A reader writes, Dear AR1.com, It's amazing how some of the "stars" of the old IRL can't get out their own way now that some teams with fewer resources are getting the new car sorted out. Danica and Marco are a mess while Viso, Wilson, Hunter-Reay and others make them look silly. No one can say they are F1 drivers without a smile and a wink. If you're that much slower than your top teammate you would be eaten alive by the press and the F1 establishment. At three or four seconds a lap slower, the old Champ Car boys must feel like retirement came early. Bring back turbos, open up chassis manufacturing, innovation and let's find out who has what it takes. Your best attended races are parties and your TV partner markets your product mostly through replays of old wrecks. Most TV adds during the St. Pete race were for the Indy 500 and Brazil's ethanol program with a few of Danica getting half naked which she seems to be better at then road racing. What next — recruiting posters at dirt tracks to find the next open wheel stars? The IRL has become CART Lite. Ask AJ, I'm sure he's happy. I'm not bitching. I wanted it to stay this way from the beginning of the split. I would rather see the best drivers and crews regardless of where they come from. It's a shame it took Tony G. over a decade to realize this, it could have been fun. At least we got to see the talent [or lack of] Dr. Jack Miller and Racin Gardner.
Ron Thompson
Another Reader adds, The LA Times had its typical pre-LBGP article on Thursday or Friday by their dufus motorsports writer who stated that this year, the series are merged and this year the top drivers will be at Long Beach (Will Power apparently was not as good last year on pole as he is this year?). The writer then listed the top drivers, beginning with the arguably cute but slow Danica Patrick. She has been mired near the bottom of the charts all weekend, although she did manage to outpace Ed Carpenter and Stanton Barrett. She'll do better on the 100% throttle tracks. There are some very impressive stories from Long Beach. Will Power is amazing, as you guys detailed in your article. What about Justin Wilson driving the Coyne machine? Imagine what he could do in a Target Ganassi car. EJ Viso really stepped up and hustled the car. Remember last year when Danica Patrick said "EJ Viso, I don’t even know who that is? Dude, you better watch out" or something like that. Viso is in the pole shootout and Danica and her IRL "star" teammate Marco Andretti are 22d and 19th respectively. I think it's time for the IRL to promote the drivers who can actually drive the race cars. Mort Downer