"A DP (Daytona Prototype, ed.) is nothing more than a late seventies Trans-Am car with more bodywork. They're an antique, tube-frame car and the mentality of the people we have to deal with is equally antique.
They don't want change, they don't want technology. They're not interested in selling technology and I think it's going to kill them in the long run. They're just hurtling toward the cliff and they don't seem to realize it."
The scathing quote above from Rob Hill, Director of Operations at Extreme Speed Motorsport from a must read article by Gordon Kirby on the state of the new NASCAR owned United Sport Car Championship. read then, discuss...
It is telling when the far more advanced cars are running consistently 2-3 seconds behind the antique. Teams who have invested millions in advanced technologies won't play for long with the rules the way they are.
ReplyDeleteWhy do people care about the DP, whether they race or not? Whenever I see people talking about it, it just looks like bitching for the sake of bitching.
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain?
Sounds pretty NASCAR to me. Who hasn't heard the joke "The rulebook is written in pencil" when referring to their oval racing rules.
ReplyDeleteThe reference about not wanting technology is spot on. They didn't even have fuel injection until 2012 and it's just body kits over a steel tubed frame (Remind me where to get that version of the Ford Fusion again?).Even the newer models still look behind the times. The competition yellow late in the race was comical.
I'm optimistic though. At worst the DP's can just start their transition as the NASCAR of the Future if things go terribly wrong after a few seasons. ;)
Some serious issues with the 'new' series format if these statements are accurate, and I don't doubt the sincerity of the interview. The days of just showing up at the track and wrenching on the suspension to make everything work properly are long gone, but it seems the 'suits' can't quite grasp the concept of multi-million dollar development and budgets that aren't supported by big-name sponsors who get exposure every weekend of summer/fall (like NASCAR).
ReplyDeleteThe problem I have with this interview is that it isn't clear when it took place - obviously, things could be taken out of context given the Ford-based performance vs. the Chevy-sourced cars. Is this a sour-apples interview (I don't think so, but the overall results could skew the veracity of the statements here)?
I hope they don't screw this series with petty micro-managing last-minute rule changes, it's bad enough F1 is blind to the horrible, awful, good-for-nothing coverage provided by NBC. Messing with the only true televised American sports-car series will simply kill the already small audience, because I won't be watching the fat pigs circle Charlotte or Atlanta - many of us will find something else to do on a Saturday/Sunday afternoon. TUDOR only has a few chances to get this right.
I think the USCC has been whiffing left and right since Grand-Am acquired ALMS, and it pains me that they have been. Everything about it - the awful brand identity/name, the perpetually late rulebook, the massive 'who gives a shit' about team's budgets, the crap MRN radio coverage during the Rolex, the comprehensively un-sporting manufactured yellows - is at best a huge missed opportunity and at worst the undermining of the soul of the sport.
ReplyDeleteHaving worked both in Grand-Am and ALMS, I can say that the passions run high among all the team owners and drivers, but it's stunning to hear that ESM - which is not exactly a "poor" privateer - had to come up with an additional $1.5m on a few months' notice.
I hereby hope that fans keep bitching constructively, keeping the flamewarring to a minimum, and that the ACO starts dropping the hammer on the NASCAR folk.
Well, of course this is how they're going to treat the recently acquired ALMS cars and teams.
ReplyDeleteAs near as I could tell they were never interested in coming up with a real equivalency formula, or having anything other than the DP cars be the top of the series.
This doesn't surprise me one bit.