The end of CART - Fernandez quits
03-13-2004, 11:11 AM
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The end of CART - Fernandez quits
Fernandez quits Champ Cars
Massive blow for new organisers OWRS as it struggles for numbers
Fernandez was thought to be a Champ Car definite, but has now pulled out
The Mexican has instead nailed his colours to IRL's mast
Efforts to rebuild the Champ Car World Series were dealt a massive blow when team owner/driver Adrian Fernandez confirmed on Thursday that he is to quit the series and race full-time in the rival IRL IndyCar Series. Team Rahal is also expected to follow suit.
Just 48 hours after appearing at Champ Car's media tour in Long Beach, Fernandez told SPEEDTV.com he was leaving his racing home since 1993 because he didn't feel comfortable with the future of Champ Cars. And SPEEDTV.com has also learned that three-time CART champ Bobby Rahal is expected to move Michel Jourdain to Tony George's all-oval series as well.
"We're still in CART [Champ Car], as we speak, but obviously this was a ground-shaking announcement today by Adrian and it causes everyone to reassess where they are," said Rahal, who fields a Champ Car for Mexico's Michel Jourdain and an IRL effort for Buddy Rice. "I still think where you go depends on what your sponsors want."
Asked about Jourdain's sponsor, Gigante, Rahal replied: "They are very concerned. Adrian is an opinion leader in Mexico and for him to do this speaks volumes."
As for his own preference, the 1986 Indy winner said: "I'm tired of the battle and I'm tired of seeing NASCAR pull away, although full credit to them. They took advantage of the situation. But I remember the glory days of Champ Car and I want to go back there."
If Rahal joins Fernandez, it appears almost impossible that the new owners of Champ Car would be able to field enough cars for the 2004 season - scheduled to kick off next month in Long Beach. Fernandez said his decision was made after leaving Long Beach earlier this week.
"I have to look out for the best interests of Fernandez Racing, and all our sponsors, and at Long Beach I just didn't see security for the future," said Fernandez, who will make his IRL debut next week in his hometown of Phoenix. "There were not enough guarantees to know my team would be here at the end of the year.
I could only count 13 confirmed cars and that's not enough
Adrian Fernandez
"I just didn't have any confidence and I had to make a move. I mean, I love Champ Car and I made my name in this series, and this is very difficult. But I've got to look out for my team."
The 40-year-old veteran from Mexico City already has one Honda-powered Dallara in the IRL with rookie Kosuke Matsuura.
"It was tough to build this team and my partner Tom Anderson and I have put our soul into this," added Fernandez, a seven-time Champ Car race winner. "I believe in what Tony George is doing and it looks like the IRL is growing. I'm excited about going to Indianapolis again and plus, Tony is going to get back to road courses so I'm very optimistic about the future."
Fernandez, whose racing success has made him a national hero in Mexico, was instrumental in helping Champ Car get races in Monterrey and Mexico City. The latter event drew nearly 300,000 people in 2003.
"I'm going to miss racing in Mexico, especially Mexico City, and some of our sponsors are tied to that race so I hope Champ Car has a good event," he said.
Champ Car president Dick Eidswick issued a statement saying: "We are disappointed to hear of Adrian Fernandez retirement from the Champ Car World Series. He has been a top contender and a favourite among our strong Mexican fan base. We wish him the best of luck."
But this is devastating news for a series scrambling to come up with cars. Paul Gentilozzi has maintained there will be 18 cars at Long Beach.
"I could only count 13 confirmed and that's not enough," said Fernandez. "So I did what I had to guarantee the continuity of Fernandez Racing."
Massive blow for new organisers OWRS as it struggles for numbers
Fernandez was thought to be a Champ Car definite, but has now pulled out
The Mexican has instead nailed his colours to IRL's mast
Efforts to rebuild the Champ Car World Series were dealt a massive blow when team owner/driver Adrian Fernandez confirmed on Thursday that he is to quit the series and race full-time in the rival IRL IndyCar Series. Team Rahal is also expected to follow suit.
Just 48 hours after appearing at Champ Car's media tour in Long Beach, Fernandez told SPEEDTV.com he was leaving his racing home since 1993 because he didn't feel comfortable with the future of Champ Cars. And SPEEDTV.com has also learned that three-time CART champ Bobby Rahal is expected to move Michel Jourdain to Tony George's all-oval series as well.
"We're still in CART [Champ Car], as we speak, but obviously this was a ground-shaking announcement today by Adrian and it causes everyone to reassess where they are," said Rahal, who fields a Champ Car for Mexico's Michel Jourdain and an IRL effort for Buddy Rice. "I still think where you go depends on what your sponsors want."
Asked about Jourdain's sponsor, Gigante, Rahal replied: "They are very concerned. Adrian is an opinion leader in Mexico and for him to do this speaks volumes."
As for his own preference, the 1986 Indy winner said: "I'm tired of the battle and I'm tired of seeing NASCAR pull away, although full credit to them. They took advantage of the situation. But I remember the glory days of Champ Car and I want to go back there."
If Rahal joins Fernandez, it appears almost impossible that the new owners of Champ Car would be able to field enough cars for the 2004 season - scheduled to kick off next month in Long Beach. Fernandez said his decision was made after leaving Long Beach earlier this week.
"I have to look out for the best interests of Fernandez Racing, and all our sponsors, and at Long Beach I just didn't see security for the future," said Fernandez, who will make his IRL debut next week in his hometown of Phoenix. "There were not enough guarantees to know my team would be here at the end of the year.
I could only count 13 confirmed cars and that's not enough
Adrian Fernandez
"I just didn't have any confidence and I had to make a move. I mean, I love Champ Car and I made my name in this series, and this is very difficult. But I've got to look out for my team."
The 40-year-old veteran from Mexico City already has one Honda-powered Dallara in the IRL with rookie Kosuke Matsuura.
"It was tough to build this team and my partner Tom Anderson and I have put our soul into this," added Fernandez, a seven-time Champ Car race winner. "I believe in what Tony George is doing and it looks like the IRL is growing. I'm excited about going to Indianapolis again and plus, Tony is going to get back to road courses so I'm very optimistic about the future."
Fernandez, whose racing success has made him a national hero in Mexico, was instrumental in helping Champ Car get races in Monterrey and Mexico City. The latter event drew nearly 300,000 people in 2003.
"I'm going to miss racing in Mexico, especially Mexico City, and some of our sponsors are tied to that race so I hope Champ Car has a good event," he said.
Champ Car president Dick Eidswick issued a statement saying: "We are disappointed to hear of Adrian Fernandez retirement from the Champ Car World Series. He has been a top contender and a favourite among our strong Mexican fan base. We wish him the best of luck."
But this is devastating news for a series scrambling to come up with cars. Paul Gentilozzi has maintained there will be 18 cars at Long Beach.
"I could only count 13 confirmed and that's not enough," said Fernandez. "So I did what I had to guarantee the continuity of Fernandez Racing."
03-13-2004, 02:15 PM
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Tony George is such a jackass. I really don't see how the IRL thinks they are going to beat NASCAR at their own game. I enjoy watching NASCAR b/c it is very close racing, but IRL is just plain BOOOORING. You just can't have close racing in an open wheel car at superspeedway speeds.
I want CART back!
I want CART back!
03-13-2004, 07:15 PM
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The last I heard the IRL didn't have enough cars to fill the field at Speedway on Memorial Day. I guess the defections from Champ will help fill the gap. I'm with you on the IRL series, it's a yawn. The good news is sports car racing is gaining popularity. The bad news is the new CART may not finish the season. It's a shame.
03-14-2004, 11:30 AM
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The article in Racer Magazine made it clear that Tony George was simply trying to kill the competition with his offer to buy the CART assets. They wee willing to add two non-oval races to the IRL calendar, leaving the remaining CART venues twisting in the breeze.
A lot of people stood to lose a lot of money had Tony's offer been chosen. I think the judge made the right decision to give some hope of creditors salvaging the best possible return on their very poor investment.
I got the sense that OWRS had the best of intentions. Their efforts may simply be too little too late. Years of mismanagement have taken their toll.
If CART fails to field the minimum number of entrants, it will be a sad day for open wheel racing on this country. I can't stand to watch NASCAR without fenders, commonly known as the IRL. Neither can I watch the motorsports equivalent of professional wrestling known as NASCAR.
Now if we could get better coverage of ALMS and the Rolex Series. At least there seems to be some real competition in American sportscar racing these days. F1 is shaping up to be a yawn of a season after Australia but it's all I have to watch if I want open wheel racing.
A lot of people stood to lose a lot of money had Tony's offer been chosen. I think the judge made the right decision to give some hope of creditors salvaging the best possible return on their very poor investment.
I got the sense that OWRS had the best of intentions. Their efforts may simply be too little too late. Years of mismanagement have taken their toll.
If CART fails to field the minimum number of entrants, it will be a sad day for open wheel racing on this country. I can't stand to watch NASCAR without fenders, commonly known as the IRL. Neither can I watch the motorsports equivalent of professional wrestling known as NASCAR.
Now if we could get better coverage of ALMS and the Rolex Series. At least there seems to be some real competition in American sportscar racing these days. F1 is shaping up to be a yawn of a season after Australia but it's all I have to watch if I want open wheel racing.
03-14-2004, 02:00 PM
#6
I don't think it was boring watching Hornish pip Helio at the opening race of the season on the last lap. Stop being snobs, one of these series had to die. Next year IRL will be running Long Beach, and they can cherry pick the rest of the good road courses to make a nice steet/circuit/oval series, with an emphasis on ovals-which is uniquely American. Nothing has been more awful than watching CART race on chickens--t steet courses like Denver. And for the thousandth time, Tony George just did to CART what CART did to USAC. What goes around comes around. And let's not forget all the people that owned CART stock that got screwed-most of the CART owners sold their stock years ago when it was worth something.
03-14-2004, 05:53 PM
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Loyality to a person or a cause does not end with death. If CART goes down I for one will never support the organization and the man who helped cause its death.
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03-15-2004, 08:58 AM
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I think you'll also see NASCAR (aka Grand AM) kill off ALMS. Their business model has them A) racing at many of the NASCAR events as a support race series, B) Slowing down GT cars so the DPs have a chance, C) why does Lexis have a DP? Because NASCAR told TRD that if they wanted to race trucks, they needed some help with their DP pet project. D) the business model makes sense. SGS, GT, and DP which allows for different price points for participants. E) The ALMS rules are too tightly linked with the ACO LM rules which are governed by a slow decision making and behind the times governing body.
Grand AM won't let any other manufactures make DP. Why? they want to control the technology (aka NASCAR), limit the manufacturers to the chosen few (TRD, Pontiac, Chevy, and heaven forbid Porsche)
I my opinion, in the near future, you will see NASCAR, IRL, and Grand Am racing in the US, that's it. If IRL starts racing on road courses and street circuits, then I'm happy with that and don't care if CART goes away. Other than the technology superier cars, and the turbo engines, the racing should be the same for all practical purposes.
Grand AM won't let any other manufactures make DP. Why? they want to control the technology (aka NASCAR), limit the manufacturers to the chosen few (TRD, Pontiac, Chevy, and heaven forbid Porsche)
I my opinion, in the near future, you will see NASCAR, IRL, and Grand Am racing in the US, that's it. If IRL starts racing on road courses and street circuits, then I'm happy with that and don't care if CART goes away. Other than the technology superier cars, and the turbo engines, the racing should be the same for all practical purposes.
03-15-2004, 09:50 AM
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I seem to recall that Tony George's premiss for the IRL in 1996 was lower cost open wheel racing, on ovals with mostly american drivers. Fast forward to 2004, costs have gone up, he's adding road courses, and most of the drivers are from other countries (not that there is anything wrong with that). Looks like the long term plan was to morph the IRL into another version of CART, with Mr. George running the show. Quite an expensive power grab.
03-15-2004, 05:27 PM
#11
This whole thing was a brilliant business strategy by France family to make NASCAR the premier national series by undermining open wheel racing. It is a classic business move right our of Harvard Business School. By pulling the Indy 500 off the CART schedule, CART lost its national stature. The IRL then diluted both the TV audience and sponsorship... weakening both open wheel series. Adding the Brickyard 400 gave legitimacy to NASCAR. France's goal was never to make IRL successful, but to use it as a way to eliminate CART... they could care less if IRL is successful... probalby don;t want it to be.
Tony George was just a vehicle. By buying him off with a second date, he doubles the value of his speedway, so he had nothing to lose by joining with France. Notice all the IRL races are run on France controlled or affiliated tracks... e/g/ NASCAR tracks. The owners will gladly host a money losing IRL race so as not to lose their NASCAR date (or maybe as a price for getting one).
Face it, open wheel racing will never again be the primary series in America even if the IRL emerges as a single series or adds road courses. The star power is gone. You can't replace Mario Andretti, Bobby Rahal, and Rick Mears with Julio Huevara and Pablo Marques and expect people to stop watching Earnhardt, Stewart and Gordon.
How do you thing Budwieser and Miller killed off the american beer industry?
Tony George was just a vehicle. By buying him off with a second date, he doubles the value of his speedway, so he had nothing to lose by joining with France. Notice all the IRL races are run on France controlled or affiliated tracks... e/g/ NASCAR tracks. The owners will gladly host a money losing IRL race so as not to lose their NASCAR date (or maybe as a price for getting one).
Face it, open wheel racing will never again be the primary series in America even if the IRL emerges as a single series or adds road courses. The star power is gone. You can't replace Mario Andretti, Bobby Rahal, and Rick Mears with Julio Huevara and Pablo Marques and expect people to stop watching Earnhardt, Stewart and Gordon.
How do you thing Budwieser and Miller killed off the american beer industry?
03-15-2004, 06:37 PM
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Pretty auspicious first post JCP911S. Lots of bad info in there. France and NASCAR had nothing to do with the creation of the IRL or CART losing its Indy 500 status. In fact, France's primary competition - Speedway Motorports - had about 8 representatives working with Tony to develop the IRL. And they are still promoting each others interests.
Brickyard 400 was added before the IRL was conceived.
TG has no second date from NASCAR.
IRL is run on a lot of ISC (France family) tracks - but of course they own most of them in the country. But if you look at the first fwe years of the IRL, there were very few races run at ISC tracks - most were run at SMI tracks. Nowhere was a NASCAR race granted to a track if they hosted an IRL race.
You really need to check your facts before posting.
Brickyard 400 was added before the IRL was conceived.
TG has no second date from NASCAR.
IRL is run on a lot of ISC (France family) tracks - but of course they own most of them in the country. But if you look at the first fwe years of the IRL, there were very few races run at ISC tracks - most were run at SMI tracks. Nowhere was a NASCAR race granted to a track if they hosted an IRL race.
You really need to check your facts before posting.
03-15-2004, 09:13 PM
#13
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Originally posted by Carrera51
I seem to recall that Tony George's premiss for the IRL in 1996 was lower cost open wheel racing, on ovals with mostly american drivers.
I seem to recall that Tony George's premiss for the IRL in 1996 was lower cost open wheel racing, on ovals with mostly american drivers.
I knew that at the time.
Originally posted by Carrera51
Looks like the long term plan was to morph the IRL into another version of CART, with Mr. George running the show. Quite an expensive power grab.
Looks like the long term plan was to morph the IRL into another version of CART, with Mr. George running the show. Quite an expensive power grab.
He ruined the Indy 500.
The Indy 500 is now third string in Speedway, Indiana. Who'd have thought?
The problems started with the stupid public offering and came to a head with the hiring of that clown Heitzler.
We're all going to be losers with Tony Baloney George running open wheel racing.
03-16-2004, 03:16 AM
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Tony was against the engine lease situatation, back in 1996. Now look, you have to lease engines...hmmmm.. we all know about TG's quest for low cost oval racing for young underfunded American kids...yeah right!
It wont be long before the engine manufactures pull out from the IRL. They already have been jerked around by Tony, and are not happy campers. Toyota already did what they went there to do, win the ONLY race left to win, Indy. We all see Toyota migrating to NASCAR, Honda wont be far away since they tend to race where Toyota does..
Speaking of Indy, how is it we have witnessed a rapidly shrinking entry list? They barely filled the field last year. The magical month of May is now really a week and a half with almost empty stands on Pole Day..
Tony has run the only thing he has (had) into the ground, playing third fiddle to the Brickyard 400 and USGP... We all know there is NOT room for two American open wheel series in the states. Its too bad Tony has enough money to keep subsidizing his teams to keep them coming back. Dont get me started on the Infiniti Pro-Series....
It wont be long before the engine manufactures pull out from the IRL. They already have been jerked around by Tony, and are not happy campers. Toyota already did what they went there to do, win the ONLY race left to win, Indy. We all see Toyota migrating to NASCAR, Honda wont be far away since they tend to race where Toyota does..
Speaking of Indy, how is it we have witnessed a rapidly shrinking entry list? They barely filled the field last year. The magical month of May is now really a week and a half with almost empty stands on Pole Day..
Tony has run the only thing he has (had) into the ground, playing third fiddle to the Brickyard 400 and USGP... We all know there is NOT room for two American open wheel series in the states. Its too bad Tony has enough money to keep subsidizing his teams to keep them coming back. Dont get me started on the Infiniti Pro-Series....
03-16-2004, 12:10 PM
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George:
You are right, Tony Baloney has pretty much ruined open wheel racing in the U.S. The Indy 500 has been a Dead Man Walking race since the split. I loved it when Chip Ganasi and Roger Penske crossed over and won the race before they went full time into the IRL. I think that decision was made simply because CART was becoming a sinking ship and they headed for the lifeboats early. Looks like that was the right move. Toyota is already heading to NASCAR in 2005 (right??) Their entry into the NCT series paved the way. I wonder when Honda will follow suit.
The IRL is doomed to failure because of a lack of Star Power, and the fact that drivers like Montoya were able to jump in and own the regular drivers, grab the win, take the milk and run.
You are right, Tony Baloney has pretty much ruined open wheel racing in the U.S. The Indy 500 has been a Dead Man Walking race since the split. I loved it when Chip Ganasi and Roger Penske crossed over and won the race before they went full time into the IRL. I think that decision was made simply because CART was becoming a sinking ship and they headed for the lifeboats early. Looks like that was the right move. Toyota is already heading to NASCAR in 2005 (right??) Their entry into the NCT series paved the way. I wonder when Honda will follow suit.
The IRL is doomed to failure because of a lack of Star Power, and the fact that drivers like Montoya were able to jump in and own the regular drivers, grab the win, take the milk and run.