2018 IndyCar news/misc. stuff

Kiante said:
This is unexpected, I guess the stars are stating to align with Alfa possibly joining the fold?
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Yeah it's awfully surprising. RACER said it's believed SC want to start an IndyCar team of their own in the future, and it's hard to believe them running a Honda or Chevy full-time...Mattioli worked for Ferrari and has some huge Ferrari dealerships, it's very intriguing.
 


Honda sits at 17 and is expected to add Pippa Mann and Jay Howard, which would put the entry at 36 cars. That would be the most to attempt to qualify since 2011.

 
IndyCar Close to New Deal, Says CEO
IndyCar is “close” to reaching a new television deal that would put at least half of the races on broadcast television, CEO Mark Miles told the Indianapolis Star in an interview published Friday. The remaining races would air on cable and on an over-the-top package. Under such an arrangement, races would air on ABC, ESPN and ESPN Plus, or NBC, NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold.
Sunday marked the beginning of IndyCar’s final season under a ten-year deal reached in 2009. Miles has been consistent in his desire to consolidate rights with one partner and put more races on broadcast television. [IndyStar 3.9]

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2018/03/mlb-facebook-indycar-espn-plus-dale-jr/
 
The harrowing details...

A.J. Foyt vs Killer Bees: Foyt 2 - Bees 0

He mastered the treachery of Langhorne, nearly suffocated at Riverside, got burned badly at Milwaukee, survived a blood clot in Michigan and came back from devastating foot and knee injuries at Road America.

But A.J. Foyt's great escapes in race cars almost seem tame compared to his battles with killer bees.

The first four-time Indy 500 winner is recovering at home in Houston after being savagely attacked on Wednesday at his ranch in west Texas. He was repeatedly stung in the face, eyes and neck but managed to find shelter and survived.

For those of you scoring at home, it's either the 29th or 30th time the 83-year-old legend has dodged death.

"It was scary, I won't lie," Foyt told RACER on Thursday evening while sitting in his race shop in Waller, Texas. "I pushed down a tree with my bulldozer and thought I saw a bunch of honey bees but they weren't.

"So I threw it in reverse and got away from them. At least I thought I did. I got off the dozer and had about a block to walk to my truck when they came swarming down on me.

"I started running and made it to my truck and I got the windows down going about 60 mph trying to keep them off my face but they're stinging my eyes and my neck and I'm glad I had a jacket on."

He slammed on the brakes, ran into the ranch house and turned on the cold water. "I stuck my face in ice water because it was burning and it felt like about 500 degrees," he exclaimed.

"I was lucky because those bees sting you until you quit breathing."

He went to the hospital, where his blood pressure was 260 over 116 and the doctors were worried because this was the second bout IndyCar's all-time winner has had with these Africanized killer bees (he was attacked in 2005).

This attack was worse, but he was stabilized and out of the hospital by Thursday afternoon. Then he got revenge.

"They sent my airplane for me but I told them I wasn't going home until I killed those bees," he said. "We got 15 gallons of diesel fuel and dropped it and set those bastards on fire. I felt a lot better after that."

Besides his pain and facial decorations ("I look like I fought Mike Tyson and lost"), the other tough part of this latest drama is that he won't be able to go to Sebring this weekend and be the grand marshal or be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday night.

"I feel bad about that but they've got me on a lot of medication and I don't really feel up to traveling," said the American racing icon. "It's been a tough couple days and I need to rest."

Just another chapter of great escapes from what has to be one of the toughest men alive.
 
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Ya know, it's a questionable idea to have a publicity photo with more pace cars than the actual race field. I make that to be about 16 or 17 rows.
 
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Charlie Spencer said:
Ya know, it's a questionable idea to have a publicity photo with more pace cars than the actual race field. I make that to be about 16 or 17 rows.
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Might be 102 for the 102nd.

You know, I could always offer to take one or two off of their hands.
 
FLRacingFan said:
SiriusXM CEO...
Meyer joins Shank as MSR team co-owner
http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/148478-meyer-joins-shank-as-msr-team-co-owner

ISM Raceway president hopes IndyCar returns 'for a long, long time'
http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/1...nt-hopes-to-keep-indycar-for-a-long-long-time

Corporate demand - good. Common fans - still a work in progress, as evidenced on Saturday night.
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Huge for Shank though, I think we will see a full-time entry with that needed injection of sponsorship. Very cool to see how this field builds over the next couple of years.

Its not going to be an overnight success, but its going to build into something powerful for the States in terms of where we are with open-wheel racing.
 


Robin Miller is usually a cranky contrarian, and I didn't even notice what the crowd looked like on TV. Even if he's exaggerating and attendance was twice that, I don't get it. Ratings were poor. Not only did Supercross do significantly better directly opposite it on FS1, F1 qualifying got more viewers on ESPN2. My first choice on Saturday night was also Supercross, but I consider that to be a quirky niche thing. It is hard for me to reckon with it actually being more popular than an Indycar race.

I think the current IndyCar oval product is pretty good. I don't agree with Miller's characterization of Saturday's race as ho-hum, but that doesn't matter. People tune in or don't tune in based on perceptions from the past. They aren't waiting on pins and needles to hear through their social network whether tonight's race is good and then make a decision.

Nevertheless, Miller's thesis is that IndyCar on ovals is doomed to fail and makes no financial sense, and he's pointing toward these indicators to make the point. Is there a good argument against this? Because I like the mix they try to maintain, and would prefer that ovals be at least a third of the schedule.
 
I hinted on the other thread when it was mentioned that they might not come back unless it is economically feasible..In other words IndyCar is looking for a better deal. Robin miller playing the Oval card is more fuel to the fire. ISC doesn't want to loose IndyCar on ovals either. So the threats might get something done price wise
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There are options, add a short track car to the stable if ISC doesn't want to play and run them at short tracks around the country iin addition to the street, road, and Indy circuits if nothing else.
 
I think Phoenix will stay on the calendar for at least one more year, and that is probably the oval in the worst shape for IndyCar. Iowa and Texas are mainstays. Gateway had an incredible crowd last year. Pocono has slowly seen some gains for their event. If they can't make Phoenix work, they still have five events on relatively solid footing. And can try to get back to some other ISC track, or even Las Vegas or Kentucky.

People didn't really show up at Watkins Glen but that didn't mean they weren't appearing at Mid-Ohio, Barber, Road America. Hopefully they show up at Portland this summer.
 
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