Rebuilding the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Show Me The Money! During the 1950’s and 60’s, the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race saw tremendous growth. There are multiple reasons for this, of course, but one part of this was the continuing increase in prize money offered for the event. From 1950 to 1970, the total event purse experiences a five-fold increase! Even accounting for inflation, the purse increased three-fold. Say what you will about teams and drivers competing for the “love of the sport”, if the money isn’t there, the top talent…
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OP-Ed – Rebuilding the 500 – Part 4 of 5 – Speed
Rebuilding the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Getting Up To Speed One thing that drew people not only to the track on race day, but on pole day and every qualifying day thereafter was the thrill of seeing those incredible speeds! People came to see blazingly fast cars, the brave superhuman drivers that piloted them, and to hear track announcers like Tom Carnegie announce, “And it’s a NEEEEWWWW TRAAAACK RECOOORD!” Some of you know what I’m talking about! For those that don’t, please check out this video from IndyCar’s YouTube page:…
Read MoreOP-Ed – Rebuilding the 500 – Part 3 of 5 – Creative Engineering
Rebuilding the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race The Engines Now what can you allow and not allow beyond the standardized tub and safety features? For one, I think you can open up the engine design. Put a cap on the output power of the engine, but allow teams to achieve that power however they wish. Want to run a four-cylinder twin-turbo engine? Great. Twelve-cylinder normally aspirated? Fantastic. Heck, throw one of those super cool Wankel engines in there! Just make all teams bring their engine to a league-operated dyno to check…
Read MoreOP-Ed – Rebuilding the 500 – Part 2 of 5 – Safety First
Rebuilding the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Opening Up The Rules One aspect of the 500 that drew in crowds of fans, competitors, and manufacturers was that the rules were open enough for teams to build their own car and develop their own innovations. If the current culture of IndyCar racing had existed in mid-20th century, we would never have had seen diesel power, turbo chargers, that amazing gas turbine engine, and most amazing of all no wings. We would still be running front-engine, naturally-aspirated, carbureted roadsters all made by the…
Read MoreOP-Ed – Rebuilding the 500 – Part 1 of 5 – Intro
Rebuilding the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race An Introduction A few weeks back, I posted the article, The Role of a Series, arguing that most successful series throughout the history of motorsports, including American open-wheel racing, were successful because they had one marquee race that everyone in the racing world wanted to win. Sportscar racing has the 24-Hours of Le Mans, stockcar racing has the Daytona 500, Formula 1 has Monaco, off-road racing has the Baja 1000, and rally has the Dakar (Da Argentina now?). American open-wheel racing has always had…
Read MoreIndyCar – Mutoh to Stay, NHL to Field Three Cars
In one brief sentence, Curt Cavin just made my off-season! Ok, to be honest, the confirmation of the title sponsorship deal between IZOD and the IndyCar Series really made my off-season. This recent tidbit is just yummy gravy for me. It had been rumored, and still is, that Ryan Hunter-Reay, who has a personal services agreement with the new title sponsor IZOD, is close to a deal to drive for Andretti Green Racing. Its obvious that TK, Danica, and Marco aren’t going anywhere, which leaves my man Hideki Mutoh on…
Read MoreIndyCar – IZOD Becomes Title Sponsor
For at least a couple of years running, Terry Angstad has told us after each season that the IndyCar Series was close to inking a deal with a title sponsor. The problem is that deal never materialized. The rumor recently was that IZOD was being sought after to be the title sponsor for 2010 and beyond, and that they were close to inking a deal. Call me a skeptic, but I wasn’t buying it. Sure, I believed that the league was working towards a deal, but I wasn’t going to…
Read MoreOP-Ed – Rumors Rumors Everywhere!
…but where’s the actual announcements? As that cranky old lady from the Wendy’s commercials asked, “Where’s the beef?” For the past month, we’ve been bombarded with various rumors of things that might be happening in the IndyCar Series, but so far there’s been nothing of substance released on any front. Here are some of the outstanding issues: Danica – Andretti contract? NASCAR tests? Penske – Third car for Power? KVRT – Resign Moraes? 2nd Car? deFerran – Will he answer the bell? FAZZT – Hinch for some races? Tracy –…
Read MoreIndyCar – Title Sponsor Really Close?
Maybe the IndyCar title sponsor announcement is close. Reaaaaallllllly close! According to Trackside Online the IRL has called a press conference for next Thursday (November 5th). Clearly, there are a lot of issues up in the air right now, but TSO is sensing that this will be the title sponsor announcement. Right now, us IndyCar fanboys are waiting to hear on a title sponsor, on the 2012 chassis decision, on the 2012 engine decision and on the 2010 race in Brazil. It would be beyond staggering if the IRL would…
Read MoreEpisode 13 – Open Paddock Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week we have Mike, John from Last Ditch and myself to discuss Rally Great Britain and over an hour of rally news. We also hit all of this week’s hot news and announce our first annual something…guess you will have to listen and find out! The show is long and we apologize but we are smooth sailing into the off season and we will work hard to bring you all the motorsport coverage you the fan deserve.
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