An ESPN poll states that as many of 51% of (responding) fans felt that CART
should have ignored driver feelings and went ahead with the race.

That’s outrageous and unfair. I sincerely hope these weren’t action-starved
CART participants that reflected these sad numbers!

Now, purportedly, it seems many stockcar fans thought the optioning out was
cowardice. Funny, I remember just how spooked the good ‘ole boys were at
Talladega recently just as they are at Michigan every year, this despite the
restrictor plate modification enforced per these events.

The lastest NASCAR qualifying speed at Texas was at 192.005 MPH, compared to
the 233.004 MPH (many cars averaged 235 MPH in testing) for CART just days
ago. Seems a pretty big differentiation to me. And, this says nothing of the
real issue, the excess G-forces applied with the latter.

Personally, I think CART made the right decision to postpone the event, all
things considered. [Even the Blue Angels stunt-show pilot said that under
these circumstances, this would be looking possible fatalities in the face.]

This said, the responsibility of the mishap should still fall upon CART;
they incompetently misjudged the entire spectrum and failed to take
advantage of additional testing time (in warmer weather) toward making the
necessary adjustments prior to the event. With the promotional gains made to
the series via the now showing Driven film, one wonders just how much is
lost with this blunder.

I don’t know this for a fact, but I heard Gossage might be on ABC World News
tonight.

Thats what they told me! (TMS) They said to hold on to my tickets till they
know if the race will be re-scheduled or canceled. I want my money now! The
bullshit continues…they said that they are still having meetings right now
to decide what to do, damn I thought they already decided. CART is gonna get
their asses sued off…watch the sponsers run..

"J. Rindt" <no.em…@all.gov> wrote in message

news:oggretsg5q0o6qult7mclethnl9dbmba8e@4ax.com…

> .. slow the cars down, reduce the down force and engine power or am i
> being sacrilegious here? after all it’s all about the racing isn’t it?
> not how fast they can go,

But  racing is about how fast they can go, otherwise they would all be
racing Formula Alantics.

>can a spectator really tell the difference
> between a car going past them at 240mph or 200mph and if so does it
> really matter?

Did you see Talledega this year…. NASCAR slowed the cars and yes you could
tell the difference.

Off the bat, let me make it clear that I think CART dropped the ball on
this, not that they canceled it but that they failed to properly research
the issue in advance.  However, if 21 of 25 drivers are having physical
problems coping with the g forces, then something had to be done, including
cancelling/postponing the race.  These guys were feeling weird after 20-30
lap practices, what happens when they race 370 miles straight?  How about a
blackout at 230mph in turn 2?  Not a pretty thought.

Now my question is how many TMS fans, particularly those who may have flown
in to Fort Worth, were at Fontana last year?  ISTR that the race was
red-flagged for rain, what 20, 30 laps into the race?  How many fans had to
go back to work on Monday, with a penny’s return on their dollar’s
investment?  I spoke to one on Monday morning, who was about to catch a
plane back to San Francisco, seemed to be coping just fine.  I don’t
remember if CART offered refunds to those who couldn’t stay to watch the
race on Monday, but I think it’s safe to say they didn’t cover their travel
and hotel costs.

If it started raining minutes before the TMS race started, would CART refund
tickets? Travel? Hotel?  Let’s say it rained for several days, and the race
had to be completely rescheduled, so that unless you lived nearby, you were
going home without seeing a race.  Obviously the difference is that rain is
unpreventable, whereas the perception is that the TMS debacle could have
been.  What if CART had canceled the race on Saturday?  There’d still be
plenty of people hanging around Fort Worth with nothing to do.  The same on
Friday.  Even if the race were canceled a month before, there would be
people who would be put out, holding non-refundable plane tix, for example.

As for some people’s view that the drivers are being weak for refusing to
drive, that if they can’t handle the heat, blah, blah, blah…  It must be
easy to criticize someone who risks his life every week for our
entertainment, while sitting in your cubicle at work, risking your life on
that computer spreadsheet.

I feel sorry for those that got screwed, you’ll get your ticket money back,
I’m sure.  I’m proud of the drivers for taking a stand for their own safety.
I feel bad for CART, having perhaps scheduled TMS to show that they’re
better, faster, etc. than the IRL at the same track.  Every time CART stoops
to compare itself to the IRL, it drops a little closer to it in quality.
Hopefully CART can eventually make all of this right.

shawmon

April 29, 2001

(Ft. Worth) – Texas Motor Speedway officials canceled todays CART race
due to
safety concerns just 2 hours before the start of the race. TMS officials
stated that they
were concerned that the catch fence was not high enough to safely
protect the fans with
the speeds that the CART cars were reaching in practice and qualifying.

CART officials were angry and were quoted as saying that "TMS should
have known.
We talked to them about the need to raise the fences when we signed the
contract and
have been in contact many times since. Just 10 days ago they told us
that TMS is ready
for CART."

Fans were angry saying that TMS had had months to fix this problem but
had done little
to address it until it was too late.

[continued ironic parallel stuff....]

So, would everyone’s reaction be the same? Race canceled due to safety
concerns is
a good thing right?

Regards,
Glenn

I just heard a radio interview with Eddie Gossage,

He has been in a meeting with CART all day.  TMS paid Cart an
undisclosed 7 figure royalty that TMS wants returned so they can
reimburse the fans.  CART does not want to return the money.

CART did not include TMS or Mr. Gossage in any of the discussion
occuring the race weekend til Sunday morning around 11:30 AM.   Mr
Gossage was a bit disturbed seeing cars already arriving at his
racetrack.    to quote some of Mr. Gossage "What in the World are you
guys thinking"  

He goes on to say that he suggested by letter many months ago that
CART add downforce to their cars to drop the speeds down into the 220
mph range.  He states that his suggestion was lauged at and that CART
did not want to have to rebuild their cars, and they felt confident
that if IRL can run there at 228 then CART can do so at 235.   He
states that CART seemed obsessed with getting to the track and running
faster than their IRL counterparts.

"CART didn’t deliver or hold up to their end of the Bargain"
He states that the fans and TMS were left holding the bag.

Legal action is not out of the question.  He did not rule that out.
But he is intent on either returning the money to the fans or getting
the race that the fans paid for.

Well, all of you know that there is a race this weekend. The last
event at Nazareth – so start picking your drivers at
http://www.cart-europe.com/rasc/ and try to be the first
rec.autos.sport.cart World Series winner!

Picks deadline is 9.45am ET on Friday, May 4.

And I’ll mention again that when Kenny Brack officially gets the point
for pole, all the Texas entrants for this fantasy game will get their
points, too. Depends on CART.

–
Duck.
—
http://www.cart-europe.com     the European feeling of ChampCar racing

In a live interview tonight the Dallas ABC affiliate, Eddie Gossage said TMS
asked CART for a refund of the sanctioning fee and was refused.

Hi,

Whole day I was anticipating the CART race. It was expecting it to be
exciting for the full race, not only the first and the last lap (you know
what I mean, I hope). But when I turned on Eurosport, there was only some
silly horse-hopping on. Later I found out that the race had been cancelled
and why it had been cancelled. Fortunallty, the snooker coverage on BBC
saved my day….especially Peter Ebdon’s amazing fluke.

I fully agree with the decission that is made; accidents can happen but you
should not make them happen and therefore it is wise not to race IMO. I only
wonder why other races at the track could be run without a problem. If I am
correct, IRL and NASCAR races have been run and I guess these series are
comparable in terms of speed (and thus G-forces). If it’s not the physics
that are different, then the IRL and NASCAR gouverning bodies must have
lower standards of safety.