The Scribe's Soapbox

While not exactly certain at times who certain contemporary cultural icons are - my ignorance of the "starz" on television the pop charts is only exceeded by my lack of knowledge of the same. Naturally, this does not deter from offering an opinion about current events, particularly those in the world of motor racing. While the actors, locales, and numbers may change, the basic issues rarely do, it seems.

In so many ways the contemporary motor racing world is more complex and confusing place than the days of yore. While I debated actually committing that sentence to a page, the problems of today have often come about due to the consequences of yesterday's actions and the advent of complications quite anticipated to those setting loose the waves of change. Indeed, the advent of the internet has created a very changed landscape upon which motor racing must now thread.

The very nature of the demand for instantaneous knowledge and information running in tandem with the expansion of the opportunities for even the meekest and mildest of observers equipped with a modem to instantly express an - often anonymous - opinion about how things are being done is beginning to significantly change the world of motor racing.

However, that is a story for another time. Here are some observations on a few current issues being discussed and a few opinions on them.

Safety and NASCAR

It doesn't take much of a racing historian to realize that not only is motor racing dangerous, but that the toll has been more than somewhat dismaying over the decades. Safety has shifted from a sometime thing to almost an obsession on the part of some. What I am having real difficulties with is the problem that NASCAR seems to have with creating clones of the CART Simple Green Safety Crew for its top three series. As much as the IRL and CART disagree about things, one item they are in conspicuous agreement about is the need for a dedicated safety team for their series.

One should not be too surprised at the attitude that Mike Helton and others in the NASCAR hierarchy have about such a concept. NASCAR still views the promoters, tracks, drivers, and teams as "independent contractors." As such, NASCAR says basically that beyond a certain (minimum) point that safety is a personal problem and a personal responsibility. This is partly a legacy of the traditional view that Southern management has had of "labor" since time immemorial, and partly a reticence of NASCAR to expose itself to any litigation that may emerge from its direct involvement in dictating safety measures to those "independent contractors."

Belatedly, NASCAR has established its own safety lab to begin looking at measures that can improve safety in the major NASCAR series. Until now, the vast majority of safety innovations have come from the participants with NASCAR simply endorsing and/or mandating those initiatives after their value has been established. The improvements in the rollcages developed by Petty Engineering/ Petty Enterprises and Banjo Matthews and the roof flaps that originated with Jack Roush Racing are examples.

I think that Mike Helton and NASCAR had committed one of their rare public relations booboos by being so adamantly opposed to the idea of dedicated safety crews, regardless of how sensible their defense of the status quo may seem - at least to the NASCAR leadership.

Message to NASCAR - just do it! Establish a dedicated safety crew for each of the three major series - Winston Cup, Busch, and Craftsman Truck - which would supervise and coordinate the existing hodge-podge of emergency services personnel hired by the various promoters in addition to providing a level of care and consistency currently lacking in NASCAR.

An interesting note on what happened when a Ford Galaxie 500 prepared by Holman & Moody was imported to Britain in 1963. Since the Galaxie was shipped over as a fully-prepared stock car that would be at home on the NASCAR tracks, it had a full rollcage. Such a feature was rare on the Eastern Shores of the Atlantic. After poking around in the Galaxie and generally coming to the - reluctant - conclusion that it was indeed pretty much a "production" car and therefore eligible for competing in the domestic saloon car racing series, there one minor fix that had to be made. The problem was the rollcage. It seems that it was determined that the rollcage stiffened the chassis more than was allowed by the regulations. However, rather than having the entire rollcage removed, the officials stated that a rollbar in the cage had to be removed. Although this basically negated the effectiveness of the rollcage to protect the driver, the adherence to the regulations were deemed far a more important issue than the safety issue. It would be almost impossible to dream things up like this….

Lest I forget, whenever this issue surfaces I always think about the safety crew who responded to the severe crash that Kyle Petty had at Talladega in May 1991. After getting caught up in someone else's incident - Ernie Irvan and Mark Martin tangled, then being T-boned by Chad Little, as Kyle lay trapped in the wrecked suffering from a very serious leg injury (there were several fractures), one member of the crew calmly whipped out a video camera and recorded the whole thing. And the recoding was not for a training video to be used later by the safety crew. That was bad enough, but the others also stood around trying to figure out what to do. Meanwhile, there was Kyle not being properly attended to as all this went on. This is perhaps one reason I get a bit perturbed at the stance NASCAR takes on this issue of safety crews.

Woe, Despair, and Agony is Me - A Few Notes on the Decline of Premier American Open-wheeled Racing

The Friday prior to Labor Day in the United States saw the stock of the Championship Auto Racing Teams - represented by the symbol "MPH" on the New York Stock Exchange - edge back down towards the fateful figure of $1.00, a low previously reached just a few weeks ago. Closing at $1.04 after opening at $1.17, Friday's performance does not bode well for CART. Its Initial Public Offering on 10 March 1998 saw the CART stock climb from $19.00 to a high of $35.63 on 3 June 1999, its highest closing being $35.19 on 9 June 1999. From that point, it has been largely downhill.

Over the past year, the high for the stock has been $5.35 and the low $1.00. Indeed, the financial stories swarming around CART have often shadowed any racing taking place on the track. When CART hinted in late July the notion that its second quarter report on its already strained finances would make Stretch Armstrong look like a likely candidate for replacing Chris Pook, even the most stalwart defenders of CART had to take a few gulps. Then the report on the second quarter results appeared. Basically, CART lost $34.5 million in a single quarter. In 2002, CART lost $3.7 million in the same quarter so more than a few rats were seen to be packing their bags and readying to abandon ship.

The problem is that there really isn't another ship in the harbor for most to hitch a ride on. While the Indy Racing League is beginning to shape itself into something of a good racing series, it is simply a mirror twin of CART in many ways, limping along in spite of its performance on the track. While the books of the IRL are not open to public view, there are few doubts that it too buys red ink in wholesale lots - just like CART.

A group naming itself "Open Wheel Racing Series" is in the process of offering CART an opportunity to see the light of day in 2004 as a functioning series and not yet another defunct sanctioning body on the rubbish heap of American racing. Composed of a group containing Gerald Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven, Paul Gentilozzi, and Carl Russo along with Motorock LLC, they have offered CART fifty cents a share to bail the series out. However, there seems to be a reluctance of any of those involved to actually run the series. Perhaps. Meanwhile, CART races onward, Michel Jourdain, Junior winning the Montreal event for Bobby Rahal and Bruno Junqueira winning for Newman Haas Racing on its 350th start in Champ car racing.

I happen to like CART and I also happen to like the IRL. Both series have good drivers and teams along with some that seem to be either past their shelf life or will never quite come to fruition. And both have some rising stars who have talent and skill and will truly be the stars of tomorrow. Unfortunately, I seem to have a view of all this that is shared by few others. The demonizing that stalwarts of both series engage in can often be amusing, but it is usually more often than not myopic rants or sneers that misses the point that I have come to accept - better half a loaf than no loaf….

That there is an abundance of blame to spread around for the current situation in American Premier open-wheeled racing goes without saying. Neither CART nor the IRL have exactly covered themselves in glory with some of the boneheaded and downright stupid things that both have done since the crisis was allowed to escalate beyond control from the Winter of 1994 until the Spring of 1996. Even the once mighty Indianapolis 500 has had its aura tarnished during this often pointless and irritating schism.

A question that often begs an answer from each of the parties waging this silly, often pointless war is will there be an audience left after the final shots are fired and the last body dragged off the battlefield? It is looking increasing like the only Americans who will care enough to watch what is left will be those Americans north and south of the borders of the United States. And I think even they are getting tired of all the nonsense.

If Tony George is the anchor of the IRL, I would suggest that P.L. Newman is his counterpart at CART. Newman is passionate about the type of racing CART conducts. He is a true-blue racing fan. He loves road racing. He loves the romance and excitement that open-wheeled racing once caused hearts to stir and minds drift off into lands occupied by stainless steel men in aluminum machines doing seeming impossible things at speed scarcely imaginable. Perhaps if P.L. Newman, Tony George, and a few men of reason were to sit down and hammer this out in the coming days then there is hope. However, I suggest that record would recommend against holding your breath until that happens...

Tyre Wars

Many of those new to Formula One seem a bit surprised that a Tyre War can turn nasty and handbags start getting heaved at the warring parties from close range. The recent protest was apparently done in a way as to suggest that Dean Wormer has left Faber College is now working for the FIA - it being a double secret protest. While I personally think that this is all a typical bunch of crap that makes following Formula One something akin to being a soap opera addict, it is scarcely anything new, just the double secret protest being the only new twist.

Enzo Ferrari once got his majestic undies in a wad when Pirelli suggested that Scuderia Ferrari actually pay for its racing tyres. Ferrari ranted and raved at Pirelli for daring to suggest such a thing and got Englebert to make tyres for his team. Tyres that may well have lead to the death of Alberto Ascari in May 1955 at Monza. While adequate, the Engleberts were scarcely in the same league as the Pirellis.

Few realize that the drum-bashing that Juan Fangio conducted on the course markers at Silverstone in July 1954 were perhaps due more the Continentals the Mercedes was shod with than the bodywork, which is often cited as the culprit. Needless to say, Continental was summoned for a word or two with the powers at Daimler-Benz over this.

After Pirelli, Englebert, and Continental eased out of the racing scene in the late-1950's, Dunlop was pretty much left unchallenged for awhile. It was a similar situation in America where Firestone was the brand on the top of the heap. Both would be challenged by Goodyear by the mid-1960's. Indeed, A.J. Foyt won the 1964 Indianapolis 500 using Firestones, but wore his Goodyear racing overalls while driving in the event. In America, both Firestone and Goodyear clashed at this time, with the Ford teams wearing Firestones and the MOPAR teams Goodyears until Firestone eased itself out of the series.

In Grand Prix racing, Goodyear came in with the Brabham team and won at the end of its first official season, 1965. At one point over the next few years, it was nothing unusual for a team to try Dunlop, Firestone, and Goodyear tyres during the same weekend and even jump back and forth during the season. By the early 1970's Firestone called it quits and exited Grand Prix racing leaving Goodyear to shod the entire grid. That is, until Michelin came along in 1978 as the tyre choice for a Serious team, Ferrari. The two tyre companies went at it hammer and tongs until the end of 1980 when Goodyear said the hell with it and quit. Only to return in mid-1981. Later when Michelin exited the series, it was Goodyear all by itself until it too asked itself just what was it doing and left the Formula One grid to Bridgestone. And then Michelin returned. Beginning to see a pattern here?

Elsewhere, Hoosier came roaring into NASCAR in the 1980's and one got to see teams beginning the race on Goodyears or Hoosiers, switching to the other brand during the race, and then switching back by the end. A few even did a mix and match. Eventually Hoosier had enough and left to supply many of the other racing series in America. Eventually Goodyear decided to narrow its scope and after Firestone reappeared on the scene in the 1990's, it left the field to Firestone and its parent Bridgestone.

During all these various tyre wars, the times on the tracks generally tumbled. We had the ridiculous problem of the qualifying tyres and their lifespan of perhaps one to three laps at the absolute most. This led, in my opinion, to the death of Gilles Villeneuve and the injuries sustained by many others as they tried to make the most of their "Q-tyres." I did not shed a tear when they were finally shown the door and booted through it.