In fact, why not put on a historic Formula Atlantic race as well to further compliment and build interest and awareness in today's booming Mazda/Atlantic championship? A menu like that would provide a tremendous celebration of open-wheel racing and would be a great promotional hook to help build Champ Car's event at Road America. Surely, it's a no-brainer.
At the historic weekend, many people - fans and people in the business alike - asked me about the prospects for reunification between IRL and Champ Car. I'm afraid to say I had to give them my negative forecast. Most of them are very frustrated about the situation and see themselves losing interest as fans and worrying about their businesses if they work in the sport.
Many smaller car preparation shops and engine builders have found work in historic racing in recent years as open-wheel and sportscar racing have treaded water, and it's interesting to see how far afield the ripple effect of Tony George's dystopian vision has impacted the people who make a living from preparing, maintaining and developing race cars, racing engines and components. There's a deep-seated fear out there, way beyond the Indy/Champ Car world, that the Indianapolis-based mid-western racing business is rapidly losing steam as more and more teams and operations move south to Charlotte.
This broader realisation was driven home to me at the end of the first day of shooting at Road America. As he was packing his gear away, my cameraman, who had witnessed some - but, by no means, all of my conversations that day - made a quiet remark.
"I knew there were problems in this sport and that NASCAR had taken over from road racing," he said, "but I had no idea how sad it is for so many people."
