Redline Muldoon's Racin' Roundup
7 August 1997
Numbers? You want meaningful numbers? Stats that show the fantastic popularity of auto racing? Though the stick and ball sports garner all the sports page banners, no one can ignore the fact that in the past few weeks: Over 250,000 fans attended the Brickyard 400 100,00 were at the CART Michigan Speedway race. 97,000 people saw a regional vintage car event in Tustin, Ca 60,000 straight-line race fans saw the NHRA do its thing at Sonoma, Ca 20,000 watched trucks at IRP 32,000 race fans watched the Toyota Atlantics at Trois-Rivieres 73,000 open wheel racing advocates saw the night IRL race at Charlotte. Over last weekend there were 19 TV shows on the tube re cars/motorsports The first two weeks in August there are 42 fairly heavy duty, well organized points races taking somewhere around the U.S. That doesn't take in SCCA events or the various neighborhood bull rings. There are 46 racing organizations with points chases and here again that doesn't take in all the SCCA classes and a lot of the smaller ovals. And yet the American League leading Los Angeles (Disney) Angels drew a mere 22,000 baseball fans for a game last week against the Milwaukee Brewers. You figure. The SCCA announced they will stage a Trans-Am race on the streets of Grand Rapids, MI, July 24, 1998. It will be named after popular CART driver Scott Brayton. Formula One litigation is heating up re Bernie Eccelstone's control of TV rights. A German court is looking favorably on taking the rights away from Bernie and let producers bid for the rights. This has happened in England re Soccer TV. Alex Zanardi after winning the Michigan 500 was asked if the CART championship was foremost in his mind and he replied that it is not something that he wants very badly. Sure Alex. Zanardi's Target team has donated $26,000 to the St. Jude charities so far this year. Truck racing is big biz and now the trucks have found their way into NHRA racing and the Pro Stock trucks ran at Sonoma last week. Last week 18 CART teams tested at Mid Ohio for this Sundays points race. In F-1 Giancarlo Fisichella will drive for Benneton in 1998, Villenueve will stay with Williams (for now) and Honda motors may come back to the sport before long Damon Hill is asking for a pay raise to $10 mil. In the CART silly season Billy Boat will stay with A.J. Foyt and Dale Earnhardt will sponsor Gregg Hills IRL car next year. Riley Scott showed off their new IRL chassis at Charlotte and it will race at New Hampshire, Aug 17 with Olds power. Mark Dismore will drive. It costs $220,000 Cale Yarborough's crew chief Tony Furr appealed his 50 grand fine for messing with the carburetor in John Andretti's Ford at the Pepsi 400. He lost. Ford unveiled its NASCAR racer for 1998: the two-door Taurus and it meets all the NASCAR specs for safety, downforce, motor placement, window rake, etc. The Willy T. Ribbs/Pat Boone IRL announcement was premature. Boone says "race? Me? What's this all about?" Redline Muldoon -- The Auto Channel
