Face Facts, IRL Crazies: Tony George Is a Moron

I apologize in advance for the some of slightly more colorful language this article contains near the end. If you are easily offended, do not read this. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

The recent newsbreak and subsequent official denial of Tony George being ousted as CEO of IMS has opened up a lot of old wounds from the all-too-recent US open-wheel war. And those of us who have taken a wiser approach in analyzing history based on facts—rather than opinion—have gotten a good look at just how crazy and fanatical both sides of the argument can be.

But it's the people who were on the IRL's side of the conflict who have clearly deluded themselves the most. It's not too late for some of these people—many are simply people who were misled by other fans upon their exposure to US open-wheel racing. Others are simply those who refuse to consider the possibility that their opinion is nothing more than an opinion.

But today I am here to provide a reality check to anyone who is actually willing to listen to FACTS instead of opinion.

The fact is that Tony George is a moron. No, that's not an opinion, it's fact backed up by the following facts:

1. Prior to the split, CART was the most popular racing series, not only in the history of US open-wheel racing, BUT IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MOTORSPORTS. It had sellout crowds at every event, the best TV ratings any series had ever had, and it even attracted enough international attention to make Bernie Ecclestone feel threatened. It's also worth noting that prior to CART's rise to the top, the IMSA GT Championship was No. 1 in the US.

2. Not one original IRL principle exists in the current series. AJ Foyt called the current IRL "CART Lite." And that's what it is. It's CART with more ovals, crappy cars, and next to zero fans.

And most importantly, 3. THE INDY RACING LEAGUE HAS NOT TURNED A PROFIT SINCE IT'S INCEPTION (I'm talking about the SERIES, not the TEAMS). Unlike CART, which continued to turn a profit until around 2000.

You're going to look at this and tell me that, solely because they came out on top, the IRL had it right? I might buy into that if they won while at least one of their original principles was still intact, and if they had turned a profit, but I'm sorry, this merger has only gone to prove that the IRL did everything wrong.

The only reason a merger happened is because Tony George made a desperate bid for unity and made the Champ Car ownership an offer that they couldn't refuse.

I fully expect IRL fan hate comments from this, but if you aren't willing to face facts, that's not my problem. The sad thing is, fans who aren't willing to face the truth of things are doing more to slow—or even stop—a return to glory for US open-wheel racing.

Let me put it this way—Those three facts I presented earlier? No. 1 is the most important of them all. CART was popular for a reason—No matter whether it was on an oval, road course, or the crappiest of street circuits, the racing was ALWAYS excellent. The IRL can't make a street circuit exciting (with the sole exception of St. Pete)—they're racing mostly on road courses that don't suit open-wheelers, making it difficult for them to put on the best show there, and they can't even produce a good OVAL race half the time. Even this year's Indy 500 was horribly boring—if it wasn't for the big story surrounding Helio Castroneves, there would have been nothing worth seeing.

The IRL is only capable of putting on a good show at Iowa, Richmond, Texas, Watkins Glen, Chicagoland, Motegi, and St. Petersburg. Only THREE of those events (Watkins Glen, St. Petersburg, and Texas) are GUARANTEED to put on a good show. Everywhere else they go is a guaranteed bore.

The IRL can't put on a better show than GRAND-AM most of the time. This is the brilliant vision of the great Tony George? You have got to stop gobbling up Tony George's crap. No matter how you dress it up, it's still just a big turd. Tony George must be removed from a position of power over anything other than Vision Racing—immediately. It is the only way US open-wheel racing can recover.

I'll end this by reminding everyone that I am a post-unification IRL fan. I complain because I care. The only way to effect change is to accentuate the negative—make it clear what must be fixed. That's what I am doing here. If you don't like it, then don't come whining to me if nothing gets fixed because nobody complained.