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Penske & Indy

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tshelfer

tshelfer

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Shelfer
I just read that Roger Penske has purchased IndyCar, lock stock & barrel, from the Hulman family. He'll own not only the entire IndyCar series, but also the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I guess this makes him sort of the Jerry Jones of American racing.

This could actually be a good thing. IndyCar has never recovered from the whole CART vs Champ Car thing in the 90s. Maybe Penske is the guy who can bring the magic back to American open-wheel racing. For starters, it might help if they actually make the formula interesting instead of merely having a bunch of teams who buy the identical chassis package from Dallara, thus turning the whole series more or less into spec racing.

After all, the new owners of F1 have been shaking things up, loosening the rules, making the drivers more accessible to press and fans, and basically bringing the sport forward & out of 20th century Euro-snobbery. Sometimes a shake-up is a good thing.
 
tshelfer said:
IndyCar has never recovered from the whole CART vs Champ Car thing in the 90s.
Click to expand...

No it hasn't. This could be huge. RP will really shake things up.

I didn't realize 'ol Bernie wasn't head of F1 any longer. That's definitely a good thing.
Now if we could just get rid of the idiots running CA$$$Hcar into the ground we might have something.
Got anymore money laying around Roger?
 
Bernie got pushed out of F1 a couple of years ago. It might possibly have had something to do with with the criminal bribery charges he was facing at the time. He settled for a $44M fine in order to avoid a trial and possible prison time. So I guess you can bribe your way out of bribery charges, eh? :trust: The group that took it over is American, or at least includes some Americans. They seem to have a much better sense of what it takes to market F1 in the 21st century, particularly if they want North America more engaged. They're doing a lot of things, trying to entice more manufacturers into getting involved. There are also major rules changes coming for 2021, designed to control costs and make the formula more fun and more competitive (read that as maybe someone besides Mercedes, Ferrari, or Red Bull actually has a prayer of getting on the podium).

As for IndyCar, I can't imagine Penske plunked down that wad of money to take over the series, only to maintain status quo. I'm sure he already has a laundry list of ideas to rejuvenate it.

As for NASCAR - Hey, I haven't watched it in years. But I read last month that next year's rules are going to change the car bodies so that they look like - you know - the cars they pretend to be. But what the hey, when I watch NASCAR once in a blue moon, I'm only watching because they have really gnarly crashes. :lol2:
 
I had been a CA$HCAR fan forever, but the myriad of rules changes and the idiotic chase formula really lost it for me. The only thing they got right is the stage racing, which did make long races a tad more interesting. Changing the car bodies every year is moronic, as everything the teams learned before is aerodynamically out the window, forcing them back to wind tunnels and excessive testing. How does that expense level the field? I still watch recorded races so I can breeze through the ever increasing commercials and mindless blather, and even some of the racing that when it's point time can be really lame. And it's a couple kids of stars that are keeping me. I was a big Bill Elliott fan, and Chase gets it. So does Son 'O Blaney. Totally burnt out on CRYle Busch. Truex is always worth rooting for. It's a sliding scale from there. What friends of mine have been calling Kevin Harvick for years is not printable here. :lol2:
 
I liked watching jr try to run road courses , the money was on which lap he crashed out on , the winner was always a road racer . And all the star worship of senior was the end of it for me , he was one of the dirtiest drivers out there , I watched him slow down then crash Bill Elliott when he came around to lap him . Should have been banned forever for that **** show . The clean smooth drivers that are top ten every race get no press , it’s the crap drivers that get a the attention . Course their crap driving is still a whole lot better than me .
 
In any other industry, this could be considered a conflict of interest. The same guy that owns the league campaigns teams and cars. I suppose it challenges the concept of transparency with the league board and rules committee.
I wish Roger lots of luck bringing IndyCar back. I have to wonder if the same attitudes that have taken the wind out of powersports sales (sails) , i.e. millennials don't care for it, is also driving down motorsports too.
As aforementioned, rebranding F1 to cater to 21st century USA seems to be making a difference, so maybe there is still some hope for the future.
My issue with most pro sports is accessibility. Charging so much $ for the price of a ticket when half the stands are empty just doesn't make sense to me. Lower prices increases accessibility and gets people back in the stands. More attendance is more peripheral sales in swag, concessions, parking, etc. But what do I know; I'm not a business major.
 
I absolutely hate the "Roval" at Charlotte, but I was bored to tears one evening and it was on my recorder, so I watched.
Chase Elliott forgot to turn left and stuffed it in the front stretch barricade bags. Then came back and won the race.
That's the kind of stuff that keeps me from dropping out.
 
dukey33 said:
My issue with most pro sports is accessibility. Charging so much $ for the price of a ticket when half the stands are empty just doesn't make sense to me. Lower prices increases accessibility and gets people back in the stands. More attendance is more peripheral sales in swag, concessions, parking, etc. But what do I know; I'm not a business major.
Click to expand...

Sound logic to me. TV coverage is still best for me. But once Fox coverage ends for the cup racers, it's hard to watch. Junior and Steve Letarte certainly know their stuff, but their high pitched whiney voices when they get excited sound like two teenage magpies on crack. Actually makes me miss DW's boogity boogity BS. :lol2:
 
The Lady in Black is the only NASCAR track I've ever been interested in. Everything else is just a bunch of guys following each other real fast. I'm a big fan of Roger's work, but I don't see how he is ever going to bring Indy to the level of F1.
 
I have absolutely no idea how the finances of racing works. Clearly, huge amounts of money come from the TV contracts. I suspect that, without them, NASCAR and Indy would still be racing crates built in back yards and small-time garages. Which might actually be a good thing in the long run. There certainly was a lot more experimentation and creativity in those days.
 
I miss the tracks like Rockingham and North Wilkesboro. It seems they want to race at The Rock again, but it's confusing news.

I don't think Roger intends to try that F1 level, just get the whole Indy style of racing back to where it was before they screwed it up.
 
tshelfer said:
Clearly, huge amounts of money come from the TV contracts.
Click to expand...

massive amounts. the half (or worse) empty stands aren't an issue for the sport, and that's bad. they need to drop prices and do crazy promotions and pack the seats again.
 
IndyCar vs F1 is the 80/20 Rule in all its glory: 80% of the performance for 20% of the price. And most of the track time differences actually come from the fact that IndyCar rules don't allow as much downforce as F1, meaning slower cornering. But to an audience, it makes little difference whether an average lap time is 1:40 or 1:48, as long as they get to see great wheel-to-wheel racing.

I agree, Dave. Ticket prices are killing attendance. But since tracks are individually owned, there's only so much the sanctioning body can do. Track owners won't want to give up the revenue of per-ticket cost without knowing for sure that it'll be made up in terms of higher ticket sales.
 
www.autonews.com

Roger Penske awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

Roger Penske, racing icon, businessman and automotive retail leader, joined a dozen other individuals who President Trump has bestowed with the nation's top civilian honor.
www.autonews.com www.autonews.com

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A little sun is the best source of Vit D, a burn is not necessary. Besides that, chicks dig scars!
 
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