MOTORSPORT: V8 Supercar's week from hell

Is Hewson the man to succeed Cochrane?
What a coincidence that there's a big interview with the man tipped to be the new head of V8 Supercar racing in Australia, former Liberal politician John Hewson, in Auto Action magazine this week just as there is an almighty storm about Tony Cochrane's tenure at the helm.

Hewson's question-and-answer session with AA's editor-at-large Mark Fogarty makes very interesting reading.

In it, Hewson says that V8 Supercar racing is "an incredibly prosperous business".

Well, yes, it would appear so, but perhaps not for Team Kiwi at the moment -- although its sponsors, including Ford New Zealand, are sticking fast -- and, we hear, for at least one longer-established team facing, we're told, an imminent D-day.

But, generally, yes, it's a very prosperous business.

However, the past week -- or eight days now -- has seen some incredibly silly business in V8 Supercars too.

Tony Cochrane's critics in the corridors of power would say that's all his fault, and most onlookers would think they're pretty right.

What's that old saying about no man being an island? Well, by saying that the V8 Supercars wouldn't be on Channel 10 if they go back to the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne next year (because of 10 not agreeing to a deal that would see South Australia get all of new V8 Supercar telecaster Channel 7's vision at the same time as other states) Cochrane left himself looking very much an island.

It's become clear that he's lost a lot of support among those in the V8 paddock he has dragged along with him, very much for the good of all of them, for the past decade.

But, while there has been a lot of unhappiness with Cochrane these past few days, there has not been a vote of no-confidence in him by the board of V8 Supercars Australia.

It was the mention that there had been such a vote that created some fireworks and farce at Motorsport News this week.

MN's weekly electronic version appeared early Tuesday with the front cover headline BONED.

By the end of the day, apparently after some angry words down a telephone line to MN central, that headline had been changed to PRESSURE, and the contents beyond that front cover had been massively detuned from painting a picture of Cochrane's demise to "V8 boss upsets teams".

From what we know of the situation it looks as though MN backed off further than it needed to, although it clearly got it wrong on a V8 Supercar board vote against Cochrane.

Equally clearly, though, there is massive dissatisfaction with Cochrane from within TEGA -- the Touring Car Entrants Group, which represents the team owners but now has John Hewson as its independent chairman.

Hewson wrote to Cochrane last week rebuking him for his comments re Channel 10 and the GP, although -- with his political experience -- Hewson seems to have been a bit more diplomatic in his dealings than some of the things members of his TEGA constituency have been muttering this week.

The lone voice standing solidly behind Cochrane is his long-time business associate James Erskine.

It is Erskine, who perhaps doesn't have the public profile (at least in V8 Supercars) of Cochrane but who undoubtedly has lots of "horsepower" in the broader Australian sports and sporting television scene, who is involved with "Cocho" in Sports and Entertainment Ltd, which owns 25 per cent  of V8 Supercars Australia. TEGA owns the other 75 per cent.

"It is in the best interests of V8 Supercars Australia that Tony Cochrane continue in the role of chairman," Erskine says.

Other than Cochrane himself, Erskine might have trouble getting a seconder for that view now.

Hewson is strongly of a mind that it's time V8 Supercars Australia and TEGA were rolled into one entity -- and clearly he's the man earmarked to head it.

There may be merit in that unification idea.

Mark Fogarty points out in AA that Cochrane has claimed to be a long-time supporter of a single board of directors -- and that he (Cochrane) still sees himself as the best candidate to chair it.

That now is the central issue in the politics of V8 Supercar racing.

Cochrane's many critics agree that he's generally been good for the sport for the past 10 days, but equally they seem to think he's not the man for the next decade.

So a few thoughts on the V8 landscape if Cochrane isn't steering it much longer.

It could have a major impact on the push for new street races in places like Townsville and Perth. Others in the V8 paddock may want these events to happen, but it is questionable whether they have the vigor and persistence of Cochrane to get them up.

Then there's the matter of overseas races. It was Cochrane who drove the Bahrain and (aborted) Shanghai deals. Maybe the international expansion of V8 Supercars will end if Cochrane is ousted from the top seat, although some might say there's nothing wrong with just racing in Oz and NZ.

But the big question we raise if there is to be some time soon V8 Supercar racing without "Cocho", or at least without him as captain, is whether it is wise that the sport be run more by the participating teams, even with an independent chairman.

We are haunted by memories of how CART -- once a thriving open-wheeler series primarily in North America -- disintegrated when it went down that route.

Certainly its problems were complicated by the splintering of American open-wheeler racing that saw the creation of the Indy Racing League and the exclusion of the CART "family" (now Champ Cars) from the Indianapolis 500.

We don't see any danger of that kind of split here in V8 Supercars, but just remember how the value of the CART circus imploded.

We also remember some of the fumbling that went on in previous versions of the teams association prior to the arrival of Avesco/V8 Supercars Australia.

For better or worse, Cochrane has styled himself as V8 Supercar's answer to Formula 1's Bernie Ecclestone, although Bernie would never have got himself into the pickle in which Cochrane is now embroiled.

Still, like Ecclestone, he probably can't lose on the score that matters most to many in these situations -- the dollars.

While ever SEL retains its 25 per cent of V8 Supercars Australia, Cochrane can play a part.

It just remains to be seen what that part will be if, indeed, Hewson takes the reins.

If you want a better idea of how the sport might function under Hewson, we strongly recommend the four-page interview in AA.

One Hewson comment we find particularly interesting is how the Holden Racing Team licence problem -- still not completely settled to the best of our knowledge -- has been a big motivator in his unification concept.

Peter Adderton's latest venture, Amp'd Mobile in the US, has just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection over there with debts of US$100 million.

The business began with US$360 million of capital from investors (not sure how much of that is left) and only a couple of months ago claimed that revenues from its phones -- pitched strongly at the youth market -- were generating twice the industry average.

The company's predicament has apparently been the subject of at least one Wall Street Journal article.

Haven't seen that, but a google search can provide enlightenment for those who want it.

NASCAR's wedding of the decade
Dale Earnhardt Junior is running 14th in NASCAR but he is that sport's most popular driver.

Indeed, he's won its most popular driver award the past four years.

Yet, unlike his seven-time champion father Dale "The Intimidator" Earnhardt, he's never won the championship.

And he doesn't get on with his stepmother, who has been running Dale Earnhardt Inc since The Intimadator's death after a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Earnhardt Junior made it known a few weeks ago that he was opting out of the family outfit and looking for greener pastures -- provided it was with a Chevrolet team.

It's been announced overnight that he's joining Hendrick Motorsport, for which his father raced before going out on his own.

Team owner Rick Hendrick already has four drivers on multi-year contracts -- Nextel Cup points leader Jeff Gordon, reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, who is fourth this year, Kyle Busch, who is 10th on the points table, and Casey Mears, who is 23rd but won the recent Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.

Busch is being given an open clearance at the end of the season to make way for Earnhardt Junior.

Hendrick Motorsport has won 10 of 14 Nextel Cup races this year.

It has won the series title six times.

Earnhardt Junior has won 17 Cup races in 7½ years in the series, including the 2004 Daytona 500.

His contract with Hendrick is for five years -- plenty of time for them to win a championship together.

NASCAR is massive, beyond the imagination of most of us here in Oz, but it has plateaued, even slipped a little, in the past year or so -- particularly its TV ratings.

That's despite factors like the arrival of Juan Pablo Montoya from F1, which was seen as a great way to lure more of America's Hispanics to the sport.

Aussie Marcos Ambrose's participation in the lower ranks -- initially the Craftsman pick-up truck series and now the Busch Series -- has been another part of the internationalisation of NASCAR.

But if the "marriage" of the young Earnhardt and Hendrick works, that's the thing sure to put NASCAR firmly back in fast forward.

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