"Hello and Welcome to ESPN Speedworld, your number 1 source for all things Auto Racing! I'm Bob Varsha and tonight, we have a news-filled hour from series broadcasted here on ESPN. We will talk everything from NASCAR, Formula 1, IMSA and our starting subject for today's edition, Indycars. Here, with us on the phone, is Indy Star reporter and perhaps the biggest Indycar fan there is, Robin Miller! It's a pleasure to have you with us, Robin."
"Pleasure is mine, too, Bob. And thanks for that intro, it's probably the best intro I've ever had!"
Varsha: "No problem, Rob! Now, of course, we got plenty to talk about in Indycars, such as Jeff Gordon signing with Chip Ganassi, Honda expanding its presence across the grid, Tony Stewart going full time with Menard and so much more later on the program, but Robin, the biggest stories in Indycars right now comes from the ongoing CBA meeting between Indycar Inc, the teams union CART and the drivers. And how about we start with said drivers, they are now forming the first Indycar drivers union, led by Michael Andretti and Jeff Gordon."
Miller: yes, and many in the paddock are definitely saying "It's about darn time!" In the past few years, especially at Indianapolis itself, there has been some vicious crashes, such as the one that took Jovy Marcelo's life in 1992 and just last year, with Stan Fox's car completely disintegrating and ending his career. Naturally, the drivers have been calling for improvements in Safety across the tracks that Indycars are competing at. They felt that it was time to unite their voices, and thus, they created the Indycar Drivers Association to advocate for safety improvements on the cars and the tracks.
Varsha: and that will make CART's life a bit harder now, since they now need to negotiate with both Indycar Inc. For the distribution of TV and sponsorship money And the IDA in terms of minimum driver wages"
Miller: yup, and I won't name names, but a few team owners and executives at Indycar Inc. don't really see the formation of the IDA in a good eye. This year's meetings and future CBA negotiations are definitely gonna get more heated. A positive thing being pushed forward, however, is the introduction of the SAFER Barrier, which is seeing use in NASCAR in recent years and could be making it's way to Indycars."
Varsha: that would be really good for the sport's concerns on safety. Now, the other big issue not only concern indycar racing, but perhaps the entire future of motorsports, as the Tobacco industry, which invests significant amounts of money across auto racing, is facing even more pressure from governments worldwide, especially with the various lawsuits that companies like Phillip Morris international, parent company of series sponsors and Team Penske Sponsors Marlboro, have been involved in."
Miller: ooh boy, the threat is very real. A lot of teams are financed by Cig companies, and, as you said, the series is sponsored by one. It's kinda laughable, to be honest, to see those warning stickers on cars sponsored by cigs and alcohol while proudly showing them everywhere. Indycar and the teams really needs to do something soon, cause when it hits the fan and cigarette sponsorship will be banned, it ain't gonna be pretty. And I do believe it is a question of when it happens."
Varsha: times of uncertainty indeed. Not just for the future of Marlboro as title sponsor of the series, but also in terms of the schedule this year. It appears that we might be getting Indycar's first international races outside of north America since the 1970s, when Jackie Stewart won at Silverstone, England, in 1978. Already, the Jacarapegua circuit in Rio De Janiero, Brazil, just paved a unique trapeze-shaped oval out of the backstraight of the former Formula 1 track, while negotiations are ongoing to add the Adelaide Grand Prix, the former site of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, to the calendar for Indycar's first foray to Australia, while the New England 200 will be put on temporary hiatus, at least for this year."
Miller: yeah, it saddens me to see New Hampshire being temporarily off the calendar this year. New England is a market that I believe would work in Indycars, and personally, If there is a race to remove, I personally would've picked Mid-Ohio, one of the more quiet races on the calendar and we already have a more entertaining race at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland to represent Ohio, but hey, I'm just a fan, and Indycar management is clearly looking to capitalize on Ayrton Senna's worldwide popularity and the Brazilian presence in the series, so from a business point of view, expansionism is always a good thing. The thing is, not every team has the money to travel to Rio and Australia, unless Indycar Inc is willing to pay the travel and logistics fees, which is what is being discussed right now in those meetings and is the sticking point that will determine whetehr we go to Brazil and Australia or not."
Varsha: finally, the full time american rookies quota, implemented in 1984, is also a talking point among teams and Indycar Inc. The current quota is a minimum of 3 full time american rookies, and many teams, mainly the smaller ones, are seeking to either reduce it or completely abolish it in the more extreme cases."
Miller: this is honestly really silly. It's only so they can hire pay drivers. I'll be honest, Indycar Inc. Should do more to support the smaller teams on the grid as well as in the lower series, definitely. However, removing the quota is not the way to go. Indycar is and will always be an American series at heart, and it is important for american racing to have Americans stars like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. It's thanks to that quota that we now have those two amazing young men revolutionize racing with their unprecedented versatility. They really are modern day Mario andrettis and AJ Foyts. If there was no quota, they would be in NASCAR right now. Well, okay, Jeff Gordon is racing in Winston Cup, but only part time...You know what I mean."
Varsha: We understand. Thank you for joining us, Robin, it's been a pleasure to hear your opinions on the behind the scenes stories of Indycar racing."
Miller: thank you for inviting me on the show."
Varsha: alright, we'll take a short break, and when we come back, we will go through the 1996 Marlboro Indycar World Series teams and Drivers lineups alongside Derek Daly, and still to come, NASCAR Winston Cup news with Benny Parsons and the 1995 Formula 1 season roundup with David Hobbs. Don't go away!"