All-purpose open-wheel (F1, IRL) racing thread

The other news of the day: NBC outbids Speed for F1 starting next season.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-sources-speed-wont-air-f1-after-season

In the big picture this may be a good thing. Fox is about to kill Speed and make it a general sports network, so its interest in F1 was low going forward. NBC Sports Network does a solid job for IndyCar, by and large, and needs programming.

As for the Tony George thing... classic. That series is determined to implode.

 

I'm happy for F1's new deal. I think F1 has run its course on Speed. I'm going to commit sacrilege ... I think Varsha/Hobbs/Matchett have become a bit stale. Varsha in particular. I actually enjoy it when Lee Diffey does Varsha's Barrett Jackson weekends. I don't think Varsha invests as much in it as he once did.

Matchett has started to get on my nerves. I still like Hobbs because he's Hobbs and he alternately adds irreverence and the experience of having raced to the broadcasts.

It'd be even better if NBCSN actually staffed races on site, but I doubt that'll happen.

As for IndyCar ... Christ almighty. What's next? The triumphant return of Marty Roth and Milka Duno?

 

I totally agree with you on Varsha. He doesn't seem to really follow the series these days, which is painfully obvious in the early races, and he misses a lot during the race. Hobbs is OK, but doesn't seem to add much lately.

I still like Marchett, and I like Buxton. If I were NBC I'd try to keep them around.

 

Matchett would be OK, but he needs to be reigned in a bit during races.

Buxton? No. His insights are rareful insightful (often shots in the dark that never hit) and he's way too amped up.

 

And from the IndyCar once again shooting itself in the foot department: Randy Bernard is forced out tonight by the Hulmans

http://m.speedtv.com/s/showPage.do?pageId=SpeedTV%20Story%20Details&siteId=103419&op=1&urlTitle=auto-racing/indy-car&titleDetails=INDYCAR%253A%2520CEO%2520Randy%2520Bernard%2520Fired%2520During%2520Emergency%2520Board%2520Meeting&categoryName=Auto%20Racing%20-%20Indy%20Car

 

And the AP version of the story:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/randy-bernard-steps-down-indycar-220312295--irl.html

So how long until Tony George takes over the series which won't be around a year from now thanks to the final nail in the coffin with his buddies? ???
They should revert to being called IRL: Idiots Running the League. :

 

The Hulman-George family is the worst-case scenario of passing down the family business to the younger generations. All they're worried about is collecting their dimes, not actually creating a racing series that could thrive. They thought Tony George spent too much. They thought Randy Bernard spent too much. The next guy isn't going to spend a nickel, per family orders, and any momentum is going to be blunted. How do you sell sponsors to invest in this?

Please, Hulman-George family, sell the track, sell the series, sell everything to someone who at least gives two shits about the future of Indy racing beyond whether it will make them an extra dollar or two on top of Clabber Girl profits.

 

An entertaining read, as Robin Miller absolutely unloads on the stupidity in IndyCar:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/miller-no-cure-for-indycars-stupidity/

 

The thing is, this backstabbing and bullshit has been going on for 35 years, or more. Everyone in IndyCar seems incapable of figuring out how to work together to build a series.

 

The cave-in of IndyCar over the last 20 years is a big reason why my open-wheel loyalties are now F1-first, IndyCar a distant second.

 

Well, the first US Grand Prix in Austin is happening today.

Whose idea was it to hold the race on a Sunday during football season?

Also, whose idea was it to hold it on the same day as the NASCAR season finale?

It's like they're not even trying to crack the US market.