Randy Bernard's Lonely Island

Thanks for playing Randy. Here's your parting gift!.

Is he out or is he in? (That's what she said)

The rumors are still spreading like wildfire, and while IMS and Mr. Bernard himself deny them, there's something missing in all this. As of today, I cannot think of one person currently involved with IndyCar who has voiced their support for Randy.

Not one owner, driver, board member, broadcast partner, manufacturer, race promoter, track president, track promoter, or major sponsor has gone on public record to voice their support for Randy Bernard as the CEO of IndyCar. So, why is it the fan base is almost unanimous in their support for Randy, but the people who either spend or make money in IndyCar have been silent on the issue?

Is it fear? If they believe that Randy is out and Tony George is back in, it makes sense not to support Randy for fear of retribution once Tony takes charge.

Are they tired of the BS? There's already enough attention to this story, why rock the boat and bring even more attention to the Series?

Do they even support Randy at all? Certainly some track presidents and team owners have been vocal in their displeasure with Randy, maybe those people speak for a silent majority.

Honestly, I don't know what it means, but I know it's not good for Randy.

What IndyCar needs right now is a leader who will bring all parties together to work towards the common goal of gaining fans. Get the drivers, tracks, owners, and sponsors all on the same page of providing the best product for the fan base. When none of these people come out to support a leader, is that leader worth keeping?

An Open Letter to Tony George

Dear Tony,

  Seems like you've been stirring up trouble again, and it's got a lot of people mad at you. As for me, I haven't formed an opinion as I have no idea what your plans are for IndyCar's future. That's why I'm writing you today. I think it would be to your best advantage to come forward and tell the world what you want to do.

  As you know, Dan Gurney wrote the "White Letter" in 1978 in response to the job your father was doing running USAC. Gurney clearly laid out what he thought USAC was doing wrong and how the owners should go about fixing these problems. The cars owners were very receptive to the ideas laid out in the "White Letter" and almost a year after he wrote it, CART ran their first race. I bring this up because you are now in Mr. Gurney's position. You are the owner who is frustrated with the current direction of the series, but unlike Mr. Gurney, you don't need to win over the other owners, you need to win over the fans.

  May I suggest that you gather your partners and lay out your plans for the future. Tell us, the fans, why we should support you. You know the major issues with the series, address them and how you would solve them. How would you plan to fix TV, attendance, and a lackluster schedule? I think if you address these issues, and give us you three, five and ten year plans, you might just win over the fanbase. If you announce a three year plan, you'll be three years ahead of the current administration. I think most fans would agree that right now IndyCar doesn't seem to have a vision for the future and is just trying it's best to just stay afloat. If you, and your partners, have a plan for the future it might put fans at ease for your takeover.

  You have the chance to write your own "White Letter" and win support. Don't waste this opportunity.

(But keep Beaux Barfield and Will Phillips around, thanks)

The Case for Tony George

I'll be back (if the rumors are true)

The rumblings of Tony George leading a group of investors that want to buy the IndyCar series aren't nearly as loud as the moans from IndyCar fans who don't want to see this happen, but I ask, "Would it really be that bad?" It will be an unpopular stance, but I'm going to make a case for why Tony's return may be good for IndyCar.

• The purse strings will be opened

We don't know who is involved with Tony, but we know they must have money. History also tells us that Tony isn't afraid to spend money to make IndyCar a better series. On the other hand, the current administration is only interested in not losing money. While I understand businesses need to profit, I also understand that in order to make money, you first have to spend money. IndyCar desperately needs to spend money on marketing and promotions, and (hopefully) Tony's new regime will be given free reign to spend, spend, spend!

• Tony George wouldn't be in charge

Ha! You thought I was making a case for Tony to be in charge, well I'm not. I'm making a case for Tony and Friends to buy the series, then put someone else in charge. 

The CEO I would choose for this new IndyCar is one of the rumored investors, Zak Brown. I'm not going to write Mr. Brown's biography here, but from what I have read about him, he has the drive and determination of Randy Bernard, but with a lifetime of experience in motor sport. How can you beat that? He also has a working relationship with several businesses that already invest money in sponsorship and to top it off, he owns his own race team, so he knows what the owners are up against. If Tony George buying IndyCar makes the fans riot, I'd hope that naming Mr. Brown as CEO would at least cause everyone to drop their pitchforks and  listen to what he has to say.

• The owners actually respected Tony

For one reason, or a million others, Randy Bernard's relationship with the owners has been tense. Not just the car owners, but the track owners and Presidents. There's the off, then on again relationship with International Speedway Corporation, and the shakey relationship with Eddie Gossage. Randy's called out car owners on Twitter, track president in the press, and has lost the battle of Aero Kits two years in a row. I honestly don't remember Tony having any issues like this during his tenure. In fact, I remember the owners actually coming together in support of Tony shortly after he was ousted. How often have all the cars owners come together like that? Wouldn't it be nice to have some peace and harmony in IndyCar again?

So we'd have an IndyCar not afraid to spend money, with a CEO that is experienced well respected throughout all of motor sports, and happy owners, what's not to like?

(Just keep Will Philips and Beaux Barfield around, please Mr. George)

Filling the gap

IndyCar's planner for September 2013 looks almost like this. Empty.

The only gap bigger than the one in IndyCar's schedule is the one between David Letterman's front teeth. Since there's enough criticism of the 2013 Izod IndyCar Series schedule, I thought I would just offer up some possible suggestions for filling that gap.

Let's start with July 20-21. Why? Because IndyCar is off that weekend, and so is Sprint Cup. It's not like this should be a surprise to anyone in the IndyCar offices, as Sprint Cup has traditionally taken the weekend before the Brickyard off. So, why not try to showcase the product on a weekend they'll get the most attention?

Now, it should be noted that Trucks and Nationwide race that weekend. In fact, they race just up the road most of the teams at a little track called Chicagoland. So, you've got a track within one tank of fuel from Indianapolis that's going to have all the necessary things needed to put a race on already in place, it's going to be cheap for the teams to get to, and if they really wanted to make it on the cheap, they could make it a one day show. Practice in the morning, qualify before the truck race, then race at night. Just a suggestion.

Then there's September the weekend of September 15. Again, the Trucks and Nationwide are going to be in Kentucky while Sprint Cup is somewhere else. Maybe this might be the weekend to try a true IndyCar/Nationwide double header? 250 Miles of tintops followed directly by 250 miles of IndyCar. 500 miles of action all for one low price and all on ABC/ESPN? Again, it's a cheap trip for IndyCar teams and all the personnel is already in place, so the full sanctioning fee wouldn't be needed.

Last, but not least, the trucks run Vegas in late September. I think the DW12 has shown itself to perform well on these tracks, and I think the time has healed our wounds, might be time to try night race in Vegas?

Time for IndyCar to Pay for Play

After reaching 194,000 people during the Edmonton broadcast, and not many more during the rest of the NBC races this season, it might be time for IndyCar to do something I long said they should never do. It's time for IndyCar to buy time on TV.

For a long time I was against this idea as I knew it devalued the product to potential broadcasters, but I don't think it's possible to devalue the product anymore than being on NBC Sports Network is already doing. Tracks and teams need to find sponsors, and when you only reach 200,000 or so during the majority of your season, it's going to get harder and harder to find sponsors. That's why it is time to look into paying to keep all the races on ABC/ESPN.

*GASP*

*HORROR*

Relax you ninnies. If IndyCar is paying for the season, that means they get to choose the on and off air talent. So, if your worried this means a full year of the Excitement Brothers (Scott and Marty), don't be. In fact, I think there are a lot of advantages to IndyCar paying to be on ABC/ESPN. The biggest would be that they own the time and in turn they would sell the Ad time. Why is that important?

Right now the teams, tracks, series, and TV are out looking for sponsors, but there is no combined effort between all the parties (or at least it seems like it). Now with TV and the Series under one umbrella it could be easier to offer potential sponsors package deals. For example....

If you are the primary sponsor of a car, you get a 10% discount.

If your TV advertising features an IndyCar driver, 20% discount. (This could lead to more sponsors cross promoting)

Want to sponsor a race? You get four free :30 spots on network TV.

Giving more value to team and race sponsor is exactly what this sport needs now and I've only scratched the surface with things IndyCar could do. Who knows, maybe for an additional low price IndyCar could convince these same sponsor to advertise on live stream during ESPN3 broadcasts.

Yes, I also realize there is the big question of who pays for this. I think IndyCar could go a long way in helping themselves by scheduling as many weekends as they can with other series. Truck, ALMS, ARCA, Grand Am, and even Nationwide. In the end, this is going to be one of those "to make money, you have to spend money," deals, but in the end I think it's worth the risk. Certainly can't hurt more than having your series finale potentially being seen by a combined 300,000 people.

Why is there no race this weekend?

It's the "Dead Season" for sports. There's no football, basketball, or hockey. Only sports going on in the US right now are Baseball and NASCAR. So, why has IndyCar decided this would be a good weekend to take off?

This should be the time of year that IndyCar is on a death march with no breaks between races. I'm not saying to dump the Canadian races, just asking why we can't race on the other weekends? Seems to me the best time to hold a race is when you have the least competition.

So, whats wrong with have a night race in Richmond this weekend?

Promenade to left....

 How does IndyCar decide on it's "partners?" We are quickly approaching Labor Day and by the time the second annual Baltimore Grand Prix will have (hopefully) run, it will be on it's third promoter. If IndyCar is that third promoter, then it's very likely that by the time the third annual Baltimore GP runs, they will have had FOUR promoters. What makes matter worse is that this was a very successful event.

 In 2011 a company was given the opportunity to promote Milwaukee, and proceeded to crash and burn. Here were are a year later and there's now a second promoter is running the race in Milwaukee. I hope that Andretti does well, and from what I gather, anything was better than the Avocado bunch.

 Lotus.

 Izod seems to have left town. Was it Dan's accident? Was it Danica's departure? Was the ROI much lower than expected? What is the introduction Lids?

 And then there's China, which also has no way to buy tickets. Penske and Ganassi have already made it known they aren't very happy about this race either and there seems to be very little talk on returning there next year.

 So, what's it take to be a "partner" with IndyCar?

 Where's the long term goal here?

 This wouldn't be so bad if it was just one of these things, but when you put them all together.... I just want to hear some answers.