NASCAR and IRL? Figure The Odds!
In an article in the Tampa Tribune yesterday, John Barnes, an owner and the general manager of Panther Racing, said it would be a good thing for there to be IRL-NASCAR combined events. Here is what he said, “We would make it where we would race on Saturday to replace a Busch or ARCA race, and they would race on Sunday,” he said. “I have no problem being second fiddle to them, I just want to get in front of their fans and show them what real racing is all about.”
Figure the odds! The IRL and Champ Car League (same open-wheel type cars - different leagues) can’t get their act together to reunite. What makes any of them think they could co-exist with NASCAR. And what was that about replacing Busch races? Again - figure the odds!
Terry Angstadt, the IRL’s new president of its commercial division, said the IRL would not allow itself to be presented as a support race. He also claims that IRL is a ‘tier-one’ series. What did he leave unsaid? NASCAR is _________ (fill in the blanks).
In the same statement he said, “…certainly it would be hard to argue that the Indianapolis 500 is not a cornerstone event, if not the premier motor sports event in the world.” Well - yeah, the Indy 500 probably is the premier motor sports event in the world BUT it’s one race. Deal with reality, Terry. Indy-car racing is now 2nd tier with the one exception of the Indy 500.
IRL and Champ need to reunite before they try to horn in on NASCAR. Do NASCAR fans care one whit about Indy racing? Let me know what you think. Tell me too if you think I’m being too hard on the IRL/Champ people. I grew up in Indianapolis, in Indy car racing - before the big feud that split them in two. It was stupid then and it’s still stupid.
Tags: arca series, busch series, champ car series, irl, john barnes, NASCAR, panther racing, terry angstadtRelated Stories
POSTED IN: NASCAR
1 opinion for NASCAR and IRL? Figure The Odds!
Aaron Brazell
May 22, 2007 at 12:18 am
IRL? What’s that? ;-)
Seriously, though - the only potential challenger to NASCAR on a global scene is Formula 1. And that’s onlty because it’s global. I gaurantee you Americans have no clue (in general) about F-1, IRL or Champ. And why should they? With more than enough Sunday afternoon entertainment to last between the whistles of the NFL season provided by NASCAR, there’s no need to look elsewhere.
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