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A sad reality

Thursdays news that Gil D/Dragon racing has shut down operations truly sucks. Obvious fan favorite Tony Kanaan is staring a sad reality in the face, with a shaky future following his "mutual" release from Andretti, not to mention the future of 2009 ROY Rafa Matos, assuming Rafa was part of the Dragon plan for this season. The thought of a 500 without Tony is hard to swallow, especially after that great charge from the rear of the field during last years race. The excitement in the crowd was amazing as he collected victim after victim. He may very well assume the role Paul Tracy and Graham Rahal had to endure last year, and that reality is anything but positive for the series. I'm sure everyone on this site is pulling for you Tony.

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Permalink Reply by open wheeler on February 25, 2011 at 11:53am

Here's hoping that you pull something together soon. You would be sorely missed.

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Permalink Reply by Squall on February 25, 2011 at 7:06pm

If Tony Kanaan is not driving for a team, if not a major one, at Indianapolis after years of us having to put up with Milka Duno driving for half the backmarker operations...then every last one of them should be ashamed at their utter prostitution of the sport.

Yes, I just said it, and I'm not sorry.

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Permalink Reply by IndycarAddictus on February 25, 2011 at 8:41pm

I have said in the past that I thought the current car was ideal for indy lights. If TK is on the sidelines but we have the currently likely list of probable drivers, it is going to be very hard to take the depth of the series credibly beyond the few driving with the top two teams. It is going to be difficult to accept a slightly upgraded version of lights as the top US open wheel series.

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Permalink Reply by JEN (aka Redaunt) on February 26, 2011 at 3:05am

Squall has hit the nail succinctly on the head...

Our series has some seriously mediocre talent sitting comfortably in cockpits for next year (I'm looking at YOU, KV racing) as well as the late, seriously NOT-great Milkdud mentioned in Squall's comment...

Yet, the one driver who could:

#1: seriously (HONESTLY!!!) provide another Championship WIN without driving for a red/black team;

#2: make the 500 his personal b*#ch last year before an unfortunate caution (I was there, and this leads me to my third point), AND

#3: seems to be a unanimous favorite amongst the majority of IICS fans over the age of 14 (i.e. everyone outside of the the "danica demographic")....

MAY NOT BE A FULL TIME PARTICIPANT IN OUR SERIES???

The words I have for this major malfunction would surely get me banned from this website permanently, but let me try to say something without excessive profanity:

I declare FOUL on IICS for perpetuation of the "dollar gets the ride" bullsh*t placed on the drivers, and I issue a public "shame on you" to the powers that be (read: teams) who turn a blind eye to the fact that-- while he's not the massive marketing magnet that Anna Kournako-- oops!-- I mean, Danica Patrick! is-- TK is a HUGE asset to the IICS (Brazilian Products And Services, anyone?), and a huge reason why a lot of fans watch the races (both at the track and on TV).

Final summation: I declare both BULLSH*T AND SHENANIGANS!!!

The disgust and heartbreak I feel about TK's situation is almost as bad as the disgust I feel towards nascrap in general and the heartbreak I feel about kids with cancer (not as bad in all honesty, but still pretty damned heartbreaking).

But hell, that's just me.

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Permalink Reply by JEN (aka Redaunt) on February 26, 2011 at 3:26am

Let me also say this as a P.S.:

We (my husband, parents and myself) were in the final steps of finalizing our trip to the glorious "Centennial" 500 this year, but if there's no TK, I doubt we attend.... It just seems wrong.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Karas on February 26, 2011 at 4:13am

Wow. JEN-that speaks volumes. Wow.

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Permalink Reply by Squall on February 27, 2011 at 6:49am

I take exception to the "500 personal b/tch" commentary. Dario outran him all day, and it wasn't just a Ganassi show, since Dixon never really showed the same stuff. At the end, Tony was pushing everything he had, with the team knowing that they couldn't make it on fuel that way, and Dario was already conserving, losing what he could afford, but not ever by Johncock & Mears margins.

Yes, Tony was awesome in last year's Race. Dario was The Man To Beat from the start, and didn't get beat.

That said, if they ban you for speaking your mind, cuss words and all, I'm leaving. Literary anarchism in action, dammit!

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Permalink Reply by 06rctb2zmhh7a on February 26, 2011 at 7:40pm

First off, I felt bad when TK and Andretti parted ways. I know TK griped a lot the last couple of years, especially about Der Helmet, but obviously AA wasn't about to part with their golden goose. When TK picked up the ride with De Ferren, I was glad that he at least had a ride, even though they are a mid pack team. Now that De Ferren has had to sit out the upcoming year, or at least a good part of it, TK is left odd man out. A damn shame, for sure.

I know a lot of you gripe about ride buyers - hey I'm not too keen on them myself. But with the economy still in the crapper, and our predatory government looking to rape the private sector (and our pocket books) more and more for the forseeable future, I will be surprised if more teams don't have to sit out or go belly up, due to companies having less to spend on sponsorship. And a fan base that can't grow because people are left with less and less disposable income.

The point is, we will continue to see ride buyers and less drivers of the caliber of Kanaan.

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Permalink Reply by Squall on February 27, 2011 at 6:56am

Then: if they must exist for now...which I can grudgingly accept, on an objective level...do the HELL away with these stupid dumbed-down tech rules, forever. I will watch the uber rich, and self-proclaimedly-glamorous, and maybe-not-always-best-in-the-cockpit, win...if I see the most badass equipment rippin' it up for new records/heights in achievement; or at least, clawing at it, all they can. If that drives prices up, then...who cares?! We've already admitted ride-buying is involved!

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Permalink Reply by Paul on February 27, 2011 at 11:38am

Why would Andretti feel bad? He now has Ryan as his #1 with Dr. Bob Parson's backing. Didn't AA rely heavily on TK for input on setups last year. And.. they ran in the middle of the pack most the year. Tony has no market value in USA or Brazil. He should have taken Kyle Bush's offer for a truck ride. That way maybe he could have gotten into a Nationwide race and crashed both Danica and Sam Hornish. He couldn't complain about blocking in Nascar. This series needs fresh young talent.....not tired old relics.

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Permalink Reply by Squall on February 27, 2011 at 11:55am

Wow. Your memory of performance goes back only one year, eh? Then it should also include his victory at Iowa, in a car not run by Penske or Ganassi, which is more than one can say for Danica or Marco's performances last year.

As an aside, though...why would Kanaan ever want to go into the communist bullshit circus of NAS***?