And is it still one lucky driver will get rewarded with a (relative) bag of peanuts for winning the series, compared to previous winners.... no works assisted drives or the previous sweeteners (pre Penske ownership?) or big chunk of budget to help career progression in another category up the ladder.
I just remember Lundqvist I think it was got shafted royally on his feeder series win.
Im hoping that the situation was remedied after that but not holding my breath. I must confess I dont follow the Indy feeder stuff that closely and may be suffering good old fashioned ignorance with this.
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
Everso Biggyballies wrote: ↑1 year ago
And is it still one lucky driver will get rewarded with a (relative) bag of peanuts for winning the series, compared to previous winners.... no works assisted drives or the previous sweeteners (pre Penske ownership?) or big chunk of budget to help career progression in another category up the ladder.
I just remember Lundqvist I think it was got shafted royally on his feeder series win.
Im hoping that the situation was remedied after that but not holding my breath. I must confess I dont follow the Indy feeder stuff that closely and may be suffering good old fashioned ignorance with this.
Not sure about 2024, but it increased in 2023 since Lundquist won.
A guaranteed $850,000 will be given to the 2023 champion to spend on “an oval test at Texas Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Open Test/Rookie Orientation Programme, the Indianapolis 500 and an additional 2024 IndyCar event” according to a series representative.
Oscar Piastri in F1! Catch the fever! Vettel Hate Club. Life membership.
Vassago wrote: ↑3 months ago
Indy RC test session results. Deegan improved by 3 secs between sessions but still over 3,5 secs. off the fastest time.
Didnt realise Hauger was looking at Indycar. / NXT. The jury is still out on him in my eyes. He impressed me in F3 in his second year (2021), but in F2 he started off looking ordinary and with the odd exception hasnt impressed me. I certainly dont see him as being that special, or certainly not living up to my earlier expectations. Is this a test to try and score a ride or does he already have a gig sorted? Its probably right for him to bail on F2 (or was it the other way round.... I know Red Bull dropped him from their program so I suspect that was why?). He has been there too long for too little already..
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
Vassago wrote: ↑3 months ago
Indy RC test session results. Deegan improved by 3 secs between sessions but still over 3,5 secs. off the fastest time.
Didnt realise Hauger was looking at Indycar. / NXT. The jury is still out on him in my eyes. He impressed me in F3 in his second year (2021), but in F2 he started off looking ordinary and with the odd exception hasnt impressed me. I certainly dont see him as being that special, or certainly not living up to my earlier expectations. Is this a test to try and score a ride or does he already have a gig sorted? Its probably right for him to bail on F2 (or was it the other way round.... I know Red Bull dropped him from their program so I suspect that was why?). He has been there too long for too little already..
Yeah, it was announced when the test names came out that Hauger will move to NXT. His 2023 season was better than 2024, he was supposed to fight for the F2 title this season but obviously didn't deliver. Same way Victor Martins struggled in year two as well and also Bearman.
07.04.1968 - Flower of Scotland when will we see your like again? 01.05.1994 - We'll never forget...
2025 has 18 confirmed full time entries at the moment. A couple more seats available.
Getting to 20 would be amazing.
The USF Pro 2000 count, however, is sitting at a much less healthy 7. And USF 2000 series at 5. Not great. Would surely run them merged together with those numbers?
Oscar Piastri in F1! Catch the fever! Vettel Hate Club. Life membership.
19 confirmed for Indy Lights now. Still apparently a couple of empty seats.
USF Pro 2000 now at 9. Still dire. Anything less than a dozen feels absolutely anaemic. USF 2000 at 7 now. Again, if they combined it, that would make sense. A 16 car grid would be decent.
MonteCristo wrote: ↑4 weeks ago
19 confirmed for Indy Lights now. Still apparently a couple of empty seats.
USF Pro 2000 now at 9. Still dire. Anything less than a dozen feels absolutely anaemic. USF 2000 at 7 now. Again, if they combined it, that would make sense. A 16 car grid would be decent.
MonteCristo wrote: ↑4 weeks ago
19 confirmed for Indy Lights now. Still apparently a couple of empty seats.
USF Pro 2000 now at 9. Still dire. Anything less than a dozen feels absolutely anaemic. USF 2000 at 7 now. Again, if they combined it, that would make sense. A 16 car grid would be decent.
That's the sign of a dead championship. Why have numbers fallen so low? Not cost effective? Not a good road to Indy after all?
Maybe partially. I don't think the winners' purse is amazing.
But the biggest problem I'm led to believe is dilution.
You have the road to Indy ladder with the aforementioned USF series. But then you have American F4 and Formula Regional Americas (and I think they have a couple of versions, too, but could be wrong).
They're all vying in that first/1.5/second winged openwheel category space. And it's just leading to thinned out grids. There's just not that much interest to support it all.
Oscar Piastri in F1! Catch the fever! Vettel Hate Club. Life membership.
MonteCristo wrote: ↑4 weeks ago
19 confirmed for Indy Lights now. Still apparently a couple of empty seats.
USF Pro 2000 now at 9. Still dire. Anything less than a dozen feels absolutely anaemic. USF 2000 at 7 now. Again, if they combined it, that would make sense. A 16 car grid would be decent.
That's the sign of a dead championship. Why have numbers fallen so low? Not cost effective? Not a good road to Indy after all?
Maybe partially. I don't think the winners' purse is amazing.
But the biggest problem I'm led to believe is dilution.
You have the road to Indy ladder with the aforementioned USF series. But then you have American F4 and Formula Regional Americas (and I think they have a couple of versions, too, but could be wrong).
They're all vying in that first/1.5/second winged openwheel category space. And it's just leading to thinned out grids. There's just not that much interest to support it all.
Not the first time this has happened. I think UK motorsports went through a similar thing back in the mid-2000s, where we had FFord, FRenault, F3, then also FBMW, FPA, etc. The weaker series inevitably collapsed.
++ Just putting two and three together here:
USF2000: "In conversations with one of the mid-to-front pack teams, I was told that they were spending around $250,000 annually and contending for championships. But even this was considered a bit of a lower budget for this series." https://www.reddit.com/r/INDYCAR/commen ... r_usf2000/
