IRL loses Chevrolet; Toyota concerned
http://sports.yahoo.com/irl/news?slu...v=st&type=lgns

November 8, 2004
By Bruce Martin
SportsTicker Contributing Editor

AVONDALE, Arizona (Ticker) Although it was not completely unexpected, GM Racing's decision to yank the Chevrolet brand from the Indy Racing League after the 2005 season has sent shock waves through the sport.

Chevy's departure from the IRL leaves the series in the hands of two Japanese engine manufacturers Toyota and Honda. Because its future depends solely on companies based in Japan, the IRL should stand for "Ichiban Racing League."

To make matters worse for the IRL, the future of the series is in control of two companies that have proven in the past that if a sanctioning body makes a decision that is unpopular, they could yank its participation.

That's what happened in 2001 when CART decided to change the engine formula against the wishes of Toyota and Honda. When both decided to leave CART, it left that series in a position to be a single-engine, spec formula.

Chevrolet decided that the combination of higher costs and increased competition didn't justify the lack of exposure its product has gotten in an ever-shrinking sport.

"This situation was one where the investment in the series did not meet our business objectives any more," said Doug Duchardt, director of GM Racing. "We had to make a tough decision on whether to continue.

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that really does suck
the last to leave the party
seriously, i like them being in the irl more than nascar, atleast you have some real turns in irl (my personal opinion)

 

IRL races on Oval tracks which is the same as nascar, just higher speeds. Cart is the one that does an actual track with left and right turns.

 

what burns me is now we can GM Racing give jillions of racing and development $$$$ to Dale Jr. and Jeff...which translates to absolutely NOTHING in real world usefulness!!!

this could be the beginning of the end of IRL as we know it, unless someone else jumps in (DCX??? yeah, right)...watch the Japanese companies jump ship as soon as they don't get their way....their leaving CART high and dry was nothing but tragedy

 

I honestly dont see it as that bad. Lets face it, not many people even know IRL exists. Their exposure IS truly limited so why waste the money? Even though Nascar has been screwed around with so much that it hardly resembles what it was in the '60's, it still has more advertising exposure than IRL.

Personally I'd like to see more GM factory backed teams in ALMS, Trans AM, Grand AM, etc. and I'd love to see a GM F1 team. Maybe even throw a few factory backed AWD turbo SAABs into WRC for a change.

 

Somebody better tell the Indy Racing League then because the last I checked Watkins Glen and Sears Point (Infineon) were still road courses... just to name a few.

BTW, its no longer CART, its now Champ Car.

However, I do think that for both series to survive, they need to merge... soon!

 

People just dont care about the IRL. Go carts with rockets in them.... I just dont care....

 

In looking up the 2004 IRL schedual/tracks, all were Oval.
http://racing.honda.com/schedule/index.aspx

^Click on track info for picture of track.

The 2005 IRL tracks.
http://hometown.aol.com/dironstarr/sched.html

16 races for 2005, 2 of them road coarses (new for IRL), 1 is a street coarse, and the remaining 13 races are on Oval tracks.

They may feature road courses, but that's no different than Nascar. Technically speaking, even Nascar throws in a couple of road coarses a year, but they're still oval racing. And from the looks of it, IRL only has 2 road coarse races for the 2005 season to 13 races on Ovals. I don't follow IRL much, but this road coarse thing appears to be NEW for 2005 season, with the previous races (since 94 or 95 founding) all being on Ovals.

I personally view them as Oval racing league.

 

I'm with you on this.

Chevrolet decided pull out of IRL.

So???

 

I think another reason that GM pulled out is bcuz they would get their azz handed too them by Toyota and Honda. Remember, they had to buy a Ford motor to even compete.

 

i would just rather GM spent their $$$ in someplace other than NASCAR, which provides NO real-world technologies, and is purely marketing...And i've always been a big open-wheel racing fan (especially before the split)

F1 is a no-go...it would take an investment 5x-10x of IRL to be competitive, and as the Ford/Jaguar disaster shows, simply showing up and running a car in the middle of the pack isn't good enough...

I know they had problems competing after 2001, but you have to man up and double your efforts, especially when you're getting your teeth kicked in...and when Toyota starts dominating NASCAR (which WILL happen, because they would love nothing more than to show up U.S. carmakers in a uniquely U.S. series, and will spend ANY amount to make it happen), will GM cut and run again then??

I think GM needs to start re-evaluating the racing program, and find out what it is they really want to do...Well, at least they are still doing good things with the Corvette and the CTS-V

 

1) GM has learned from NASCAR. Talk to some of the guys in the Adv Tech area and they will tell you that the research for the Gen III/IV motors came straight from what GM has learned in NASCAR.

2) Toyota will not dominate NASCAR period. The France family will not let that happen as they know most of their fan base as pro-GM.

I think it is disappointing that GM has pulled out. It would of been nice to see someone hand Toyota and Honda their azz and show them how it is done. FWIW, Toyota doesn't always dominate were ever they go, just look at their Funny Car program.

 

GM in F1 is the dumbest idea. Ferrari owns F1 and will continue to own everyone that steps into the ring.

GM pulling out of IRL is a good idea. Put more money into SCCA racing like the CTS-V and other close-to-production racing like ALMS. At least GM can beat Ferrari at something! Support the GTO, CTS-V, and other race cars, and leave NASCAR and the like behind. IMO, having engines that idel at 6-7k rpm doesnt make me want to go out and buy a Corvette...ALMS does.

 

FWIW, Champcar had two Oval tracks this year and will also have two in 2005.

I say merge the two leagues anyway.

 

right on...they never should have split in the first place...unless the higher-ups in open wheel racing push aside their egos, this could very well be the end...it's already on life support