I'm just now catching up on the disappearance of CART and feel greatly disappointed.
A real, dyed-in-the-wool fan, I see. How many CART races have you attended? I've been to Phoenix, MIS, Laguna (camped out on the hill behind T6), and Houston (twice).
Chicago could've hosted a CART race along the lake front that wouldv'e captured the attention of Millions. Its a shame that it won't be happening now.
Chicago isn't like Cleveland (where they run on an airport) or Miami or Long Beach where traffic isn't an issue. They would have to do it in Grant Park, but it's pretty much booked up for the summer.
Chicago has had a CART race every year since 1997(?)... they couldn't draw 10,000 fans last year. The IRL had 50-60,000 in Joliet.
PS - Sam Hornish is insane. He ran outside the last two laps, 3 wide, where no one else had run all day, to win the event.
A caller from Canada last night said that up there they have 450,000 people who attend the CART races, this is more than attend all the IRL races for the whole season. 3 CART races vs the whole season?
Jerome, you don't really believe that, do you?
Indy does at least 350k, Kansas was packed, TMS does about 70k for the night race, and had nearly 100k for the season finale.
Do I believe it? Not the numbers, but it has some truth to it. IRL attendance is shit when compared to CART. Even though theirs is down more than just a little.
Indy has not sold out in years and has no where near 350K anymore. That is the word on the tube during the race for the past years. And it sure does not look any where near full on tv either.
Chicago has had a CART race every year since 1997(?)... they couldn't draw 10,000 fans last year. The IRL had 50-60,000 in Joliet.
A lot of the reason IRL has so many people at a lot of their races (Chicago included) is because most of the tracks IRL runs at are ISC tracks. The ISC tracks also run NASCAR events. Most of those tracks only sell tickets in a package, so most all the people who buy NASCAR tickets have no choice but to also buy IRL tickets. If the IRL had to stand on its own at those tracks and not rely on NASCAR ticket sales to sell seats, their attendance would be no better than CART's.
Chicago has had a CART race every year since 1997(?)... they couldn't draw 10,000 fans last year. The IRL had 50-60,000 in Joliet.
A lot of the reason IRL has so many people at a lot of their races (Chicago included) is because most of the tracks IRL runs at are ISC tracks. The ISC tracks also run NASCAR events. Most of those tracks only sell tickets in a package, so most all the people who buy NASCAR tickets have no choice but to also buy IRL tickets. If the IRL had to stand on its own at those tracks and not rely on NASCAR ticket sales to sell seats, their attendance would be no better than CART's.
True about the ticket packages. But CARTs attendance is still better as a whole than the IRL's is.
I don't know about other tracks but I can say this for sure. The IRL was giving away, free of charge, tickets to the race at Nazareth. Word has it they so this at other tracks also to get people in the stands.
And I am not talking a few seats, try a few thousand. As in handing them out on the streets and in the malls. Not just a few on the radio.
I'm just now catching up on the disappearance of CART and feel greatly disappointed.
A real, dyed-in-the-wool fan, I see. How many CART races have you attended? I've been to Phoenix, MIS, Laguna (camped out on the hill behind T6), and Houston (twice).
Dean,
Thanx for the props! I attended the opener at the now defunct Chicago Motor Speedway for the opener, the year after and then for the last two years at Road America. Having watched the news updates on Speed Channel which only shows the finishing lap of IRL aka Open Wheel Nascar is all the IRL I need or could stomach whichever I lost first. However, I see that I have some readin' to do!
Glad to see that the CART boys will be back for at least one more year. :thumb:
Been a fan since way before the split (before they even were "CART").
Love F1, but when the split happened I put my heart into CART and I've missed just two races in the past 10 years. I structure my personal life around two things - the Dallas Stars and CART races. [img]/images/graemlins/smiles[/img]
How many CART races have you attended? I've been to Phoenix, MIS, Laguna (camped out on the hill behind T6), and Houston (twice).
I attended the opener at the now defunct Chicago Motor Speedway for the opener, the year after and then for the last two years at Road America. Having watched the news updates on Speed Channel which only shows the finishing lap of IRL aka Open Wheel Nascar is all the IRL I need or could stomach whichever I lost first. However, I see that I have some readin' to do! 
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