Will new IndyCar reinvigorate the sport?
Dear AutoRacing1.com, I am very happy to hear that the IRL is taking yet another step to mimic CART/Champ Car from 15 years ago. The new chassis announcement should be exciting. Do you think it will restore IndyCar Racing to what it was 15 years ago under CART? Dave Darwin, Seattle, WA
Dear Dave, Just like we saw with NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow, the car does not make the sport. In fact NASCAR has seen a drop-off in attendance since the new car was introduced. It will take much more than a new chassis to reinvigorate the sport, but it's a step in the right direction, if it is done right.
Dear Dave, Just like we saw with NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow, the car does not make the sport. In fact NASCAR has seen a drop-off in attendance since the new car was introduced. It will take much more than a new chassis to reinvigorate the sport, but it's a step in the right direction, if it is done right.
Fans don't come to a race track or watch on TV to see a Dallara, Lola or Swift win. In open wheel racing the chassis is more or less irrelevant to the race fan. As we have written on many occasions – "it's the driver stupid." The athlete makes a sport, any sport. The bat, the ball, the net, the goal posts are all by and large irrelevant. It is the driver, their personality and their skill behind the wheel that matters.
If the driver can't wheel a car and bring home the bacon they are quickly labeled a wanker and soon put out to pasture. Mark C.