Gossage Is Correct, 80 Percent Ovals

This weekend, Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage make his feelings known about the future of IndyCar.

“IndyCar officials have to understand that it will take 80 percent ovals to truly succeed,” Gossage procliamed to ESPN.com. “Otherwise, this is nothing more than a niche sport.”

Even as a hardcore road racer myself, I have to agree with what Gossage stated. Mind you, it would be foolish for IndyCar to drop events like Long Beach, Edmonton, or Australia. But for the most part, Gossage is correct. IRL has won the war over CART/Champ Car. And even though it may not have been the fans who have spoken, certainly the best funded team owners and a majority of the sponsors have. And big time auto racing is nothing if not an investment capital-hungry enterprise.

Truth is, road racing is a niche sport in the USA. Yet in Europe, Asia, and South America, it probably amounts to a billion dollar industry. Actually, I have not taken the time to do the number crunching, but there is no doubt that outside of the States, formula car road racing is huge. In fact, huger than huge. Gynormous! OK, you get the picture.

Back to Gossage’s words As his track plays host to the IndyCar series this weekend, we have had a chance to see the effects of the unification so far this season. The fields are larger and fans’ interest seems to have increased. Also, it is clear that the IndyCar technical package and their drivers have developed into specialized oval warriors. I have to admit, the Milwaukee race was fun to watch. These events have the potential to gain a new following and perhaps win back old, previously departed fans.

Road racing offers a much more complicated picture. F1 is larger than IndyCar can ever dream of being. And the development of GP2 in both Europe and Asia, and A1GP in the international scene are likely to soak up any potential markets for IndyCar road racing beyond its “niche” events.

Remember, the new A1GP car is based on the former Ferrari F2004, which was a great racing car. And the series is in the planning stages of A2GP regional series that will also feature Ferrari cars. It is doubtful that a spec series could associate itself with any more prestigious a name than Scuderia Ferrari. The biggest blow to American open wheel road racing would be if A1GP/A2GP were to take over some of the former Champ Car circuits.

IndyCar is not poised to make a successful run at a larger schedule of road racing events. The technical package does not provoke the kind of excitement that the former, short-lived Panoz Champ Car did, or even the older Lola and Reynard packages did. Without the proper tools, the league cannot make a proper 50/50 oval and road racing series. However, it is clear that IndyCar is very capable of putting on oval spectacles, with lots of action and even a healthy dose of wheel bangin’. To thrive, IndyCar must rely on what it does best, and in the real world, that means ovals, ovals, and more ovals.

Over the years, Champ Car finally successfully combined a minimal-gizmo, high-horsepower engine concept with a less aero-driven, well mechanically-adjustable chassis. And the result was a series featuring very entertaining road and street races, with drivers visibly able to “hang it out” with opposite lock and all sorts of braking techniques to get the cars turned into corners. This season, with F1 banning traction control and engine brake assist, fans are treated to a fantastic display of car control by some of the world’s best drivers. There is no doubt that lower open wheeled series, like A1GP and GP2, will evolve to offer road racing at a higher level than IndyCar. After all, IndyCar will always require a compromise technical package to race on both ovals and road/street circuits. That alone means that the cars will not be born as optimal road racing machines.

Many IndyCar drivers have opposed Gossage’s opinion. Even current points leader and reigning Indy 500 champion Scott Dixon said on autosport.com, “Eddie should stick to running his track and let the series run itself … He’s probably a little biased because he’s got an oval. Everybody is going to have different views. I’m biased because I like road courses. He’s just putting that out there because he and his owners (Speedway Motorsports Inc.) have a long list of racetracks, and most of them are ovals.”

Despite Dixon’s words, the truth is Eddie is correct. When it comes to producing road races at the pinnacle of motorpsorts, it is best to leave it to the experts. Unfortunately, for drivers like Dixon, and for the large, loyal road racing fan base in America, we will all be doing the same thing—watching F1 and related lower formulae from the television, grandstands, and/or pits, but most likely never from the cockpit of a proper top-tier open wheeled road racing machine.