So we are just days away from Pole Day at IMS. I myself will be driving out to finally experience Pole Day in person. I will be doing everything from; obsessively searching the venue for every possible Tim Richmond related item, to seeing how Indy fans party compared to Pocono fans, and all while working on new exclusive material for INDYCAR Nation and Open Paddock.
The next week will have a great increase in exclusive coverage here at Open Paddock, so keep checking in often.
Are you crying?!?! There’s no crying!!! There’s no crying in INDCAR!!!
I am becoming increasing tired that about every three weeks is another ‘drivers against double file restart’ stories. Perhaps what annoys me most, is hearing one driver who has benefitted the most from them complain. (I’m looking right at you T.K.!)
There is so much baloney here, Subway would charge you $6.50 extra for all the added processed meat! The story and movement to me seems to often be heavily stoked by one national writer. I’m not sure if it is just an effort to sell papers, (sorry fans and teams but the INDYCAR Series ain’t increasing any newspaper’s sagging numbers). Perhaps it’s just a very easy way to manipulate things for good sound bytes. Some drivers in the series are just not all as quotable as Helio, and well he has not been involved in any post race “podium” conferences yet. They need something to quote, why not manufacture a topic?
It is high time to deal with the reality, as much as owners may not want new Aero-Kits in 2012, or double file re-starts in 2011, the people who pay the biggest bills (the fans) do. So no matter how hard one person asks post race “the rule fans ‘allegedly’ want”, the “alleged” are more important than the complainers, and sandwich artists.
Nothing get’s me more than extremely wealthy people like Roger (I am the 1% of Americans in the wealthiest income level) Penske, gripe about the cost of $75,000 (allegedly) per kit. Hey dude, drop one of your INDYCAR and NASCAR Cup teams, that money will appear out of nowhere. (Or isn’t that basically what the ungodly amount of successful, profitable ventures already does for you?)
I mean, I stopped fielding my own race car due to costs, had I even owned a crummy auto-parts store in the woods, I would have kept on. Is Roger trying to say he is a pauper now? OFCOURSE NOT!!! Roger just wants to make sure he is the one with the best leverage and power for years to come.
I don’t get teams like HVM opposing a chance to compete and top the Penske and Ganassi entries. I really don’t get KV, seriously why would Lotus not want an identity with their own factory backed liveries. Heck, why would Lotus not want a possible edge to overcome their possible engine shortcomings early?
This whole crying routine needs to end, and end now! If you want to look better than NASCAR, don’t fall into the trap they did during the 1990’s letting the inmates run the prison. Look how well that is turing out. Randy Bernard, you sir are the man in charge, feel free to go all Foyt on those who wish to complain.
Week ahead:
Well so far we have had just a limited amount of practice. While it may be bad for rookies, I think veterans know these cars here already. I mean, this design is rather Jurassic in age now. The usually suspects (formerly just called “red cars”) will all be the teams to beat for pole.
After all folks, it’s just practice, ask Allen Iverson about “practice”. Heck even Charlie Sheen can tell us, it’s just practice also. So no need to break down the few times cars have been on track this week, it is only practice. Saturday is when it all finally means something more than practice. (Pending dry weather).
You could be the next video star:
Well something like that, Open Paddock once again looks to cover you the fans and members of INDYCAR Nation this weekend. I am looking for long time, and colorful fans to interview. If you’re lucky perhaps you too will be a star.
Let me know what are some traditions you always do for Pole & Bump days. Is there a certain drink you and your friends all have just for the event? Is there a special dance passed down by your parents, that you will pass down to your children for Bump Day? Do you wear the same unwashed boxers every year? Listen the more interesting, the more likely I want to interview you.
I will be roaming the stands Pole Day, just kicking it like any normal fan. Would love to sit in and enjoy some time with the fans, and share the experience with INDYCAR Nation members. Send me an E-Mail: Spike@OpenPaddock.net , or even hit me up on that Tweeter thing-a-mig-jig. ( @SpikeRogan ) I am looking for fans from all over the world, all different ages, and all different viewpoints. Most importantly, looking for fans to have fun with like any other INDYCAR event.
Ah, I love the smell of propaganda in the morning.
Your comments regarding the aero kit dispute are factually inaccurate. You claim that “fans pay the biggest bills.” If that’s the case, then why aren’t the fans names on the cars? Last I checked, there were no personal names on the cars, only the sponsors names. Also, the “fans” aren’t paying for the equipment, the team owners are. Unless you can show a DIRECT line between the paying customer and the teams-which you can’t-that argument is specious at best.
Second, if I read you correctly, the “fans” view should trump everything else. This theory I can drive a truck through. “Fans” do not have the intellectual capacity to truly understand the complexity of a situation, including this one: you display this yourself with the ignorant statement “hey dude, just drop one of your INDYCAR or NASCAR teams, and the money will appear out of nowhere.” That statement is irresponsible, ignorant, stupid and clearly shows you don’t have the intelligence to comment properly on this subject. Your philosophy, like most “fans” is: “You BETTER give me what I want, I don’t give a rats ass how much it costs you or what sacrifices you have to make. You exist for no other purpose than to make me happy and if you don’t, I’m going to whine and complain and criticize you until you give in to me. I’m FAR more intelligent than you are, even if all I do is sit on my can and proclaim myself to be an expert, I’m a HELL of a lot smarter than you are, and I’m ENTITLED to what I want, regardless of what you want.” Very sad, but even more sad, representative of a lot of INDYCAR’s “fans.”
Well without fans, why would there be any sponsors? I mean are you seriously that high in an ivory tower?
Roger Penske when grooming Ryan Newman; spent more on race tires with Hoosier for 6 ARCA races, than that season’s Champion Frank Kimmel did on the entire schedule combined. I have a hard time feeling sorry for one of the wealthiest men on Earth crying poverty when many legitimate people are far worst off than him. (You know how many Aero Kits the Sam Hornish/Failed NASCAR team effort in 2010 could have paid for?)
I also like your view clearly is, the fans don’t matter. I recall The folks at CART and Tony George said the same thing in the mid 1990’s, how did that whole “split” work out? Fans didn’t matter much then either.
The fans are “ENTITLED” to their views, much like people getting pay checks from those who oppose the aero kits can have their view.
Thanks for reading!
Oh and as for if I am intelligent enough to comment on motorsports, I have a past as a driver, and pit crew member in SCCA Pro and ARCA. I might be more than just an average fan.
I’m with Spike on this one. The only reason why sponsors participate in sports into realize a return on their marketing investment. Fans directly through ticket and merchandise revenue and indirectly through the influence of on-car and other advertizements fuel motorsports. Without fans, there IS no motorsports economy. If you don’t give fans what they want, they will go else where, and the ROI on any sponsorship evaporates instantly. We’re already seeing that happen as result of the abysmal TV ratings on Versus. Fans fund the sport. Listen to the fans. Don’t brush aside their desires lightly.
Interesting vitriol Edward. Last I checked, the only way team owners could afford to run a race team was to fund it out of pocket, fund it through purse winnings or fund it through sponsorship… or some combination thereof. Sponsorship comes from fan interest, purse winnings come from the gate and sponsorship…. If an owner wants to spend less money out of his own pocket, then they would have to rely on further sponsorship and a higher attendance.
Sponsors get involved mainly because they want to see the ROI of fans buying their stuff. They don’t get involved if the fans are non-existent. I see a pretty simple correlation here FANS = FUNDING. So I think I will agree with Spike’s assessment of the situation. Fan’s pay the biggest bills.
That is not just our view. Randy Bernard has been preaching this mantra since he came into the series. Heck,on Open Wheel Weekly this past Tuesday, Robin Miller, Kevin Lee, Bobby Unser and Johny Rutherford all said the same thing. Listen to the fans! (in relation to double wide restarts at Indy)
It seems your view Edward, comes from the “country club” mindset of the owners which Eddie Gossage so recently expounded upon.
Well done Spike. Great points. Truly the fans that drive the series. Just because we don’t write the checks for equipment directly, does not mean that we don’t have a direct impact on money. We were told by INDYCAR management that 2012 = new car. Don’t tell me one thing and hand me another. Randy was firm in his promise and it is the team owners who think they have some kind of power to make the rules. Sorry, that series collapsed a couple years ago. If the owners had such a damn problem with the aero kits, they should have spoke up during the off season when everyone else was talking about it. I agree, stop crying.
I agree with Spike. Penske is only playing politics, for the betterment of his team and sponsors. It’s all about money. If the fans don’t come, you can’t sell do-do!!!! I prefer we turn the clock back to when multi-chassis, multi-engines, innovation and a free hand could take a back marker and turn him into a contender. It was fun to watch and even better when you were involved. 1980 brings that clearly into perspective. Do some research folks and you will see that Mr Rogan has it correct as do the fans!! Time to turn off the tube & stop buying tickets until we get what we want and not some spoiled rich guys idea of “parity”.