Hi Atlanta I'm really glad you're into supporting the IRL and Sam Hornish Jr and Helio (I won't spell his last name). I have been following OWR for many, many years. I was at the Indy 500 when A.J. Foyt won his forth(1977), I've been to both IRL and Cart races met with drivers in the pits, I could list them but if you really have been to these races you know how easy it is to talk to the drivers when you have a pit pass. From my experience all of the drivers I've spoken with think the drivers that drive road courses and street ciurcuts(sp?) are the best drivers in the world. If you want to see open wheel racing at it's best go to Eldora Speedway in OH. World of Owtlaws grass roots down home sprint car racing.
Most of those fans don't even bother following any other series cause they think WoO rules. I have a little bit of racing in my background. I went through the Barber Dodge Racing School in Rossland OH and competed in the Barber Dodge AM Series. I sucked and never came close to even getting a third, out of 11 drivers I finished ninth and my best finish was sixth place virtue of the three cars in front of me wrecked on the last lap of the last race. Running 90 to 120 mphs around the Mid Ohio Speedway for 8 weeks was some of the best times of my life, racing is something to enjoy and the competition is something to admire. I hate that people argue what is the best series, love it all. I watch Nascar just as much as I watch Irl as much as I watch Cart(really glad to watch that this year). You can't say who has the best drivers and who doesn't, because all of the top drivers in each of the series I mentioned would do well in each series respectively, just like the bad drivers just doing laps for dollars would be the same in each series.The arguement for any of these series being above Formula one is just foolish, the drivers in IRL & Cart themselves are aspiring to be formula one champs one day. I hope Sam gets his indy 500 victory this year, being with Penske should help him achieve that goal. Roger has a great way of putting the best stuff undernether the best drivers with the best pit crews. For the record I'm a huge Mario Andretti fan(see I can spell that) hence a Micheal fan and soon to be a Marco fan. Marco(Micheal's son) is fast moving through the racks of cart racing and making quite a name for himself so be on the look out for him in another three or four years.
***Hire a teenager while they still know everything.***