The REAL Problem

...is not the ratings for the VERSUS broadcast from St. Petersburg. So IndyCar got a .2 rating, what's the deal. Most of the tubes turned to ESPN2 last year were in bars anyway (that's where I watched the Motegi race last year when I was out with friends). Some people want to see IndyCar turn into a sport that is considered "legit" by ESPN, meaning it gets about 900 hours of coverage until we're bored with it. Screw that! I'm a hockey fan, and I don't watch any regular season games on TV anymore, but I still love going to games when I have the chance. Let's see IndyCar turn into that: a series that's valued more for the live show than what some TV station can do with it.

Of course, that means they need to market the races better...perhaps they should replace Angstadt with Eddie Gossage...just a thought.

Now, the REAL problem: what the hell is Gian Paolo Dallara and his crew doing over there in Italy?! Why is 16th & Georgetown telling me that there are teams that want to race, but can't get their hands on a Dallara chassis? It's apparently a problem that multiple teams are facing, including Richard Childress' rumored Indy 500 run and 3G's entry for Tomas Scheckter. So last year, we were apparently running out of Dallaras at the beginning of the season, but we still managed to put 26 cars on the grid. This year we have fewer entries, but we're still short on cars. What gives?

I understand that part of the problem is that Marty Roth is being a poopie-pants about the way he was treated by the IRL. I don't have time to go into how stupid that bit of Napoleon Complex is, but I do have time to rip him a new one for sitting on FOUR chassis in his shop. Marty, let's get real. Unless he finally realizes that his lot in life is to be a team owner and not a gentleman racer, there's no reason to watch Dallaras collect dust. He is apparently offering them for sale, but for some ridiculous sum that nobody wants to pay. Marty, either enter a car (maybe in conjunction with D&R...that's been a popular move lately) or let some others have fun.

The other part of the problem is obviously that either Dallara has gone on a union-mandated two-year break, or they are charging WAY too much for the car. If it's the former, then get off your ass and start building! If it's the latter, how on Earth can they overcharge for a six-year-old design that's sold thousands of units? I understand that the economy is rough, but you can't charge your customers more to cover the losses -- the customers are feeling the crunch too. Dallara has a virtual monopoly on the IRL chassis business and they know it, so they're extorting the teams by killing their pocketbooks. Dallara Automobili seems to be in the business of killing the IRL at this rate.

I really hope some desperate team picks up an '05 or '06 Panoz, tunes the crap out of it, and beats everyone.