Should IndyCar do standing starts more often?

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July 23, 2013

indycar_torontosat_71313_pruet_415951 — Photo Credit: Marshall Pruett

In trying to change things up, IndyCar decided to go with standing starts for one of the two events at Honda Indy Toronto.

Going into the standing start, there were a lot of concerns and mixed thoughts due to the simple unpredictability about it.

“That’s going to be interesting, I don’t know what to expect,” Ryan Briscoe said going into the weekend. “I hope it all goes well. I don’t see why it won’t, but certainly something new to adapt to.”

“I grew up doing that,” James Jakes said before the weekend. “That’s all we did in Europe. So when I came over here, I was like ‘What? Rolling starts?’ So it should be fun. I’m looking forward to it.

“That’s going to be a big challenge for us,” James Hinchcliffe commented on the Thursday before the race. “We haven’t had a chance to practice that. A lot of guys haven’t done it in years so hopefully we get through it catastrophe free cause we got a race the next to run.”

One of the concerns was surrounding the clutch.

“The clutches – one of my engineers was speaking with the clutch manufacture that it wasn’t one of the critias when we developed these,” Justin Wilson commented a month before the event. “With a formula one series or other series that do standing starts, the clutch is designed to just slip. Ours, is more of an on-off spin. So you’ll see a lot of wheel spin or cars stalling.

“I think it’s going to be fun. It’s going to add another element. It’ll be nice to see the contrast between the two.”

With all the worries, it was a surprise when the first one went off without a hitch with everybody able to get going and make it into turn one cleanly.

“The standing start was awesome,” Sebastian Bourdais said after the race. “I enjoy it very much. I had an awesome start. That’s probably why I like it. I heard the fans enjoy it. There’s a big thumbs up for the series to try that.”

Now the first one is in the books, the question is being asked. Should IndyCar continue to do them?

Helio Castroneves said that he enjoyed doing the standing start, but they will have to look closely at what tracks it’s possible to do at that. There are certain street circuits that it may be more difficult to do and the ovals would be extra tricky with the banking and such.

Though Tony Kanaan says that he doesn’t agree with the move as he wants IndyCar to stick with tradition.

“IndyCar for me, it’s always been about rolling starts,” Kanaan said on the Friday before the event. “We’re talking about traition and stuff. Maybe tomorrow I’ll end up saying I love it. That’s just because of tradition. That’s my preference.

“I’m not against it. It’s just you guys asked my opinion. I said I don’t like it.”

In the end, Bourdais says it doesn’t depend what the drivers want, but what the fans want.

“If the fans love it, if it makes the event more profitable for the promoters, for the series, it’s a good thing,” Bourdais said. “We don’t have a say in it. We’re just the racers. We have our own opinion, but at the end of the day we’ll do whatever it takes for this series wherever it needs to go, and that is to bring it up. Bring it on. If it works, let’s do it.”

So what do you want? More standing starts or the rolling starts?

Newman’s Options Going Forward

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SM Staff

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July 23, 2013

With the news that broke over the weekend, Ryan Newman will be looking for a diamond of a ride in a pile of rocks. He wants to get back with a decent team next season, but with little openings, he likely won’t get the type of ride he’s looking for. Lots of teams have been thrown around for him, but when you really think about them, you can’t say one would fit him perfectly.

For the last 3 years, Stewart-Haas has been Newman’s dream team. When he started with the team, they were just a start up with no team history, but they turned out to be very competitive. When he was technically a free agent last season, Tony Stewart resigned him after they struggled to acquire sponsorship. He didn’t want Newman to leave and Newman did not want to go anywhere else.

With Kevin Harvick coming on next season, it’s the obvious choice for the team to let Newman go. The team worked extremely hard to find sponsorship last season, so a repeat of that wouldn’t be worth it in the end. This will leave Newman searching for a ride for basically the first time in his career.

Richard Childress Racing has been one of the most popular names thrown out there since they have an opening due to Harvick’s departure. So for Newman to take over the ride would make sense, right? Wrong.

Of drivers the team would consider for the seat, Newman would likely be second on that list. It is just about guaranteed that Austin Dillon will move up to the team next season so there’s three cars already. If RCR even wants to add a fourth team, Newman would have to out duel Kurt Busch for the ride.

With racing at Furniture Row this season, Busch has established ties with the RCR organization. Those ties could put him in a seat if the team can find sponsorship. Finding the sponsorship will be key for either of those guys to go to the team. If you think about which of the two is a more marketable driver, it would be Kurt Busch. So that would likely be Newman’s cast off from a potential ride with the team.

If Kurt does leave FRR, then a seat would open up there for Newman. That all depends on RCR’s willingness to bring back four teams and then they would have to sign Kurt. Those are the necessary steps for a potential Newman at FRR deal and it would be another long shot.

We know Newman doesn’t want to just go to a Cup team to be in the Cup Series. He wants to compete for the championship and with very little options for him; he may not be back in a Cup car next season.

His alternatives then would be the Nationwide Series. Over the past few seasons, he has competed in select races for Turner Scott Motorsports so they would be a team for him to consider if they consider him first. Once again sponsorship comes into play, so that may not even be an option.

Regan Smith has been an example of a driver dipping down to the Nationwide Series, running competitive, and hoping to go after a Cup ride so Newman has that option.

You may think there are many potential rides for Newman next season, but when you really ponder it, there aren’t. He’ll really have to consider what his next career step will be or he may not even find a ride for 2014. The term silly season has never been truer than it is with Newman and for all of these “silly” situations to work out to keep him racing will be a tough. There could be more to the story than we know right now, but if there isn’t it could be bye-bye Newman for the 2014 NASCAR season.

Tweaker Energy Shot Back on Board for Indy with Bliss

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SM Archive

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July 23, 2013

NBC Will Cover NASCAR in 2015 While ESPN & Turner Are Out

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SM Staff

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July 23, 2013

NBC is quickly becoming the new face of motorsports television. They already hold the rights to Formula 1, Indycar, a few other forms of racing and will soon be broadcasting over half of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series & Nationwide schedule. The 10 year deal with NASCAR will give NBC the television rights to the final 20 Cup and the final 19 Nationwide races of the season. They will also be broadcasting the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the season-ending banquet, some regional touring NASCAR races and practice and qualifying sessions for the races they will cover.

Sports Business Journal broke the news on this major story earlier today and I was shocked that ESPN has been ousted. ESPN and Turner Sports have had a relationship with NASCAR that dates back to the 1980’s and it’s surprising me that they will no longer broadcast any races although I can’t say I’m disappointed. It’s no secret that ESPN’s number one priority is stick and ball sports while auto racing takes a back seat to that.

NBC has held the rights to NASCAR races in the past and seem to really care about motorsports coverage. With the demise of SPEED Channel, NBC Sports is quickly becoming the new No.1 destination for racing fans across the country.

Fox and NBC will share the Nationwide races as well as the Cup races and Fox has a deal to keep televise all Truck races through 2022. ESPN and Turner Sports both wanted to try to keep their NASCAR coverage but they weren’t willing to pay as much as NBC which was 4.4 billion dollars by the way. ESPN/Turner Sports paid 2.85 billion for the same races in their last deal with NASCAR.

In the end, this is good for NASCAR and it will bolster the quality of TV coverage for NASCAR races. This shakeup in television deals is also a perfect time for NASCAR to make some much needed adjustments to their schedule. Both Fox and NBC care a great deal about auto racing while ESPN is more stick and ball oriented so this is a will be for the better. NBC is no stranger to using split screen coverage during their open-wheel races so I’m assuming they will put that to good use with NASCAR which would be fantastic for the fans that are tired of watching five minutes worth of commercials every ten laps or so. I could see a motorsports themed show similar to the soon to be cancelled Speed Center popping up on NBC Sports in the future too. The only negative with this new deal is the fact that a contingent of race fans out there don’t have NBC Sports or Fox Sports 1 (SPEED) while practically everyone has ESPN.

Statements Below…

ESPN on Losing NASCAR TV Rights

“ESPN has enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship with NASCAR. We have tremendous respect for the France family, the drivers and all in the sport and wish them well. We will continue to serve NASCAR fans through SportsCenter and our other news platforms as we continue to enhance our industry-leading collection of quality assets.

“We are looking forward to the start of our Sprint Cup season and will continue with our deep commitment to the highest quality coverage.”

Turner Sports on Losing NASCAR TV Rights

“Turner Sports is proud of the partnership we’ve built with NASCAR over the past 31 years and the role our company has played in helping to grow the sport. We think NASCAR is an attractive property but we are disciplined in our approach to negotiating sports rights and could not come up with a business model that was financially prudent for our company.”

Brian France on New TV Deal With NBC

“NBC is known for being an exceptional partner and delivering outstanding production quality and presentation of live sports, as well as its broad portfolio of broadcast and digital properties so we are thrilled with the commitment they have made to NASCAR and its future.

We know this partnership will yield great value to our entire industry, provide a premium experience to our most important stakeholders, the fans, and help us achieve a number of strategic growth objectives. Our new partnership with NBC and the recent extension by FOX validate the strength of our fan base and the many bold steps we have taken the last several years to provide fans with better, more accessible racing.”