On Feb 26, 5:05=A0am, "Carey Akin" <cma...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>=A0If an open wheel racing series provided what NASCAR has
> (popular drivers on ovals), they too would be a success.
Not to be argumentative, but wasn't the IRL already in that position
in 2003? I suppose the 'popularity' of the IRL drivers could be
debated, but they had all ovals, center stage on ABC/ESPN (Howard Katz
resigned/got fired because the IRL didn't deliver in 2003), plenty of
sponsorship dollars on the cars and the series, etc. Maybe there's a
chicken/egg deal about making the drivers popular (although the
incumbent 2001-2002 champion was a white guy from Ohio), but they had
all the resources they could hope for. They had plenty of IRL champs,
CART champs, and Indy winners; if that doesn't make you popular/
famous, the sport is screwed anyway. If they couldn't get it done
then, how could they later? Is there that much demand to see former
sprint car drivers on ovals?
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