ROAD RACING AT INDY
I’m sloooowwwly starting to support
this race. How much can it really
hurt? It’s worth a shot..
SMR223
When you see how empty the place
will look it will remind you how big
IMS is and how difficult it is to fill it.
More importantly it dilutes the Indy
500, that is the biggest travesty.
toneloc
Unfortunately, a great many IndyCar
fans are still trapped in 1975, thinking
that the 500 is still the be all and end
all of American racing. Attendance
for the race is still a shadow of what
it once was, and nobody shows up
for practice and qualifying. Anything
they can do to get people to show
up during the month of May is better
than leaving it as is.
John B
The good news: come July USCC will
have a more interesting road course
to compete on!
Bakkster
heaRd on RaceR.coM
116
Compelling stories
I have to disagree with Peter
Morgan’s comment about Jackie
Stewart’s story being less
“interesting” [“The Spirit of ’ 76”
RACER, September] – the back story
of the Francois Cevert-Stewart
relationship is just as compelling,
if not more so, than the James Hunt-Niki Lauda story.
I was at my first GP finish line at the
Glen in ’ 71 when Cevert won [BELOW].
I directed him back to the garage area
after his car expired at the Glen
6 Hours, and in 1973 witnessed part
of his fatal crash. The memory of
wandering into the garage the next
morning and spotting the boxed-up
nose/wing pieces propped up with
CEVERT clearly visible through a slot in
the crate is etched in my mind.
The Editors are not
bound to agree with
readers’ opinions.
RACER welcomes
your letters, if sent via
U.S. Mail or e-mailed
to letters@racer.com.
Or, log onto RACER.com
and click on the link
provided on the
home page.
I am looking forward to seeing
Rush if for no other reason than to
get Bobby Deerfield and Driven
ripped from my memory banks for
good. One of the things that has
been picked up on is how deadly the
era was. One article I saw said since
Senna, F1 has been really safe and
was not as deadly as portrayed –
missing the point that it is safer
because of Lauda and Stewart, and
the loss of so many friends.
Hopefully, Stewart-Cevert is
another picture waiting to happen if
Rush is a success.
David Fahey via e-mail
Horse pucky
The September issue of RACER reports
that when asked what he would like for
his birthday, Ferrari driver Fernando
Alonso replied, “Someone else’s car.”
This remark earned him a stern rebuke
from company management.
Alonso’s reply brought to mind an
incident when Ferrari fired its driver
Alain Prost in 1991 after he likened
his racecar to a truck.
For crying out loud, why does
everybody dump on the Prancing Horse?
Fredric H. Karr via e-mail
FALL 2013
People power still trumps
I find it amusing when F1 fans get
delirious about Rush because they
think it will expose people to how
cool grand prix racing is and that
will transfer NASCAR’s popularity
to F1. They’re nuts.
The real lesson of Rush is that
whether you are talking about F1,
NASCAR, or racing spaceships, the
human drama is what is compelling
to people. What makes Rush a good
movie is not what or where Hunt and
Lauda are racing, but the depiction
of their dedication and their
character. Setting is secondary.
Ken Lockwood via e-mail.
Robin Miller’s look at prospects for
IndyCar’s return to Road America and
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca brought
record viewing figures to RACER.com.
STAR LE T TER
FALL 2013
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