So how about Gordon Kirby’s article relating his Mexico City experience this past weekend. What a way to go into the off-season! Talk about positivity!

I hate to say it, but Chip makes sense about coming back next season. Not that I want to disagree with Chip, its more like I want more cars and teams in ChampCar. But for any new teams to invest an entire season before the new beginning takes place in 2007 doesn’t make a lot of sense. There are a couple of arguments on both sides, no question about it. On the one hand

1) spending all that money on a chassis that will be obsolete in one miserly year doesn’t make much sense. Bringing in a team to train on a chassis that won’t be there in 2007 is a hard thing to do. Not to mention the driver himself. Sure, there are many drivers who are available that have the current Lola experience. Nevertheless, it’s a difficult task to achieve cause these drivers would be more expensive than a rookie driver. But what’s the point of a rookie driver if he can’t learn that much from his rookie season since it will be a brand new in 2007.
2) But:
Look at PKV. They started two years ago as PK racing. Jimmy jumped on board in 2004 and things were looking good. They had their ‘rookie’ season in 2004 and this year, as a ‘two’ year team posted a win in Portland and a few podiums from my man Jimmy Vasser. But, the team admitted in Long Beach that they were behind the eight ball. Although they had existed for two seasons, they weren’t where they wanted to be. That team went through a bunch of changes. They certainly didn’t just add a V to the team’s name.

3) So,
A new team would have a leg up on the competition in 2007 if they started next season. The driver would gain experience on the tracks. No matter what chassis, no matter what speed, knowing the track is very important. We have seen it time and time again. And it may be a cliché, but a team needs time to gel. Whether it’s the driver-engineer relationship, or a couple of crew guys from different towns. It’s a team sport. These people need to be on the same page and sometimes that takes a bit of time.
The bottom line is that no true great teams/sports franchises were built in a day. Most championship teams have gone through years and years of hardship/preparation. A lot of teams have gone through entire seasons knowing that this wasn’t their years to win the championship. They knew they were building for the future. That’s what a new team could do in 2006 in the Champ Car World Series. Start building for the future.