IRL Angstadt Translator

The promised analysis is here. It shall be brief. (article linked in title above)

IRL Commercial Division President Terry Angstadt was quoted in USA Today this week. We in the Republic were glad to see that USA Today still covers IndyCar racing. However, we found Angstadt's comments somewhat depressing. Tony Kanaan, who we like very much, also contributed some nonsensical assertions.

For now we focus on Angstadt, who seemed to confirm that additional road races and international events are part and parcel of the Indy Racing League's competitive strategy. This, of course, must be false because the IRL has no competitive strategy. It takes whatever it is given by its racing team suppliers and derives from this material a corresponding schedule of plausible talking points.

Quote #1

Angstadt said: "We want to serve the markets where we feel our racing product will be well-received."

We're supposed to think: fans in these markets really like IndyCar racing.

What is true: the sanctioning fee is decent, the check is likely to clear, and the teams don't complain about coming here


Quote #2
Angstadt said: "Where can our product be successful and where can we find strong, motivated promoters?"

We're supposed to think: the IndyCar product is inherently appealing to fans in certain locations; promoters that advertise our product will naturally enjoy robust ticket sales

What is true: the teams are motivated by many factors, and providing the IRL a marketable product is not particularly high on the list; we therefore will race wherever we can get paid and continue to find venues where sparse attendance is more easily masked on TV