Big IndyCar Danica Upset in the Making?

Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star just Tweeted that Danica Patrick will be staying in the IRL with Andretti (not Green) Racing. Cavin tends to be conservative when breaking stories, so we have every reason to believe that it's true.

This would be a huge accomplishment for IndyCar in terms of market competitiveness. We shall wait for the facts to come out before we provide additional commentary.

Roggespierre

Franchitti on Pole; Power, Philippe Hospitalized

The run for the pole between Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske was upstaged Saturday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California by an accident that put two IndyCar drivers in the hospital.





According to IndyCar Public Relations, Will Power suffered a concussion, as well as compression fractures to two vertebrae.










Rookie Nelson Philippe has had surgery to repair an open fracture of his left foot. He, too, has a concussion.






E.J. Viso was also involved in the crash but was not injured.

Dario Franchitti claimed the pole, followed by Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe.

Jonathan Byrd, RIP

It is with sadness that we learned of the passing of Jonathan Byrd. He will always have a special place in the hearts of the Republic.

It was Byrd who took-up former Indianapolis Speedrome promoter John Stiles on his offer to pay $10k to any car owner who could get a regular Speedrome driver qualified for the Indianapolis 500. Byrd's choice was the late, great short track star, Rich Vogler.

The Indianapolis 500 needs another Jonathan Byrd; the sooner, the better.

IndyCar Market Selection must Confound Versus

Leadership at The Mountain promised in an earlier post to assess exactly what it might be that IRL management has strategically determined it will not do. We know of two activities.

Strategic Initiatives that IRL Management Will Not Do

• Compensate suppliers of racing teams in proportion with the market value they contribute.
• Manage the IRL supply chain to achieve measurable goals in the marketplace.
  

Non-Strategic Activities that IRL Management Will Do

• Race at an Edmonton airport because a promoter will pay for it
• Race at half-filled Twin Ring Motegi to guarantee supply of overpriced engines
• Race at an undisclosed Brazilian location in exchange for series "sponsorship"
• Consider racing in a New England parking lot for reasons known only to the divine
• Race at Barber Motorsports Park, where on-track passing is less likely than Louis regaining his head, and where attendance must be capped at 30,000 paying customers
• Dispatch Al Unser, Jr. to assist an uproven promoter in its effort to extract government subsidies for a "race" in Baltimore

Versus must regret wasting valuable air time promoting this undisciplined dog. The value of its broadcast asset is decreased by each IRL management action above. How so? The reasons vary by venue.

• In some cases, the problem is predictably lousy on-track competition.
• In others, the IRL markets to countries not served by Versus.
• In each, the style of racing attracts a disproportionate number of international drivers that are unlikely to be accepted by a large American television audience.

If IRL management continues to follow its non-strategic course, then the Committee of Public Safetly suspects that Versus is probably looking forward to two distinctive landmark occasions.

1. Opening Day of the 2009 College Football Season
2. The execution date of the first out clause in its contract with the Indy Racing League

We are unable to identify a 2009 IRL management decision that can be synthesized with the interests of the league's initially enthusiastic U.S. television partner. No, lining up advertising purchases by Apex Brasil and IZOD does not count. We'll explain when we further examine this issue after ratings for Sonoma are released next week.

Recall that the exquisitely capitalized CART series effectively purchased and re-sold television time for the duration of its existence. That oganization inherited stars like Foyt, Andretti, and the Unsers and developed some of its own, such as Mears, Sullivan and Rahal.

The present iteration of IndyCar racing has no stars of their caliber. More troubling, IRL management activities suggest that establishing new stars that would better serve the interests of the U.S. television partner is not a priority.

Roggespierre

IndyCar Rest, Revolution and the Republic

Roggespierre is vacationing this week with Mrs. Roggespierre and Little Roggespierre.

Citizens - fear not! The Incorruptible is using this time as any good republican would, drafting well-reasoned IndyCar Racing harangues that are grounded in factual data.

Roggespierre will continue to post from time to time, as Little Roggespierre's shedule allows.