He's quite a character. We met him last year at Indy, then again at the Denver Grand Prix. I think he got some air-time last year too - immediately following the shunt at the opening lap in Indy.

It's really great to work and socialize with people that are just as passionate about racing as you are (actually more passionate and knowledgeable in most cases). The best part is, we're making new friends from all across the globe.

 

Sad News...

"Speedway Drops Formula One Race" --> LINK

 

That's disappointing, but you could almost see it coming after the disaster of '05.

It's funny, though, how the article says that the F1 races at Watkins Glen were 'failed attempts', considering that F1 ran there for almost 20 years.

 

I'm not surprised by the announcement, but Tony George says 2008 will only be a 'hiatus' for F1 at Indy. What he's not saying is that Indy will be beating the bushes for a title sponsor to the US GP for 2009. That, and he'll be trying to get Bernie Ecclestone to reduce the fee for F1 over a long-term deal.

Fat chance- with every small country (from the middle and far east in particular) clamoring to hold a F1 race, it looks like even the established races in Europe are going to have a run for their euros to KEEP their events. Unless Indy gets a big buck title sponsor to not only promote the race and help pay the sanctioning fee, I think it's going to be tough to get the race back.

Come to think of it, the Denver GP is in a similar predicament. They need a title sponsor and will need to get one lined up by next year. If not, both these races will quietly slip into oblivion...

 

I Hate Fucing Nascar and all the redneck hillbillies that don't understand true racing!!! [/rant] If the USGP could've got the sponsorship that Nascar recieves I'm sure F1 could've continued.

Guess I'll never see F1 at Indy! Time to start seriously looking at Bahrain.

 

F1 didn't exactly help it's cause when it ran the 2005 with all of 6 cars. It's hard for me to blame Nascar fans for this, when the supposed 'pinnacle of motorsport' can't even address a crisis like what happened at that event.

The real thing that burns me about the '05 debacle (not to beat a dead horse) is that it was assumed at the time to be the fault of the tires, when in reality it looks more and more like it might have just been the ultra-aggressive setup that Toyota was using that pushed the tires outside of their anticipated usage parameters...they were the only team that were involved in practice/qualifying wrecks that weekend, and supposedly no other team saw any unusual wear on their tires during post-session inspection. Because of that, tens of thousands of fans at that race suffered, and we're still feeling the effects 2 years later.

Back to the sponsorship deal, I thought that SAP (title sponsor for the first few USGP's at Indy) was the perfect combination for F1 in this country - a European technology company with a strong base in the US. It's too bad they're not still doing that level of marketing.

And since David mentioned sponsorship for the Denver Champ Car race, I think "The MileHighZ Denver Grand Prix" has a nice ring to it...

 

Also, the US can't build a fan base without a race (and a decent American driver to get behind), and we can't have a race without a decent fan base (no one will title sponsor an event at Bernie's fee level for an event that has a limited turn-out).

It's the old adage, can't get a job without experience; can't get experience without a job. Although I will say there was a notably larger turn-out this year than in '06, and Michelin wasn't there to hand out vouchers and free tickets as they did in '06.