Posted by
AudiR10TDI on Friday, March 07, 2008 12:00:00 AM
Toronto (March 7, 2008) -- Since this is my blog and I hate Tony George, I write today to excoriate the man who almost single handedly destroyed open wheel racing this month. Four races that I planned to attend this year have been cancelled willy-nillly, as a bunch of boys who bought the Champ Car World Series five years ago -- clearly as a tax write-off, as they did little or nothing to make a going concern of it -- have now dumped it into the hands who has been busy for the past 13 years trying single handedly to kill Champ Cars because thy would not let him be Bernie Ecclestone in America. Well now he has his wish. He has destroyed open wheel racing and now he reigns over the ruins. He has angered former fans, owners of teams who bought cars and equipment that turned overnight to scrap, alienated cities internationally who had contracts to run motor races this year including Houston where he has also alienated ALMS fans whose race was shot out from under them, and he has put millions of people out of work. All because he could not stand the thought of competition. Nobody in our former series is rushing to join his 1995 era series of ugly snorting cars in which 85% of the drivers suffer injuries requiring hospitalization, running around in a pack on an oval -- like watching marbles swirl down the drain -- and who visit such meccas as Iowa and Kansas to perform in front of their friends and any street people who will take a free ticket and sit upright in a seat.
Toronto, where certain classes of Greenies have ben trying to get rid of the single biggest money maker in the Province of Ontario because after all they moved to the biggest city in Canada for peace and silence (these are the people would literally prefer to die rather than allow the cops to have helicopters to chase home invaders -- too noisy!) will lose something like $50 million this year because the Roar by the Shore will be no more. Wait until these crying greenies realize amount of tax revenue this $50 million used to generate that will not be available for their pet projects this year. Wait until they discover that the millions of dollars that the CARACharities of Champ Car wives raised for local charities will not be forthcoming -- ever again. Tony George cares nothing at all for charity. He wants Power. and he needs his money to prop up his house of cards. Heck, even the charitable contributions of individual teams such as Chili Pepper Racing, which donated a sizeable amount of baby clothing (expensive, brand new items too), team swag and free racing tickets to a local drop in centre, will not be giving the kids any hope this year. Friends will not gather here, Canadian drivers will not be cheered here or anywhere else (Paul Tracy will not even drive this year save in the farewell race at Long Beach). Although Canadian races made up 35% of the open wheel fans in the past 12 years, we have been shoved out the door and told we have the choice of attending the Tony Go Round or --- well, the OR part is what Tony George forgot about.
Millions of us are going to watch beautiful cars in American Le Mans. Others are returning to Formula One now that it is totally without Schumachers. Others have turned to World Rally, A1GP, Atlantics (which stood alone for many years before Champ Cars) and European series.
But the one thing that we are not doing is dropping a dime for Tony George.
Happy trails to you, Tony. Get somebody to read you the poem Ozymandius espcially the last two lines. King of nothing but the desert. Enjoy. Alone.