The Girondists pity Terry Angstadt.
"He put together the best schedule he could," they say.
"The knitters will have his head if he doesn't deliver profits to the IMS next year," they chirp. "He had to chase the quick money."
"It isn't Angstadt's fault that the cars and engines cost too much to run," they plead (with some validity).
The Jacobins are less sympathetic.
"He would have them race in parking lots," they wail.
"He conspires with Cotman and the teams to rid the series of ovals," they claim.
"Tear off the wings!" they clamor.
Between these harried factions stands Roggespierre, the Incorruptible, providing sage clarity and enlightened reason for all citizens of the Republic. Here, now, his analysis of the evenevements de consternation.
The Chosen
Barber Motorsports Park - should have required track improvements. In the Republic you get one chance to make a good impression. Planning to fix the track in Year 2 is not good enough if the stench from Year 1 turns off the paying customers. A permanent facility using a 3rd party promoter (named ZOOM Motorsports, no less) is cause for hesitation.
Brazil - adding this race to the schedule despite not having a venue locked up looks like an act of desperation, which it is. The APEX Brasil cash infusion addresses an immediate need, but the event has no long-term strategic value. Ask yourself this: if the sponsor were to "fulfill its marketing objectives" and leave, could the promoter sell enough tickets to break even? If the answer is no - as it clearly is here - then don't do it.
The Others
Richmond - there was no decision to be made. ISC can't fill the stands for its two NASCAR (sans-culottes) Cup events at RIR, and those will always be priorities 1A and 1B. Marat informs us that the IRL had to furnish a new title sponsor in order to return. Terry Angstadt, welcome to the lives of Paul Tracy and Buddy Rice!
Milwaukee - Roggespierre has confirmed that the head is dead but the body is twitching. In that event, we've found that it's best to withhold judgment.
New Hampshire - Jerry Gappens, you, sir, are a credit to the Revolution! IndyCar needs more citizens like you! That said, Roggespierre was in the NHIS stands, virtually alone, for the IRL race in 1998. Could IndyCar half-fill the place in 2010? It's doubtful, and that's not a slam on Jerry's sales & promotions team. With real growth - meaning fans, not corporate underwriters - NHIS could become a viable option in the future.
Foxboro (Gillette Stadium) - this secretes the foul odor of a potential sponsor's bright idea. A densely populated location is one of very few good reasons to run a temporary circuit, and Foxboro isn't as dense as you think. Forget the Boston Red Sox. Indy cars on a good day couldn't outdraw the Pawtucket Red Sox. Has the IRL brass seen the ratings they get in the Boston TV market? They're darn near hashmarks. And what happens when the thing tanks and the sponsor's marketing guy gets the ox cart trip to Revolutionary justice? Poof!
Baltimore - the locals have a hairbrained scheme to get the IRL to race the Inner Harbor in 2011. The loss of Richmond makes this option seem golden, but it's pyrite, my friends. Baltimore isn't desperate enough to be a good candidate for a street race (more on that another time). Odds of the IRL getting more paying customers than the all-city lacrosse tournament? Not good.
Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) - track management is apparently interested only if there is a threat of a street race nearby. Roggespierre understands. Like NHIS, this track is too big for the IRL in its present state.
Detroit - not at Belle Isle. Here's what IndyCar should do if it wants to race in Detroit: convert a dilapidated manufacturing facility into a small oval track and drag strip. That gets the IRL in the city one weekend each year and keeps some kids from going "The Fast & the Furious" on city streets for the other 51. Make it a community project - politicians, Boy Scouts, Shriners, that sort of thing. Apply for some stimulus money; Danton says there's a lot of it. Replace the old Kentucky date with a race at the new Detroit track - that's also the weekend of the old Buick Open PGA event that likely saw its final round this past Sunday. Roggespierre likes this idea because it would provide some genuine services to people who could really use them right about now. Turn the track over to Detroit Parks & Rec except for the IndyCar race weekend, which can be promoted by Penske, AGP, Lanigan, whomever. In Year One, the marketing tagline should be, "IndyCar & Detroit -Motoring Back Together - and by the way, where's NASCAR? (sans-culottes!)"
Roggespierre
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