I have been racing for a while now. As I have said numerous times before, I have been very fortunate to race many different cars at many different places. I have learned a few things about this sport over the years as well. I have also come to realize, that things are not always what they seem, and I’m pretty sure that maybe the last couple of days in the INDYCAR series haven’t been what they might want us to believe.
On October 28th 2012 , it was stated that Randy Bernard stepped down from his position as CEO of INDYCAR effective immediately. In my opinion, the best thing to happen to INDYCAR in a very, very long time- and he up and quits? Nope- not buying it. In the last 3 years I have watched Bernard take the series from a laughable anecdote to what we had this season, which wasn’t perfect- but it was a vast improvement. People were buying tickets, watching the races on TV, starting to get excited about American open wheel racing again- is the board of directors at INDYCAR adverse to success?
Bobby Rahal may have said it best, “I have never seen a series that has so much going for it, shoot itself in the foot so many times.”
Racing is entertainment. We put on a show and we charge admission. Randy Bernard understood that- he may not have understood much else about the sport, but he understood that much. Do you know why NASCAR is so successful? They listen to their fans, and they give them what they want.
Do you know why racing attracts people? Because it’s cool- because it’s dangerous- it’s not something everybody can do. The problem with racing is- its entertainment. You must balance the danger with the safety, the risk with the reward. That’s a tough job, not one that I would sign up for, but that’s the job of a promoter.
INDYCAR driver’s balked at some of the things that made the “show” more exciting. Double file restarts for example. This was a great idea for the fans- because that’s who it should be about- the fans. It was exciting to watch, but the drivers didn’t like it. Along with a few other changes, there was the sentiment from the driver’s that Bernard cared more about the “show” than he did about safety. Let me tell you something, I’ve driven some real shady racecars- FOR FREE. These guys have the best safety technology in the business, and they make a bunch of money while sitting in that technology. That’s part of the draw- the danger.
Do you remember the days when they went 230 mph at Indy? When you regularly saw the con-trails off the back wings, and the cars had that high pitched scream? I do- and that’s what made me want to go racing. Bernard understood what INDYCAR racing needed- its fans. Without them, the series is nothing. If there is no one to watch the “show”- there really isn’t a reason to keep putting the “show” on.
NASCAR owns the ball, they own the field, and they own the rules, and if you don’t like it you can leave. They take their cues from the fans and make decisions accordingly. There is stability and continuity in the series- whether the teams and drivers like it or not.
Somewhere along the lines, INDYCAR starting letting its teams dictate to the series- bad idea. There is a reason the series tells the teams what’s going to happen. Tony George didn’t want team interference when he ran the IRL, but he is pretty quick to make his voice heard now. INDYCAR made a lot of its loyal fans mad and that saying something if they stuck around through the CART/IRL split. Now I’m sure if the INDYCAR teams were making the money that the NASCAR teams were a lot could be overlooked- but things take time- time that wasn’t given to Bernard.
The cost of the DW12 car was more than expected, and spare parts costs were also higher that expected. Engine leases were a little hard to come by this year, and the debacle that happened at Loudon in the rain this year was inexcusable. I can see how this may have left some room for doubt in people’s mind about Bernard. However, at a time when INDYCAR needed to back up Bernard, I feel like they left him twisting in the breeze.
This hits home for me, because we announced our intentions of running in the Pirelli World Challenge Series for 2013 the other day. The PWC is a support series for the IZOD INDYCAR series. I’m sure that Jeff Belskus- current CEO (also previous CEO before Bernard) has a plan to continue to make INDYCAR stronger and better, and he is off to a good start by letting a lot of what Bernard had put in place left alone, but it didn’t make it any easier on me by letting Bernard go- or by Bernard stepping down is what I meant to say.
I have made offers to other people via this blog before, and today is no different. I would like to let Mr. Bernard know, that if he ever needs a driver to fill a field he can count on me. Drivers who have made it to the top, sometimes forget what its like to be hungry and trying to make a name for themselves. Every single driver, whether it be for INDYCAR, NASCAR, F1, GRAND-AM, can all be replaced, and for a much lower cost. There is somebody out there who is sick of living on Ritz Crackers and peanut butter, and who spends his hard earned money to go racing, that would love the opportunity to compete at the highest of levels.
Check me out on twitter @justinonderko, and my new website is just about to be released, so be looking for that in the next couple of days as well. Till next week. . .
