip the sensors but what if spraying that temporary white paints covers up for the teams cutting the corner so when the car goes through it passes and when it wiped off the team still gets the advantage it hoped for? NASCAR, the series that believes everybody is cheating doesn't not think the teams would design the car so NASCAR could end up covering for the team? Come on NASCAR! The only thing that would make the series look worse is if the teams were able to pull the cap over NASCAR's eyes and get away with the exact thing NASCAR is hoping to prevent by NASCAR trying too hard to prevent it. Just have templates.
Yes because it shows how bad Roush Fenway Racing are. It isn't that impressive to finish six positions ahead of Trevor Bayne but when you finish six positions ahead of Matt Kenseth you get to say, hey, I finish 18th and six positions ahead of semi-retired Matt Kenseth. It isn't impressive but it is better than trying to brag about finishing ahead of Trevor Bayne.
Everybody wants more time off. I am actually fine with this. Spread the races around and have a race or two in February and early March and have two or three weeks off between those races. I am surprised more series, especially international series, don't do that.
Ironically, MotoGP riders want a longer summer break, meanwhile World Superbike haven't raced since July 8th and still don't race for another two weeks. Maybe the riders that want more time off should go run Superbikes. Actually, Superbikes might be best suited to have autumn to spring schedule if it is going to take off most of July, all of August and half of September. Start in late September in Europe, head to the Middle East and Asia-Pacific over the autumn and winter, return to Europe at the start of spring and maybe end at Laguna Seca at the start of summer.
Ironically, MotoGP riders want a longer summer break, meanwhile World Superbike haven't raced since July 8th and still don't race for another two weeks. Maybe the riders that want more time off should go run Superbikes. Actually, Superbikes might be best suited to have autumn to spring schedule if it is going to take off most of July, all of August and half of September. Start in late September in Europe, head to the Middle East and Asia-Pacific over the autumn and winter, return to Europe at the start of spring and maybe end at Laguna Seca at the start of summer.
In a world with more convenient travel, faster and more comfortable planes (if you are in first-class, which most these riders are), better training regimens and better diets I don't think that a bit more travel will lead to even shorter MotoGP careers. And those are just things away from the track. Think about how much more riders are protected with the airbag suits they where while competing.
Traveling is grueling at times, especially when it is around the globe but I don't think it will shorten careers by that much. Sure, the schedule is much longer than the days of Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey, Mick Doohan and Giacomo Agostini but these riders are much better prepared for a season. And most of the schedule is Europe-based. The series is in Europe from Jerez at the start of May to Arágon in the middle of September. Most of spring and all of summer is in Europe. The travel isn't that bad.
The end is a bit hectic now with four Asian-Pacific rounds in five weeks with three consecutive weeks of races but the schedule doesn't seem that bad. Maybe the races could be spread out a bit more. Maybe an Asian round could be moved to the start of the season before Qatar but I think this schedule is friendlier to the competitors and teams than say the Formula One schedule. That doesn't mean it is not stressful but I don't think it will produce as many burnouts.
Great, is Toyota going to pay for it? I would love to see more manufactures in World Rally but it isn't happening. It is kind of disappointing. Rallying used to be that respected motorsports discipline where those top competitors were thought to be marvels in terms of car control and now I am not sure anyone can name a driver other than Sébastien Ogier. Maybe that is what happens when you have a decade and a half of champions named Sébastien but the names Ogier, Thierry Neuville (who leads the World Rally Championship), Ott Tänak and Esapekka Lappi don't stir the same levels of excitement the ways Carlos Sainz, Colin McRae, Tommi Mäkinen, Richard Burns, Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol did when we were all younger.
Don't. It doesn't matter what the series is call. Taking Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and naming it something along the lines of International Touring Series or World Touring Masters or Touring Car World Series would not get more people involved. We don't need a generic English acronym for the series. People know what DTM is and the people that aren't watching choose not to watch not because the series is called Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
Keep the name, make the racing and the cars more interesting if you are hoping to get more international interest and maybe make it more accessible to people around the world. Those would all be better steps than re-branding the series.
Keep the name, make the racing and the cars more interesting if you are hoping to get more international interest and maybe make it more accessible to people around the world. Those would all be better steps than re-branding the series.
Labor Day is here and for many summer will end. The sun sets before eight and rises after six. Most series are in the single digits with races remaining. Trophies are prepared to be award and sit on wooden shelves. Soon the season will be over. A few big events are ahead but not many remain in total. The heat is subsiding in the North and soon a chill will force coats and hats and gloves out of storage. Soon it will no longer be enjoyable to sit on metal bleachers on a weekend. Enjoy these final days at whatever racetrack you attend.
