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Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

MattS said:
I agree that Bernard is in a tough spot, but he was hired to promote and improve the league and right now he struggling to do so. I think his problem is that he has taken on too much, too quickly, and had some bad breaks. I think he should have focused on getting the right people in charge (firing TGBB), then a stable schedule, then new cars.



Does the state fair usually have two big events on the same day? At the New York state fair there is only one big event per day. So the day when they have the tractor pulls there is no concert. Even though they are in the afternoon to early evening and there would be time for a concert afterwards.




This ******es me off too. It has happened at the small local track near me. The track has been there racing on Saturday nights for the past 60 years, but people who build homes near by 10 years ago get mad over the noise. Even though the races have a curfew of 11 pm and don't start practice until 4 pm.

Of course it is people like this is why I have to run mufflers on my drag car. Enough complaints over noise and the NHRA changes the rules so I have to run muffles in the super stock class I run in.
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Just talked w/my Dad. we started going to State Fair Park in 1979 (wow I was 7!). back then from that time until 1982 there were 4 BIG races annually.

Rex Mays Indycar race 1 week after INDY
then during the fair 3 races. 2 USAC Stock-car races (a 150 mile event and a 250 miler) and the final Sunday of the fair was always the "Big Cars" from Indy coming back through.

man this brings back memories of Ongais, Mears, Sneva, Bigelow, Simon, Bettenhausen, Andretti, Foyt, Johncock, Mosely, Unsers
on the stock car side there was the 18-year old Mark Martin, Dick Trickle, Dave Marcis, Joe Ruttman, Rusty Wallace and later when I think the series was called ASA, Davey Allison and Alan Kulwiecki

so 3 races during the fair...****. as I recall it concerts back then were much smaller in scale, they *may* have used the grandstands for country acts like Loretta Lynn or something but the big attraction (back then) was the races

and there was griping in the editorial sections of the papers re: the noise but eff those people. you don't buy property near an airport to then complain about the noise! jeez

muffler on your race car? man I would be soooooooooo ****ed. someone should go do donuts in these people's yards;)
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

solovsfett said:
muffler on your race car? man I would be soooooooooo ****ed. someone should go do donuts in these people's yards;)
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Yeah, do you believe that crap. I use to run straight short pipes after the headers, but now I run a pair of Flowmaster American Thunder mufflers. They sound good and are fairly loud, but I have lost a few HP and some time on the strip. Oh well. Better that then no racing at all.
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

The noise issue is not anything new... In fact, it's probably killed off more local tracks than any other single factor since the 80's.... Around here, there's a prime example in Illiana Speedway just outside Chicago in NW Indiana... My dad remembers going to the track in the 70's and thinking that it was "in the middle of nowhere"... Then in the 90's urban encroachment happened... Track owner Mike Mikuly has constantly fought off a subdivision that moved in just south of the track... So far he has been on solid ground, but he is slowly losing ground... Within the past 5-7 years, we've seen mufflers put in place and a hard curfew as well...

There was a famous quote in a local paper back around 2002ish from a resident of that subdivision... It was something along the lines of "I don't understand why these cars have to be so loud... My new [car] is so quiet I can barely tell if it's running when I sit in it... I can hear these cars loud and clear all the way at my house... It's disruptive to hear them when sitting down to dinner on a Saturday night..."

Unfortunately, that is how society has moved in regards to racing :mad:
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

RaceBoarder said:
The noise issue is not anything new... In fact, it's probably killed off more local tracks than any other single factor since the 80's.... Around here, there's a prime example in Illiana Speedway just outside Chicago in NW Indiana... My dad remembers going to the track in the 70's and thinking that it was "in the middle of nowhere"... Then in the 90's urban encroachment happened... Track owner Mike Mikuly has constantly fought off a subdivision that moved in just south of the track... So far he has been on solid ground, but he is slowly losing ground... Within the past 5-7 years, we've seen mufflers put in place and a hard curfew as well...

There was a famous quote in a local paper back around 2002ish from a resident of that subdivision... It was something along the lines of "I don't understand why these cars have to be so loud... My new [car] is so quiet I can barely tell if it's running when I sit in it... I can hear these cars loud and clear all the way at my house... It's disruptive to hear them when sitting down to dinner on a Saturday night..."

Unfortunately, that is how society has moved in regards to racing :mad:
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omfg that would **** me off. Good Luck to Illiana Speedway.
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

Noise.....when the IRA sprint cars race at the Dodge County fairgrounds and the wind is from the west, we can hear them here in Juneau, and it's about 9 miles away as the crow flies. It's awesome. :)

Honestly, if you buy a house near a race track, freeway or a RR track, expect to hear noise. Get a life and understand the consequences of your actions. Someone writing a letter to the editor about it is just ignoing the reality of THIER decision. There's nothing sweeter than the scream/roar of a race engine other then the sieve chant at the Kohl Center.
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

If you missed Senna in the theaters, it's now on Netflix.
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

re-branding VS. to NBC sports. this appears to be a GREAT move. already on the Winter Classic game they're announcing games on NBC sports so us NHL and Indycar fans should be happy with that. that's a huge step up in advertising presence to get a major network airing commercials for your game/race regularly
 
solovsfett said:
re-branding VS. to NBC sports. this appears to be a GREAT move. already on the Winter Classic game they're announcing games on NBC sports so us NHL and Indycar fans should be happy with that. that's a huge step up in advertising presence to get a major network airing commercials for your game/race regularly
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MLS have been pretty happy with what NBC is doing with MLS already. It'll be interesting to see what happens when the NHL playoffs start and the racing and soccer seasons get closer.
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

solovsfett said:
re-branding VS. to NBC sports. this appears to be a GREAT move. already on the Winter Classic game they're announcing games on NBC sports so us NHL and Indycar fans should be happy with that. that's a huge step up in advertising presence to get a major network airing commercials for your game/race regularly
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The name VS had such a small time, perriferal feel to it. Casual fan Joe probably ignored it due to the name. Now that it's NBC Sports, the name screams bigtime. It can only help.
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

Timothy A said:
The name VS had such a small time, perriferal feel to it. Casual fan Joe probably ignored it due to the name. Now that it's NBC Sports, the name screams bigtime. It can only help.
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I agree. and add to that http://www.indycar.com/news/show/55...6-and-39-super-carsand-39-on-the-way-to-indy/

this is big-time marketing for Indycar. I hope it gets people's attention.

in other news - Beaux Barfield as the new race steward...uhm...who?

He beat the likes of Tommy Kendall, Scott Pruett, and Wally Dellenbach Jr. he'd better be **** good as those 3 guys would seem to have what it takes

F1 - Williams is really down in the dumps. Patrick Head steps down (actually eff him anyway for that steering column debacle in 94), they lose their title sponsor AT&T, and are considering bringing Rubens back (presumably because he's cheap?)....how the mighty have fallen.
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

solovsfett said:
F1 - Williams is really down in the dumps. Patrick Head steps down (actually eff him anyway for that steering column debacle in 94), they lose their title sponsor AT&T, and are considering bringing Rubens back (presumably because he's cheap?)....how the mighty have fallen.
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Think he's going to be unemployed for long?
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

solovsfett said:
in other news - Beaux Barfield as the new race steward...uhm...who?
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He was the race steward for ALMS, and I believe was well-liked there (but he's a friend of a friend, so I'm certainly getting a biased viewpoint on that). I was hearing rumbling that he might be tabbed for IndyCar six months ago.
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

Craig P. said:
He was the race steward for ALMS, and I believe was well-liked there (but he's a friend of a friend, so I'm certainly getting a biased viewpoint on that). I was hearing rumbling that he might be tabbed for IndyCar six months ago.
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I also read he was a steward for Champ Car under Cotman. So I think he is qualified even if nobody knows who he is.
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

solovsfett said:
F1 - Williams is really down in the dumps. Patrick Head steps down (actually eff him anyway for that steering column debacle in 94), they lose their title sponsor AT&T, and are considering bringing Rubens back (presumably because he's cheap?)....how the mighty have fallen.
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I am wondering if the loss of AT&T will put Sutil and his Medion sponsorship money into the second Williams seat. I don't think that Rubens has that type of personal sponsorship cash.
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

MattS said:
I am wondering if the loss of AT&T will put Sutil and his Medion sponsorship money into the second Williams seat. I don't think that Rubens has that type of personal sponsorship cash.
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I thought I'd read a rumor about Sutil but have to dig it up.

It's weird how far Williams has fallen. I mean Mclaren and Ferarri have had downturns but ever this bad that I can recall...

in other news check this!!! http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/

it's *possible* that Indycars may return to milwaukee in 2012...if there's a racing god out there please let this happen! best mile track in the country!
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

Craig P. said:
He was the race steward for ALMS, and I believe was well-liked there (but he's a friend of a friend, so I'm certainly getting a biased viewpoint on that). I was hearing rumbling that he might be tabbed for IndyCar six months ago.
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that's really good to hear even if there's some bias in the answer. I'm really hoping Randy B can turn the ship around in his 5-year stint
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

In the close quarters of street racing, my view is that there will probably be fewer blocking calls and more contact penalties,” said the new director of racing for the IZOD INDYCAR series during a Wednesday press conference.

I love this. To me, contact is a huge problem, I see no room for it any any form of racing. In F1, there's hardly any contact past turn one of the first lap. You also see some creative moves in F1 as well. The IRL drivers need watch their mirrors to give eachother room on road/street courses. If you get passed, pass them back or use a pit strategy to try and get around someone. Diving under someone too fast & too late and T-boning someone is not the answer. It also looks like the ridiculous blocking rules are gone as well.

Why don't F1 and Indy use the same blocking/passing rules? The F1 rules the last few years seem to be understood by the drivers and apparent to fans.

I do have some hope that the new cars will make passing easier because the playing field will not be so level. People also have to understand that the cars line up fastest to slowest, you should not expect to see a ton of passes period.

Wilson is back with Coyne, good for both parties.
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

Blocking really isn't difficult to codify. One move is changing your line. Two moves is blocking. That's approximately what the F1 rule encodes, although they also include a provision for the appropriate way to return to the racing line after leaving it (i.e. leave a car-width of space at the apex).
 
Re: Open Wheel Racing 2011, hurry, before we downsize your engines....

Per the 2012 Sporting Regs on blocking:

Article 20.3 reads: “More than one change of direction to defend a position is not permitted. Any driver moving back towards the racing line, having earlier defended his position off‐line, should leave at least one car width between his own car and the edge of the track on the approach to the corner.”

Simple. I know there will be some judgement to the one car width, but the rule is straight forward. Indycar should adopt this rule.
 
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