The New IRL Chassis Is.....

[Jericoke]

I'm starting to lose interest in IRL this
year with 2 teams winning all the races.
I don't see a new chassis improving that situation

For me it's those neverending circles they keep going round, I find I get dizzy very easily as I get older. 

IRL has got a balanced schedule of large oval, small oval, road and street tracks.  In terms of driver discipline and engineering challenge, it's probably the most interesting 'major' racing circuit going.

The problems are in other areas... lack of a competitive field, one make cars, superstars moving on - giving it a minor league feel, lack of partners promoting the series.

The new, cheaper chassis will go a long way to remedying these... it will allow partners to enter with smaller risks, it will allow teams to use budgets in other ways.

I have no idea if it will work though...

But I hope!

[lkjohnson1950]

Penske and Ganassi will still win the races because the manufacturers who do aero kits will want to support winning teams. A close look at the cars reveals subtle differences between their cars and the also-rans. They have the talent and the funding to run some of the computer sims that the F1 teams do, helping them optimize their set-ups. That won't change.

Lonny

[Jericoke]

Penske and Ganassi will still win the races because the manufacturers who do aero kits will want to support winning teams. A close look at the cars reveals subtle differences between their cars and the also-rans. They have the talent and the funding to run some of the computer sims that the F1 teams do, helping them optimize their set-ups. That won't change.

Lonny

Certainly the nightmare scenario for IRL.  I get the impression that the hope is that enough suppliers/partners step up that they will help the 'lesser' teams. 

Whether or not that's true, they've left the door about as wide open as possible.

[lkjohnson1950]

It's an interesting approach, but allowing anyone to build a chassis to the correct specs would have been better. I miss the really old days when Indy was the only "big" oval, then came Milwaukee, Phoenix, Trenton etc, and a few dirt tracks like Langhorne, PA. If you never saw AJ, Mario, Parnelli et. al. race big, fast, wingless dirt cars, you missed something spectacular. 

Lonny

[cosworth151]

I agree about the dirt, Lonny. Seeing top drivers & cars at full chat on dirt was unforgettable! It was a sad time when C.A,R.T. and NASCAR decided that they needed to give up dirt to become "big time" series.