What do I think of the unification of the Champ Car/IndyCar Series and what does the future hold for the unified IndyCar Series?

So, with last year’s IRL IndyCar Series Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti departing for NASCAR along with former series champion Sam Hornish Jr., and series champion and star Scott Sharp driving over in the American LeMans Series… so I ask this question to everyone, what do I think of the unification of the Champ Car/IndyCar Series and what does the future hold for the unified IndyCar Series?

When I first heard that of the Champ Car World Series and the IRL IndyCar Series was going to become one under the IndyCar Series banner, I had mixed thoughts on the unification, on one hand I was thinking that finally the IndyCar Series will have more competition not only more drivers going for the victory week in and week out, but larger fields and a better television package, one can only hope.

But on the flip side, first, the media kept making the mistake of calling this a merger, this was no merger, this was survival for the Champ Car Series and a buyout with Tony George and Tony getting exactly what he wants, he nearly destroyed open wheel racing in America which included the departure of a lot of good indy car drivers and now he gets his vision and basically complete control while the Champ Car World Series formerly known as CART is history after around 27 years.

Leading up to the Indianapolis 500 were I believe most of the teams will be on somewhat equal footing was an interesting blend, basically you had a big learning curve for the old Champ car drivers on the ovals and the opposite somewhat for the street circuit in St. Pete, plus you had the final showdown between the IRL IndyCar Series racing separately in Motegi, Japan, while the Champ Car teams where racing at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Like I said, while Homestead and Kansas where really no contest for the Champ Car drivers as they have little experience on ovals, however the street circuit at St. Pete was a good race all the way around and you know it was the perfect showcase for the old Champ Car drivers as the rising star Graham Rahal made history by capturing his first IRL IndyCar Series victory and in great style. If that wasn’t enough for a good showing for open wheel racing, the split weekend showed even more excitement for the rising stars as first at the IRL IndyCar Series series finale (before the series would become one again) in Motegi, Japan, as Danica Patrick (who I have been watching since she raced years ago in the Toyota Atlantic Series) made history by capturing her first victory in the Indy Car Series and becoming the first female to win a IndyCar series event.

Specking of Champ Car World Series (formerly CART) series finale, the Long beach Grand Prix, which was a good one, you had a full 20 car field that was exciting as an open wheel race could be with one of the series raising stars winning the race after going from starting fourth to leading the race by turn 1, Will Power. Fans also say what could as well be the final appearance of some of the open wheels great drivers including one of my favorite’s Paul Tracy, who reminds me of Tony Stewart, it was also cool to see Jimmy Vaser racing one more time in couch tour, so in the end, goodbye Champ Car/CART, you had a good run.

With that said, So what about the future of the IndyCar Series? Now that the two series has become one, this is where the series history will begin and it’s only fitting that this will happen at the biggest spectacular in Motorsports today, the famous Indianapolis 500.

When it comes to the future of the IndyCar Series, I see success depending upon what the series does next starting with who are the drivers? Well I am glad to see that at least 9 drivers have made the trip from the Champ Car World Series over to the unified series including Oriol Servia, Will Power, Bruno Junquiera, Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal to name a few, however one driver I don’t see on the list is Paul Tracy, who in my opinion is key to the success of the series especially at the Canadian races, not to mention his character is unmatched by most drivers. Fans either love him or hate him and that’s huge, it’s headline news and he’s one of my favorite drivers. Tracy is not afraid to get into someone’s face, nor race hard for any position. Looking on down the line, what about Alex Tagliani or Kathrene Legge, where do they stand? Like I said drivers are key and more American drivers will help the series grow in America, Paul Tracy is key in Canada.

Where does the schedule go from the current one? Adding races like Portland International Raceway, Exhibition Place in Toronto, Road America, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico to name a few would make for a good combination, while removing Richmond would be good, it’s just not exciting.

How about the next generation indy car - turbo, supercharger or normally aspirated engines, this is the drivers and teams area, I’m staying clear this one. Well that’s it for now as I turn my attention to the 92th running of the Indianapolis 500, the rest of the 2008 season and a better 2009 season. Comments. (Photo Credit: Motorsport.com)

- Racedriven