'07-'08 Off-Season IRL Q & A Thread.....................

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With the 2007 season now in the books, it's time to focus on the off-season, silly season and other musings that come up in the off-season........

~~Say it ain't so; is Dario Franchitti really headed to NASCAR in 2008 for the Chipster?
--As hard it is sounds, that's very likely what will happen...... I have it on sound authority from several series sources that prior to Sonoma, Dario was 50-50 on staying w/AGR but after getting thrown under the bus by Mikey & Co., Dario decided to bail at season's end.....throwing salt on those wounds would be driving in Nextel Cup for AGR's "sworn enemy", Target/Ganassi Racing. Here's how I see this scenario unfolding.......(1)TGR signs Franchitti to drive a partial Cup schedule for 2008, allowing him to defend his Indy 500 win(similiar to when Dan Wheldon bailed from AGR and defended his 2005 500 win for the Chipster), (2)he'll likely run the Scotsman in a few IRL races(Indy and the road/street courses) and (3)he'll likely use him in a couple of Grand-Am races(the Rolex 24, the Sahlen's 6 hrs. at the Glen, the Sunchaser 1000, etc.)....All I know is that if he leaves it can't help the IRL any; if he and Hornish both bolt for NASCAR, that will leave a visible wound on the IndyCar Series(since you're then talking about the past 2 500 winners)


~~With the 2008 IRL schedule looking to be 17 races, where will that 17th event likely be?
--Assuming that it's likely on the West Coast, there are four possibilities, each with an advantage but each has problems.......
(1)Long Beach........established venue w/a long open-wheel history, but it's owned by Kalkhoven and Co.
(2)Portland.............good venue, but attendance has sagged and promotion was nonexistent this year
(3)Chavez Ravine(LA area)..........trackmaps that I've seen say its' a decent place, but if it's held in April it will conflict w/Long Beach
(4)San Diego...........Trans Am ran on a street circuit near the Gas Light district for several years, so that's a possibility


~~If ChampCar were to fold, would the IRL look at any of their venues for possible additions?
--Short answer......in a New York minute! Long answer.....depends on the venue:
=Long Beach.......its' the Indy of street circuits, but KK and Co. own the rights to the event, so it's entirely possible that it ChampCar folds, this race folds.......
=Toronto.............good event, but considering that most Canadian open-wheel fans aren't big IRL fans, it's doubtful, but then again, no one thought the IRL could successfully run road/street events........
=Surfers' Paradise.........this event I could actually see on the IRL calendar, but there are 1 problem that springs to mind.....where to put it on the calender[ideally it would be paired w/Motegi, but to do so, either Motegi would have to move to the fall or Surfers would have to move to the spring]
=Cleveland...........great event, but would the IRL put another airport circuit on their calender?

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.......ya' know, there should a sci-fi thread on the forums here......

Anyway.........................time to open up the ole' notebook!!!

(1)Mutoh to AGR? In the years that Honda has been involved in NA open-wheel racing, they've tried....and tried.....and tried.....to get a Japanese driver into a top-shelf ride. From Naoki Hattori to Shinji Nakano to Roger Yasukawa to Kosuke Matsuura, they've tried.....and fallen on their --- in the process. Now reports are that Honda Performance Development(HPD) is in talks with Andretti-Green Racing to possibly move Mutoh, who looks all but set to race at Aguri-Panther Racing, over to AGR. Although the only criticism towards Mutoh IMO is lack of chassis saavy and experience, both Aguri Suzuki(Mutoh's mentor and co-owner of Aguri-Panther Racing) and HPD would benefit in that it would finally get a Japanese-born driver into a top-end ride.....all I know is that Mutoh's a born gasser on-track and the kid deserves a good ride for 2008

(2)New series sponsor? According to Speed's Robin Miller, there's supposed to be a major announcement from the Brickyard on Oct. 31st concerning a new, incoming sponsor; rumor has it that Anheiser-Busch is the company involved and that former open-wheel sponsor Budweiser will return to the open-wheel world as either an event sponsor or maybe even as a series sponsor(anyone up for the Budweiser IndyCar Series...... )

(3)IndyCars in Dixie land? Possibly; from the "what the h---" category....... Most times, when there's an IndyCar test, it's a safe bet that you can count on both hands the number of paying spectators.....well, at their recent test down in the heart of Dixie, at Barber Motorsports Park, over 1500 people paid $15 dollars to watch seven ICS drivers test there........think about that during the off-season.

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...........now that I think of it, did all those sci-fi books arrive for the VIP Tower Library?


Anyway............here are some silly season Q & A musings...........

1} RLR vs. Sharp............Rahal-Letterman Racing, in a Wednesday press release, announced their intent to file suit against both driver Scott Sharp and sponsor Patron Tequila for "breach of contract". After making the obligatory phone calls and e-mails, it appears that Sharp is attempting to find on "out clause" in his multi-year contract w/RLR and the team is attempting to block it. According to the press release........

The suit alleges, among other things, a breach by (Mr.) Sharp of a multi-year contract with Rahal-Letterman Racing. The terms of the contract call for Sharp and (sponsor) Patron Spirits to participate in the IndyCar Series with Rahal-Letterman Racing through 2008. Rahal Letterman Racing's suit seeks damages for, among other things, Sharp's breach of contract and Patron's interference with contractual relations as well as injunctive relief. Additionally, RLR will file an emergency motion for a motion for a preliminary injunction against Scott Sharp forthwith.

Here's what IMO appears to be the story concerning the above.......
---over the summer, rumors floated around the paddock that Sharp was looking at competing in the ALMS w/Patron backing; those rumors fell by the wayside by season's end
---by that time, Sharp was telling everyone in the paddock that he looked forward to competing in the IndyCar Series for RLR in 2008 w/Patron sponsorship

Now, essentially what Sharp did going into the 2007 season was that, after leaving Aguri-Fernandez Racing, he began searching for sponsorships to help him in 2007 and found one in Patron Spirits, which he took to RLR for this year; as most sponsorship deals of this kind go, Patron pays Sharp, who then gives those monies to RLR(in essence, renting one of the two teams RLR fields; RLR, in return, is obligated to provide engineering and tech support.....)

It is interesting to note that, soon after the season ended, RLR released engineers Ray Leto and Jeff Brittan, along with over a dozen other engineers and mechanics(Leto was Sharp's race engineer in 2007; Brittan was the race engineer for Jeff Simmons and Ryan Hunter-Reay this year)......whether this played a role in the above is unclear; what is clear is that Sharp is trying to void his contract and RLR is trying to hold him to his contract..............


2} New sponsor announcements..........officials with the IRL's Commercial Operations office confirmed that at least 2 new sponsors will be announced within the next 5-6 weeks; one will be announced prior to New Year's and the second soon afterwards(the first is said to be a "major mainstream company".......)

3} Those rumors circulating around the IndyCar paddock that DRR driver Sarah Fisher is looking to form her own team for 2008 can be notched up a bit; she recently hired former DRR public relations specialist Klint Briney to run sales and communcations for Fisher Racing; according to all reports, she has also snagged a couple of good engineers for 2008, so the odds she becomes a driver-owner for 2008 have gone up some.......