Turning the Corner – Like many racing fans, Sports Car Digest longs for the old days. This longing has led to the rise of vintage racing, and the ensuing rise in parallel businesses. And, thank heavens for it.
We race enthusiasts miss the old days, not only for sports car racing, but also for open-wheel racing. While the last few years have been relatively positive for the former, the same cannot be argued for the latter, as the last 12 years have been painful with the division between CART and IRL.
Former CART and IRL driver Scott Goodyear hopes that will change, saying, “As a driver who has run in the heyday of CART and in the Indy Car Series, I have had a chance to see the best of both worlds. Unification is the beginning of the revival of open-wheel racing in the United States.
I am excited about the future of open-wheel racing in this country. Although rebuilding and growth might be a long process, there was a time when Indy-car racing was the series of choice in America. When I first joined CART as a full-time Indy-car driver in 1990, it was the NASCAR of today. For the most part, Indy-car drivers were better known, were paid higher salaries, had more endorsements, and were the idol of many young racers across this country.
As a young racer, you aspired to race Indy-cars and compete in the Indy 500. I am not saying that the NASCAR trend will change overnight, but it’s a spring change or a wing adjustment in the right direction.”
SCD wholeheartedly agrees.
[Source: IRL/Indianapolis Motor Speedway]
Recent Comments