What Series Have Outlived Their Usefulness?

[Layla's Keeper]

Well folks, how about we stir up the pot here. Time's are slim and there's not enough sponsorship money to go around. We've got too many race series, and it's time to prune the tree a little. So, what can be discarded? What do you say we should chuck in the scrap bin?

Here's my list:

USAR Hooters Pro Cup: We've got ARCA in the south and ASA in the north. We don't need another touring short track stock car series, certainly not one that runs outdated Busch Grand National cars instead of Late Models like ARCA and ASA so that teams can't cross over.

Busch North and Winston West: 'effin go run ARCA or ASA, guys. Same touring expense but with TV coverage.

WoO Late Models: Xtreme Dirtcar Series has a good TV deal and good car counts, and the World of Outlaws is going through ownership changes. Now is not the time to be branching out. Remember the fiasco that was WoO2?

NATCC: I know that NASA wants to beat the SCCA at their own game, but they won't. Sorry, SCCA > NASA every friggin' day of the week. Scrap this sorry series and let the guys come run Speed World Challenge. We've got TV coverage.

Trans-Am: Surprisingly, Trans-Am isn't quite dead. But a new series using the same formula that isn't run by that egotistical prick Paul Gentilozzi has shown up and stolen the Trans-Am's thunder. Either give the name to the new series or let it die gracefully instead of allowing Paul Gentilozzi to run it into the ground.

CART/OWRS/Champ Car/whateverthefucktheydecidetocallit: You had your chance. You lost. Give up. And Kevin Kahlkhoven, Gerald Forsythe, and Paul Gentilozzi can SHUT THE FUCK UP. The IRL won. Deal with it and go buy some Dallaras and Cosworth-Chevies.

So, what's your take? Do you want to defend your series, or add your own?

[-The Stig-]

Whatever it takes to get more Rally Coverage on TV is fine by me. Even if it takes doing away with all those series you listed...

Go Rally or Go Home.

[kfoote]

Originally Posted by Layla's Keeper

...USAR Hooters Pro Cup: We've got ARCA in the south and ASA in the north. We don't need another touring short track stock car series, certainly not one that runs outdated Busch Grand National cars instead of Late Models like ARCA and ASA so that teams can't cross over.

Theoretically, it's a stepping stone to Busch South, so it's not totally useless, but it's not the best series out there

Busch North and Winston West: 'effin go run ARCA or ASA, guys. Same touring expense but with TV coverage.

I think these series are both still useful, primarily because they're local series. It's a long haul from New England or California to the South or Midwest. A lot of the people in these series have real jobs as well, which makes it tough to travel 800+ miles for a race every week.

WoO Late Models: Xtreme Dirtcar Series has a good TV deal and good car counts, and the World of Outlaws is going through ownership changes. Now is not the time to be branching out. Remember the fiasco that was WoO2?

Not really familiar with WoO late models or WoO2, but this sounds like a bad idea.

NATCC: I know that NASA wants to beat the SCCA at their own game, but they won't. Sorry, SCCA > NASA every friggin' day of the week. Scrap this sorry series and let the guys come run Speed World Challenge. We've got TV coverage.

Most of the NATCC cars are either self funded or have limited sponsorship, and are basically looking for somewhere where they can play and have fun. Also, it's primarily a west coast series, where SWC is primarily east coast.

Trans-Am: Surprisingly, Trans-Am isn't quite dead. But a new series using the same formula that isn't run by that egotistical prick Paul Gentilozzi has shown up and stolen the Trans-Am's thunder. Either give the name to the new series or let it die gracefully instead of allowing Paul Gentilozzi to run it into the ground.

Not quite dead, but pretty close. A lot of the Trans-Am regulars are moving to other series for 2004, and the future does not look too good for the series in its current configuration.

CART/OWRS/Champ Car/whateverthefucktheydecidetocallit: You had your chance. You lost. Give up. And Kevin Kahlkhoven, Gerald Forsythe, and Paul Gentilozzi can SHUT THE FUCK UP. The IRL won. Deal with it and go buy some Dallaras and Cosworth-Chevies.

I sincerely hope this is not the end for CART, but again, it's not looking great. If OWRS goes away completely, the biggest benificiary may end up being not IRL, but ALMS, as there are many people who blame Tony George for this whole thing, and will end up supporting anything but IRL.

So, what's your take? Do you want to defend your series, or add your own?

If OWRS goes away, then so will all the feeder series (Toyota Atlantics, Barber Dodge (season cancelled for '04)) as well. Star Mazda will likely be the beneficiary if these series go away.