Split has open-wheel drivers flocking to NASCAR

UPDATE A reader writes, While all these drivers from CCWS, IRL and F1 are going over to NASCAR, are the fans following them? I think not by looking at the attendance in the stands and the TV ratings. I believe racing in the US has peaked and people are getting tired of all the changes. Most NASCAR fans hate the open wheel drivers coming into their turf along with TOYOTA. NASCAR has managed to eliminate the true racing teams that try to find that little advantage to beat the other guy. Cookie cutter cars now just add different decals on them, and PLEASE don't lean on the fender you may change the aero on it. Yes CCWS and the IRL have shot themselves in the foot and need to somehow get together. Each series has its good and bad points but it can be put together and win in the long run. In the short run money talks but how long will that last. All the series are losing sponsors and most teams are merging. Why, because of the cost involved. NASCAR has too much TV coverage while CCWS & the IRL has so little. Joe Steber, Albrightsville, PA.

09/21/07 [Editor's Note: The creation of the IRL in 1995 and the damaging split it caused in open wheel racing has led to the exodus of sponsors, teams and now drivers out of all levels of open wheel racing in America. In essence Tony George cut his own throat (and that of the many players in open wheel racing) because when the sport eventually dies, so too will his Indy 500. And that will forever be George's legacy.]

The expected and heretofore not denied jump of freshly crowned IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti to NASCAR is more than just one of them deals.

The shocker raises several pertinent questions.

Among them:

Does the Scotsman's departure signal the beginning of the end for the Indy Racing League and its elite IndyCar Series?

Is NASCAR, anathema for North American open-wheel aficionados, deserving of the best the open-wheel genre has to offer?

But before we get to the answers, this sidelight. In an interesting twist, Daytona International Speedway is touting the fact February's 50th running of the Daytona 500 might very well include past Indianapolis 500 champions Franchitti, Sam Hornish Jr. and Jacques Villeneuve, not to mention Juan Pablo Montoya . . . which begs another question.

When was the last time the stock car world gave credence to the possible presence of past Indy 500 champions in one of its premier races?

Anything to sell tickets I guess, but if the speedway can't sell out this 500, it might as well lock the doors and turn the place into an amusement park.

But, back to the germane issues, namely the exodus in the IndyCar Series.

Can it survive without 2007 Indy 500 winner Franchitti and 2006 champion Hornish, who also is headed to NASCAR next season? More at Florida Today