Q: With Andretti Global/Cadillac, Honda and Porsche all having expressed interest in taking over an existing team, which one in your opinion will have the strongest case for being granted entry into F1?
Mark Corrigan, Croydon, England
CM: I think Honda is most likely to take over an existing team — or at least invest in one and become the power unit partner — based on its existing work and technology, but I believe Porsche would have had the strongest case as a new entrant if it wanted to be one. That’s assuming it would have been a full works team with its own power unit, because that’s what makes an entrant more attractive to F1 and the FIA. But regardless, it appears Porsche’s interest has cooled as it couldn’t find the right partner and I was never aware of it wanting to be its own new team.
So of the three you mention that only leaves Andretti applying to be granted an entry (the other two just wanting to join forces with/take over an existing team), and it has a decent chance if it’s willing to pay whatever entry fee F1 now decides is an acceptable figure. And that’s a big if.
Q: What are you hearing about the NASCAR race in Chicago?
I’ve been watching the evening news on various local TV stations, and the only station really covering NASCAR is WFLD-32, and occasionally NBC-5, (because they have to, since the race will be on NBC). The rest (TV, radio and newspaper) have only been airing the negatives about it.
For example the (legitimate) whining and moaning about the six to eight weeks that Lake Shore Drive will be shut down, cutting off the main thoroughfare for summer visitor traffic to the lakefront and access to the Shedd Aquarium.
Another major foul-up: the dates for the closure and race coincide with the very popular “Taste of Chicago” event, held in the very same Grant Park where the race is. An effort to relocate the event to Navy Pier was scuttled when Navy Pier refused to take it, because the main way to get there is the very same Lake Shore Drive that will be mostly closed during the race. Cooler heads prevailed, and it was rescheduled for September, but not before a ton of bad press.
The current Mayor, Lori Lightfoot, who rammed it through, has been voted out of office, and neither of the two runoff candidates has voiced any support for the race. Don’t expect to see either of them rolling out the red carpet. Nor will the aldermen in whose districts it will be running — all are against it.
Finally, the local TV sports shows, if they show any racing at all, only show crashes, or in the case of ABC-7 tonight, they only showed a segment of Ross Chastain tossing a watermelon off the tower at COTA, but not one clip of the race, or information about who won — the anchor only commenting “that’s really weird.”
You can remind the NASCAR brass about how Chicago is not a great sports town as they claim: It’s a great Cubs (baseball) and Bears (football) town. No other team, no other sport gets as much year-round press as those two. IMHO, if this race is a success, it better be a $mashing $uccess, otherwise my guess the new mayor will find some loophole in the contract to end it.
Sorry to be Bobby Bringdown.
John Becker
KELLY CRANDALL: You’ve pretty much covered it all. There has been plenty of criticism and skepticism from locals around the race, but NASCAR is forging ahead. NASCAR believes this race is going to be a one-of-a-kind event, and they are planning for it to be more than just a race with all the entertainment and other festivities promoted around that weekend. There might not be a lot of local promotion, but NASCAR is doing everything it can to remind people they are racing through the streets of Chicago. Just look at how Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was sent to that market during his victory media tour.
When Lori Lightfoot was voted out of office, I know there were questions about whether the event was going to go forward because she was a big proponent of it and has given it support, so I reached out to a fellow media colleague who is based in Chicago. He told me what I suspected, which is that a contract is in place, and this year shouldn’t be affected by that. However, going forward, it’s anyone’s guess if NASCAR will be back.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, March 26, 2014
Q: Gary Bettenhausen was one of my favorite open-wheel drivers. I was in awe of how he chased with all his might, the family dream to be an Indy 500 winner. His father was a rookie in 1946, and Gary drove his last Indy 500 in 1994. I thought about how many changes took place at Indy from when Tony Sr. first started and when Gary finished. I suspect Gary detested many of those changes.
After reading your obit on Gary I also thought about the personal tragedies he endured with his dad dying at Indy, Merle losing his arm, Tony losing his life in a plane crash and his own debilitating injuries. I know Gary was broken-hearted about the family never winning the Indy 500, but was he bitter too? I never got a reading on how Gary viewed his career.
Gerry Courtney, San Francisco, CA
ROBIN MILLER: Other than stating the obvious about his family’s bad luck at Indy, I never heard a bitter word from GB. He charted his own course and I think he was very satisfied with all that he accomplished and how he did it. Sure, a few years ago he admitted he probably should have listened to Penske and concentrated on Indy cars only, but it didn’t bother him. We’d kid him about being the first five-time Indy winner if he wasn’t so stubborn and he’d laugh and roll with the punches. But he was beloved by so many because of that hardheaded spirit, his work ethic and the fact he could still win races with one arm. They played “My Way” to end his memorial service last Saturday night, and nothing says it better.