Holding on to hope for IndyCar's future
by Tony Johns on Aug 19, 2010 3:42 PM EDT
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So there's this guy.
He's not rich. He doesn't own a Ferrari or a big house. In fact, he probably sees more of motels or his car than the apartment where his mail goes.
He doesn't earn a lot of money. He often relies on the good-heartedness of friends he has made over the years in lieu of cash. He writes his own press releases and e-mails them to a relatively small list of people who have stayed interested in his career.
He is a racer. And if you don't know his name, you probably used to.
It's been years, but at one point he was one of those guys who carried the label "promising young driver" as if it were stitched on his firesuit. He thinks about that sometimes and laughs. He's not bitter about it; there's just a bit of ironic nostalgia when he recalls it.
No matter - like many of his peers, he remains doggedly optimistic about his future. Perhaps not to the Tony Robbins-esque levels displayed like guys like Jonathan Summerton, who could probably write a self-help book from his Facebook updates and Twitter posts. But there's something about pursuing a dream - no matter how it sucks dry your wallet or forces you to live out of a suitcase for most of a year - that makes it hard to get too discouraged for too long.
He keeps in touch with some of the other guys. One of them is racing shifter karts out west and doing a hell of a fine job at it. Another one retired to pursue another dream of building a racetrack. A third barnstorms from race to race, helmet secure in its bag, seat inserts in the trunk of his rental car, hoping that someone will tap him for emergency duty.
When you think that all of them used to be fixtures on TV cameras and hero cards, you might feel a bit of the frustration that they felt as they watched their careers slowly atrophy. There are a dozen reasons why it happened. Politics, finances, younger shoes with bigger sponsorship checks... whatever the cause, the results are always the same. Critics call them "has-beens" or, more cruelly, "never-wases," and even their staunchest allies privately resign themselves to the idea that they may never see their heroes in the limelight again.
Circumstances have led some of his peers to be caustic in their criticisms of the state of modern-day auto racing. They reserve plenty of vitriol for the "bonus babies" who, they believe, have far less talent but far more ability to bribe car owners for seats that by rights should be open on merit. He's not one of those - he's perfectly content to let those other fellows crusade against the evils of ride buying. In his case, he races wherever he can until the funding runs out, and then when the next guy with a check takes over he goes looking for another opportunity.
It's not much of a career, but it's still one hell of a dream.
I'm telling you about this guy because there has been some criticism levied against Randy Bernard's administration since he took over the IndyCar reins. The "big splashes" people were expecting over the new car and engine for 2012 or for promotional ideas like the Twin 275 races at Texas aren't big enough, some say. Others say that Bernard is moving too slowly or not thinking big enough. As is typical for the IndyCar community, the initial glow surrounding the regime change has given way to second-guessing and cynicism.
This guy, however, won't be part of any of that. He's been trying for years to put together a ride for the Indy 500 and for years his proposals have met with mild interest but no follow-through. To give you an idea of how long he's been chasing down this elusive goal, Dale Earnhardt was still alive and ornery when he passed his rookie test at Indy.
This year, he's trying again... but this year is different from the past few. There is momentum behind this pitch. The interest he's getting is more than mild. The companies he's talked to have been impressed with what has happened this year in IndyCar. They see higher car counts, stronger promoter relationships, more corporate investment, fuller grandstands at most events. For the first time in a very long time, he senses that he might be spending the month of May in Gasoline Alley instead of his car on an interstate.
Anything can happen in racing. He knows that. But when hope is hard to come by, any sliver of it is something to grasp as tightly as possible, not snicker at.
So whatever Randy Bernard is doing, he hopes he keeps doing it. And maybe before too long, he'll be able to introduce himself to you again from where he belongs - behind the wheel, on the track, and balls to the wall.
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instant karma
We exist in an age of instant gratification and instantaneous social media criticism. We don’t just want it, we want it now. We don’t just disagree, we disagree with capital letters and multiple exclamation points and yellow anger dot-things.
I just want Indycar to eventually be a profitable series that allows opportunties for qualified and talented drivers and provides competitive and interesting races for those of us who enjoy that type of thing. Randy Bernard, in a very short period of time, has already made—and continues to make every day—tough decisions that impact not only the day-to-day operations of Indycar but the long-term existence of the series. He’s doing it by cultivating sponsorships, new business relationships and partnerships and he’s doing it by listening to the fanbase and the owners and trying to forge a series that—while certainly a compromise—reaches out to make the series accessible to all who are interested in it. Despite a self-admitted lack of knowledge concerning open-wheel racing, he has learned the history and the politics very quickly. I don’t think there’s any one else who could have stepped up to the plate and any better than Mr. Bernard. He’ll make his share of mistakes, but I think he is a good businessman who will eventually increase the excitement, participation, profitablity and stability of the series.
A Fresh Face
I am one of those that think Randy Bernard is moving slowly and not thinking big enough or just not trying hard enough. The ICONIC Committee failed to make the 2012 Chassis announcement exciting. I mean did you see the stage? It looked like it was set up in just five minutes by 6th graders. The holographs that were displayed were second rate. I fully understand that they were probably thrown together right after the decision was made, but some could have worked on a nice hologram for each concept weeks before to make it more presentable. For some reason tracks like Sebring, Roda America, and Road Atlanta are not even on the IRLs radar! Why not? They should at least try and get them and if they can’t get them, I will understand because they at least tried.
The Twin 275s thing is ridiculous! Half points for each?! Running order of the first race will be the starting of the second?! I’m sorry but, I can’t consider that a double header. I would consider it a race with an intermission. They need to make it exciting rather just a repeat race. The most logical would be to make the races 2 different lengths, like 150 for the first and 400 for the second. Then invert the finishing order for the first race and make it the starting order of the second. I have other ideas but it would take all day to talk about…
As far as excitement goes; 2012 will be exciting because of the new cars and hopefully a fully revamped schedule. But the thing that would be really exciting is if a fresh face made a debut (probably would best to hold off the debut until 2012 to add to the excitement). I am not talking a plain ole run the middle of pack rookie. I am talking a real threat and championship contender. Seeing an unknown come in and whoop up on veterans like Franchitti, Castroneves, Dixon, Kanaan, and the like would be absolutely awesome! Especially if that driver was a female or from a low budget team. The IRL should go on a scouting trip (keep it on the hush hush, top secret kind of level) and search for a driver that could potentially cause a shake up like that, help the driver get a sponsorship (again, keep it on the D-L) and release them into the field an have everyone be blindsided by it when they come and take one of the top three positions in their debut and contends for the win at the 500. Then continues there assault throughout the season.
It is probably an extremely far fetched idea but you can’t say it would be amazing to this happen.
Shame, shame...
…be upon you, Tony Johns, for exercising optimism. Don’t you know that’s not cool?
All of the “medium level” or “underwhelming” announcements that we’ve had this year…can anybody go back and total up the number of like level announcements that we had in the previous 2 1/2 years (post-unification)? By this, I mean, we had precious few series sponsors, precious few (I’d say basically zero) attempts at new formats of events, basically nothing that would land IndyCar in the list of headlines in the right hand column of ESPN.com. The last six months have seen several new series sponsors, and at least three announcements that were “headline worthy”. It’s steps in the right direction, steps that weren’t being taken at all over the last few years.
Is the work done? Of course not. Is everything perfect yet? Um, clearly, no. But, we’ve got a series that is at least taking steps toward fixing things that are broken. Tony and his annonymous driver buddy (and my mind spins at who that might be…Memo Gidley? Dan Drinan? Dominic Dobson?) are seeing momentum that’s going in the right direction. Isn’t that better than momentum that’s going the other way?
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