The sucking sound you hear is talent about to leave the IndyCar paddock

What happens when talented drivers are forced to buy their IndyCar ride? That's right, they leave. This the result of an IndyCar TV package that gets ratings of 0.254 (NBC Sports Network) that leads to teams not being able to land sponsorship. While the Hulman George family collects a nice sum of money from NBC (that is all they care about) Rome burns. They had the audacity to brag about that rating. Imagine that!

The amount of talent headed towards the open market in IndyCar continues to grow with the addition of four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais to a free agent class.

“As far as I'm concerned, I've to get something going on for next year," he told RACER. “Jay has an option on me, and he would like to continue, but it's really not in his hands. Whatever holds true next year with sponsorship and all that – and I think he's exhausted a certain number of avenues there – I'm looking for other options. The reality is that I could be out of IndyCar in a few months. If I can delay the exit, that is what I want to do. It will be ‘Adieu' for me otherwise. I have a great thing with the 8 Star [Grand-Am] team and if IndyCar is over for me, I am prepared to go to sports cars 100 percent, but I know I can win more championships in IndyCar, so I will keep trying to make that work out."