I have been critical of Champ Car when they have made bad decisions or have made mistakes, so it would only be fair that when the Indy Racing League does the same, the same critique is brought forth.

The New York City Time Square shoot that the Champ Car World Series accomplished this past month was not only considered a success, but for the first time we are seeing a pro-active approach towards the marketing of the series. Three various commercials were shot during the 4-hour time window and have been heralded as some of the best commercials the Champ Car World Series has ever had in its possession.

The Indy Racing League, just as they have done for the past eight years, was quickly to copy. The television crew, engine leases, Homestead, Nazareth, Michigan, Fontana, foreign drivers, talks of road racing, Toyota, Honda, Penske, Ganassi, Andretti, Mo Nunn, all examples of entities that Champ Car had, and the IRL took. This past weekend, the IRL added another idea to copy, by doing none other than a Time Square PR stunt with a 2-seater IRL car in front of the ESPN zone. Ingenious!

All I have seen for the past eight years has been a company, whose owner has a lot of money and has copied everything their competitor has done, but offered it at a cheaper price (in most cases free). I think it’s time that the media catches on to the antics that the IRL has come to. Where are the questions pointed towards the IRL such as, “What exactly have you been able to do on your own since your existence?” Every conceivable reason that the IRL was formed has quickly been overhauled for what essentially was a Champ Car idea, yet some media members are portraying that the IRL has won the war? What war have they won?

Ever since the IRL’s inception they have always been the cheaper alternative to open-wheel racing and the ability to deliver the Indy 500 to sponsors. Now, they are quickly becoming the exact series of which they strayed away from in 1995, especially if road races were to be added to the schedule and the Indy 500 TV ratings are lower than any given NASCAR race. Congrats on the war.

Here is the latest example:

No less than a month after the Champ Car series entered Time Square, the IRL was there to follow. The idea being the same. Take a 2-seat IRL car, have Sarah Fisher drive it, and do an ordeal in front of the ESPN zone. Afterwards, go on Good Morning America and display the IRL’s “greatness.”

Here were the results:

Well, it was raining at the time of the shoot and since the IRL cars are not equipped with rain tires, the car never ran, never started, never moved. Better yet, what was the IRL doing on the streets anyway? Are they trying to show how they run on ovals only, but going down the streets of Manhatten?

Sarah Fisher then proceeded to be interviewed on Good Morning America, where Diane Sawyer quickly referred to Fisher as, “The first women driver in NASCAR!” Fisher showed her expertise by describing the IRL experience like being in a passenger plan taking off! I’m not so sure that is the idea the IRL wants to have spread around…

Overall, the entire representation of the IRL and what the Indy 500 has become was a disgrace. Sarah Fisher proved that she knew next to nothing about the very sport she earns a living in, and ABC showed that it could care less about the IRL when it clearly did not tell Good Morning America that, “This is an IRL driver, not NASCAR.”

This is just another knot in a string of events that have been a desperate attempt at copying what the Champ Car Series has already done. When will these actions be portrayed to the masses? When will the media finally realize that the only growth has been the departure of already established Champ Car teams?

With the recent announcement that Ron Hemelgarn has pulled its Indy 500 effort as has PDM Racing, getting 33 cars for “The Greatest Spectacle on Earth,” is now going to be the spectacle. Its not about who is going to get the pole anymore, rather who is going to fill the field.

Sad, but true.