ANY Open Wheel fans here?

[Freon VX]

Theres so many people here on the boards that are into cars, I wonder if there are any open wheel race fans here? CART The IRL and F1...Now theres some controversey we can REALLY sink our teeth into.

[VX crazy]

CART and F1 rule! It's been 3 yrs since we've had a CART race in TX (Houston) due to construction and I can hardly wait for next season when it returns.

I do wish they would stop moving the series coverage around from Speedvision, to network to HDTV (that few providers offer yet) and make it available to mainsteam viewers. And they wonder why they have less market share....

[paultvx]

Big fan here. Big fan of ALMS too. Unfortunately haven't been to any CART races but have gone to 5 ALMS races (Leguna Seca, Portland, & Sears Point). ALMS doesn't come to Portland anymore, but CART still does. PIR is a pretty boring track though. CART looks to be having some organizational problems despite it's popularity. It's a hell lot more interesting to watch than IRL that's for sure. IRL's looking more and more like NASCAR. I read an article on Autoweek the other day and it said 3 team owners may be set to buy controlling shares of CART. Hopefully that'll help them straighten out the problems they've been having.

[Y33TREKker]

F-1 all the way!

I went to the Indy F-1 Innaugeral race a few years ago, and compared with Indy cars, found the environment much more to my liking. Indy and IRL are alright, especially when they race at places like Laguna Seca or Road America, but overall I just like the more international flavor of F-1 racing.

First of all I would much rather watch a race on a road course than an oval. And second, I like the variety of car manufacturers/teams that compete. As an added bonus, you usually get world-wide history lessons about the area where the races take place.

[paultvx]

Oval track racing is not for people who want to see real racing. It's for people who want to see wrecks. They are not race fans, they are the mob at the colosseum. Not that there's anything wrong with it... to each his own.

[Freon VX]

Y33 I agree, I do enjoy the politics of F1 and the international flavor. However, for me, CART is it. I despise the IRL (Crapwagon, as real race fans have lovingly come to know it), and think that Tony George has done a good job killing American open wheel. I also agree that Ovals, while exciting as hell to watch (Think Fontana, when the Handford device premiered. 53 lead changes), but They are amazingly dangerous, and I would give up watching ovals altogether if it would bring Greg Moore back for one more race.

They are talking about a lake front race here in Chicago next year, and I'll be first in line for tickets!

Montoya and Paul Tracy are my guys. How bout you?

[Y33TREKker]

Originally posted by Freon VX
They are talking about a lake front race here in Chicago next year, and I'll be first in line for tickets!

Where would that take place? Are you talking about commandeering Lake Shore Drive for the weekend? That would be well worth the 6 hour drive to check out. Back when they were first considering the return of F-1 to the U.S., I remember thinking that a Chicago race along the lake front would have been a great place to represent America, but being from Illinois, I realize that my opinion may have been somewhat biased.

[Freon VX]

Yes, they are going to be announcing shortly, as the race ia now a reality. If you check out autoracing1.com, you might be able to glean some information, but its a subscription site, so I dont know how much info you can get for free. But, anyway, yes, they will be comandeering lake shore drive for 3 days, maybe next year, but most def in 2005. If it comes to fruition, it will be one of the collest events in Chicago ever. PS, A bid was made for CART today. Looks like it may be going private again.

[BigJoe]

I never went to any of the races but I watched them on TV. You never appreciate something until it's gone....

I luv Cart and F1. I follow IRL but I am not a big fan of the ovals.