CART interim CEO Bobby Rahal tells the CHICAGO
TRIBUNE's Skip Myslenski that the racing series should not
be compared to NASCAR. Rahal: "We've allowed ourselves to
be maneuvered into a position -- whether it's by some part
of public opinion or by our own defensiveness -- into a
corner. But my view is we have something very different
from NASCAR. ... I think the reality is that we shouldn't
try to be NASCAR. We are very different. We represent
different things. Our fan base is different. Our
technology is much greater and different. The color of our
series, with the diversity, is different." Rahal continues,
"We apologize for not having many Americans [driving].
Explain to me what an American is. We have some great young
Hispanic drivers in this series. But somehow we're afraid
to mention that, or take pride in that, it seems to me,
because we've allowed ourselves to be maneuvered on this
issue. So we have a diversity and we have values that are
just very, very different from what NASCAR has" (CHICAGO
TRIBUNE, 7/28). ESPN2's Robin Miller, on comparing CART to
NASCAR: "They're never going to draw 170,000 people like
NASCAR, at least they're not right now. ... I don't care
what you [have] to do, get some people in the seats.
They're charging the same price as NASCAR's [tickets].
Well, you can't do that right now" (ESPN2, 7/27).
UN-AMERICAN LEAGUE? Meanwhile, in Detroit, Steve Crowe
writes on CART's marketing of drivers like Juan Montoya:
"You can tell the CART powers hundreds of times that -- at
least at this juncture -- almost nobody in America will be
moved to buy anything sold by a Colombian ... driver they
know nearly nothing about." Crowe adds, "CART's most
marketable commodity -- series leader [Michael] Andretti, an
American and CART's all-time victory leader -- seems barely
an afterthought in recent advertising." More Crowe: "So
what is [CART's] answer to declining U.S. crowds and TV
audiences: events at new ovals next year in Germany and
England. It's called racing away from your problems instead
of solving them" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 7/28).
IRL CLOSE TO NEW DEAL IN GA: In Atlanta, Kent Mitchell
writes that Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) and the IRL "seem
to be getting closer" to a new, three-year contract. AMS GM
Ed Clark said that his staff conducted a survey of 100
ticket buyers to the July 15 Atlanta Classic 500 that
produced some "encouraging" results. Of those surveyed, 85%
said that they had attended a race at AMS before, 64% said
that they had attended NASCAR races, and 21% said that they
had attended "only" IRL races. Clark: "That last one was
interesting. And I've received about 25-30 e-mails saying
they'd come back to another [IRL] race. Every sign is
encouraging" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 7/28).
