March 14, 1996 An Open Letter From Andrew Craig,
IndyCar President and CEODear Friends,
As IndyCar presents its first schedule of back-to-back races in Brazil and Australia this month, I wanted to take the time to review with you some of our plans and thoughts regarding the 1996 racing season. This open letter, which will originally appear on our PPG Indy Car World Series Internet Web Site, is intended to be read by all who share with us an interest in the present and future strength of U.S.-based, open-wheel auto racing at its ultimate level. This will be the first of several letters of this nature to be written throughout 1996, and I encourage you to pass this message as well as all others in the future to your friends and colleagues. Thanks in advance for your time.
Last year's PPG Indy Car World Series was the most successful running of the championship in history, and we have every indication that 1996 will be even better. Although some inclement weather at the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami presented by Toyota made the weekend particularly difficult, IndyCar's fans, officials, and competitors joined ABC and event organizers in persevering through the adversity for a first-class show.
Despite the less-than-ideal day, the event was run before a full-house of 60,000 while ABC stayed with us through the delays to ensure that everyone watching at home was able to see the entire race. Following 1995's downtown event, promoter Ralph Sanchez drew a packed house for the second consecutive year as well as the second time in row at the magnificent new Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex after last November's successful NASCAR Busch Grand National race. I am sure I speak for everyone within IndyCar in congratulating Ralph and his team on realizing the dream of building and operating one of the world's premier motorsports facilities.
The new track was a more than appropriate site to launch a PPG Cup season that shows promise like no other. We fully expect to exceed last year's record event attendance, outstanding television viewership and - most significantly - highly intense competition featuring the world's best drivers and manufacturers.
As usual, our primary mission in 1996 is to continue to operate and promote a world-class auto racing series open to all willing to take up the challenge of competing at the highest level. Both the drivers and manufacturers racing in the PPG Indy Car World Series in 1996 are once again a combination of the greatest behind-the-wheel talent and the most respected and successful automotive companies. The mix has resulted in a series that is as popular in North America as it is around the globe.
In fact, with the inaugural running of the Rio 400 in Brazil from March 14-17, IndyCar has taken another major step in its evolution as a truly international sport. For the first time in a quarter-century that U.S.-bred oval racing is being exported to a major international market. While I want to be clear that IndyCar will always remain a North American-based racing series, our aspirations for building the international exposure of the championship are great. This includes a limited schedule of oval races in key international markets such as Brazil with aspirations for oval races in Japan and Europe by the end of the century. Quite simply, the more fans and sponsors that can be exposed to IndyCar around the world, the stronger the series will become.
A perfect example of this is defending PPG Cup champions Barry Green and his renamed Brahma Sports Team. After winning both the series and Indy 500 last year, Barry's Team Green outfit was in a financial dilemma when both his primary sponsor and championship-winning driver, Jacques Villeneuve, moved on to pursue other interests at the conclusion of the season. Although things looked bleak for Barry's group last fall, they turned their fortunes completely around when Brazil's Brahma Beer signed on as the team's sponsor due in large part to the race in Rio and the popularity of the series in South America. The operation was renamed the Brahma Sports Team, Brazilian Raul Boesel signed on as the driver and about 40 direct jobs in the Indianapolis area, and likely many more in the race team supplier business, were saved. IndyCar's champions are back to defend their title wearing the traditional No. 1 on one of the best looking cars in the series.
IndyCar's international following also attracts top drivers from around the globe, which we celebrate through IndyCar's Nation's Cup. Drivers from the U.S. won the inaugural title in 1995 and began a swift defense in Miami. Anchored by Jimmy Vasser's first IndyCar win, U.S. drivers swept four of the top-five finishing positions and seven of the 12 points-paying spots. Clearly, U.S.-born drivers have no problem holding their own in IndyCar, but competition from around the globe in 1996 will make them earn every single podium appearance. In addition to the U.S., we take pride in the fact that drivers on the grid at Miami represented not only Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, Sweden, Italy and England, but also 125 IndyCar race wins and dozens of top-level, auto-racing championships.
The global diversity displayed through our drivers also is evident in the outstanding manufacturers racing in IndyCar today. The participating engine and tire manufacturers alone represent six of the world's top corporations. On the engine front, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Honda are joined this year by Toyota while global powers Goodyear and Firestone promise another outstanding tire competition this season. IndyCar's chassis manufacturers also add to the variety with defending champion Reynard taking on renewed threats from Lola and Penske and a new-found challenge from Dan Gurney's All American Racers Eagle.
This widespread influx of driving talent and manufacturing expertise in IndyCar delivers exactly what we have set out to produce for our fans - outstanding auto-racing competition with no single team enjoying an advantage in either engines, race cars or other components. A quick look at the top finishers at Miami alone indicates that the competition is intense and equal. Each of the first eight cars across the finish line employed entirely different engine, chassis and tire combinations. Vasser and runner-up Gil de Ferran both drove Reynard Hondas, but the winner rode on Firestones while de Ferran's car raced on Goodyears. Robby Gordon came third in a Reynard Ford on Goodyears, Scott Pruett was fourth in a Lola Ford on Firestones while Bobby Rahal rounded out the top five in a Goodyear-shod Reynard Mercedes-Benz. The diversity continued through sixth place with Christian Fittipaldi in a Lola Ford on Goodyears, seventh-place Greg Moore behind the wheel of a Firestone-tired Reynard Mercedes-Benz and Al Unser Jr. in eighth in a Penske Mercedes-Benz riding on Goodyears.
The information above provides clear evidence that IndyCar competition on the track is wide open on any given race weekend. In the larger view, however, the IndyCar organization in general is always open to any team or driver fast enough to qualify for a race.
This brings me to an important yet often misunderstood aspect about our organization - the Championship Auto Racing Team, Inc.'s franchise system. Similar to other major sports organizations like the NFL or the NBA, IndyCar is owned by its teams. In IndyCar, this ownership is divided in up to 24 equal franchises which are all held by the teams racing in the series. Yet, by no means is our series confined to only these franchise teams nor are the franchise owners guaranteed a starting spot in IndyCar events. They must qualify, just like everyone else.
Quite simply, and as alluded to above, IndyCar races are open to any driver and team fast enough to qualify for our races. Last year - arguably the year of the non-franchise team - was the best example of this. Team Green, Patrick Racing and the Tasman Motorsports Group were all non-franchise participants who did quite well in our series. They combined to win six races, seven poles, every 500-mile race and the PPG Cup Championship. Not bad! Other non-franchise teams that showed well were Comptech and Project Indy, the former winning the pole at the Marlboro 500 with Parker Johnstone behind the wheel.
IndyCar's commitment to open and free competition is also at the core of our motivation for the U.S. 500, which will uphold the very tradition of Memorial Day auto racing competition in the United States on Sunday, May 26th. The race mirrors our concept that it is the American way to open the door to all and let the best compete. And for IndyCar, the best means the likes of Al Unser Jr., Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Emerson Fittipaldi and the other stars of the sport.
These stars will be racing in the U.S. 500 and at every other race in the 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series. From top to bottom, IndyCar as an organization remains entirely united, and our officials, drivers, teams, promoters and participating manufacturers are all working together to provide our valued fans with the best possible racing series. Next up in the coming days and weeks is racing with an international flair with the Rio 400 on March 17th (same day coverage on ABC at 3:00 p.m. ET) and the IndyCar Australia on March 31 (same day coverage on ABC at 2:00 p.m. ET). I hope all of you tune in.
In closing, I would like to wish all of our competitors and participants in the PPG Indy Car World Series a safe and successful year. A great season of IndyCar racing remains ahead of us and, in addition to the stars of IndyCar, our 1996 PPG Cup champion will rank among the heroes of our sport. I extend the same wish for success to our departed champion, Jacques Villeneuve, who has nothing less than the full support of the entire IndyCar community as he begins his Formula One career. His pole-winning and race-leading performance in Australia this past weekend was nothing short of a champion's performance.
Finally, and most importantly, I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to our valued fans who, by their support, have made IndyCar racing what it is today.
Thanks again for the time, and I will see you at the races.
Sincerely,
Andrew Craig IndyCar President and CEO
Used by permission