How To Make IndyCar A Great Racing Series Again

"Tim (Fractal Footwork)" (fractalfootwork) 03/23/2014 at 10:00 • Filed to: IndyCar, OppositeLock

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IndyCar is boring; there, I said it. The oval-hazed pseudo Formula 1 racing series' lack of chassis originality between teams, limited North American scope, and lack of relevance towards absolutely anyone does not help it overcome the I'm-an-open-wheel-version-of-NASCAR stigma, but instead of complaining, let's fix it.

The reason I love Formula 1 so much is that !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , even when they are physically stagnant! Engineers and aerodynamicists always compete with each other in the background to improve their chassis. Adding this spice to IndyCar could potentially make the American racing series something consumable, something to watch and talk about when the cars aren't on track.

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Shaking up the IndyCar structure during F1's make-or-break turbo V6 era should scare Bernie and his CVC Capital cronies out of hiding. F1 doesn't have much to compete with on the global scale; some may say NASCAR, but I don't think fans cross over as much as they think.

These new IndyCar regulations would also give F1 teams leverage over the FIA, a reason to leave if things aren't going their way, and F1 drivers a place to drive without having to show a boatload of cash or having to circumnavigate Kevin Spacey (Yes, House of Cards reference...).

Here are some rules I dreamt up (completely up for discussion):

1. Standard Chassis

A serious advantage of IndyCar is that the cars are all competitive. I don't want to completely take this away and make a bad F1 lookalike.

Let's start by getting a new chassis because the current ones look terrible. The old one (just above) is relatively good-looking, at least enough for this thought experiment.

2. Road Car Based Engines & Fuel Limit

Road Relevance; this is the thing that makes automotive companies interested in racing. These new engine regulations should help (1) test their equipment in the high-stress environment of a racing series and (2) promote their brand, not just with fake-tattoo-racing-stickers, but by proving the technology of their equipment (that you can actually buy!) in a winning racecar.

Engine Eligibility : 25k Engines (or More) Sold Each Year Worldwide.

Hopefully this regulation will keep us from (1) hearing the same noise from each car and endlessly complaining about it, (2) stop highly powerful niche engines running away from the field, and (3) give manufacturers a reason to support a racing series.

Engines with a turbo, supercharger, hybrid system, or normal aspiration must continue to support and race with similar systems. This rule is interesting...

130kg Fuel Limit

The fuel limit is not exactly what you may think of after watching the 2014 season of F1. Because of the multitude of possible engines, this limit is again meant to stop a team running away from the field with a highly powerful niche engine while also promoting turbo and hybrid/ERS use in certain instances.

obviously the specific amount depends on the race distance; 130 kg was just an example.

Specific Tuning

Tuning will be allowed, but I am not sure about the specifics.

No barriers on rev limit, Whoo! Let's bask in the glory. Although, the road-based engines should hold this somewhat within contention.

Another advantage of the engine: manufacturers may slightly consider how building an engine would affect their IndyCar efforts.

3. Free-Design Areas

The aerodynamicists part in this new IndyCar would come about at the front and rear of the car and at the engine cover, while the chassis and main bodywork elements would remain standard.

Front & Rear Wing Sections (Yellow)

Picture a rectangular box where the front wing and rear wing are; this is the free-design area.

Anything is allowed. Specific dimensions are up for discussion.

Engine Cover Section (Orange)

A single sheet of carbon that does not deviate more than 90 degrees within 12 inches (except across the centerline), and does not deviate more than 180 degrees within the entire engine cover.

The engine cover will exist from the airbox inlet to the rear diffuser, but not including the majority of the sidepods. The only holes that will be allowed are inlets and outlets with a specific cooling purpose.

4. No More Ovals

Because I said so... Okay let's have a vote.

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I would approve of the ovals that incorporate real corners, like the Daytona 24 hour and Indianapolis F1 tracks, because I do understand the appeal of being able to watch the cars 90% of their way around (more apparent at Daytona).

5. Geographic Expansion / 25 Race Season

I do understand that IndyCar races outside of North America to a degree (or do they?), but with these new rules and F1's political game, IndyCar has the ability to become much more global than it currently is.

Track Selection is Key!

Basically, I'd like to see these cars race at tracks like Monza, Spa, Interlagos, Silverstone, Bathurst, Laguna Seca, CotA, [Insert Any Other Suggestions Here], and stop racing on bad street courses.

The 25 race season is an attempt to better attract people to thinking about the championship and promote the importance of each race.

6. Constructors Championship / Better Sponsors

While I do completely understand that you can't just tell somebody to be a sponsor, I do think that some of these rules (engines, constructors championship, aero design) will open the market back up to automotive manufacturers though their road relevance appeal.

...and that should fix IndyCar. Suggestions?

hike > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 10:16

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Indy has actually raced outside America, they used to race at Motegi in Japan. I think they should run a race or two in South America, maybe one at Interlagos. I also think they technically do run a constructor championship, but it is just for the engines suppliers. I agree with most of your ideas, but I can't see most of it being implemented anytime soon. Also, I'm sure the higher development costs with your first point would drive a few teams away. And there will always be at least one "oval" in Indy car, the only good one, the Indy 500.

Z_Stig > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 10:25

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The racing in Indycar has been pretty good the last few years so I don't think it needs fixing. It's amazing how it soldiers on in spite of the stupid management.

That being said....

1) Pretty good idea as the current chassis is quite ugly. I know it was designed primarily from a safety standpoint, but I still see cars riding up each other's tires.

2) Some good points on engines here; I really think they should open up the rulebook a bit and maybe we can get some more engine manufactures. Ford Ecoboost anyone?

3) Definitely needs to be done so the cars don't look like a grid full of spec-racers.

4) That's a terrible idea IMO. Ovals are what makes Indy Car, Indy Car. But a few less ovals each season wouldn't hurt. However, Indy's road course absolutely sucks.

5) You are spot on with the assessment of the stupid street courses filling up the non-oval races on the schedule. Laguna Seca needs to be raced, and they may as well add COTA. I don't know the answer to this, but why did they stop racing internationally? Currently, I think the race in Sao Paulo, Brazil is the only non-North American race. They used to race at Lausitz and obviously Japan, but what happened?

6) There can't be a constructor's championship unless they go back to multiple chassis manufactures, which would be awesome.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 10:33

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I really like the idea of having a spec-chassis open-wheeled championship with road-car-derived engines powering them.

You could have several different classes for displacement (or multiplied displacement for forced induction engines).

Ideally, you'd make really beautiful cars with completely exposed engines at the rear.

If you can't make the chassis' a proper point of competition, make it all about the engines. No real cap on horsepower. Maybe just a cap on fuel weight per race to promote fuel efficiency.

Aaron James > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 10:43

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The indy 500 is by far the most watched race that IndyCar has. Take away Oval tracks and that would surely be the final nail in the IndyCar coffin. One of the simplest and cheapest ways to increase viewership is to not schedule IndyCar races for the same time a NASCAR race is going on.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 11:52

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You have to keep the Indy 500, but by making engines different, it could once again be come the endurance race that it used to be.

Corvettefan > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 12:13

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The thing that makes IndyCar unique to any other open-wheel racing series is that they race on ovals. Why take away their must unique aspect?

stephenmcknight2011@hotmail.co.uk > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 12:19

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how about having 3 tire manfactuers going head to head. if you win you get an extra set of tires for each race. also an qualfying shootout for the grid, would be good as you can give out points for the top ten.

two free praticse session to set up the car and only race on a sunday.

66ChevelleSS > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 12:22

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Nice post. I would love to see Indycar racing return to its former glory.

There's been a lot of focus over the years on evening out the field. Going to spec cars and spec engines has definitely tightened things up and reduced costs, but I'm not sure it's really improved the sport. At its, Indycar racing has had much greater car to car variation than it does today. People have pointed to the success of Nascar as evidence that parity is necessary for success, but I'm not sure I buy it.

I think there's an element of the open wheel racing fan base that's in interested in tech in a way that doesn't get satisfied by Nascar (even though the work they do on they're cars is very technical, it is so tightly constrained as to be nearly invisible). I think a good Indy rule book is one that allows team technicians and fans to get their geek on in some sort of material way. US open wheel can't support the incredible spend-fest that is F1, but there needs to be some sort of middle ground between that and Nascar uniformity. The tech side gets lost when the difference between the front of the field and the back of the field comes down to some invisible tuning parameter.

Formula 1, obviously has huge gaps between the front and the back of the grid and does pretty well in terms of popularity. They seem to partly work around 1 or 2 team dominance by shaking up the rules etch-a-sketch every couple of years and inevitably catching some big teams off guard. It's ok if one team gets to run away from the pack for a while, as long as you change things up periodically. How fun was it watching sponsor-less Brawn lap the field a few years back in F1? I loved it.

As for the ovals, I'm not sure about getting rid of them. I hate watching the cars race side by side on those tracks, knowing how wrong it can go. It definitely seems to be dear to the hearts of a lot of American race fans and it's an easy way to get a lot of fans into a race track, so I can see why the organizers hold so tightly to oval races. However, it may be standing in the way of having a truly great American race series — forcing the drivers and the cars into a diluted, middle of the road position that is harder for devoted fans to get behind.

hoosiergunner > Z_Stig 03/23/2014 at 12:23

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There isn't a Brazil race this year, though there is the possibility of it returning in 2015. I'm a firm believer in an 18-20 race schedule with 6-7 each of Ovals, street circuits and true road courses. Don't personally really miss Eurospeedway or Motegi, but re-adding Motegi wouldn't be the worst.

Schedule should be:

Ovals - Indianapolis, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Texas, Pocono, Richmond, Michigan

Street - Long Beach, Toronto, Detroit, Surfer's Paradise, Cleveland, Houston/Baltimore

Road - Road America, COTA, Portland, Laguna Seca, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Fuji/Suzuka, and Interlagos.

Another good idea might be to visit the tracks F1 abandons.

Steve in Manhattan > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 12:24

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All of this makes sense.

Humberto Saabedra > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 12:37

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All of these concerns have already been addressed or are already being addressed by IndyCar in some form, you're just not following developments closely enough. My suggestion is to start reading RACER online and follow Marshall Pruett's Jalopnik cross-posts:

IndyCar Considering Return To Brazil for 2015

IndyCar Abolishes 10-Spot Grid Penalty For Engine Changes

IndyCar Wants Speed Record Beaten

Cosworth Seeking Manufacturer Partnership for IndyCar Engine

IndyCar Open to LeMans-Style Experimental "Garage 34" Spot

IndyCar Sets Long-Range Competition Strategy

dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 12:38

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I think the key is to cap spending. $10M per season and no more. Other than that the only rules are safety regs, fuel limit (teams need to design for fuel consumption), and making the fastest car they can for the wide variety of courses (oval, street and course).
I really like the street engine basis, but you would have to let the builders make their own chassis in that case to account for the different weight and packaging of different engine types.

KatzManDu > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 12:43

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Indy is going to have a road course at IMS this year the day before the "real" race. There are some road courses in the series. Also, it looks like they are going back to South America with a race in Brazil coming up.

There have also been a lot of management changes in the past 3-4 years, and the Hulman family has bilked the Indiana Legislature out of $100M to put into the track.

The real "death" of IndyCar happened when they pulled out of USAC; Indy used to be the true capstone league for those who successfully grew-up through midgets, sprint cars, etc.

Scrape > hoosiergunner 03/23/2014 at 12:49

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Add Watkins Glen to the road section. Again.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 12:54

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I'm sorry but to suggest they stop racing on the indy oval and just use the F1 track is blasphemous at the highest level. You want to attract fans not push them away. Ovals are part of Indycar just as much as they are part of Nascar and they do add a different element to it.

I do agree with racing more outside of the USA though. But I think with the money problems Indycar has been having lately was the reason they stopped racing overseas.

tromoly > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 12:55

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I do not agree with removing ovals for the simple fact that it would remove the one biggest thing that's unique to IndyCar and has been since it began 50-ish years ago. Running purely on road courses makes it just another AutoGP, Formula 3000, Formula Nippon, etc. series, which would greatly diminish its appeal and cause drivers to go for the more "lucrative" series' out there.

I would agree to run more diverse oval tracks instead of the same style track every weekend, looking back at Langhorne the perfect circle, Trenton the kidney bean, and Hanford the 1.4-mile high-banked triangle, every track was different. Sadly none of those three tracks exist anymore, but adding a similar variety would be fantastic.

hoosiergunner > Scrape 03/23/2014 at 13:02

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Agreed. Knew I'd miss something.

NoahthePorscheGuy > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:03

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New chassis looks terrible, but it is safe, which is the point.

For Sweden > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:04

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I stopped reading at the suggestion of removing ovals from the calendar, and am now seriously considering burning down the internet so no one else is subjected to this nonsense.

NoahthePorscheGuy > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:05

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This is such a horrible picture. What year is this from?

Scrape > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:05

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They should maybe cut down on the ovals, and they greatly need to improve the road courses from the POS tracks like Detroit and Baltimore. The Baltimore track expectedly fell apart after just one season. The road courses are pretty much just wreck-fests where very little actual racing takes place...just parade laps under a constant caution flag. They need to return to The Glen, as well.

But the biggest problem are the cars. They chose the Dallara Chassis because it had the most clear advertising space and it was cheap. The only problems is that they are not very good, and not suited properly to race on both ovals and street courses. They need a variety of chassis and engine suppliers (not just Chevrolet and Honda), and I do agree with your suggestion that they be based on an engine we call could buy. That would get more engine manufacturers involved and raise sponsorship money. If they are going to keep with a one chassis supplier model, then they should finally insist on allowing teams to modify the base chassis with suspension upgrades and bespoke aero packages to at least get SOME differentiation and progress in the cars.

NoahthePorscheGuy > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:07

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Great article! Well thought out. Lets be honest though, you just want more championships that you can write your technical series on :P

Tim (Fractal Footwork) > NoahthePorscheGuy 03/23/2014 at 13:10

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DoctorDick > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:11

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I agree with everything but taking away ovals. Yes, ovals are boring but the oval races are probably the biggest races of the year for Indy in terms of viewers and tickets sold.

I realy want to like Indy, since its supposed to be F1 for America. I just can't get past how slow Indy is compared to F1. The sport needs to change and fast while they still can. Its no secret that F1 is gaining traction State-side. If F1 reaches Nascar levels of popularity Indy is doomed.

Scrape > hoosiergunner 03/23/2014 at 13:13

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I would also scratch Baltimore off the road course. That track is absolutely horrid (I know, I drive it on occasion) because it wasn't really built properly, and it certainly does not really meet any kind of spec. Trust me, you would not want to drive most of it in a regular street car, let alone something with a stiff suspension.

Jonny683 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:16

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By taking away Ovals, you're letting the terrorist win.

Ad_absurdum_per_aspera > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:16

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I don't know about the "road relevance" thing. Prewar Indy had various efforts to do that, but the race also had postwar eras of glory — roadster and mid/rear engine — that were pretty detached from anything you'd drive on the street. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that it's a huge gamble.

I'm certainly for more technical diversity within a studiedly broad formula when it comes to both chassis and engines. One possibility I'll throw out there: Require stock blocks (500 — well, sure! — homologated, by which I mean the basic design in that displacement and with that induction must be sold as factory options in cars registered for the street in the US) , limit the total amount of fuel for each car during the race as well as onboard, and let 'em run what they brung within those limits. Choose too much engine and run out of gas, too little and fail to keep up the pace, or blow up (yes! yes! to whoever said this must be, even if necessarily in relatively brief form, endurance racing)...better luck next year.

Road as well as oval circuits would be good, I think. You don't want to turn it into a pale imitation of F1, but a touch of Can-Am nostalgia might not be such a bad thing...

Just wear your damn mask... > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:16

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You know, you could have at least used pictures of the current cars if you're going to make such an argument.

Jonny683 > NoahthePorscheGuy 03/23/2014 at 13:20

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2011. Thats the wreck that killed Dan Wheldon.

Matt > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:22

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Other than removing ovals, which is blasphemous, most of these are great suggestions. I'm sure Indycar management would agree. However, money is the big reason most of these can't happen. I would love to see all permanent road courses and get rid of most of the street races, but right now those get the biggest attendance. Everyone wants to race at Road America and Watkings Glen, but promoters can't make any money at those events.

There has been a lot of talk recently about expanding the calendar to non-championship events outside of North America, with Monza being thrown around a lot. It looks like we might be at COTA in a few years. F1 is the biggest obstacle to some of those - in the past, being the exclusive open wheel series at a track has been written into the contract.

Obviously more engine manufacturers would be great, but that won't come unless more people start attending races and watching on TV. The racing has been awesome lately, we just need to get the word out - invite your friends to a race or to a watch party.

Tim (Fractal Footwork) > Just wear your damn mask... 03/23/2014 at 13:23

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I didn't want to release that eyesore to the Jalopnik readers

Vitor Souza > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:24

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Text horrible nonsense, sincerely ..

described the regulation of boring F1 to Indy, it is not so and will not be reading your text .. I was under the impression that you never even watched the races with the new (ugly in YOUR opinion) car.

no oval? without 500 miles? you drank too expensive, check out the house or see again bland races where the first is always the same and almost put one lap in the second ..

change the engine regulation? different from F1, indy does not have that freshness consumption and maximum flow ridiculous, spare me , race car engines have to be racing engines, fuc* electricity in motors ..

constructor championship in a category where a team is 4 and the other 1? here I laughed a lot, as well as part of "no more ovals"

Forgive the spelling is wrong, translated text online

For Sweden > tromoly 03/23/2014 at 13:24

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The ovals on the 2014 Indycar calendar are:

Indianapolis Motor Speedway: 2.5 mile rectangular oval

Texas Motor Speedway: 1.5 mile oval

Pocono Raceway: 2.5 mile triangle

Iowa Speedway: .875 mile short track

Milwaukee Mile: 1 mile oval

Auto Club Speedway: 2.0 mile super speedway oval

This isn't diverse enough for you?

dylema > NoahthePorscheGuy 03/23/2014 at 13:25

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As Jonny said fairly sure that's 2011 Las Vegas

For Sweden > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:29

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Also, your picture accompanying section 4 is well known as the crash that killed Dan Weldon. Oppositelock has a rule about posting images of fatal accidents that have no immediate news value, so I have removed the picture.

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Tim (Fractal Footwork) > For Sweden 03/23/2014 at 13:32

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Oh, I apologize, and thank you for doing so.

jip3000 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:34

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Multiple manufacturer aero kits coming in 2015.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph…

Modern American open wheel racing would not exist without Indianapolis and the influence of USAC sprint car racing in the 60s, 70s, 80s, et al. Oval racing in the States was legitimized in Indy, not Daytona. The left turns must remain.

Dragonesis > For Sweden 03/23/2014 at 13:44

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Do it! Burn it down!

Christopher Tarhan > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:44

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Indycar is not Formula 1. All the development in Formula 1 has mad the sport so expensive they have had to restructure the regulations 100 times over. Everything you have suggested is to make Indycar more like F1. Sounds like you aren't a racing fan. I like Formula 1 too but the racing isn't anywhere near as entertaining as Indycar. You aren't watching the races are you? In Indycar's case they don't need anymore restrictions. If anything they should increase the HP and as soon as the wing kits come you'll get a very exciting very competitive racing series. Also the no ovals debate tells me you've never been to the Indy 500. Im not a NASCAR fan but I do attend the Long Beach Grand Prix and the Indy 500 every year. I grew up on road racing but Indycar's on an oval are pretty spectacular and much more impressive then NASCAR. Attend the Indy 500 first before you make these suggestions.

TraumaJunkie > tromoly 03/23/2014 at 13:44

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Yes, they lost Hanford, but they gained Pocono which is a true legitimate contender in the high angle triangle category. Plus Pocono is a damn interesting track, but I may be biased since I live near there and work Track EMS for the Indy and NASCAR races.

Loping Camshaft > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:47

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I disagree with A LOT of this post. Most of these changes would take away what makes IndyCar different.

IndyCar is not boring, it actually often has better racing than F1 and NASCAR. F1 right now is an exciting wildcard since everybody is scrambling to get their cars dialed in, so we don't know yet how things will shake out. But most of the actual racing the last few years has been an abysmal Vettel-fest. A series where the same driver wins 4 (or 5) championships in a row, is broken. By the way, TUSC already does many of the things on the list.

1. New chassis come out every few years, just like any series, these are a few years old now.

2. While having road car-based engines sounds good, it's totally unrealistic. The best they could do would be to have engines with a similar displacement. The engines are nowhere near suitable for road use.

3. I don't have a big problem with this, but just like F1, they have to be willing to do a rewrite of the rules mid-season if they find something that skirts the rules, which is a bad policy.

4. I get the oval hate, but you do realize the Indy 500 is an oval and is one of the biggest races in the world? Some variety is OK; people complain about the boring, contrived, repetitive Tilke-designed tracks in F1.

5. This is an American series, so I doubt there would be any big European leg of the season. Plus it look like they were copying F1. It would be cost prohibitive, but it would be cool to get a race in Japan, South America or Europe. There are several tracks in the US that should be on the list, namely Laguna and Road America. Some of the TUSC tracks would be good (at least the ones with a good market and infrastructure).

6. Sponsors will come when the money (fans) come. I think they are at a weird size now where big sponsors usually aren't tripping over themselves to get in, but it's still too expensive for smaller sponsors (they'll go to TUSC).

Masterify > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 13:48

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If you really want to attract the big companies, leave the engine specs totally open and only cap energy consumption or similar. That kind of rule has made the LeMans P1 the most competed at the moment.

Also, less aerodynamics and wider wheels if they want to stand out!

tromoly > For Sweden 03/23/2014 at 13:55

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I didn't say it isn't diverse, this is probably the best arrangement they can get with the track available at the moment. My comment stated that diversity has been had in the past with great success, and that's how the schedule needs to be.

SaiDas > Z_Stig 03/23/2014 at 14:10

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Sorry, but oval track racing is boring for the most part regardless of the series type. I don't care for most street courses either. Dedicated courses like COTA, Laguna Seca, Road America, etc. ...now you're talkin'!

SaiDas > Loping Camshaft 03/23/2014 at 14:13

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"Indy 500 is an oval and is one of the biggest races in the world" - A lot of that is tradition and hype don't you think? I kinda feel that way about Monaco too.

Somethingwittyer likes noisy > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 14:16

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Removing ovals takes away Indycar's identity. Superspeedways are usually the ovals that are boring. The real problem are the street circuits. Most are garbage. Anyway I wouldn't mind Indy running production engines, LT1 vs hr28tt vs Ecoboost V6 (if Ford ever comes back) sounds rad as hell. Anyway everything else you list above can only happen if a TON of more money comes, which considering the state of the series isn't likely. However given that manufacture aero kits are coming in 2015, the series is making some progress. Plus it's not like the racing is bad (far from it).

NoahthePorscheGuy > Jonny683 03/23/2014 at 14:18

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that i figured. happy it got removed.

tifosi3317 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 14:20

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No to all. If you find it boring, don't watch. There, I said it....:)

(One exception, change the cars. The new ones and the old ones are hideous)

Somethingwittyer likes noisy > For Sweden 03/23/2014 at 14:23

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Milwaukee is the shit.

emilminty drives an E30 but the '89 Cavalier blew a head gasket > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 14:23

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Needs more penis?

Sdwalt1 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 14:34

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A few good points, but most of this is not practical and will never happen. The racing is damn good and the series main problem is lack of marketing which hopefully Verizon will be able to help with.

Loping Camshaft > SaiDas 03/23/2014 at 14:36

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Sure. But at Monaco, you're likely to see about 5 passes total, last year there was a record 84 lead changes at Indy. I don't mind the historical aspect to races, the Le Mans 24h lost a bit of its magic when they put in the chicanes; one of its biggest appeals was the sustained high speeds on the straights. The Daytona 500 is in the same category too; not much different than most races, but hyped to hell (it is the start of the season, which counts for something). Also, I was talking more about worldwide interest and attendance and what has to be IndyCar's most profitable race. They all fall into the category of "races that people who don't follow racing watch because of the history and hype", so that has its place.

Fred Smith > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 14:38

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THOUGHTS ON YOUR POINTS:

1. The current chassis is ugly but, unlike the 2003-2011 car you want, it's both safe and produces good racing on all tracks. Great men died in the IR03/IR05/IR07 and you want to bring it back because you consider it, equally hideous in my opinion, to be marginally more attractive than the superior-in-absolutely-every-real-way DW12?

2. The current engines are more production relevant than GTE/GTLM engines. They don't need to be any more constricted in the name of some meaningless production relevance. That's needless expense for no real purpose.

3. Aero kits are already happening in 2015 and they cover far more of the car than that.

4. No. The amount of "No" here cannot even be kind of described. If you don't "get" oval racing, IndyCar is not for you. I could go on for months about this but I'm going to be polite, assume that was a half-joke and not waste your time.

5. Why? Not every series has to be global. They've been trying this for two decades now and the question remains, quite simply, "Why?". There's no reason to expand to new markets when you don't have your own down yet.

6. What does "Better sponsors" even mean? Title sponsor Verizon backs two cars, Target backs two cars, DHL backs a car and HP backs a car. Are those not "Good" sponsors?

Have you ever, even once, seen an IndyCar race? Like, have you watched an IndyCar race around a racing track for more than one lap? I ask because all six of these suggestions imply that you never have. The first requests the return of something universally hated, something that overstayed it's welcome by about five years. The second requests further changes to something already changed for production relevance far too much. The third requests something that's been announced as happening since 2011. The fourth requests removing, essentially, that which IS IndyCar. The fifth requests something that has been happening, and failing, since the early 90s. The sixth asks for a tangential improvement in something not even defined.

If you want to fix IndyCar, clean out the entire front office, get someone to buy the Speedway from the Hulman-Georges and force ABC to deliver a better broadcast. Oh, and go ahead and cancel that Indianapolis GP monstrosity while you're at it.

SaiDas > Loping Camshaft 03/23/2014 at 14:42

1

I agree with you all the way. And that is the main reason I don't care that much for Monaco. It's fun to watch except for the lack of passing.

Hawkstrike6 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 14:43

0

No qualifying; inverted grid starts.

Fred Smith > tromoly 03/23/2014 at 14:43

1

This isn't NASCAR. None of the six ovals they run are the same. Even the relatively similar Fontana and Texas have vastly different sizes, speeds, track surfaces, bankings and, by extent, styles of racing.

Iowa is a bigger, unsealed Richmond clone. Texas is a mid-90s NASCAR "Cookie cutter". Fontana is a Michigan clone with a rougher-than-rough surface. Pocono is a triangle with corners from Trenton, Milwaukee and Indianapolis. Milwaukee is the legendary flat concrete mile it's been since the AAA days. Indianapolis is, well, Indianapolis.

8695Beaters > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 14:47

1

Counterpoints:

1) The new Dallara is designed to be both stronger than the old Dallara, lighter, and also cheaper to run. With the old Dallaras, teams had relatively high freedom to make their own parts that were lighter, more aerodynamic, etc. than what Dallara provided. These included the suspension parts and lots of powertrain bits. The new Dallars have all of that regulated to keep costs down for teams (hence why teams other than Penske and Ganassi can win races). The old Dallara was last updated in 2005...how is a 10 year old car going to save ANY top tier racing series? Live with the DW12, the overall shape is great, it's the rear pods and wings that make it look weird. Also, form follows function...this is racing, not a beauty pageant.

2) Sadly, all IndyCars run the engines as fully stressed members, i.e. part of the chassis (this has been the case since the 1980s). Putting suspension loads through an engine that isn't designed for it ALWAYS ends in blown engines (just ask Honda's Indy teams circa 1994). You would have to design a completely new chassis to be able to make production engines work. Would it entice more OEMs to run? Probably, but the cost of yet another new chassis would kill off the teams that are needed to run them. Also, if you want to limit power, there are much better ways of doing it than fuel limits. Intake restrictors, displacement limits, etc. do a good job. Just don't be stupid like USAC and write in loopholes ALA the Mercedes juggernaut engine of 1994.

3) IndyCar proposed this two years ago when they introduced the new car. And every year OEMs and teams say they want to defer the costs for one more year. Aero kits will be coming in 2015, unless someone bends the Hulman family's arm again.

4) So you'd eliminate the Indy 500, the only race Indy Car has going for it, essentially killing the series (why do you think CART died after only a few years despite having better races and drivers?). Considering Indy Car puts on a better oval show than NASCAR, this is financial suicide. The fact that Indy Car is the only series that can put on a show at all types of tracks (sorry NASCAR, Watkins Glen and Sonoma are complete snooze fests...unless someone puts down a layer of oil on the track with 3 laps to go) is the only thing Indy Car has going for it. Lose the 500 and you also lose the backing of the Hulman Family, which by the way, also owns the series. Without the Indy 500, there is no Indy Car plain and simple.

5) The reason the series stays in the American peninsula is because the teams simply can't afford to travel that much. It all comes down to dollars and cents and in Indy Car there just isn't a lot to go around. Besides, without the fervent global following Formula 1 has, you're not going to get butts in the seats. If there is no Ferrari in Indy Car, do you think the tifosi are going to show up at Monza? Brazil and Canada work because there are enough Canadian and Brazillian drivers and sponsors to hook the fans.

6) None of your suggestions improve the marketability of IndyCar, which honestly is what it needs more than rule changes. The racing in the last two years has been great (what races are you watching??? There is tons of passing and super close finishes, more than any other pro series right now) and yet the TV ratings are in the toilet. The attendance at races has been slightly better than in previous years (thanks Randy Bernard!) but without TV ratings, sponsors don't care. Having Verizon as the new series sponsor should be the biggest step in remedying this situation. Verizon is very keen on improving Indy Car and with Roger Penske as their liason is about as much as Indy Car could ask for.

Indy Car needs two things: a big upswing in marketing (go ahead and pick on NASCAR's boring racing or F1 and IMSA's inability to sanction a race) and a CEO who can handle the team owners. The biggest reason Indy Car (starting with CART) shoots itself in the foot is the car owners get greedy and fight for a bigger piece of the pie. You need someone like Bill France or Bernie Eccelstone to put teams in their place and get everyone focused on the bigger picture. Randy Bernard had the leadership and marketing chops to improve Indy Car's exposure. Sadly he could not take on the team owners and they eventually got him fired. Indy Car already has a great show and the cars are interesting (if you think that any purpose built race car is boring, you need your head checked), but nobody is paying attention. Make it marketable and the sponsors will come. With sponsors teams will have money and the series can open up the rule book.

JCNM > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 14:47

0

IndyCar is boring? Did you not watch it last season? Formula 1 is boring (although I still watch every race.)

Loping Camshaft > SaiDas 03/23/2014 at 14:50

0

Yep. It's a fun spectacle, with all the yachts and celebs, but there are better races for sure. Part of the reason is that the cars (in all race series) are just so much faster than used to be (50 years ago); Monaco especially wasn't designed for cars that fast maneuver around each other and the cars can hit their top speeds much more quickly at Circuit de la Sarthe.

techinsanity2011 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 14:54

0

I have an idea, but it's kind of bizarre, you know how fighter jets have bubble top cannopies, right? well, ever since I was little, indy cars reminded me of fighter jets. What if you put a bubble top canopy over where the driver sits?

HookemLAW > Loping Camshaft 03/23/2014 at 15:12

0

A lead change on an oval is significantly less exciting than overtaking on road courses.

Tim (Fractal Footwork) > Fred Smith 03/23/2014 at 15:22

0

Please don't take this article as serious as everyone else is, I didn't mean it to be and have emphasized " though experiment " as much as I initially though necessary (turns out I needed a bit more). Why is everybody so angry on here?

1. To quote: "though experiment". I understand the safety improvements of the new ones, but I wanted to use something more attractive to describe #3 that was still and IndyCar (plus I already had that older chassis picture lined up to edit).

2. My reason for suggesting these type of engines is to bring automotive manufacturers back to racing (see #6).

3. I didn't know that. cool. How exactly are they being implemented? ...I'll google it. I do still like the idea of free-design areas.

4. Yes, this was a half-joke, as hinted by the vote. No, I don't get oval racing, but I understood that other people do, hence the vote.

5. As for the business decision of going global, you know better than I would. My reason for suggesting this is the amplitude of amazing tracks they could potentially race on.

However, you may be confusing a causation with a correlation: Is Indy car not global because it's doing poorly in America, or is IndyCar doing poorly in America because it's not global?

I don't have the answer.

6. To quote: "open the market back up to automotive manufacturers", this is what I mean by "better sponsors". Yes, that's a personal opinion.

Let me phrase that question differently: do you think you will enjoy this years Le Mans battle between Porsche, Toyota, and Audi over when it was just Audi and Peugeot, or just Audi and Toyota, or just Audi? I'm not suggesting that you will, but I will, so whatever. And no, I'm not saying that the racing will be better in particular, but I like to associate road cars and brands with racing.

Yes, I have watched a few IndyCar races in my day, but not for a while.

My concept of "IndyCar" is different than yours, and that's okay. We both demand different things from the sport, and that's okay. I do not have the power to change IndyCar, and that's okay.

Again, sorry if you took this too seriously.

Christopher Tarhan > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 15:34

1

Also I'd like to ask if you know anything about the state of Indycar back when it was as you put it "great". Have you ever heard of the PPG Indycar world series (80's-90s)? Look through the schedule's during that era. Thats when it was great! Your poll is also very arrogant as well. "Give me back my beer, what is this NASCAR?" I have a sense of humor too but those are cheap shots. You're making generalizations that are demeaning to the people who are fans of the sport. It angers me that you get to write stupid crap and put it up on the web like you know something.

Loping Camshaft > HookemLAW 03/23/2014 at 15:35

1

I see what you mean, but that's also partly because lead changes on road courses happen so infrequently. It's like a hockey game compared to a basketball game. On any oval race, it's a given there will be many lead changes. Variety is good is all I'm saying.

dataPOG > For Sweden 03/23/2014 at 16:06

0

I miss the Richmond race...

mynamesteve > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 16:06

0

Let me start with 1 and 3 first. 1, the spec chassis is fine. 3, this will be done in 2015 by both Honda and Chevrolet for the full season. In fact, the "free-design areas" you want will be more than what you specified. Not only will the wing sections and the engine cover be free, the sidepods will be, too. Basically the standard exterior areas unchanged are the tub, the floor and the rear wheel guards. That's more than enough of a visual change to negate having to switch to an all new car.

2. Let me take this one a bit further. Spec engines! Why? 1. You can't see it, 2. They all sound the same anyway, and 3. Reduced cost. Remember the Offenhauser? Almost every car in American open-wheel racing from the 1930s to the 1970s had an Offenhauser engine. In it's latter years, it produced in excess of 1100 horsepower. For the sake of cost reduction, I would like to see a spec engine in IndyCar.

4. No. I do not agree with this one at all. Oval tracks are a part of IndyCar's tradition. What I don't understand is why some race fans don't enjoy high-speed, side-by-side racing at 220 MPH. I love it.

5. I agree to some extent. My favorite American open-wheel schedule was the 2001 CART season: 12 road/street courses and 9 ovals in 7 countries, including Australia, Germany and the UK. IndyCar is first and foremost a North American series and should remain so. I do like occasional races outside of North America, but I don't agree that IndyCar needs to expand to F1 circuits filling half the schedule. You already said in point 1 that you don't want to "make a bad F1 lookalike." It sounds to me like that's exactly what you want.

However, I do like the idea of a 25 venue season. And notice that I said "venue" rather than "races" because I don't count double-headers as seperate races (that's like watching the same race twice). Please, let's be realistic and focus on getting Road America, Laguna Seca and Cleveland back on the schedule before we focus outside of North America.

6. There already is a team's and engine manufacturer's championship. And better sponsors? Well, Verizon I guess. Sponsorship is still a work in progress. Has been for at least the last 10-12 years.

In a perfect world, I'd love to see multiple chassis, high-dollar sponsors, a 25 venue schedule and a 26-28 car lineup each week, but of course we don't. I know many aren't patient and want changes now — and I do, too — but we must remember that every change costs money. This is the real world, folks! Let's just be patient instead of complaining about everything wrong with racing today. Yes, the current Dallara looks like crap, but aerokits are (finally) coming in 2015. We may even see Cosworth return as an engine manufacturer. If change is too slow to come by in IndyCar, then maybe you're wasting your energy on the wrong racing series. I'm willing to be patient because I'm already enjoying the competition in IndyCar today.

Kate's Dirty Sister > For Sweden 03/23/2014 at 16:07

0

Nazareth was cool

CoachDave > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 16:32

0

This article is so stupid it barely rates a reply.

dataPOG > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 16:35

0

This just sounds like you took Group C and current F1 rules and put both in a Blendtec blender on high and hope for the best.

I think that is ridiculous, I think the current rules are OK. The engines need more power, and I think they are going to have more power this year, but Indy needs to have records fall for any true resurgence in popularity. It has been getting better recently, but to really get it back it needs to be stand alone. Open the rules and see if Audi or any others decide to show up with something crazy. Audi may get upset at not being the first Diesel (Cummins ran some back in the 50s) but they should be able to say they were the first Diesel Hybrid whatever.

Remember, the only reason the DW12 is in existence is because the DeltaWing was born.

MrBloodMuffins > tifosi3317 03/23/2014 at 17:25

1

You will only have to endure them for 1 more season, after that, the only spec bodywork will be the safety cell.

ascendingnode > For Sweden 03/23/2014 at 17:33

0

But of course that's the problem. Indy still kills drivers, especially on ovals. That's just not acceptable for a modern racing series in the 21st century. Either make the cars safer or get rid of the ovals, or Indy racing will be dead before the end of the decade.

Giu Canbera > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 17:40

0

Why not to stop talking bout Indycar and create a racing series with big Monster Jam Trucks racing in RallyCross/SuperCross format? Heats with 4 big trucks, winners go to the final... a Last Chance Qualy for the losers... 6 laps around a 'stadium format track' with mega ramps and fire works.... and then the big Final.... I think it would kill F1, Nascar, WEC and Indycar all together.... And open wheel/closed cockpit "RC BUGGY WANNA BE" cars to be the feeder series

tromoly > Fred Smith 03/23/2014 at 17:44

0

I was commenting from the standpoint that as a schedule is written a variety of tracks is important. Yes I knew all your points about those tracks, that is why I personally feel the oval schedule this year is a good variety of what is currently out there.

chris209 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 18:02

0

I think Indy's problem is they are trying to be an open-wheel version of Nascar. I've become less of a fan the last few years as they've pushed towards this.

Shane Gardner > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 18:05

0

As an ACTUAL fan of American Open Wheel Racing this is the worst thing I have read recently. "I love F1, now how can IndyCar be more like F1?" Give me a fucking break.

Fred Smith > tromoly 03/23/2014 at 18:34

0

Especially given that three tracks have two races on the same weekend.

CrazyMike366 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 18:59

1

I love most of those suggestions, especially the production-based engines and free design boxes on the car. But I'd add/change three things:

(1.) Split the schedule into equal parts Oval and Road races and keep track of points in each category

Instead of completely abandoning oval racing, split the schedule 8 oval/8 circuits (or 12/12) and keep track of points scored on ovals, points scored on road circuits, and total points. Oval racing is pretty much unique to the Americas, and axing it altogether would be wrong. Doing just road tracks would make IRL a dumb little sister to F1, and that's not good for marketing. Besides, oval racing is a very different kind of racing and it would make teams that want to win at both innovate instead of just sitting on one design all season and let teams that only have the cash to focus on one style stay in the points race. Offer a title for Oval/Road/Overall to max out the relevant storylines, as well as set up a chase for the final, described in (2).

(2.) Make the last Race (17th or 25th?) a Championship Race on an Oval with infield road course

Use the 17th race as an invitation-based championship only available to the top X point finishers in Oval/Circuit/Overall categories race on an oval with an infield course in equal proportions to decide the winner. This would function sort of like the post-season, with the overall championship trophy up for grabs. Maybe put the finale in Vegas or something glitzy and exciting like that, and redo the infield at LVMS to incorporate crazy elevation changes and weird off-camber turns and shit - equal parts old-school"crazy farmer with a grader and a vision" levels of danger with a few modern "Tilke-esque purpose built for passing" turns in the infield.

(3.) Offer huge purses for invited guest drivers in a few races to set IRL up as a top series with global relevance.

To make it really spicy, open 2 races a year in each category to a limited number of champion drivers/teams from other racing series with a huge bonus purse if a guest driver wins to get them to participate. (I'll just go ahead and suggest Daytona, Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, and either Infineon or Laguna Seca to maximize geographic coverage and historicity). Invited teams will be offered a spec chassis and their choice of series sanctioned engine and tire at no or little cost (to make it as low risk to them as possible to encourage participation) and be notified far enough in advance that they could choose to prepare their own aero sections or sign on with an established contractor like Dallara, Lola etc. If some of these teams find success, they might even eventually join a renewed IRL as full-fledged teams, growing the entire series and eventually challenging F1 for its throne.

CrazyMike366 > CrazyMike366 03/23/2014 at 19:18

0

Charlotte, not Daytona. Way too fast to be safe. Unless new production-based engines would slow them down enough to make Daytona an option.

Chris_B > dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter 03/23/2014 at 19:32

0

There is no real, implementable way to cap spending. There are a myriad of ways around it. You can only make the cost much higher than the rewards. Teams with more money will always outspend those with less, which will never change.

fuelish_fan > Fred Smith 03/23/2014 at 19:48

1

Yeah , the there are a couple double headers on the schedule. The thing that is cool about that is they aren't on ovals or closed circuits. They are on the tricky street courses that separate the real drivers from the guys with good engineers around them. Indycar's only problem is the bad press they got for years with the split up.

Skif6996 > CrazyMike366 03/23/2014 at 21:05

0

I don't know how closely you have been following Indycar lately but a lot of what you mentioned has been done recently.
They do track points for ovals and street/road courses separately from overall points.
A few years ago they offered a huge purse, to an invited driver, at the final race, which was held in Vegas. Unfortunately, that didn't work out well for anyone.

kniga > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/23/2014 at 21:52

0

While IndyCar may have become an open-wheel NASCAR wannabe, I don't really want it to become F1 wanna be either.

Ovals:

We shouldn't touch them. Variety is great. Year after year, some of the best IndyCar racing happens on the ovals. For example, Indy 500 and MAVTV race at Fontana. Texas is the second or third best attended race of the season.

Street Circuits and double decker events:

We really need to get rid of most of them. IndyCar should have 2-3 street events in a year tops. Street circuits is a cheap cheater's way of filling the calendar with mediocre races. Most of street races look horrible on TV. Cars bounce around on the big potholes like basketballs. Narrow track with no run-off areas results in constant accidents and full course yellows. It's a grueling experience to try to watch this twice over a weekend with the double decker events.

Cars:

It seems like everyone wants to see a variety of chassis. IndyCar really shot itself in the foot by locking the series into a spec chassis for many years to go. At least they talk about allowing aero kits in 2015.

Full course yellows:

I think these are destroying the racing. I understand the full course yellows are necessary on ovals, but why do we have road course races with seven full course yellows. Sometimes, half the the time, all I see is cars following the pace car and the driver order is constantly shuffled because of the yellows. Why can't they get the same type of equipment as in F1, to evacuate the disabled cars quickly and efficiently under a local yellow?

kniga > SaiDas 03/23/2014 at 21:57

1

Indy 500 has always been good whenever I watched it. However, I don't understand the irrational obsession with labeling Monaco as the most important F1 race of year. In my opinion, the best three races of the year are Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, and Monza. These are among the most storied, the oldest, and in many ways the most extreme races of the season. Maybe we should put Suzuka in the same league some day.

kniga > hoosiergunner 03/23/2014 at 22:06

0

Toronto and Baltimore have always failed to produce the excitement for me. Both are a crash and yellow flag fests. Sao Paulo Indy was a nice street race. Going back to Surfer's Paradise could be cool too.

kniga > Somethingwittyer likes noisy 03/23/2014 at 22:12

0

Best post. Street courses are getting long in the tooth. It's grueling to watch the endless crash and yellow fest on the streets, specially twice the same week. They should get rid of most of them. Just keep the best 2-3: maybe Long Beach, Detroit, and Sao Paulo.

kniga > Scrape 03/23/2014 at 22:14

0

Detroit and Baltimore are not road courses. They're street courses. More road courses would be welcome.

Fred Smith > fuelish_fan 03/23/2014 at 23:53

0

Yes, pileups on restart sure weed out the great ones, don't they!

Fred Smith > fuelish_fan 03/23/2014 at 23:54

0

But I agree that IndyCar as it is right now is rather solid. There is no need for changing of the actual on-track product on any type of track.

randyfedor > tromoly 03/24/2014 at 01:21

1

Innovation. That's what's lacking in IndyCar. Why? The rules.

If the rules for Indy Cars in the 1960s were written as narrow, specific and critically as today's rules, rear-engined cars would have never happened in America.

The Indy 500 was once a showcase of innovation and ingenuity. While last year's race lays claim to 84 lead changes, not one car on the track was memorable for any reason. Nor will one of those cars be 30 years from now.

But how about the STP Turbine car? The Penske big-block Chevies? I could go on and on with examples of individual cars pushing the limits of design and technology. And that's exactly what IndyCar needs NOW.

Why? Relevance. Our world is rapidly becoming more energy conscious out of necessity. It's affecting all Americans in all walks of life. Open up the rules and regulations for car design and welcome, ENCOURAGE, innovation in powertrain design.

Think of the possibilities. A Indy 500 field of 33 cars, almost all of them different! Naturally aspirated and turbo-charged gasoline engines of various sizes and cylinder counts, modern turbo-diesels, gas and diesel hybrids, electric, hydrogen. Two wheel drive, all-wheel drive. If one of these cars can go 500 miles faster than all the rest, reward it with praise, not handicap it by implementing rules to "level the playing field." Toyota, Honda, Ford, GM, VW, Audi, Porsche, Nissan, BMW...you get the idea. Now the Indy 500 is relevant again!

I challenge the one man who can make this happen, Roger Penske, to make it happen. Roger, do you honestly want to spend the rest of your racing days tweaking a spec-series IndyCar chassis year in and year out? Or would you prefer to pick up the phone, make a few calls to your auto manufacturer friends, and show up at Indy one May with a car that'll change the course of open wheel racing in America?

BigBlueMadness > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/24/2014 at 04:51

0

The easiest way to fix IndyCar is to fix the Indy 500. It carries the whole series and GASP it is an oval! It is the only race that has paying spectators show up, fans watch on TV and pays out a decent purse.

The best idea I ever heard for the future of the 500 was posited by Dave Despain on Wind Tunnel over 5 years ago. Make the cars a minimum weight, pump gas, any engine configuration you want including hybrids, any aero configuration you want, every car gets same driver survival tub and safety features, the catch is you only get 10 gallons of fuel for the race and ou must maintain a minimum speed in green flag conditions. No refills (or recharging) during pit stops.

HoosierHorses > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/24/2014 at 09:43

0

Yeah, I like most of these. IndyCar used to be where a good deal of innovation took place, and it's turned into a spec series. The IndyCar overlords would tell you their racing product is best its been in years, which is true to an extent, but it's BORING. There needs to be true manufacturer diversity in both engine and chassis. I like your 25k sold and your free-design concepts.

People are going to take issue with your no-more-oval edict...I think you're on the right track but banning completely isn't a good idea mostly because you'd be getting rid of the one event they have that could be seen as generating (waning) national interest: the 500. Could you swap out Leguna, Spa, or Silverstone for a boring oval? Yeah sure. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

At the end of the day, IndyCar needs $$. Manufacturer $$, Sponsor $$, TV $$...Indycar needs it all. My fear is that outside of one weekend in May, the national and corporate response is still "meh." Your fixes are great for people who are already racing fans...how do you take a bite out of NASCAR's apple in the States, and F1's apple abroad?

SaiDas > kniga 03/24/2014 at 09:54

0

I agree with you completely. COTA is an awesome track too but too new to be in that league. I think they should ditch Bahrain as it is an ugly and boring track. Sao Paulo is in serious need of upgrading. It looks as if it hasn't been touched since Fittapaldi's hey day. Not really crazy about China or Budapest either so maybe they drop one of those in place of New Jersey. Having network broadcasting of COTA, Montreal and New Jersey could really help US viewership....that and having Connor Daly or Alexander Rossi race in F1.

hotdogger1 > ascendingnode 03/24/2014 at 10:52

0

They did make the car safer. The terrible thing is that Dan Weldon had been the driver that was testing the new car all season long, but died before ever getting to race it.

sbblakey777 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/24/2014 at 11:15

0

How about instead of getting rid of ovals, we get rid of the doubleheaders. I never understood how they work and I never will. A professional racing league shouldn't be subject to what I consider heat races.

HookemLAW > Loping Camshaft 03/24/2014 at 12:45

1

Yeah, I see what you are getting at.

pisswizard69 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/24/2014 at 12:47

0

How to make IndyCar a great racing series again: Do nothing, its already a goddamn fantastic series. Stop trying to 'fix' IndyCar, it isn't broken.

dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter > Chris_B 03/24/2014 at 13:34

0

I'm not sure I agree. While there will likely always be cheating, there's cheating on the current system too. Grassroots motorsports and LeMons both have spending caps, professional sports have salary caps, and the irs audits businesses. Even if some company was able to spend double the cap, they're not going to be able to spend $200M like the current formula 1 teams are.
Anyway, I see it as more of an engineering problem of how to get closest to achieving spending parity than a reason to not try at all. It might be like democracy : the system sucks , but it's still way better than totalitarian communism.

Grant Leavitt > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/24/2014 at 13:41

0

Um, the majority of IndyCar's schedule consists of road courses and temporary street circuits. At last check, only 6 of the 18 races on the calendar were ovals or left-turn-only quad-ovals (Fontana, Indianapolis, Texas, Iowa, Milwaukee, and Pocono) which is considerably better than the 34 of 36 for NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series... Ever since Dan Wheldon's death, I expected Indycar to start eliminating ovals entirely due to the insane speeds the cars run and that some of these tracks cannot handle that kind of speed (Las Vegas certainly couldn't).

carlos-alamos > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/24/2014 at 14:02

0

enclose the cockpit and tires. Keep the 500 and please return to the milwaukee mile the following week. Mosport needs to be added along with the other great N. American road courses that have already been mentioned. Integrated HD helmet cams on every driver. Provide an option while viewing on television to mute the commentators. I want to listen to the cars, not people. I listen to people all the time, not so many opportunities with race cars. Night races with endurance style external race car lighting. And one tangent, Remove the chicanes at LeMans.

McLarry > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 03/24/2014 at 14:31

0

I don't really think you can have a standard chassis and a constructor's championship... The main advantage of IndyCar as I see it is the fact that all the cars are competitive. I'm not sure if that means we have to go so far as to make it a spec series, but I think going the opposite direction is going to put it more into competition with F1, and that's a competition it's sure to lose.