Racing's David and Goliath
http://www.atomicsportsmedia.com/articles/917/1/Racings-David-and-Goliath/Racings-David-and-Goliath.html
Dan Getson
By Dan Getson
Published on 10/6/2007
With low ratings and minimal fan and sponsor interest, it's hard to argue that open wheel racing has done a good job of marketing itself in the U.S. But as Atomic Sports columnist Dan Getson writes, NASCAR has been more than happy to pick apart the scraps while Champ and IRL remain on life support.
With low ratings and minimal fan and sponsor interest, it's hard to argue that open wheel racing has done a good job of marketing itself in the U.S. But as Atomic Sports columnist Dan Getson writes, NASCAR has been more than happy to pick apart the scraps while Champ and IRL remain on life support.
Racing's David and Goliath
It’s no surprise that the open wheel split of 1996 has severely hurt open-wheel racing in the United States, however, there is one thing that has consistently hurt both open wheel series, making it even harder to survive.
NASCAR has and will always be public enemy No. 1 in the face of open wheel fans, not just in the United States but around the world. In this age of global expansion, NASCAR has begun to go outside its roots of as an American series, and now holds races in Canada and Mexico. There have been rumors of NASCAR going even further outside the borders of the USA.
Among the biggest hits NASCAR is delivering to the open-wheel world is the theft of top drivers in the open-wheel ranks. There have been a large number of open-wheel stars now racing in NASCAR including Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Most recently there has been a large exodus of open-wheel talent going to race cars with roofs. This list includes Juan Pablo Montoya, A.J. Allmendinger, and Sam Hornish Jr.
NASCAR is also fully aware of what they are doing. Analysts have said this is just proof that NASCAR is becoming a legitimate racing series. I severely disagree with this statement. The competition in NASCAR is only “better” because it is contrived competition. Unexplained yellows to stack the field, restrictor plates, and points for completing a lap are just some of the ridiculous parts of NASCAR that make the racing “better” than the open-wheel series.
Open wheel, meanwhile enjoys the best drivers in the world driving the best cars. Driving an open wheel car takes incredible skill as drivers must be able to withstand massive lateral gs in corners. Another large skill is to be able to run close and overtake without banging wheels with the other cars because unlike NASCAR, this could be disastrous.
Where open wheel really can’t compete with NASCAR is the paycheck. NASCAR is a money machine as it continues to snatch up potential American sponsorship dollars, leaving many of its open wheel counterparts hung out to dry as far as picking up sponsors. Many teams in Champ Car and the IRL are forced to run without significant sponsorship, have obscure sponsors or use international ones.
The most recent hit the open wheel world has taken was the battle for the race at Phoenix. There was a proposed street race that was almost defeated by the company that owns PIR which is under control by NASCAR. Although they denied any involvement in the struggle it was quite clear that PIR did not want any competition for the two NASCAR races held in the area. The race was eventually cancelled due to lack of financial support, and one wonders if potential sponsors were stiff-armed from supporting the Champ Car event.
It’s clear that by running separately Champ Car and IRL are hurting themselves. It’s also clear now that the true winner in all of this is NASCAR. They have exploited the clash of egos in the open wheel world and have triumphed to a degree that few have ever seen in the racing world. The stubbornness of both sides of the open-wheel world make it hard to unify, but realistically from a business standpoint coming together is the only viable option before NASCAR permanently kills open-wheel racing in the United States forever.
NASCAR has and will always be public enemy No. 1 in the face of open wheel fans, not just in the United States but around the world. In this age of global expansion, NASCAR has begun to go outside its roots of as an American series, and now holds races in Canada and Mexico. There have been rumors of NASCAR going even further outside the borders of the USA.
Among the biggest hits NASCAR is delivering to the open-wheel world is the theft of top drivers in the open-wheel ranks. There have been a large number of open-wheel stars now racing in NASCAR including Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Most recently there has been a large exodus of open-wheel talent going to race cars with roofs. This list includes Juan Pablo Montoya, A.J. Allmendinger, and Sam Hornish Jr.
NASCAR is also fully aware of what they are doing. Analysts have said this is just proof that NASCAR is becoming a legitimate racing series. I severely disagree with this statement. The competition in NASCAR is only “better” because it is contrived competition. Unexplained yellows to stack the field, restrictor plates, and points for completing a lap are just some of the ridiculous parts of NASCAR that make the racing “better” than the open-wheel series.
Open wheel, meanwhile enjoys the best drivers in the world driving the best cars. Driving an open wheel car takes incredible skill as drivers must be able to withstand massive lateral gs in corners. Another large skill is to be able to run close and overtake without banging wheels with the other cars because unlike NASCAR, this could be disastrous.
Where open wheel really can’t compete with NASCAR is the paycheck. NASCAR is a money machine as it continues to snatch up potential American sponsorship dollars, leaving many of its open wheel counterparts hung out to dry as far as picking up sponsors. Many teams in Champ Car and the IRL are forced to run without significant sponsorship, have obscure sponsors or use international ones.
The most recent hit the open wheel world has taken was the battle for the race at Phoenix. There was a proposed street race that was almost defeated by the company that owns PIR which is under control by NASCAR. Although they denied any involvement in the struggle it was quite clear that PIR did not want any competition for the two NASCAR races held in the area. The race was eventually cancelled due to lack of financial support, and one wonders if potential sponsors were stiff-armed from supporting the Champ Car event.
It’s clear that by running separately Champ Car and IRL are hurting themselves. It’s also clear now that the true winner in all of this is NASCAR. They have exploited the clash of egos in the open wheel world and have triumphed to a degree that few have ever seen in the racing world. The stubbornness of both sides of the open-wheel world make it hard to unify, but realistically from a business standpoint coming together is the only viable option before NASCAR permanently kills open-wheel racing in the United States forever.