A.J. Allmendinger
A.J. Allmendinger says the only hope for the survival of open wheel racing in North America is if the Champ Car and Indy Racing League series unite.
The former open wheel racer switched to the NASCAR series this past season with the new Red Bull Racing Toyota team. Prior to that, he was the last American driver who had a real chance of contending for the championship in the Champ Car series.
"It’s sad to see that the two series have killed each other," he tells autosport.com. "It’s hard to say if it can ever get back to what it used to be.. but first things first – you’ve gotta have one series, so you don’t have to explain to the casual fan that ‘Hey, I race in this series, but it’s not the same as the cars racing in the Indy 500′".
"That kind of confusion is why it’s so tough for either Champ Car or IRL to get the casual fan back. The die-hard fans, the ones that have been into it from the start, you don’t need to get them. They’re there already, they’ll love it through the good times and the bad."
Talk of uniting the two open-wheel rivals has gained momentum the last few years with Honda playing a huge role in serious talks which took place between IRL boss Tony George and Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven in March of 2006. However, as in the past, unification talks stalled and this past year whatever progress there may have been made in 2006 seems to have been forgotten in 2007.
Allmendinger, who has struggled – along with the Toyota team – in his first full season of NASCAR competition, says he still misses open-wheel racing.
"Champ Cars were awesome cars to drive, the most fun cars I’ve ever driven and we took them to some real badass venues – Long Beach, Surfers Paradise, Toronto. They were awesome races to go to, and there is still a good potential package there – the racing and the venues are great.
"But the marketing and the sponsorship isn’t there, and for that you need one series. So be it Champ Car dying and IRL taking over, or the other way round – it needs to be one series. To have all the best open-wheel drivers on this continent racing against each other, you’d hopefully get some sponsors back and get a decent TV package.
"In the long term, it would work for the standard of the series too: you’d get drivers there on merit rather than because of how much money they bring."
Allmendinger was widely criticized by open-wheel supporters for abandoning Champ Car, especially after Gerald Forsythe rescued him from the unemployment line after he was released by RuSport Racing. He would go on to win five times for Forsythe Racing and provide a stiff challenge for Sebastien Bourdais in the championship. But before the year was out, he accepted a big money offer to go NASCAR racing.
Allmendinger adds its easy to understand the recent influx of other open-wheel racers such as Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve, Patrick Carpentier and Dario Franchitti into NASCAR.
"It’s opportunity," he says. "Between the Cup, Busch and Trucks, you can still make a living in racing. You can go out, show your talent, get noticed and move your career forward. Unfortunately right now you don’t have that in open-wheel racing in North America. It comes down to who has money, who can most help bring sponsorship in."
Source: Allmendinger: Champ Car, IRL must unite
