Reminds me of when GM declared that the Uplander wasn't a minivan, it was a class of vehicle called a midvan.
The ChumpCar World Series has a new name: the ChampCar Endurance Series. “When our name was created, it was intended to be funny and show that we weren’t taking ourselves too seriously,” explains Michael Chisek, the group’s president and chief operating officer. “Unfortunately, the name was a bit of a turnoff to many.
“We heard from many members who were embarrassed to share it with their friends and family,” he continues. “It was always looked upon as suspicious by those on the outside, from tracks to vendors to sponsors. However, once someone gave us a try, they were pleasantly surprised to find that our actions didn’t line up with their preconceived notions based on our name. We felt that a more mature name was in order, one that our membership would be proud to share with everyone they know.
The ChampCar name, of course, isn’t new to motorsports; it was used for years by the group that sanctioned Indy racing. In fact, ChumpCar was simply a spoof on ChampCar. “Our first reaction was that it was not available, but a quick check with the U.S. trademark office showed us that it was in fact available,” Chisek says of the ChampCar name. “The open-wheel racing series that had used it in the early 2000s had abandoned it in 2008 and let their trademark lapse in 2013. Once we decided that we liked it, we trademarked it as ours.”
In addition to the new name and logo, ChampCar has a few other updates in the works. “To accommodate our growth over the past few years we are adding two full-time staff members come January 1,” Chisek explains. “Bill Strong will be joining us as our media director, and Dana Morrison will be joining us as an event director.” Otherwise, Chisek continues, ChampCar racers will encounter the same rules, the same schedule and the same staff.
Reminds me of when GM declared that the Uplander wasn't a minivan, it was a class of vehicle called a midvan.
This is pretty funny - they went from parodying the ChampCar name to actually using it.
I don't know that I've ever been embarrassed to say I race Lemons...but around here, people are going to assume that it involves dirt, a fair amount of contact, and lots of turning left no matter what you call it.
Im ok with the change but also ok pointing out the great irony ad nauseam and also ok pointing out the #firstworldproblems -ness of having the freedom (financial, and otherwise) to be able to go road-racing over and over and yet also feeling like your life isn't complete unless everyone you mention it to doesn't have some sort of instantly positive reaction to it. Good lord.
Vigo said:Im ok with the change but also ok pointing out the great irony ad nauseam and also ok pointing out the #firstworldproblems -ness of having the freedom (financial, and otherwise) to be able to go road-racing over and over and yet also feeling like your life isn't complete unless everyone you mention it to doesn't have some sort of instantly positive reaction to it. Good lord.
Hahaha. This was generally my take on it as well.
Now they just need to get PPG, Fedex, and Bridgestone to sponsor them.
Already got a tire sponsor.
You know you're taking your racing too seriously if you're embarrassed by a jokey name. Good lord. It's not like it's "the 24 hours of butt plugs" or something.
wait until they split off a sprint series or something and call it the Independant Racing League, IRL
In reply to dculberson "24 hours of buttplugs":
new sponsor idea for a lemons entry. Need sponsorship from Adam and Eve or something.
Displaying 1-10 of 26 commentsView all comments on the GRM forums
You'll need to log in to post.
