It’s a Good Schedule…
FOR ME TO POOP ON.
I’m not even going to pretend that I’m happy or satisfied with the 2009 schedule, released today. Let’s go Event-by-Event:
- St. Pete - An event that is supposedly fun. I have no complaints with its retention, nor do I complain about it being the season opener.
- Long Beach - When I watched the lovely Lauren Bohlander on Up 2 Speed, she said “new events”. I forgot that Long Beach counted as a new event, since it counted for points. It’s a great event and really the only continually successful racing event in SoCal in any series. I went for Friday, and it was an incredible atmosphere. No complaints.
- Kansas - It gets the lead-up to Indy again. I guess I can’t complain.
- Indy - May 24th…is it May yet?
- Milwaukee - Traditional date after Indy. It should be here and it must be here. Sorry, Eddie.
- Texas - Certainly the second biggest oval event. Probably #3 overall with Long Beach. It’s all good.
- Iowa - Iowa redeemed itself this year.
- Richmond - Why the heck do they have these two bunched up? Move Iowa later or put the Glen between the two.
- Watkins Glen - It remains, but I wonder if it only remains because of contracts. Cleveland should have gotten this slot.
- Toronto - Toronto used to really care. Will they care again? I hope so. I’m fairly pro-Canada.
- Edmonton - It was supposedly good, but TV certainly didn’t justify it. Timing and Scoring was a lot more exciting than the broadcast. This stretch of three road courses would have been more balanced with a Richmond/Glen swap.
- Kentucky - Currently the closest track to me now. If I’m still in Alabama, that’ll probably become my steady second race. I dig it.
- Mid-Ohio - Moved a ways back in the schedule. It’s at least easy for the teams to deal with. That said, it stretches Cincinnati fans a bit thin with back-to-back weekends.
- Sonoma - Simply put, dump it and take NHIS. If you’re against another oval, dump it and take Laguna Seca. Then again, Laguna Seca only ever had one great pass. That’s one more than Sonoma has ever had though.
- Chicagoland - Moves to the night time, which is good. Moves away from the finale, which is bad. I’ll get into this more in a bit.
- Detroit - It was good last year. We’ll see how it goes this year, though. Roger Penske is behind it, but it should have never been on the schedule in the first place. We still miss Michigan.
- Motegi - Moves to the spring. Whoopity doo. Supposedly the spring is drier, though.
- Homestead Finale - Still a stupid freaking move. Chicagoland at least drew a crowd, but I understand that the later finish was troublesome for the track moving into football season. Las Vegas should have had this slot without question.
They were worried about Las Vegas being empty, but Homestead hasn’t drawn a crowd in years. How a track goes from being on the bubble to the finale is so beyond me it isn’t even funny. There’s rumor over at TrackForum that Andretti-Green may want to pursue the Las Vegas street race. It’s pretty much unsubstantiated, but it’s another dumb idea if true. The owners may have been against another high-banked oval (remember, the Vegas of today isn’t the Vegas of the past).
In conclusion, Mike Lanigan was essentially shafted, but I’m not sad about Houston. AGR’s babies get on. Road America would have been nice, but I don’t think it ever really had a chance. Portland was a smart market-move, as was New Hampshire. I think preexisting contracts may have played some role, but whatever.
This Week in IndyCar News has been a slap to the face (or a kick to the…).
July 30th, 2008 at 11:53 am
From a team stand point it is an easier schedule- they ovals are together, the road/streets are together. From looking at a map it makes a little more sense. Now the teams and drivers (in theory) can go from one race to the next market, do some hype, and them race. However, before anyone blasts me, personally I think the schedule stinks and there is room for one more oval between the Sept 19 Japan race and the October 11 Miami empty race. Run at Vegas that week, run at California that week, I don’t care- just run a race.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Where’s Australia?
July 30th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I’m thinking Homestead and Chicago may be a result of ISC. Both were contracted to be season opener/closer. They don’t want to lose Chicago, can’t go there in Bears season, so I htink this is the result. Personally I wonder (tin foil hat on) if ISC doesn’t want a downer season finale. This is also where Napcar finishes–you think people are going to show after the “chase”….
July 30th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Couple things — I’m with you, DITCH Snorenoma as soon as contractually possible and replace with an oval. Toss the Glen for another street race, maybe Cleveland. I hadn’t thought about the switch easing da Bears conflict in Chicagoland until the Mutt mentioned it. Good point. Ending at Homestead is crazy ass. What if the title is locked up after the race before the last race, which often happens. That means someone clinches it in — Motegi. Even though I know it’s impossible, I’d love to see Motegi get the bag and be replaced with a U.S. oval, because it’s a super boring race. Finally, all these street/road races won’t do anything for ratings which won’t do anything for the league’s effort to have every race televised on something better than The Ocho in 2010.
July 30th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I disagree with you on Homestead. It may not be the biggest crowd but I have been to the last 2 races their and they were awesome. Great crowds and great atmosphere. But the new schedule is a huge step in the right direction, in 2010 will be even better. Great job by the series for the fine work they are doing.
July 30th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
We keep hearing about existing contracts, and honestly I’m not sure what that means. Tracks they’d like to get rid of, or tracks locked in a date? Sonoma is a horrible track, for any series, and I’d much rather watch Portland on TV, site of some of the best CART races ever. Lanigan seemed to indicate that his tracks were still under consideration, but that prior contracts got in the way. SMI’s people gave every reason from too many races for the teams, to the IRL wanting to use the LVMS parking lot, to whatever.
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 am
Pressdog, I respect your opinion, but I disagree about Motegi. It offers the one chance to not be going against loads of football once that season has started. With its late night Friday live start, it could be the start to a long day of football. Additionally, the weather in the early Spring there has been horrible, and the new date should be better.
Further, with championship implications, it might behoove the “House of Mouse” to put the race live on ESPN, without the conflict of other programming. (They can always do a rebroadcast during Sunday morning for ESPN2 or Classic.)
I do agree that Vegas should be in there somewhere; It’s just too good a promotional opportunity to miss, but maybe another year.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
The only successful race in SoCal in any series? Ummm…the NHRA has opened and it’s seasons in Pomona to packed stands for 47 years-the beginning. Because of the popularity, the also started closing the season in Pomona 24 years ago. Likewise, Supercross visits Anaheim 3 times and San Diego once every year, consistently selling out all 4 stops. Like the NHRA, Anaheim has been around since the beginning and has remained a hub. So, when you “any series” I guess you mean NASCAR and CART/Champ Car.
August 7th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Drop Australia! Tony George at his genius best.
The Surfer’s race has been run since 1991, has a title sponsor, attendance figures that put to shame every venue on the calandar (excluding the 500 & LB), keeps Honda happy & a contracted TV package etc………& the best TG can come up with is that he does not want the last race of the series to be outside the U.S.