Enough Is Enough
By Jim Murphy

©1996 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.

The power brokers in the sport of Indy car racing must have some of the shortest memories in the history of mankind.

The 1996 baseball season threw out their first pitch this past week, beginning the first full baseball season in 2 years. The sport of baseball is still healing from its self-inflicted wound of greed.

And even before the first strike is called, IndyCar (err,umm CART?) and the IRL have wasted no time in picking up the act where baseball left off. Tony George and Andrew Craig have both managed somehow to distinguish themselves as folks that who've lost touch with THE most important element in the sport....the fan.

Neither side in this dispute is blameless. It's impossible to tell "who started it", as this is really a continuation of the fundamental issue that resulted in CART's formation 16 years ago. But there is enough blame to go around when it comes to ignoring the fans.

Tony George has an admirable goal; it's his methods that leave me out in the cold. The Indy 500 is more than a sporting event, it's a way of life for those of us who bleed methanol. To use the '500' as leverage for the new league doesn't show much respect for the fans that made the event.

Enter Andrew Craig. It's one issue to have the US 500. But to go and schedule it DIRECTLY OPPOSITE the Indy 500 only sends one message: that the fans are being leveraged as a pawn. We are no longer passive observers, we have been pulled in as combatents. There is no middle ground left. If I wanted to take sides, I would. Now I have to choose, and that is not appreciated.

And it keeps going on. CART claims that the IRL doesn't respect tradition, then they go and publish the 1996 record book, and it only includes the last 16 years of racing, ignoring the traditions and history of Indy racing going back to 1911.

The good news is that we've seen some good racing (particularly at Rio), and we've seen some new talent (Stewart, Hearn, Calkins).

I think Steve Horne, owner of Tasman motorsports, said it best when he remarked that Andrew Craig and Tony George should "lock themselves into a room and not come out until they agree."

Gee, seems like the same thing my mother pulled on my sister and I when I was 7 years old.

OK, here's my plan...

The PPG IndyCar World Series would consist of a mix of road and oval races, governed by a board made up of a Promoter/Track owner rep, a team owner rep, and a sponsor rep.

The "Hulman Trophy" would be awarded to the driver who earned the most points on the ovals only, 10-12 races.

The "Donahue Trophy" would be awarded to the driver who earned the most points on the road courses only 10-12 races.

The PPG IndyCar World Series Champion would be the driver who earned the most points in 16 races split across both types of venues. There would be minimum participation rules such as run in at least 6 of each type of race, as well run in "mandatory events", such as Indy, Michigan, Laguna and Road America for example.

Wait! there's a flaw in this plan. I've been told it has a characteristic that is obviously a show-stopper in this circus: It makes sense.