The Indy 500 *is* Today! [Archive] - Front Office Football Central

TLK

05-30-2004, 08:52 PM

I am familiar with all 33 guys in the field, but you couldn't of paid me enough to watch this crap. The IRL as it was supposed to be, is dead. CART teams finished 1-11.... with the top original IRL team in 12th. Tony George needs to be shot for what he has done to the 500 and to open-wheel racing in general....

Checkered future
The rise of NASCAR and the hubris of the Indy 500's owner have reduced the race to a shadow of its former self

By Michael Hill
Sun Staff
Originally published May 30, 2004

Forty years ago, there were only two ways to see the Indianapolis 500 -- be among the lucky 400,000 or so who got into packed track on race day, or go to a closed circuit television broadcast of the race.

That's right. In the early 1960s, thousands spent their Memorial Day in darkened movie theaters watching cars race around this venerable 2 1/2-mile rectangle.

Few events other than championship boxing matches could sell tickets to closed circuit broadcasts. But the Indianapolis 500 could.

It was that big. In the Midwest, it made Memorial Day the equivalent of Christmas and July 4. It drew the most spectators of any sporting event. It had the fastest cars, the bravest drivers.

It attracted more attention than any automobile race in the world.

"It was the race," says Robert Post, retired curator of transportation at the Smithsonian Institution. "There was nothing like winning the Indy 500."

That is no longer the case.

It's not the greatest race in the world anymore. It is not even considered the biggest race in America. That title goes to the Daytona 500, NASCAR's premier stock car event.

Where once scores of mechanics and drivers descended on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the entire month of May, all searching for the speed needed to get their car in the race, now there are barely enough cars to fill the field.

Since 1986, the race has been broadcast live -- no need to pay for a closed circuit showing. But now ABC is having trouble giving it away. In 1992, 14.1 million people watched the Indy 500. Last year, 6.7 million watched. Almost every NASCAR race gets a bigger audience than that. The Daytona 500 is up to almost 18 million.

And, there were plenty of tickets available for today's Indy 500.

The decline and fall of the Indianapolis 500 is a story of an increasingly parochial America changing its tastes and its relationship with technology. It is the story of the transition of sporting institutions into entertainment industries.

It is also a tale of hubris on the part of Tony George, who seemed to think that the Indy 500 was so big and important that it could never sustain serious damage. But he managed to land some crippling blows on the American institution that was in his care.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway that George owns was built in 1906 by automotive pioneer Carl Fisher.

"The track was really built as a test facility in the hope of bringing automakers to Indianapolis," says Ben Shackleford, a graduate student in the history of technology at Georgia Tech. "It didn't really work, so they had this idea of putting on this big race.

"Indianapolis really didn't have that much else, so you have to put this in the early-20th-century context of large urban areas trying to position themselves as centers of culture," he says.

After an early race proved disastrous - there were several fatal accidents as the surface of the track broke up - Fisher repaved the track with bricks. Though only a yard remains at the start/finish line, the name brickyard has stuck. Five hundred miles was chosen as a distance that could be run in a day.

"There is a reason the Daytona 500 is called that," says Shackleford, who is writing a doctoral dissertation on the history of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. "Because that's what Indianapolis was. Anything to do with auto racing in this country after the 1920s was in the shadow of the Indy 500."

Roy Harroun won that first race averaging 74.59 mph. For the next few decades, the race was a showcase for manufacturers - particularly Europeans hoping to sell cars in America - who sought to demonstrate the speed and reliability of their products.

As Shackleford relates, it was run by the AAA - the Automobile Association of America - now best known as the people you call when your car breaks down. The AAA had a "contest board" for racing staffed by unpaid volunteers. "It was an adjunct to the general promotion of the automobile," he says.

Those early years of the race reflected the keen interests of the founders of the automobile industry, in the United States and in Europe.

"They were enthusiasts," says Stuart W. Leslie, a historian of technology at the Johns Hopkins University. "You can look at the old photos and see Henry Ford racing people like Barney Oldfield. They were gasoline-in-the-veins sorts of fellows."

Fisher sold the track in 1927 to a group led by World War I ace - and former race car driver - Eddie Rickenbacker. The race suffered from the Depression. It was not run during World War II and the track was abandoned, overgrown with weeds. Many thought it would be turned into a housing development for returning GIs.

But a new owner, Tony Hulman, pumped millions into the place just as auto racing in the United States was changing. No longer a showcase for the industry's products - American manufacturers were content to sell family sedans - the Indianapolis 500 became the province of speed specialists. The engine that dominated Indy for two decades after the war - the four cylinder Offenhauser - had no connection to a major car manufacturer.

The race thrived with the attention of a postwar country fascinated by technology and speed - whether it was a rocket headed to space or a car tearing down the Indy straight. Indy 500 victors were in the banner headlines of afternoon Memorial Day newspapers. Its winners became well-known sports figures - Bill Vukovich, Parnelli Jones, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti.

By the 1960s, the race and its huge prize money were attracting the best cars - Lotus, McClaren - and drivers - Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Denis Hulme, Jochen Rindt, Jack Brabham - in the world.

Indy was a technological challenge. Teams tried all sorts of innovations - including a turbine car that came within a few miles of victory in 1967 - to win.

As speeds increased, so did restrictions on the cars. Post says this is a common occurrence in sports. "You make rules to keep technology within bounds. That is certainly true of all forms of auto racing," he says

Speedy decline

The rules applied to the Indy cars still allowed for variation and experimentation as designers and mechanics searched for extra speed. That all changed in 1996. George, the grandson of Tony Hulman who died in 1977, was trying to regain control of the race from the car owners who had formed the group CART in 1979 and forced changes in many of its rules.

George formed the Indy Racing League and said only drivers that ran its series with its cars - technologically far inferior to the CART models - could race in the Indy 500. It was as if the Master's golf tournament had said that players must use persimmon woods and hickory shafts to compete there.

The CART teams boycotted and kept their own series. For the first time really in its history, those watching the Indianapolis 500 could not say they were seeing the fastest cars and the best drivers in America. The race has never recovered from that.

This happened as NASCAR was rapidly expanding out of its southeastern base. American manufacturers had returned to racing and found the stock appearance of NASCAR cars a better venue for marketing.

With all American drivers - as Indianapolis was getting more international - NASCAR seemed to catch the growing wave of parochialism in a country that was showing a waning interest in many international sports.

With the IRL, George said he was trying to get back to the roots of Indy, to get more American teams and drivers. He was mainly trying to emulate NASCAR which puts its drivers in identical, low-tech cars to guarantee close competition.

It made sense. Computers were now the machines on the cutting edge of technology. The automobile had lost that appeal. As evidence of that, Post points to the lack of interest in setting a new land speed record in recent decades, contrasting that with the 1960s and 1970s when practically every year someone was trying for a new mark.

Instead of a duel of technology and skill, automobile racing as exemplified in the contrived slam-bang close-quarters action of NASCAR became pure entertainment. The so-called "spec" cars - built to identical specifications - of the IRL were supposed to do the same for Indy-style racing.

The problem was that the IRL was trying to beat NASCAR at its own game. Shackleford says that, unlike other forms of auto racing, NASCAR was in the entertainment business from its beginnings in 1949. It was not going to lose that fight.

"The way I would look at it, I would not take a 'spec' series and go anywhere near butting heads with NASCAR," he says. "You've got to do something different."

Mystique is lost

Indy could not get NASCAR's entertainment crowd even as it was losing those interested in automotive technology. Shackeford notes that IRL mechanics that he has talked to say that the Indy cars are now boring to work on. To control speeds, the engine has a limiter that restricts its rpm, something unimaginable when Indy cars were pushing the edge.

"It deprived the Indy 500 of its mystique," Shackleford says.

George's IRL Indy 500 did not have the technology or big name drivers. CART had the technology and the drivers, but lacked the sport's marquee event. The standoff damaged both sides. Driven by sponsors who wanted to be on the Indy stage, CART drivers and teams began trickling back to the race in 2000.

But it was a shadow of the Indianapolis 500 they had left only a few years before.

The idea of a European Formula One driver interrupting his schedule to race the Indy 500 today is unimaginable.

And in America, where once every race car driver aspired to drive in the Indy 500, now most hope that they will drive well enough at Indy to get a ride in NASCAR.

TLK

05-30-2004, 09:00 PM

Hell yeah it is. Especially when the dregs that turn up for the 500 and the Brickyard are in town. Luckily the Eurotrash stopped showing up for the F1 race. after 9/11.

you're kidding right?

Buccaneer

05-30-2004, 09:08 PM

That was a good article. Kind of summarized what had happened since I stopped paying attention in the early 1990s.

CHEMICAL SOLDIER

05-31-2004, 11:16 AM

I would like to see more articles such as this one in the future. Really thought provoking and fresh.

TLK

06-01-2004, 12:48 AM

I would like to see more articles such as this one in the future. Really thought provoking and fresh.

well since you asked, here's one about my main man, Tony George..... keep in mind coming from a Fort Wayne Newspaper.... there is some gold in here.....

Mystery of Tony George

By Ben Smith

The Journal Gazette

Speedway owner likes to stay in shadows, but his effects on racing far-reaching

INDIANAPOLIS - Begin with this photo here.

It's a photo of a boy and his granddad, taken at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the early 1960s. Grandpa is sitting with his back against a chain-link fence, pant legs rucked up to expose his bare ankles, a joyous smile on his face. His grandson stands next to him, wearing a sun hat and a miniature racing suit. On his face is your basic kid's uncomprehending expression, the dark eyes vacant.

His name is Tony George. His granddad is Tony Hulman, heir to a family fortune that began with Clabber Girl Baking Powder in the 1850s, and who bought the Speedway from World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker in 1945 and restored it to its former glory, after it had become run down and neglected during World War II.

In a few years, the grandson will attend the first Indianapolis 500 he remembers, in 1968.

In a few more years, on the night of the 1976 "500," his father will die in a shootout with a family employee.

In a few more years, he'll marry, have a son, become embroiled in a bitter divorce in which his use of cocaine and marijuana will become public, marry again to Laura Livvix, to whom he's still married. He'll become president and CEO of the Speedway a few days before his 30th birthday. He'll become the man who brought the Brickyard 400 and the U.S. Grand Prix to the Speedway, and split Indy-style racing like a cord of wood by forming the Indy Racing League.

Look at the photo now, at that camera-struck little boy.

Sometimes you can still see him.

(BREAK)

Half of racing these days thinks Tony George hung the moon. Half thinks he's the devil walking.

He's been called a "visionary," by John Barnes, owner of Panther Racing, for whom George did a little low-level racing in the 1980s. Sarah Fisher, who drives for Kelley Racing, says, "Tony does everything he says he's going to do, . . . he's true to his word." And Chip Ganassi, who runs the high-dollar Target/Ganassi racing empire, calls him "one of the most polite" men he's ever met in racing.

And then there's that other half.

The other half says Tony George is a raging egomaniac, a spoiled, arrogant rich kid who ruined open-wheel racing by forming the Indy Racing League when he couldn't get what he wanted from the dominant Indy-style racing circuit, CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams). Mario Andretti - whose son, Michael, took his racing team to the IRL last year against Mario's wishes - remains cool toward him. Paul Gentilozzi, who once built Oldsmobile Aurora engines for the IRL, thinks George betrayed him by bidding against Gentilozzi's ownership group when CART's assets went up for sale in January. And Paul Newman, actor and longtime CART team owner, is still torqued about the IRL thing.

"To divide the series and break it up - it seems unconscionable," Newman said, on a recent segment of Dave Despain's "Wind Tunnel" program on the Speed Network. "I don't know what the purpose was."

So there you go. Either Tony George ruined the Indianapolis 500, the most famous of all auto races, or he dragged it screaming into the 21st century. Either he destroyed Indy-style open-wheel racing, or he redefined it. Either he threw tradition over the side by bringing NASCAR stock-car racing (rednecks in taxicabs!) and Formula One (snooty foreigners who don't race on ovals!) to Indy, or he redefined that, too.

Down on the track now, eight stories below this pagoda suite where all of Tony George's Speedway kingdom lies literally at his feet, a race car is yowling like a scalded cat toward the first turn.

The car is driven by Bruno Junqueira.

It carries the banner, in today's 88th Indianapolis 500, of Newman/Haas Racing, although Newman swears you won't see him here.

And now Tony George turns in his chair, and looks directly at his visitor.

"I don't have any hard feelings toward Paul Newman," he says, in his mild, halting way.

Half of racing believes him. Half never will.

(BREAK)

This is making Tony George uncomfortable. You can see it.

He fidgets in his chair like a schoolboy, now leaning this way, now leaning that. His gaze skates away, drifts back. He runs his hands up under the sleeves of his shirt, speaks distantly around long pauses, handles each word like fine crystal as his visitor, this stranger (What does he want, anyway?), waits expectantly.

"You know, I'm not a very good manager," George admits now.

(God, I hate this, talking about myself).

"I'm not very good from the standpoint of nurturing and that kind of stuff," he says.

(I mean, I really hate it).

"I guess if anything, I'm critical of myself for not being a very good communicator, because I think you have to set the tone at the top, and I maybe haven't done that," he says.

(Have I said enough now? Been forthcoming enough? Can I . . . wait . . . what's that?)

Suddenly he leans far to his left, over the arm of the chair. Stares hard at a spot on the floor, maybe 20 feet away.

The visitor follows his eyes. All he sees is sunlight on carpet.

(BREAK)

This kid here, Tony George. What kind of vision could he have?

He grew up a shy, quiet child of privilege, swimming in the motel pool next to the Speedway, his nostrils full of the sting of racing exhaust. His father, Elmer George, drove race cars for a living, running three times in the Indianapolis 500 between 1957 and 1963. Tony's mom tells him they used to travel all over hell's half acre, following Elmer around.

And then Elmer died, of course.

He died on May 30, 1976, hours after Johnny Rutherford won a rain-shortened 500, in some kind of OK Corral deal with a horse trainer named Guy Trolinger. Trolinger never goes to trial; both men had pieces, both used them, so the ruling was self-defense. According to several published accounts, Trolinger and Mari Hulman George were romantically involved.

Tony George - who says now he only wishes he could have known his father better - was 16 years old when that happened.

He was 17 when his grandfather died in 1977.

He was 29 when Joe Cloutier, the president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, died in December 1989, and George succeeded him, as the only logical choice in a family with three sisters and his mother.

Eyebrows shot up all over racing.

"I think he was expected to fail," says Tom Kelley, who has known George since they were kids. "I think some people just thought he was going to be a figurehead."

"At first, it was a bit of 'Was he driving it or was it driving him?' " agrees Ganassi, then a CART owner.

George concedes as much. An indifferent student at Indiana State, he graduated in 1983 with a 2.0 average in business administration. He'd shadowed Charlie Thompson, the Speedway groundskeeper, for a few years, but he had no practical business experience whatsoever.

"I had a paper route," he jokes now, "but I didn't have a lawn service."

And he had no moorings, without his father and grandfather. He had his mom and his three sisters and, at 23, a wife, Lisa Dawn Clark, and a charge he first became aware of, he says, in his late teens. But it wasn't a charge he looked forward to.

"I don't know that I had that great an interest in it at the time," he admits now. "It wasn't clear to me that it was something I wanted to pursue or be involved with."

Long pause.

"But I don't know that I had anything in mind I wanted to do otherwise."

And if that sounds like the quintessential young man adrift, . . . well, Tony George played that role off its feet. Although he'd never had much interest in it before, he got into driving race cars in the 1980s, thinking vaguely it would help him better understand the business that loomed so constantly before him. He drove for his godfather, A.J. Foyt, and for Barnes. And somewhere in there, his marriage came apart.

Yet it was the racing, ultimately, that he took to the most. Although George downplays it, Barnes says now that he had some distinct talent ("He had no idea of holding back, was 10/10ths every lap"), and George himself admits that for "a fleeting moment" he thought of racing as a career. But it was only a moment. There was only going to be one destiny for him - didn't Joe Cloutier kept telling him that? - and he knew it.

His grandfather was gone. His father was gone. Who else was there, but this ambivalent, reluctant, unready young man?

And then of course he fooled them. He fooled them all.

Not long after taking over, he and Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone had their first talks about bringing the premier European road-racing series to Indy for the U.S. Grand Prix. Not long after that, he had his first talks with the France family about bringing a NASCAR race to Indianapolis.

The Brickyard 400 arrived, to sellout crowds, in 1994. The U.S. Grand Prix arrived, after George sunk $80 million into a road course and new pagoda and other improvements, in 2000. And not everybody was happy about it.

"The thing with the Speedway before he was involved, it had one race a year and tried to maintain that," Barnes explains. "And when you went to work there, you went to work there at 20 years old and you left there at 70. And you never did anything else but that."

But tradition be damned, or at best faintly praised. Maybe it was vision or ego or just the right people bending his ear - "When you're in a business that's been in the family for so long, there's no shortage of people that have opinions about things," Ganassi observes - but his experiences as a driver did give him a certain insight.

And so 22 months after taking control, he proposed a new structure for Indy-style racing to the CART owners. He was still just 31. The CART owners - and George himself says he sensed this - still saw him as too raw for his job. At least part of that, some of those owners say now, sprung from their unfamiliarity with his natural reticence.

"Tony to me has always been a normal, ordinary guy," says Derrick Walker of Walker Racing, then a member of CART's board. "He doesn't put on any special airs or graces to anybody that I have seen. He is not a hard guy to talk about issues with, . . . (but) you don't always get a clear impression as to what he is thinking."

And so the upshot was, the CART owners came away from George's proposal thinking what they'd always thought, that George was a lightweight. But suddenly he was going ahead with plans for a new racing league, tied to the 500, focusing on racing on ovals and keeping the sport affordable.

Ten tumultuous years later, the Indianapolis 500 is still the biggest single-day sporting event in the world, and most of the former CART teams are back. But on George's watch, for better or worse, Indy is still not what it was.

NASCAR's Daytona 500 gets twice the TV ratings now. The Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race has beaten it head-to-head on Memorial Day weekend for the past three years. Tickets move less briskly, crowds are down dramatically except for race day, and the return of the big-name teams and engine builders is threatening to make a mockery of George's vow to keep costs low.

All of this is Tony George's fault. Or, it's not.

"I think it's unfortunate that the Speedway and the car owners, post-1977 (after his grandfather's death), haven't been able to work well together," he says. "Because it has suffered as a result of us not being able to do that."

That's as close as he will come to admitting culpability.

That's as close as he will come to admitting that his vision, or whatever is, might be flawed.

Or maybe we just misread him. Again.

(BREAK)

This is making Tony George uncomfortable. Tom Kelley can hear it.

He's on the telephone with George at the Speedway, where one of Kelley's race cars is driving in circles, testing for Firestone. It's the fall of year. Kelley's bored.

"I'd like to drive the car," he tells Brian Barnhart, the vice president of racing operations, who says he has to get George's permission.

Now they're on the phone. George is hemming and hawing.

"Weeeellll, . . ." he says.

And then this, from the man who owns the Speedway, the man who's one of the most powerful people in racing, the man so many people think is distant and humorless and, well, haughty: "I get to drive if you get to drive."

And so Kelley and George wind up hot-footing it around the Speedway like a couple of kids, no papers signed, no stinking liability waivers need apply. They even have to pull the seat out and wedge Tony in with moving blankets, because at 6-foot-4 he won't fit. The lawyers would have had nine cats if they'd known.

"Tony has that side to him," Kelley says now. "He's not as boring as some people think."

(BREAK)

Paul Gentilozzi thought they were friends. That was his first mistake.

And so when he talked to Tony George on the phone last fall, and George said he wouldn't bid against Gentilozzi's ownership group, Open Wheel Racing Series, for the assets of CART, which was struggling financially, he thought a promise had been made. He thought it was ironclad.

Problem was, George thought his promise was based on the fact that, at the time, the deal on the table was a merger with CART shareholders for about $6.5 million, for which George wasn't interested. Then the merger fell apart, CART declared bankruptcy, and the promise, George felt, was no longer binding.

So the IRL bid. And Open Wheel Racing Series, which had expected to pay $1.3 million for the assets, eventually had to pay $3.5 million for them. And Gentilozzi, stung, lashed out bitterly in the Indianapolis Star that George was trying to kill CART.

"It had to be painful to hear that from him, wasn't it?" George is asked now.

"Well, I'm not sure I know what Paul said that would have caused me that pain," replies George, who maintains that his relationship with Gentilozzi was never as close as it's been characterized.

And so there you have it: Tony George is a cold, callous, back-stabbing sumbitch. Just like his detractors say.

Or . . .

Or we don't understand him, we've got him all wrong; when he said what he said about Gentilozzi, it merely meant he'd learned to let slings and arrows carom off him. This is the thing with George: there are the words and then there is the way he says them, and the former, stark ink on a page, cannot properly convey the latter.

And so when he won't say whom he's leaned on most heavily for advice, wondering, "Who knows how that might be perceived?" the perception is that his colossal ego won't let him admit he's needed anyone's counsel. And when he says he can't think of anything he'd do differently, again there's the ego, until he adds that if he'd known then what he knows now, certainly he'd do some things differently. But he didn't, so he didn't.

So few people really know him. So many think they do.

"You know, it's no secret, I was pretty critical of Tony," says Bobby Rahal, who once ran CART. "And we had developed a friendship, played golf together. So it was very emotional for both of us, in our different camps.

"But I think what I really appreciated was I came back (to Indy) two years ago, and everybody was very welcoming. (Tony) had every right to be very cold toward me, and he was anything but."

So who is he, then? The man who either did or didn't cut Gentilozzi off at the knees? The man who tried to yank the Indy credentials of then-Sports Illustrated writer Ed Hinton in '99, after Hinton had been critical of the IRL's safety measures?

Or is he the man his vice president of communications, Fred Nation, says "never gloats"? And who seems most at ease not in a boardroom but around the drivers? And who says his family is most important to him, his mom and his sisters, Laura and the three kids?

Who is he? And why does he make it so hard for us to figure out?

"I think what Tony does is he thinks a lot before he opens his mouth," Barnes explains. "He's a really great listener. He listens to everybody."

"Very much an open guy," concurs Darren Manning, a CART driver until joining Ganassi's operation this year.

"I don't think he's ever veered right or left to get where he is today," Roger Penske says.

And George himself?

In his chair now he leans back and muses that the best thing about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is its history and tradition, and the worst thing about it is its history and tradition. It's not the early 20th century anymore, he says. Times change, racing changes, and you have to change with it. And people, see, people hate that.

"As I've learned and found out around here, sometimes change is a very hard thing to accept in respect to the Indianapolis 500, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway," George says. "I get a lot of people who are very appreciative of what we as an organization have here at the Speedway. And I know there are people who feel differently."

"So how do you not take that personally?" he's asked. "Do you take it personally?"

George thinks for a minute.

"It serves no purpose," he says at last. "I don't really even think about it that much. There's too many other things to spend my time thinking about."

(BREAK)

And so we end here, with a night at the movies.

It's the premiere of an IMAX film about NASCAR, early March of this year, at the Indiana State Museum. Tony George sits five or six rows back from the screen, invisible in the dark.

He has done what the smart guys said he would never do. He has taken the Speedway into the 21st century. He has made the IRL viable. He has earned admiration and provoked contempt, ruined relationships and repaired them.

And all without any of us really knowing him.

Now the movie is over, the lights come up, George moves into the aisle. He signs a few autographs. He moves off into the dark, still alone - and suddenly TV lights pierce the gloom, suddenly someone is interviewing 2003 Brickyard 400 winner Kevin Harvick.

The lights blaze. Harvick talks. And Tony George - one of the three most powerful men in motorsports, and sometimes that little boy in the photo, too - takes a deliberate step back into the shadows, becomes a shadow himself.

Ah. That's better.

SunDancer

06-01-2004, 12:59 PM

I love the old CART. F1 I always loved, but it seems to be going through a downturn and I hate the "team system". Rumors were flying around of a new series breaking off F1??

TLK

06-01-2004, 08:21 PM

Penske Renews Call for IndyCar/Champ Car Reunification

Written by: RACER staff

Indianapolis, Ind. – 6/1/2004

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/25427_pen.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/25427_pen.jpg) Roger Penske (LAT photo)

Pre-eminent car owner Roger Penske has renewed his call for a unification of the IRL and Champ Car rivals in an article published by the New York Times on Sunday.

“My goal, over the next couple of months, is to come up with a way to repair the split that led me away from Indianapolis for five years,” Penske wrote. “I'd like to see one group, not two, racing Indy cars again. It would benefit not only Tony George, the president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway….

“Going to the Indy 500 is like going to the Kentucky Derby. But I didn't know what I had been missing until I came back. Now is the time for everyone to come back.

Penske added that in his view a title sponsor for the IRL could be the springboard for renewal.

“The trajectory of Indy-car racing is not down. It's not flat. The quality of the race teams has improved,” he noted. “There's support for the series within the automotive industry. The sponsorships are strong. In the future, we will need to find one sponsor who will be able to do for Indy car racing what Nextel can do for stock car racing.

“I think Tony George will be able to land a first-class sponsor for the IRL. Hopefully, that's on the horizon. If we have such a corporate sponsor for one series, with 35, 36, 37 cars available to compete regularly, I think it would lead to more competitive races and a better series over all than the two separate series we have now."

TLK

06-01-2004, 08:30 PM

My thoughts.... summed up real quick.... one series with TG at the helm won't happen anytime soon..... if they could find a middle ground, with TG in control of the Speedway and third party in control of the series itself, then they might have something.....

TLK

06-02-2004, 08:27 AM

and the latest rumor....

Penske/Andretti Lead Unificati... 06-01
Remember, just gossip we are hearing but interesting at the very least:

Silent talk had Mario Andretti and Roger Penske sitting down in the Penske Motorhome during the rain delay with both very disappointed in what the Indy 500 has become (lack of fan and media interest).<BR><BR>
Some type of agreement between the two has Penske and Andretti sitting down for some serious discussions between them and coming up with a plan to unify the two series in the next few months. Penske will use his muscle on George, and Mario the respect he has around the Champcar series. Word is that they both agree that in order for the series to unify, George has to give up the helm and just own the series but appoint someone else to run the series, the schedule will have to be a compromise of oval/street and road races etc. <BR><BR>
They plan on coming up with a potential leader, set of guidelines, schedule, engine, chassis etc . and present it to the two groups in private and then make it known public. Goal is to have a unified Indy 500 in 2005 (coming up with a set of rules so that both series can use their equipment) and be unified in 2006, but they hope that both sides realize that it really all should be done for 2005

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This will never happen.... it makes too much sense.....

clintl

06-02-2004, 08:38 AM

Well, I think Penske and Andretti would be the best hopes for making something happen.

TLK

06-02-2004, 08:46 AM

If George will give up control, I'm all up for anything they can come up with..... but as long as he's involved in a leadership role..... I'm out.... I don't care if Paul Tracy/Paul Newman & Co. come out and piss on CART/ChampCar's grave..... they won't have me (and many others) as fans....

btw..... I heard the 500 broadcast had an open plea to Tracy to come back to Indy as soon as possible..... pretty funny considering how they screwed him.....

TLK

06-02-2004, 11:01 AM

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>From TSN.ca/auto_racing.com:

<TABLE class=pollh cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=pollhead><TD class=pollh>http://www.tsn.ca/images/elements/poll_header.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=pollb><TABLE class=pollb cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=poll align=middle colSpan=2>Under what scenario would you support an IRL - Champ Car reunification</TD></TR><INPUT type=hidden value=14993 name=Poll_Id> <TR vAlign=top><TD><INPUT type=radio value=1 name=Choice></TD><TD class=poll>Tony George running the entire show</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD><INPUT type=radio value=2 name=Choice></TD><TD class=poll>Champ Car running the entire show</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD><INPUT type=radio value=3 name=Choice></TD><TD class=poll>Tony George as owner but not president</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD><INPUT type=radio value=4 name=Choice></TD><TD class=poll>Tony George out of the picture completely</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD align=left> <INPUT type=submit value=Vote>
</TD><TD align=left>View Results (http://www.tsn.ca/poll/poll_results.asp?Poll_id=14993)

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Here are the current results:
</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=pollw cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE class=pollh cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=pollh>http://www.tsn.ca/images/elements/poll_header.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=pollb><TABLE class=pollb cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Under what scenario would you support an IRL - Champ Car reunification

</TD></TR><TR><TD>Tony George running the entire show - 4%</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.tsn.ca/images/keyline_left.gif </TD></TR><TR><TD>Champ Car running the entire show - 9%</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.tsn.ca/images/keyline_left.gif </TD></TR><TR><TD>Tony George as owner but not president - 10%</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.tsn.ca/images/keyline_left.gif </TD></TR><TR><TD>Tony George out of the picture completely - 77%</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.tsn.ca/images/backred3.gif </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>--------------------------------------------------------------

I Like the results......
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Dutch

06-02-2004, 12:41 PM

Public opinion matters not in the world of private property. Either Tony George wins or nobody does. It's that simple.

JonInMiddleGA

06-02-2004, 07:38 PM

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-weekendratings&prov=ap&type=lgns

NEW YORK (AP) -- The rating for the rain-shortened Indianapolis 500 was down 11 percent from last year, and was lower than the weekend's NASCAR race for the third straight year.

The race on ABC on Sunday, which was delayed at the start for two hours because of rain and stopped for an hour and 47 minutes after 27 laps, got a 4.1 rating, down from 4.6 last year.

Not surprisingly, Fox's coverage of the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race performed better, with a 5.0 rating. The 22 percent disparity was the largest since the NASCAR races overtook the Indy 500 in the ratings three years ago.

TLK

06-02-2004, 07:57 PM

beat me to it Jon...... I was going to post that right now...... Not really a surprise, and I don't believe that those numbers are final yet, so they'll probably finish even lower....

Dutch

06-03-2004, 09:43 AM

What was the ratings on the CART race?

JonInMiddleGA

06-03-2004, 11:38 AM

What was the ratings on the CART race?
Which CART race? The May 23rd from Mexico?

I'm not even sure who televised it (HDnet? SpikeTV on delay?)

Dutch

06-03-2004, 12:43 PM

Hell, I don't know, which ever one most currently ran.

TLK

06-03-2004, 07:29 PM

http://homepage.mac.com/smcphail/miscimages/i500tv.gif

I thought I should repost this from the other thread..... Television ratings pattern of the 500 (and the Super Bowl in orange)....Updated to include 2004....

TLK

06-05-2004, 06:48 PM

What is Penske's Real Agenda?

Written by: Robin Miller (http://www.speedtv.com/speed/bio/273/)

Indianapolis, IN – 6/5/2004

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/19565_robin_miller2.web.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/19565_robin_miller2.web.jpg)
Roger Penske vows he's going to spend the next few months trying to repair the split in open wheel racing. In addition, no doubt, to helping O.J. look for Nicole's killer and getting gas prices under control.

Penske's recent editorial in the New York Times that he's decided to roll up his sleeves and save open wheel racing would almost be humorous if it wasn't so self-serving and hypocritical.

First off, it was The Captain's jumping ship to the Indy Racing League in 2002 that accelerated the unraveling of Championship Auto Racing Teams (the series he co-founded in 1979). It was a meeting in Houston in 2001 that Penske threatened to go to Tony George's all-oval series if his fellow owners didn't adopt the the IRL's engine rules (which they did despite not having any manufacturers on board).

Of course Penske already knew he and Toyota were both IRL bound, he just didn't share that with his CART brethren.

And this was after years of privately bad-mouthing George for screwing Indy-car racing.

It was only last year that Penske predicted there would only be one open wheel series still standing by 2004 and, obviously, that didn't happen since Open Wheel Racing Series rescued the remains of CART.

So, after getting smoked at Indy by Buddy Rice and Honda, what better time to do a little self-promoting, state that open wheel racing in this country ain't what it use to be and it's time somebody needs to run to a phone booth, change clothes and be a hero.

Except what Penske said was hardly a revelation. Open wheel needs to be united? Really?

"What took him so long?," chuckled Derrick Walker, who worked for Penske for 20 years before starting his own team. "I mean if anybody in this sport can help put this thing back together it's always been Penske. He's the guy who made CART and he's the guy who broke CART.

"I'm anxious to see where this goes. I hope this means he's going to follow through."

Jimmy Vasser, the 1996 CART champion, would like some clarification.

"I want to know his (Penske) interpretation of unification," said Vasser, now a part owner of PKV Racing. "Does it mean he thinks we're going to roll over or does it mean each series is going keep their best races?

"Obviously, I would love to see one great series like we use to have and all the moons are aligned for that to happen in 2006 because everybody's rules packages expire at the end of 2005."

Naturally, the entire Champ Car paddock was suspicious about the timing of Penske's pronouncement.

"There's always something behind everything with Roger but you never know what it is," said Gerald Forsythe, one of the OWRS owners who is fielding three cars this season. "I don't disagree with our sponsors and fans that one series would be stronger -- that's just a good business plan -- and it doesn't take a genius to figure that out.

"Economically it would be better for everyone and there would have to be a meeting of the minds. But when one guy (Tony George) keeps saying their business model is so much different than ours I have to wonder.

"I look at the IRL business model as one that's waving in the wind. It started out as all Americans and all ovals and now they're talking road races and street courses so how does our business model differ from theirs?"

Added Neil Mickelwright, team manager for Forsythe Racing: "Why does Roger suddenly feel the need to reunite when he's been telling us the IRL is the greatest thing since sliced bread? I'd like to know what prompted it. Maybe there's a little trouble in paradise."

Paul Gentilozzi, who met with George last year before OWRS bought CART's assets and talked about the future of open wheel racing with the IRL founder, claims there can't be intervention without good intention.

"There was a time last year when I thought I could play a pivotal part in putting things back together but I don't think that can happen," said Gentilozzi, an OWRS principal who fields a two-car team in Champ Car. "There have been agendas drafted by major manufacturers and it's still not together so what is the obstruction? Why aren't we together?

"Is it about preserving the throne of the royal familyof American motorsports or is it about preserving a motorsports discipline?"

Bobby Rahal, Barry Green and Walker spent the summer of 1998 meeting with George and thought they had worked out a compromise only to have him walk away. Ford Motor Company drafted a peace plan that never was acted upon. Forsythe said he'd be willing to sit down and talk with Penske or George but.......

"Look, I enjoy Champ Car racing and I enjoyed competing at the Indy 500 and the split never did make any sense," said Forsythe, who won the last united Indy 500 in 1995 with Jacques Villeneuve. "It was all about one person wanting control and now he's devastated the Indy 500.

"I would listen if he or Roger wanted to sit down but we're not going to lay down and let the competition make the rules and dictate the tracks. Especially when we have the best series and more fans."

As for Penske's stance, some Champ Car owners believe Toyota and Honda are going to bail unless IRL and Champ Car are united so The Captain is getting involved. There's also a theory that the IRL has a major sponsor on the hook but it's predicated on having one major open wheel series in this country and Penske has been asked to be the front man in negotiations. Others say it's only a PR stunt.

Paul Tracy, who scored 11 of his 27 wins driving for Penske, knows his former employer plays both sides of the street and is always five steps ahead of the posse.

"I'm not sure why he (Penske) suddenly feels like becoming a peacemaker," said the 2003 CART champion. "But I do know that he's one captain who won't be going down with the ship."

Dutch

06-05-2004, 07:56 PM

Okay, so I don't get it. An IRL guy is suggesting unification (that's kind of different that usual) and the CART guys are bashing his head into mush over it? Do I have that right?

Honestly, they are all just a bunch of spoiled, rotten, little children. Chances of unification for 2006? 1%.

Thanks for the link. You are our open-wheel racing single-source of information....even if it is biased. And yes, biased for the good, but too me, that is neither here nor there all these years later.

TLK

06-05-2004, 11:06 PM

In my honest opinion, I think 2006 will be too late anyways, but we'll see what happens....

ChampCar ran Milwaukee tonight and it was a solid race..... I won't put up any spoilers, (The race can be seen tomorrow at 4pm on SpikeTV --all time zones--) but it was well attended and a good show.

and for the reason why I don't post pro-IRL articles...... because most of them read like a three year-old wrote them....

ex.--- http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Ottaw.../01/480840.html (http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Ottaw.../01/480840.html)

Tue, June 1, 2004 

CART fans need to keep an open mind

By DEAN McNULTY, Ottawa Sun

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There are few involved in open-wheel racing who don't lament the events of March 1995 that led to the formation of the Indy Racing League to compete against the established Championship Auto Racing Teams. But more than nine years later, it's time for even the most partisan of supporters of the former CART series to stop playing the blame game.

History will show that it was Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss Tony George who was the instigator of the split that put open-wheel racing in North America on the slippery slope to second-tier sports status. But his isn't the only name that belongs on a racing wall of shame.

Former CART CEO Chris Pook, who frittered away $180 million US in a foolish attempt to prop up the series, is at least equally to blame for open-wheel racing's downfall.

There are others who also must share responsibility for the state of disrepair open-wheel racing now finds itself.

Step up Gerry Forysthe. Step up Roger Penske. Step up Chip Ganassi.

All have their tire marks someplace along this inglorious road to ruin.

Yet it is those in the open-wheel racing business who have made genuine efforts to heal the wounds who are now bearing the brunt of abuse from so-called race fans.

FEELING THE WRATH

Adrian Fernandez -- who almost single-handedly was responsible for the former CART series' popularity in Mexico -- is the latest racer to feel the wrath of irrational fans of that series.

Fernandez had the temerity to say that CART was done. Well folks, last time anybody checked CART died in a courtroom in Indianapolis this past January. And Fernandez was there to see it first hand.

When he moved to the IRL this season, it was strictly business.

He invested millions of his own money to keep his team afloat.

Moving to the IRL was a business decision by a man dedicated to racing.

For those who feel that they must castigate Fernandez as a traitor, get a grip. The old CART is dead. Get over it.

What was reborn in bankruptcy court out of its ashes -- the Open Wheel Racing Series -- is not CART.

Forsythe and partners Paul Gentilozzi and Kevin Kalkhoven worked diligently to give birth to their new version of Champ Car racing. But the war to control open-wheel racing was over the moment the judge's gavel came down to seal the deal that sold CART's assets to OWRS.

The sooner everyone accepts this the sooner open-wheel racing can get back to fighting for the stature it has lost during the past nine years. If some still feel that Fernandez is the villain in this piece, they are sadly misinformed.

CASCAR may be sold: Rumours are rampant that the CASCAR Super Series -- Canada's top stock car racing sanctioning body -- is in negotiations with NASCAR to sell its events, including races at the Toronto and Vancouver Molson Indys. Reports of the sale were being spread this past weekend in Charlotte, N.C., home of NASCAR Nextel Cup's Coca-Cola 600. If the sale were to be completed, it is expected that NASCAR would rename the series NASCAR North and lump it in with its two other regional racing series -- Busch North and Grand National West. CASCAR spokesman Richard Coughlin said there have been talks, but denied that a sale is imminent.

TLK

06-05-2004, 11:13 PM

and here's an IRL fan trying to spin the ratings for the 500 vs. The 600..... pretty good stuff.... taken from a pro-IRL board that can be found at http://www.trackforum.com/ . Fair warning though.... If you think I'm a shill for ChampCar, you havn't seen anything yet....

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top noWrap width=175 bgColor=#dedfdf>Defender
Media Insider
Registered: Nov 2000
Location: The fields I used to roam
Posts: 7306

</TD><TD vAlign=top width="100%" bgColor=#dedfdf>Hey, that's great! The IRL did better than anticipated (despite the drop in overnights) and, unfortunately, NASCAR did worse than anticipated.

Statistically, the margin between 5.0 and 4.1 is not that great. We know NASCAR did better in men, and it will be interesting to evaluate the other demographic breakouts in addition to the demographics quoted by Joe Bob.

In the final analysis, here is THE most important factor: Given numbers that are much lower than projected, how can Fox charge high enough rates for the broadcasts to even think about making a profit? Meantime, ABC has extended the IRL deal and is happy with the profit they are making.

It would be super if sports marketers in all sports could figure out how to bump up the numbers in a general sense. Heck, most everyone is suffering these declines. I haven't even mentioned the heat A.C. Neilsen is taking over their methodology lately.

Based on my attendance at my 40th Indy 500, the grandeur of the event is everything it has been and shows no signs of slowing down. I remain optimistic that Tony and crew will realize the value of promotion and marketing, and that ABC will do the same. The product is well worth the effort.

I can't wait until Texas!

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Dutch

06-05-2004, 11:34 PM

Trust me, I am no IRL fan, but I am basically not a fan of CART anymore either. In war, there are casualties. I am one of them.

TLK

06-06-2004, 12:23 PM

CHAMP CAR NOTEBOOK
Series co-owner would welcome talks with IRL
Gentilozzi says philosophical differences stand in the way of 1 series.
http://www.indystar.com/images/clear.gif
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=210 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=10>http://www.indystar.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.indystar.com/images/pics2/image-152691-1781.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD>Paul Gentilozzi, co-owner of the Champ Car World Series, says the open-wheel split can be fixed if series work together. -- File photo
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#eeeeee>Related content
http://www.indystar.com/images/clear.gif
• Hunter-Reay never trails at Milwaukee (http://www.indystar.com/articles/1/152692-2351-037.html)
• Notebook: Series co-owner would welcome talks with IRL (http://www.indystar.com/articles/7/152691-3277-037.html)
• Champ Car Time Warner Cable Road Runner 250 results (http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/152743-8693-037.html)
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#eeeeee>Next race
http://www.indystar.com/images/clear.gif
• What: Grand Prix of Portland
• When: 3 p.m. June 20
• TV: Spike
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By Steve Ballard
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript></SCRIPT>steve.ballard@indystar.com (steve.ballard@indystar.com)
June 6, 2004

WEST ALLIS, Wis. -- If open-wheel racing is to return to being one series, Paul Gentilozzi vows it won't be because the Champ Car World Series quietly goes away.

Three races into his first season as co-owner of the former CART series with partners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, Gentilozzi reiterated this weekend that he would welcome discussions with Indy Racing League president Tony George but is heartened by the long-term prospects for Champ Car.

After first saying he has to be "careful about what I say because some people are actually listening now," Gentilozzi made clear who he believes is responsible for the problems in open-wheel racing.

"Why aren't we together? What is the obstruction?" he said. "Is it about preserving the throne of the royal family of motor sports, or is it about preserving a motor sports discipline?"

He said there are no differences that can't be overcome if officials of both series commit to finding a solution.

"The mechanics of it is not the issue. It's the philosophical issues that have to be resolved," he said. "It's not about rules and (engine) liters. All of that can be fixed."

Gentilozzi was peeved by a first-person story by Roger Penske published last week in The New York Times, in which the CART co-founder and current IRL team owner wrote he is going to work "the next couple of months to come up with a way to repair the split."

Penske intimated that George is close to landing a title sponsor for the IRL and that will lead to more Champ Car teams jumping series.

"Open-wheel racing has been telling the world what it ought to think for the last decade," Gentilozzi said. "I don't think that's working very well."

SunDancer

06-06-2004, 09:59 PM

Anyone care to post the a review of their thoughs on the first three weekends and their overall thoughs of the ChampCar series? How are tv ratings and attendence?

TLK

06-07-2004, 01:33 AM

in quick form....

Long Beach- Bad race (but a Tracy win).... bad tv ratings..... excellent attendance

Monterrey- Good race.... improving tv ratings... excellent attendance

Milwaukee- So-so race (good race beyond first place, which was dominated by American, Ryan Hunter-Reay).... decent attendance for an oval

TLK

06-17-2004, 12:23 AM

quick note-

ChampCar Pole speed at Milwaukee- 181.150

Top IRL speed during test at Milwaukee - 164.868

I really can't wait to see what an IRL car can put out on a road course. I have a feeling the ChampCar feeder series (Toyota Atlantic) will be faster than them.....

TLK

06-22-2004, 11:42 PM

<TABLE class=story-table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=324 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=story-title height=24>TWO MORE YEARS FOR INDY
Last Updated: Monday, 21, June, 2004, 01:07 </TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.itv-f1.com/images/static/spacer.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=story-body>http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/30418_1.jpg (javascript:openwin('Popups/Photo.aspx?IM_ID=30418','',770,550,'yes');) Indianapolis will continue to host the US Grand Prix for at least two more years.

The original race contract, signed by Bernie Ecclestone and Indy circuit boss Tony George in 1998, was due to expire after this year’s event.

But George said at the weekend that he had agreed to take up an option to host the race for two more years.

A delighted Ecclestone said: “We are going to make it work. I am committed. He (George) is happy with it and we should continue with it.

“I have a big respect for Tony. What he did here for us, I don’t forget. It was a big thing to do. A massive thing.”

However, rumours in the US suggest that George is under pressure from his sisters (and fellow Indianapolis Motor Speedway directors) Kathi, Josie and Nancy not to continue with the F1 deal because it is costing the company too much money.

There has even been talk of legal action if George insists on going ahead.

Ecclestone said he had given George the option to back out of the deal.

He said: “I said to Tony: ‘I’m happy if you’re happy. If you don’t want me to pick up the option, I won’t. And if you want to extend the contract beyond two years, I will.’

George appears committed to making Formula 1 big in the United States and knows that in order to achieve that goal it is necessary to play a longer game and allow interest to build.

That process will be greatly shortened if the US can produce a driver who is competitive in Formula 1, giving American race fans someone to support.

Meanwhile, Ecclestone is also doing his bit to increase the sport’s popularity in the country. One option he is considering is to hold a second race in the US.

The F1 supremo has spoken to New York officials about the possibility of holding a race in Manhattan. He has also held talks with a view to reviving the Long Beach Grand Prix.

There have been rumours in recent days that Ecclestone is doing a new TV deal which will result in most of the F1 races being shown on Spike TV with five big events being aired by CBS.

Ecclestone may even be willing to bundle up the deal with the rights to exploit the F1 trademark in the United States.

"I'm talking to everyone," Ecclestone said on Sunday, "but at the moment there is no deal agreed."

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TLK

06-23-2004, 12:02 AM

and here's a big thumbs down to ChampCar/OWRS.........

**File this in the Department of They Don't Get It. Paul Tracy could have been making his Nextel Cup debut this weekend at Sonoma, Calif. but was denied permission by his Champ Car owner Gerald Forsythe. "Richard Childress offered me a ride last month but Gerry and Kevin (Kalkhoven, OWRS ower) thought it would confuse people and they would think I was going to NASCAR," said the 2003 CART champion. "I think it would have been good for Champ Car." Forsythe and Kalkhoven may understand business but they need a PR class because they blew an excellent opportunity to get some free exposure to a group of race fans that don't know Champ Car exists.

SunDancer

06-23-2004, 12:06 AM

Would F1 run a street circuit at Long Beach, and would CART fight tooth and nail to keep it? While I enjoy the F1 and racing, I hate the "team spirit" of it. Its ten times worst then the US-based series.

TLK

06-23-2004, 12:56 AM

If F-1 wants Long Beach, they can have it..... I really think the future of ChampCar will be non-North American races.... In all honesty, Long Beach could run 20 FOFC members on scooters, and the fans would still show....

Dutch

06-23-2004, 11:57 AM

I like the idea of the Long Beach Grand Prix, I love the location, I hate the actual circuit. I have been many times, but I preferred going on Saturdays and checking out all the Expo's and then watching the race on Sundays.

Monaco is the best and will always be the best street course without any sort of competition at all. And the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix was a fun race to watch.

SunDancer

06-23-2004, 12:01 PM

Dutch

06-23-2004, 12:05 PM

True, Monaco is probably the most passer *un*friendly circuit ever raced on.

TLK

06-25-2004, 12:24 AM

16:01 June 23, 2004)
Unification? Indications are a single open-wheel American race series may be at hand
Behind-the-scene efforts to unify the Indy Racing League with Champ Car are heating up

By AUTOWEEK

The next 100 hours could be crucial for the survival of American open-wheel racing.

That's when Roger Penske, the most successful team owner in the sport, reportedly will present to Tony George, scion of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a plan to reunify the two warring parties.

It will not be a one-sided proposal to benefit either group. It will require contrition and give-and-take from both parties. It will not be a buy-out, a fold up, or surrender from either side. If successful, this partnership is one from which all members—Tony George, the IRL, Champ Car, the teams and drivers of each series, the engine manufacturers, and the sponsors—will benefit.

Most important, the fans will win.

This denouement began with an editorial in The New York Times penned by Penske and appearing on the eve of last month's Indy 500 calling for a truce. It continued this week, AutoWeek has learned, with a meeting between the Champ Car triumvirate—Kevin Kalkoven, Paul Gentilozzi and Jerry Forsythe—and Penske in a Pontiac, Michigan airport hangar.

At that meeting, options on how to go about reunifying the two series' were discussed including outright ownership of Champ Car by the IRL, something that's as likely to happen as it is that NASCAR will wither up and blow away. Still, Penske left the airport with a framework for reunification that includes the formation of a new series and the organizational structure to run it.

For this new series (might we suggest naming it Formula Indy?) to work each side must hold equal ownership of the new company.

Both sides must get equal representation on a board that allows the current sanctioning bodies three members each plus one appointed member, for a total of eight. Both Champ Car and the IRL will provide an equal contribution of assets.

Both companies will bring to the combined schedule the strongest races in the best markets each has to offer. An appropriate television package would follow.

Who could best run this series? How about Brian Barnhart of the IRL who has repeatedly proven his organizational capabilities. What to call members of the new company? Make everyone a czar or a king or whatever… that's just haggling over titles.

This plan seems so simple that it's almost too good to be true. Everyone wins and no individual loses.

How could fans not embrace or support a remarriage? While this fight was about what all fights come down to—winning and losing, determining who's better, about power and sharing, and about egos—the schism's economics look as though it has finally slapped sense into the parties.

In the near decade since the split, neither series has profited. Each has lost traction with fans, has stumbled with television audiences, has turned off Madison Avenue and has collectively handed the spotlight to an omnipresent, all-profitable, left-turning NASCAR.

Open-wheel racing in America has come down to basic survival, and it's being proven time and again. Last year, after burning through a $150 million war chest, Championship Auto Racing Teams went tango-uniform; an owner group salvaged the sport and re-christened it Champ Car on a shoestring budget. Even the venerable Indianapolis Motor Speedway did not go unscathed. The impact to Indy's economics was never more prevalent than when this Spring word came that the Greatest Spectacle In Racing didn't really need a full field of top cars and expert drivers-something the organizers were worried about achieving (and not for the first time). Perhaps August will clarify things for open-wheel racing if more people flock to the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race than come for the Indy 500.

Angry words, jealousy and greed precipitated the split. But that is history. What the sport needs now is contrition from all sides-and recognition that if either hopes to succeed this fight cannot continue. If ever the 2005 season can benefit, now is the time to expedite the healing process.

What must be said about Penske is that he's a smart businessman who recognizes profit when he sees it. As fans, let us all hope that as ambassador of open-wheel racing Good Will, Penske can convince Tony George to listen and work toward a common goal.

TLK

07-16-2004, 08:06 PM

from CART.com

Champ Car World Series and Indy Racing League Conclude Discussions

INDIANAPOLIS, July 16, 2004 - Following on the initiative of Roger Penske to explore a unification of open wheel racing, ownership representatives of Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League have met with Mr. Penske to consider the issues.

While ownership representatives from both series agree that one open wheel series is the optimal situation, it is the belief of all involved that the time is not right for further discussion of unification. Both parties appreciate the efforts of Mr. Penske, and both parties believe that each has a better understanding of where common ground exists. No more meetings are planned and both series are moving forward with their future plans.
I'm left scratching my head after that one.....

Dutch

07-16-2004, 08:19 PM

Pride goes before the fall? Being split makes ZERO sense, financially or otherwise. At this point in time it's the "principle of the matter". One, that I no longer care enough about to agree or disagree with.

TLK

07-16-2004, 08:27 PM

forgot to post this..... (happend while I was in Vegas)...

Champ Car World Series announces addition of Las Vegas Motor Speedway to 2004 schedule

http://www.whowon.com/images/yellowHR_320x1.gif

by Eric Mauk
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- When the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford decided to add another night race to the 2004 schedule, it was only fitting that the series visit a city where nightfall merely signals the start of the show.

The Champ Car World Series announced Wednesday that it would add a visit to the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway September 24-25 for a two-day event. The open-wheel machines will share the weekend with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on the superspeedway oval with both series racing on Saturday night. The Champ Cars will close the show Saturday night with a start time tentatively scheduled for 9 p.m. Pacific Time.

“The addition of a Champ Car World Series event is great news not only for Las Vegas Motor Speedway but also for Las Vegas as a whole,” said LVMS general manager Chris Powell. “The Champ Car World Series offers some of the fastest and most technologically advanced race cars in the world and the fans attending the Las Vegas 350 NASCAR Craftsman Truck race now will be treated to an additional adrenaline rush. We're excited to offer such a great night of racing to the fans of Las Vegas as well as to those who are drawn from outside the community.”

The LVMS superspeedway will be the first for Champ Car since last season’s visit to EuroSpeedway Lausitz where Sebastien Bourdais (#2 McDonald’s Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) nipped Mario Dominguez (#55 Herdez Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) and Michel Jourdain Jr. (#9 Gigante Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone). Bourdais escaped a brief ride on the infield grass and found a way to win a race that saw the top-three drivers covered by a scant .245 seconds.

“We have been interested in holding a Champ Car race in Las Vegas and the opportunity to partner with Speedway Motorsports Inc. made it attractive to us,” said Champ Car President Dick Eidswick. “Television ratings in Las Vegas have consistently been strong for Champ Car races in the last few years and we have a strong fan base in that region.”

The Champ Cars ran under the lights at the Milwaukee Mile in June in a race that saw Ryan Hunter-Reay (#4 Herdez Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) lead from wire-to-wire taking his first win of the season. This will be the fourth night race in the last two years for the Champ Cars, having run in Milwaukee and Cleveland in 2003 and conducting a night race in Milwaukee this year.

“I am really excited about the addition of Las Vegas Motor Speedway to our 2004 schedule,” Hunter-Reay said. “Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a state-of-the-art racing facility, and I am very happy to race on another oval this year as Herdez Competition had a record-setting weekend when I won in Milwaukee. The diversity that Champ Car offers by racing on ovals, road and street courses makes it the most unique and challenging series anywhere. I can't think of a better place to display our product than Las Vegas.”

Four Champ Car drivers call Las Vegas home. Defending series champion Paul Tracy (#1 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgstone) is one along with Alex Tagliani (#8 Johnson Controls Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), Jimmy Vasser (#12 Gulfstream Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), and Patrick Carpentier (#7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone).

“I can’t tell you how excited I am about racing here,” Tracy said. “All of the local guys have been out to the track and it’s a first-class facility. It’s the right type of venue for our cars. The fact that this is right in our backyard will open up a lot of opportunities for us to be able to test and really make this a big event.”

Fans can purchase a special Champ Car ticket package through the Las Vegas Motor Speedway box office. The Champ Car ticket package sells for $61.50 and includes a Saturday reserved grandstand seat in the Earnhardt Terrace as well as a Champ Car paddock pass. Admission on Friday will be free. The Champ Car ticket package must be requested directly from the LVMS box office at 1-702-644-4444 (in Nevada) or 1-800-644-4444 to receive the offer.

Ryan S

07-16-2004, 08:37 PM

If CART and IRL unite and Tony George is somehow involved, I will walk away from US open wheel racing.

TLK

07-18-2004, 08:18 PM

unification crap put aside..... here's a good article, on a great guy...

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/headers/large_artcat_3.gif

Finding Memo

Written by: David Phillips (http://www.speedtv.com/speed/bio/56/)

Pittsburgh, Pa. – 7/16/2004

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/28612_pv_148154.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/28612_pv_148154.jpg) Gidley soon reminded team owners who he is in Toronto (LAT photo).

There are worse things in the life of a race mechanic than repairing crash damage. One that comes to mind is working on a race car that is seldom driven hard enough to be crashed. True, the crews on such cars are usually among the first in the paddock to head for the hotel at the end of the day . . . but they also spend countless hours toiling away on routine preparation for little or no emotional reward.

One of my most vivid memories from the mid ’90s was walking from the paddock to pit lane in Vancouver as the Simon Racing pit cart rolled past with Hiro Matsushita’s car in tow. As ever, the Panasonic Ford-Lola was immaculately turned out. But instead of seeing pride in the mechanics’ eyes, one sensed a cheerless resignation born of the knowledge that their car was never going to qualify or run in the top 10 or even be driven at 10/10ths, let alone contend for a victory.

Right behind came Walker Racing’s Ford-Reynard, driven by Robby Gordon. The Valvoline entry had been bent, folded, spindled and mutilated more times than I could count, sometimes in pursuit of victory, others in quest of a sixth, eighth or twelfth place and, more than once, in a mano y mano confrontation with some other driver Gordon felt had done him wrong on the track.

Gordon’s mechanics had spent more nights putting their car back together than they probably cared to remember. But in contrast to the grim countenances of Matsushita’s crew, Gordon’s mechanics were animated, upbeat, looking forward to the coming day; a day they knew their man would wring the neck of the car they had prepared and repaired. And if he took off a corner or pranged the tub and they were forced to spend another all-nighter putting the car back together again, well, that was a price they would gladly pay.

So, why the five and dime store lesson in psychology?

Fast forward to the Toronto Molson Indy pits last weekend, Saturday and Sunday to be exact. There, Memo Gidley took over the LeasePlan Ford-Lola from young Nelson Philippe, who had parted company with the Rocketsports Racing team after what was ambiguously described as a “contractual dispute.”

Who knows or cares about the details of the dispute. The fact of the matter is the 17-year-old Philippe, a thoroughly likable young man who is not without talent as a race driver, was in over his head. Having done a credible – if unremarkable – job in his first season of auto racing in the 2003 Barber Dodge Pro Series, the former karter made the big leap to Champ Cars this year. And while he did nothing to embarrass himself, and in fact scored a couple of top 10 finishes, Philippe would clearly have been better served running a year or two of Toyota Atlantic where, even as I write, another 17-year-old by the name of Andrew Ranger is stamping himself as a Coming Man a la A.J. Allmendinger.

Gidley knows a thing or two about Toyota Atlantic, having finished second and third, respectively, in the ’97 and ’98 championships. He also knows a thing or two about Champ Cars, having made 36 starts from ‘99 through ’01 for a cavalcade of teams including Target/Chip Ganassi, Player’s/Forsythe, Walker, Coyne and Della Penna Racing, mostly as a substitute for injured colleagues.

He also knows a thing or two about prowling the pit lane in search of work, unaccountably having failed to secure a full-time ride despite coming within a heartbeat of besting no-less than Dario Franchitti for the win at Cleveland in ’01, leading 68 laps in the ’01 Michigan 500 and earning the admiration of virtually every mechanic and engineer he worked with in the process.

Thus it was no surprise to see a little extra bounce in the steps of the LeasePlan crew in Toronto, guys like crew chief Rob Hill who worked with drivers like Alex Zanardi, Jimmy Vasser and Juan Pablo Montoya at Target/Ganassi; team manager Phil Howard, who’s worked with Gordon and Oriol Servia in his day, not to mention Rocketsports’ Alex Tagliani, a driver seldom criticized for lack of effort.

Sure, they’d stayed up until the wee hours of Saturday morning fitting Gidley to the car (he’d been at Infineon Raceway preparing to do some work as Jim Russell Driving School instructor on Friday when Rocketsports’ owner Paul Gentilozzi rang him up and offered him the ride in Toronto). And sure, Gidley qualified 18th out of 18 cars.

But they’d seen him run 16th out 18 cars in practice Saturday – the first time he’d ever sat in the car, not to mention the first time he’d driven a Champ Car since the end of ’01. And they’d listened to his feedback, feedback that confirmed what most in pit lane suspected: there were no fundamental problems with the car, just some tweaks to fine-tune the car to the liking of Gidley – or any other driver not learning the Champ Car ropes via on-the-job training.

And they heard him speak confidently of having a very driveable race car, one with which he was sure he could make quick progress in the race.

Sure enough, Gidley moved up through the field by dint of several passes and mistakes by other drivers to run 11th before a tangle with Allmendinger dropped him down the order and he ultimately parked the Rocketsports car in the
wall at Turn Eight.

Gidley refused to make excuses for the crash. “It had nothing to do with the fact I hadn’t been in a Champ Car for a while,” he said. “I just made a mistake, that’s all.”
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/17918_gid.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/17918_gid.jpg) Memo Gidley (LAT photo)

Nor did he leave Toronto second-guessing himself.

“The whole experience was nothing but positive,” said Gidley. “The car was a blast to drive, the team is totally professional and they couldn’t do enough for me.”

Now comes the hard part . . .

Gentilozzi made it perfectly clear that Gidley was the perfect driver to replace Philippe on such short notice in Toronto. He also made it perfectly clear that last weekend’s deal with Gidley was for Toronto only; that a whole range of factors – inevitably involving sponsorship money and other commercial considerations – would weigh on the decision of who to put in the Rocketsports entry for the remainder of the season.

Michael Valiante’s name is being widely circulated as a candidate for the ride, the young Canadian being an ideal choice in light of the fact that the upcoming Vancouver Molson Indy is in his hometown and that Champ Car (in which Gentilozzi is a partner) is negotiating with Molson Sports and Entertainment to establish long-term contracts with the three events in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

Valiante is no Philippe. He’s 24 years old, has two and a half seasons and a handful of Toyota Atlantic wins under his belt and has tested a Champ Car for Walker Racing on a couple of occasions.

On the other hand, Valiante is no Gidley.

Make no mistake, Gidley would love to get the call. It’s just that he’s been through this sort of thing often enough before that he’s realistic about the situation.

“I realized a long time ago not to take things personally,” says the San Rafael, Calif. resident. “There’s a whole lot of factors that go into a decision like this. I know I can drive a race car, Paul and the team know I can drive a race car, but I also know it costs money to run a race car.

“I’d love to get the chance to drive for Rocketsports full-time. But it’s not like I’m on pins and needles waiting for the phone call. I’m racing a Ford Focus sponsored by the Air Force Reserve in the SPEED World Challenge. It’s a pretty cool car and there’s a race at Infineon Raceway this weekend, so I’ll get to sleep in my own bed!

“Like I said, the whole Toronto thing was a positive. I hadn’t driven a Champ Car since the end of ’01 and, even though I hadn’t forgotten how to drive a car, a lot of people in the Champ Car paddock had maybe forgotten about me a little. This was a chance to reset the clock in their minds. They saw me get in the car for the first time Saturday and do a pretty good job, so now I’m current again.”

The coming days will tell the tale. But, I would hazard to guess if the decision were left to the mechanics and engineers at Rocketsports, Gidley would be looking forward to a lot of nights away from his own bed. And the mechanics might be looking forward to some nights fixing crash damage. Gladly.

TLK

07-23-2004, 11:46 AM

Uncommon ground

By Mike Chambers
Denver Post Staff Writer

The late Marlon Brando, who played Don Vito Corleone in "The Godfather," would have appreciated the effort: the heads of the two biggest families, discussing business territorial differences over coffee and cookies.

Roger Penske reportedly played Brando's role last weekend in Indianapolis, where leaders of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series met on Penske's behalf to discuss a unified North American open-wheel series.

Afterward, the rival circuits released the same statement that basically said the parties agreed to disagree.

"We talked about what would a schedule look like, what the rules look like - pretty basic, but important, stuff," said Champ Car co-owner Paul Gentilozzi, who was in Denver on Tuesday to meet with Grand Prix of Denver promoters preparing for the third Mile High street race Aug. 13-15 around the Pepsi Center. "We got through some hurdles, but there were some that, at this point, we just couldn't overcome."

Gentilozzi doesn't foresee another meeting until after the season, but that's what Champ Car prefers, he said.

"The fact that we survived surprised them," Gentilozzi said of his organization's ability to remain a viable circuit after winning a bid for the race assets of bankrupt CART, which formerly owned Champ Car. "We kept on going, and they do enough underground work to know that there is a whole bunch of successful things that is going to happen. There is good news coming."

Gentilozzi declined to be specific, but said, "There is a better future sooner than I figured."

IRL vice president Fred Nation, whose circuit competes at Pikes Peak International Raceway on Aug. 21-22, said last week's meeting ended with two familiar obstacles - international races and leadership - preventing an agreement.

The IRL makes a token stop in Japan to appease its Japanese manufacturers. But unlike Champ Car, which will compete in Canada (three times), Mexico (twice), South Korea and Australia this year, Nation said IRL's sponsors want to remain in the United States.

"We're talking about Toyota, Honda, Firestone, General Motors and the rest of the United States marketing arms," Nation said. "The money that helps fund their efforts to fund the Indy Racing League doesn't come (outside) the United States."

The geography problem might not be the toughest issue. Finding a president for a unified series is. Gentilozzi co-owns Champ Car with fellow car owners Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven.

"Champ Car is following the model of an owner-owned model that went bankrupt earlier this year," Nation said, referring to CART. "These three gentlemen think they can reinvent that model, but we want ownership control that doesn't have the conflict of car owners making the decisions."

Later, he said, "We are comfortable with our structure and see no reason to change, no reason to share ownership with others."

Tony George, whose family owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway, founded the IRL in 1995 as an oval-only alternative to CART. George does not own an IRL team.

Gentilozzi seemed to take a swipe at George when asked if Champ Car could work under the IRL founder.

"I don't take the Fifth very often, but that's a sensitive issue," Gentilozzi said. "Somewhere there is a guy who is really (capable) of doing this. You don't make bold leadership decisions by birthright, but by good business."

It seems the only things the circuits want to share is attendance and television deals.

Remove the Indianapolis 500 from the equation, and Champ Car's attendance figures more than double those of the IRL. But the IRL has a contract with ABC through 2009 and Champ Car events are available on only HDNet (live) and Spike TV (delayed).

The IRL holds an advantage in sponsorship revenues, primarily from renowned engine manufactures Toyota and Honda, and it has a regular starting field of 22 cars. Champ Car has an 18-car contingent.

"We're basing our future without a reliance on anybody else," Gentilozzi said. "We're not relying on Toyota and Honda to subsidize our teams. What has happened is (Honda and Toyota) has CART-ified the IRL. All the stuff that was bad about us three years ago is now bad about them.

"So in our minds, if there is a little crack in that dam: If they lose any of that support, they could fall apart like CART. When you sell your soul to the devil, he eventually wants it."http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0...2289222,00.html (http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E76%257E2289222,00.html)

TLK

07-24-2004, 06:52 PM

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/headers/large_artcat_3.gif

Finding Memo

Written by: David Phillips (http://www.speedtv.com/speed/bio/56/)

Pittsburgh, Pa. – 7/16/2004

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/28612_pv_148154.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/28612_pv_148154.jpg)

Gidley qualified 5th for the Vancouver race Sunday.... thumbs up Memo...

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/Elements/Header04_StartingLineup.gif</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD vAlign=bottom align=right width="100%" xCLASS="eventHeader">Vancouver</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=resultHeader bgColor=#737373>SP</TD><TD bgColor=#737373>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=resultHeader align=middle bgColor=#737373>#</TD><TD bgColor=#737373>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=resultHeader bgColor=#737373>Driver</B></TD><TD bgColor=#737373>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=resultHeader bgColor=#737373>Residence</TD><TD bgColor=#737373>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=resultHeader bgColor=#737373>Sponsor (Engine/Chassis/Tire)</TD><TD bgColor=#737373>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=resultHeader bgColor=#737373>LT</TD><TD bgColor=#737373>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=resultHeader bgColor=#737373>Mph</TD><TD bgColor=#737373>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=resultHeader bgColor=#737373>km/h</TD></TR><TR><TD class=resultDetail>1</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail align=middle>1</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>P. Tracy (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Drivers/Driver.asp?ID=26)</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>Las Vegas, NV</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>Indeck (F/L/B)</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>1:00.870</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>105.333</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>169.628</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=15>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Results/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=resultDetail>2</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail align=middle>3</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>R. Lavin (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Drivers/Driver.asp?ID=312)</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>San Luis Potosi, Mexico</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>Corona (F/L/B)</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>1:00.980</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>105.143</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>169.322</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=15>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Results/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=resultDetail>3</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail align=middle>2</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>S. Bourdais (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Drivers/Driver.asp?ID=310)</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>Tampa, Florida</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>McDonald's (F/L/B)</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>1:00.974</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>105.153</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>169.338</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=15>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Results/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=resultDetail>4</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail align=middle>55</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>M. Dominguez (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Drivers/Driver.asp?ID=301)</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>Mexico City</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>Herdez (F/L/B)</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>1:01.168</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>104.820</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>168.802</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=15>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Results/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=resultDetail>5</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail align=middle>17</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>M. Gidley (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Drivers/Driver.asp?ID=109)</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>Indianapolis, IN (USA)</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>LeasePlan (F/L/B)</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>1:01.365</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>104.483</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD class=infoDetail>168.259</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

TLK

08-07-2004, 06:15 PM

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=501 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=501><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=#000000 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=19>INDY RACING NEWS

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=#343d91 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=33>Two Road Course Events Highlight ’05 Schedule

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD width=501><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=501 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=1 bgColor=#343d91 rowSpan=3>http://www.indyracing.com/indycar/modules/images/pixel.gif</TD><TD rowSpan=3>http://www.indyracing.com/indycar/modules/images/pixel.gif</TD><TD>http://www.indyracing.com/indycar/modules/images/pixel.gif</TD><TD rowSpan=3>http://www.indyracing.com/indycar/modules/images/pixel.gif</TD><TD width=1 bgColor=#343d91 rowSpan=3>http://www.indyracing.com/indycar/modules/images/pixel.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.indyracing.com/indycar/modules/images/pixel.gif</TD><TD>http://www.indyracing.com/indycar/news/2004/series/images/05sched-200-08032004.jpg (http://www.indyracing.com/indycar/modules/images/05schedlist-fullversion.jpg) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>By Dave Lewandowski
indyracing.com

Tuesday Aug 03, 2004

When Indy Racing League officials sought to complement the exciting IndyCar Series oval schedule with road courses for 2005, Watkins Glen International and Infineon Raceway were at the top of the list.

On Aug. 3, the historic facilities officially became hosts of the first road course events in IRL history. League officials announced a 16-race schedule for 2005 – the 10th season for the IRL -- highlighted by the road course events in Sonoma, Calif., and Watkins Glen, N.Y., and the 89th Indianapolis 500.

The IndyCar Series will run the 3.4-mile, 11-turn long course at Watkins Glen International on Sept. 25 -- the weekend long associated with the United States Grand Prix (1961-80) at the facility in south-central New York. Indy-style cars haven’t competed at The Glen since 1981. The course will include “the boot,” which is part of the traditional grand prix circuit.

A modified 1.77-mile, 10-turn course at Infineon Raceway – formerly Sears Point Raceway – will be used for the race Aug. 28. It will feature "The Chute," as well as modified sections at Turn 9 and Turn 11. The event will be the first Indy-style race at the facility since Dan Gurney’s win in a USAC Indy Car race in 1970.

“As we look ahead to our 10th year of competition, we are excited that we have the opportunity to add two historic road circuits to our schedule,” said Tony George, President and CEO of the Indy Racing League. “International Speedway Corp. (owner of Watkins Glen International) and Speedway Motorsports Inc. (owner of Infineon Raceway) have been an integral part of our growth, and this is further evidence of our continued commitment to add strength and value to those relationships.”

For the fourth consecutive year, Homestead-Miami Speedway will host the season opener -- the Toyota Indy 300 on March 6. The season will end with the Toyota Indy 400 on Oct. 16 at California Speedway. It will be the first time the two-mile D-shaped oval will host the IndyCar Series finale.

“The addition of Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International is being warmly accepted by all of our partners, drivers and teams,” said Ken Ungar, IRL Senior Vice President, Business Affairs. “Bringing the season finale to the southern California market where open-wheel racing has such a rich tradition is especially gratifying.”

Though most of the events remain near their traditional dates, there have been a few date changes. The second race of the season at Phoenix International Raceway will be run March 19, while the IndyCar Series’ third visit to Twin Ring Motegi in Japan moves to April 30. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will announce its complete schedule for the 89th Indianapolis 500 (May 29) in the near future.

Absent from the schedule are events at Nazareth Speedway, which is ceasing operations this year, and Texas Motor Speedway in October. The June dates at Texas Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway and the July event at Nashville Superspeedway remain the three twilight races on the schedule.

Infineon hosts NASCAR Nextel Cup, National Hot Rod Association and American Le Mans Series events, among others. Track President and General Manager Steve Page said the lack of an open-wheel event was “the one hole in our schedule that we’d like to offer our fans.” He filled that void with the Aug. 3 announcement.

The facility, constructed on 720 acres north of San Francisco, hosted its first official event -- an SCCA Enduro -- on Dec.1, 1968.

"I've been at this track for 13 years," Page said. "From the first day I got here, one of my objectives was to bring IndyCar racing to this track, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sacramento markets, which is where our fans come from. There is a lot of interest in this series coming to this track. It's a very exciting day for us."

The first post-World War II road race in the United States was run on the streets of Watkins Glen, N.Y., on Oct. 2, 1948. In 1957, The Glen hosted its first professional race, a NASCAR Grand National Stock Car event won by Buck Baker. True international competition began in 1958 with the running of a Formula Libre race.

"Given our open wheel heritage and unique track history as the home of American road racing, our staff, fans and surrounding communities have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to return Watkins Glen International to its roots," Watkins Glen International President Craig Rust. "We are looking forward to a strong partnership with the Indy Racing League as they branch out to newer markets and continue to grow their Series."

In 1997, International Speedway Corporation became sole owner of the facility by exercising a stock option buy-out of Corning Incorporated.

“The addition of road courses will bring even more variety and challenges to IndyCar Series drivers and teams,” said Brian Barnhart, IRL Senior Vice president, Racing Operations. “We are working closely with the teams and manufacturers to bring the same excitement of our oval events to road racing.”

IRL officials emphasized radical changes to the IndyCar Series formula won’t be needed to go road racing.

“We’ll have a basic oval package to run on ovals and a road course package,” IRL Senior Technical Director Phil Casey said. “It won’t affect the handling of the cars. They should be very good on the road courses and still be very good on ovals.”

Teams will have to alter the powertrain, suspension and brakes (see “What’s needed to go road racing graphic on home page). By scheduling the events late in the season, chassis and engine manufacturers will have extra time to develop their road racing packages.
The wings currently used with the Series’ short-oval package will be used as part of the road course package.

IndyCar Series drivers, many of whom have road racing experience, welcomed the news of the schedule additions.

“The IRL has big sponsors, huge factories and manufacturers and the only thing missing is road courses and they’re coming,” said Felipe Giaffone, driver of the No. 24 Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone. “It should be a great move for the League in picking up more fans and more sponsors that enjoy that type of racing. It couldn’t be a better move.”

Townsend Bell, driver of the No. 2 Menards/Johns Manville Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone, attended the announcement media event at Infineon Raceway. The California resident said it will be a welcome challenge.

“Personally, I can’t wait to get started," he said. "It’s going to be a whole new challenge. It’s going to be a challenge for the teams to make the adjustment to doing both types of tracks, ovals and road courses. I think it’s going to be a huge step forward for the Indy Racing League.”

The IRL, which in May announced a contract extension through the 2009 season with ABC Sports and ESPN, will announce its 2005 television schedule in the immediate future.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

from early this week....

TLK

08-07-2004, 06:27 PM

Notes from Road America fan forum.....

quote: <HR>
This week's guests for the Champ Car fan forum at Road America were Paul Gentilozzi, John Lopes, Jimmy Vasser, Danica Patrick, Two reps from Formula BMW Jonas Krauss and Alex Schmuck, and Bruno Junqueira.

Paul Gentilozzi: "When you buy a company you have to have either a great product or great clients. We are working on making the product better and we already have great clients - fans."

"First priority is 2005 schedule, second is an improved TV package for next year, third is attracting more teams and expanding the field."

"We have 21 races on the rough 2005 schedule and will probably get it down to around 16. We compete for fans time and we have to put on an event so that fans come back in the the big numbers of the past."

John Lopes: "We hope to have news on the final TBA race on the schedule in two weeks."

Paul Gentilozzi: "Tracks like Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio and Road America are the core of the Champ Car culture, and we'd like to always race on them, but they need to be appropriately promoted to make business sense, since they're on remote locations."

"We intend to be back on Eurosport next year for our fans throughout Europe. A percentage of 2005 races will be on network TV (CBS) and the rest on a more accessible cable channel in the USA."

"In next two weeks you will see announcements about Commercial partners who will promote Champ Car the much needed TV and other advertising media." Q: "Who?" A: "We all like fast food."

"We will keep the existing formula next year and announce both a new engine and new chassis in the spring of '05 for the 2006 season."

John Lopes: "There's a lot of manufacturer interest in the series, and we'll attract them once we have a new formula as long as we keep putting more and more butts on the seats and eyeballs on the TVs."

Jimmy Vasser: "We have found something with our damper program and it's showing here."

Paul Gentilozzi: Q: "Why can't someone hire Memo Gidley?" A:"We're working on program next year to have Memo Gidley back in Champ Car in 2005."

Q: "Why isn't there any merchandise?" A:"With the series getting more and more stabilized, Champ Car should have a full line of team merchandise on Speedgear next year."

Q: Is Champ Car going to become a feeder series for F1? A: "We are not feeding anyone. We want drivers to make a career here."

Q: "Ever drove a Champ Car?" A: "No. But I'll probably get a chance later this year."

Q: "What about creating an IROC open wheel series on road courses and sending the NASCAR driver's home with their tail between their legs?" A:"Champ Car drivers can beat Cup drivers anywhere, even if it's a 100-yard dash. Have you ever seen Jimmy Spencer run?"

John Lopes: "After the Canadian fans' outcry at Paul Tracy's absence from IROC this year, IROC might consider inviting the 2004 Vanderbilt Cup winner for next season."

Q: "Will there be push to pass in Las vegas?" A: "We won't use push-to-pass in Vegas because drivers will run full throttle all the way around for 20 laps or more."

Danica Patrick: Q: "Which series would you want to drive?" A:"Without a doubt road racing is what I love most, it was what I have always done. However, we will have to see where my sponsors want me."

"One secret to a fast lap at Road America is to get a tow from the car in front of you so I try to suck up to the guy in front of me..." (snickering from crowd)

<HR>

Ryan S

08-07-2004, 07:25 PM

"We intend to be back on Eurosport next year for our fans throughout Europe.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eurosport did a terrible job last time they had the rights. Time and again the live motor racing would be preempted by highlights of marathon running or ski jumping (in the summer!!!!).

Champ Car needs Road America.

TLK

08-08-2004, 12:51 AM

Champ Car needs Road America.http://espn.go.com/i/rpm/headers/h_champ_s.gif (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/seriesIndex?series=cart)
Friday, August 6, 2004

<SCRIPT language=Javascript type=text/javascript></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT>Fast, picturesque -- and in future plans?
&ampnbsp
</NOSCRIPT>

By John Oreovicz
Special to ESPN.com



If there is one thing that brings a smile to the face of any Champ Car driver, team member, official or fan, it's a visit to majestic Road America. The appeal to the drivers is obvious: Near Elkhart Lake, Wis., Road America spreads its 14 corners over four miles, making for an average lap speed of more than 140 mph -- faster than some ovals. 



"It's phenomenal, the best track in the United States of America, by far," says Ryan Hunter-Reay, who paced Friday's provisional qualifying session for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America. "Tracks like this make me jealous of Formula 1 and European racing. It's such a great feeling to get it right in the high-speed corners, so rewarding. But it's easy to get too greedy and throw it away by sticking your car in a sand trap."

For the rest of us, Elkhart Lake offers something different. There is just something about the place, whether it's the sound of engines ringing through the hills and trees or the smell of charcoal-grilled bratwurst wafting through the air, that makes Road America the most enjoyable place to watch road racing in America.

Last year, Road America's future with CART was very much in jeopardy until Mario Andretti stepped in and helped mediate a new two-year agreement for 2003 and '04. The Indy Racing League's move into road racing has naturally led to a new round of speculation that Road America's days as a Champ Car venue are numbered, particularly when Champ Car is looking to shake up its 2005 schedule both domestically and internationally.

But track general manager George Bruggenthies indicated this week that if this year's event is a success, he is interested in crafting a new deal with Champ Car's owners.

"Our focus is on producing a good event this weekend," Bruggenthies told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "If everything is successful and we're both smiling, we'll be talking. It's as easy as that."

Champ Car president Dick Eidswick had never been to the picturesque Wisconsin circuit until this week. His early impressions were good.

"The simple math is that in order to put on the show, we really have to be paid for it, and that's going to determine where we race in the long term," Eidswick told the Journal-Sentinel. "But in the short term, especially with something that has tradition like this one, we're willing to make sure both the promoter and Champ Car do all right with the thing."

Eidswick will be getting help making those decisions from a new source. Champ Car announced on Friday that it has hired Joe Chrnelich as its Executive Vice President of Development, Government Affairs and Planning. Chrnelich will wrap up a stint as the CEO of the Wisconsin State Fair Park and the Milwaukee Mile on August 15.

The former University of Wisconsin basketball star became immersed in auto racing promotion when he served on the Wisconsin Sports Authority transition committee which transferred promotion of Milwaukee's racing events from GO Racing to Carl Haas. He then worked with the State Fair Board to reacquire the promotional rights from Haas in May 2003.

In addition, Chrnelich served as the elected head of the creditor's committee during CART's bankruptcy proceedings in late 2003 and early 2004. His testimony was a key element in Judge Frank J. Otte's decision to favor Open Wheel Racing Series LLC's bid to continue the Champ Car series over a competing bid from the IRL.

As such, Chrnelich is well-versed in the politics and business of planning, promoting and staging races, and his initial task is to finalize Champ Car's '05 race schedule. An announcement is expected in early September.

"I am very excited about the challenges of the new position," Chrnelich said. "It presents a different variety and scope of responsibilities compared to my job at the State Fair Park. I think this is a great fit, especially considering my years of experience understanding the promoter's perspective and the requirements for producing a quality event.

"My top priority will be to establish and build long term relationships with our promoter partners while providing world class racing events for the Champ Car organization. We need to prioritize our short-term and long-term target markets, reach out to our local contacts to find out what each needs from us to be successful and then make well-informed choices of venues that complement our vision. Once we accomplish that, I suspect we will have built a solid schedule and a series that everyone can be proud of."

In an interview with Milwaukee media earlier in the week, Chrnelich said his experience in working with Champ Car throughout the bankruptcy process contributed to his decision to go to work for the series.

"These guys (OWRS principals Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerald Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi) are competitive, and they are going to grow this series to where CART was many years ago," he said. "They're going to bring it back to prominence, and the product will be very distinguishable in the industry. Champ Car views itself as a world series, as well as the premier street-course series in the world."

Chrnelich's first task will be to wrap up a contract extension for the Toronto and Vancouver races. He is well placed to do that, having established a relationship with Molstar Sports and Entertainment V-P Bob Singleton during the CART bankruptcy.

Doubts still remain about whether Champ Car will be able to race in South Korea as scheduled in October, and Chrnelich will be charged with determining whether a Korean event is in Champ Car's best interest. Plans are reportedly advanced for a race in Buenos Aires, Argentina, while Kalkhoven has spoken for almost two years about his desire to bring a Champ Car race to San Jose, Calif. Kalkhoven had hoped to run the race on a former airfield outside of the city, but more recently a street race has emerged as the favored plan.

St. Petersburg, Fla., remains in the mix for both Champ Car and the IRL, and media reports in Portland suggest that Champ Car could still return to the Rose City after plans for a proposed IRL race in '05 fell through. Champ Car is pushing for a multi-year deal, whereas the city wants a short-term contract to keep its future options open.

"We're interested in hearing what the city is proposing," said Champ Car V-P of Promotions Tim Ramsberger. "A three-year deal is still a possibility, but we'll see how it goes. We still have some flexibility with our schedule." John Oreovicz covers open-wheel racing for National Speed Sport News and ESPN.com

TLK

08-14-2004, 11:54 AM

AUGUST 14, 2004

Cosworth renews Champ Car deal

Our sources in the United States are reporting that the stability of Cosworth Racing has been bolstered in recent days by a new agreement to supply engines to the Champ Cars series in 2005. The Ford-badged engines will remain much as they have been for the last two seasons. The company will also be continuing its involvement with the Chevrolet-badged engines which are used in the Indy Racing League. The company is expected to continue to supply F1 engines to Jaguar Racing, Jordan and Minardi and could even supply a fourth team if one emerged. This is not likely to happen although one or two of the Formula 3000 teams are looking at a switch to F1 as they do not consider the new GP2 series to be economically viable.

TLK

08-15-2004, 09:48 PM

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=ArticleHeadline colSpan=3>best open-wheel race I've seen in a while today.... good event, lots of pasiing and a good finish......

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS WINS CHAMP CAR EVENT IN DENVER
</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; FONT-SIZE: 11px" vAlign=bottom align=right width=201>Sunday, August 15, 2004</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD align=right width=201>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD background=/images/news/DottedLine_h.gif colSpan=2>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center align=left>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/CONTENT/Images/prIcon/20020618PRi_0001.gif </TD><TD vAlign=center align=right><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/news/TextButton_email_off.gif (Someone?Subject=Fw:%20ChampCarWorldSeries.com%20Link&Body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecart%2Ecom%2FNews%2FArticle%2Easp%3FID%3D8236)</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/news/TextButton_print_off.gif (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/News/Article.asp?ID=8236&print=true)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=ArticleTagline colSpan=2>Champ Car World Series Points Leader Sebastien Bourdais Survives First-Turn Spin, Climbs Through Field to Score Victory at Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>DENVER (August 15, 2004) - Sebastien Bourdais (#2 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) won today's Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver, but leaving it at that would be like saying that Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to take a little stroll up Mount Everest.

Bourdais used a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon in Denver to show why he is atop the field in the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford standings, surviving a first-turn spin that left him deep in the field to come back and claim his fifth victory of the year. The victory is the eighth in the young career of Bourdais and allowed him to widen his series lead to 56 points over teammate Bruno Junqueira (#6 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone).

Ironically, it was the two Newman/Haas Racing teammates that were embroiled in the first-turn melee, as Bourdais and Junqueira went into the tight first turn side-by-side at the drop of the green flag. Junqueira used a good start to pull alongside the polesitting Bourdais at the start but the two cars could not hold position through the turn, resulting in light contact that sent Bourdais into a spin.

Junqueira stayed on course and took the lead with Paul Tracy (#1 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) slipping into the second spot. Bourdais would plummet to 13th after getting his car pointed in the right direction, and immediately set sail for the front. He was up to eighth after just 10 laps and had climbed to fifth by the time the first set of pit stops rolled around. The first of pit stops saw the second lead change of the day as Tracy was able to save enough fuel to allow his Forsythe Championship Racing team to get him out in front of Junqueira on lap 40.

Tracy would hold the lead for the next 40 laps and appeared to have things well in hand as he chased the win. Mario Dominguez (#55 Herdez Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) was four seconds behind Tracy after making an inside pass on Junqueira in Turn Five, a move brought about as Junqueira was suffering brake problems with his car. Bourdais had beaten Oriol Servia (#11 YokeTV.com Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) out of the pits on his stop to claim fourth, then outgunned Junqueira in Turn 1 on Lap 55 to snare the third spot but was still 11 seconds behind the leaders with 25 laps to go.

Salvation came in the form of a Ryan Hunter-Reay (#4 Herdez Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) spin on Lap 73 as, although Race Control tried to avoid breaking out a full-course caution, the yellow banner waved to bunch up the field while Hunter-Reay's stricken car was towed out of Turn Nine.

Tracy and Dominguez lined up ahead of Bourdais on the Lap 79 restart, but that order didn't last long. Bourdais went inside of Dominguez into Turn One and this time survived a brief bit of wheel banging to take the second spot. Two laps later Bourdais took advantage of a rare Tracy braking miscue to close the gap, then made the pass in Turn Nine to claim a lead that he would never relinquish. Once in front, Bourdais turned up the wick despite having minor suspension problems as a result of his contact with Dominguez. The Frenchman turned the race's fastest lap on the day's penultimate trip around the 1.657-mile street course, and beat the field to the line by 7.446 seconds.

Tracy settled for second with Junqueira rounding out the podium in third. Dominguez would bring his Herdez car home in the fourth spot, giving him back-to-back top-five runs for the first time since the Monterrey race. Rookie points leader A.J. Allmendinger (#10 Western Union Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) scored his third top-five finish of the season as he brought his RuSPORT machine to the line in the fifth spot. The finish allowed Allmendinger to widen his rookie points lead to 13 markers after nine events. His closest pursuer, Justin Wilson (#34 Mi-Jack Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), finished in seventh place for the second consecutive event, marking his fifth top-10 finish of the 2004 season.

Servia showed why he was one of the more sought-after free agents in the 2004 Champ Car preseason as he used his skills to score a sixth-place finish for the Dale Coyne Racing machine. Servia ran in the top five for much of the day and then kept his mount on track despite battling a stuck air jack that caused his car to smoke under braking for the last 20 laps. The finish is the second consecutive top-six finish for Servia and vaulted him into the top 10 for the first time all season.

Mario Haberfeld (#5 Cummins Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone) made up spots from his starting position for the eighth time in the season's nine races, earning an eighth-place finish while Patrick Carpentier (#7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) settled for ninth on a day where he started fourth but battled handling problems throughout the first part of the race. Road America winner Alex Tagliani (#8 Johnson Controls Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) rounded out the top 10.

The series takes a week off before heading to the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on the Ile. Notre-Dame for the Molson Indy Montreal August 27-29. The time won't be all restful however, as most of the teams on the circuit will journey to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Wednesday's day-long test on the 1.5-mile superspeedway oval.

QUOTES FROM THE TOP THREE FINISHERS

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (#2 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone): "It is a beautiful win today. To start on the pole, then it was difficult to work your way back to the top, and win, it is a great feeling. I had to pass guys on the track and earn my way back to the top, and we were able to do that in the McDonald's car. When I was running in 4th, I realized I could possibly win this, but it was not going to be very easy. This is the best street race in a long time and it is a terrific weekend. I am very, very happy."

BRUNO JUNQUEIRA (#6 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone): "It was an ok race. I did not have good balance with the PacifiCare car. I ran into traffic before the first pit stop and Paul (Tracy) was able to close in on me heading in to the first stop. Tracy had a good pit stop. After that, the car wasn't as good; I had lots of traffic, and brake problems. I couldn't attack the corners and I was just trying to keep the car on track. This is an ok result; we didn't have the car to win today."

PAUL TRACY (#1 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone): "It went better I expected. The car was not handling well. I thought that we had the race until the yellow came out. The car was ok, but it was not that fast. It was adequate enough to keep a consistent pace. The Indeck team did a great job on the first stop allowing me to get out ahead of Bruno (Junqueira). There was not much I could do when Sebastien (Bourdais) came up behind me. I gave way to him, he had a better car then I did. I just wanted to be sure to have a good finish. This was definitely one of the best street course races we have had in a long time and it was definitely a good show."

NOTEWORTHY

Sebastien Bourdais earned the sixth win from pole in his Champ Car career, making him just the seventh driver in the Champ Car Modern Era to win as many as six races from pole. Rick Mears leads that list with 14 wins. He also becomes the 28th driver in all of Champ Car history to win at least 10 poles, tying such legends as Dan Gurney, Nigel Mansell and Alex Zanardi for 23rd on the all-time list with 10 poles.

Oriol Servia has given Dale Coyne Racing three top-six finishes this year. This is the first time in the 19-year history of the team that a Dale Coyne car has earned three top-six runs in the same season.

Paul Tracy led 40 laps today in Denver, pushing him over the 3,600 mark for his career. Tracy is second on the Modern Era laps led list with 3,614, trailing only Michael Andretti.

Bruno Junqueira led 39 laps on the day, marking the third consecutive year that he has led in Denver. Of the 296 total laps run in the last three Denver races, Junqueira has led 215 of them.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

TLK

08-27-2004, 01:41 AM

hopefully a big announcement coming today....

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">WHAT:
Champ Car World Series Sponsorship Announcement

WHO:
Kevin Kalkhoven, co-owner Champ Car World Series
Paul Newman, co-owner Newman/Haas Racing
Dick Eidswick, President, Champ Car World Series along with representatives from sponsor

WHERE:
Driver interview room, first floor of Media Center Tower in paddock, Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

WHEN:
Friday, August 27, 12:30 p.m. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

TLK

08-27-2004, 11:54 AM

damn..... a series sponsor would of been nice..... but we get....

Dick Eidswick, Paul Newman, Kevin Kalkhoven, McDonald's Senior Director of Alliance Marketing John Lewicki, Carl Haas and Sebastien Bourdais were on hand today in Montreal to announce that McDonald's would be the Official Fast Food Restaurant of Champ Car through 2006.

TLK

08-28-2004, 02:10 PM

Champ Car now in fast (food) lane
McDonald's joins as series sponsor

Bourdais fastest in early qualifying

RICK MATSUMOTO (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Render&c=Page&cid=1044529390035&ce=Columnist&colid=980451626144)
SPORTS REPORTER

MONTREAL—Sebastien Bourdais continues his assault to wrench the Champ Car title away from defending champion Paul Tracy. Make that a Mac attack.

Two hours after his team sponsor, fast-food chain McDonald's, announced it was widening its support to include the series as an official sponsor, the 25-year-old from Le Mans, France picked up another point towards the championship by capturing the preliminary pole for the Montreal Molson Indy.

He now has 249 points, 57 more than teammate Bruno Junqueira and 69 ahead of Tracy. Final qualifying is this afternoon with the 69-lap race around the 2.7-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve slated for a 2 p.m. start tomorrow.

McDonald's decision to expand its sponsorship beyond its support of Bourdais' car is seen as a major boost for the series, which rose from the ashes of the bankrupt CART circuit last winter.

"It's great for the series," said Bourdais, who is in his second season in Champ Car.

"If McDonald's does a good job of promoting the series it will bring it back to where it belongs."

The series is expected to announce other major sponsors over the next few weeks including AOL Time Warner, which could wind up as the title sponsor.

Series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven declined to comment on the sponsorship speculations except to say:

"Isn't it something that we're talking about sponsors coming on board just eight months after we took over."

Kalkhoven and fellow series team owners Paul Gentilozzi and Gerald Forsythe bought the assets of CART after winning a court battle with the rival Indy Racing League.

Actor Paul Newman, co-owner of Newman/Haas, was instrumental in getting McDonald's to sponsor one of his team's two cars last year and he persuaded the company to step up to the next level of sponsorship.

The original tie between Newman and McDonald's was through the restaurant's use of the salad dressing which bears his name.

"I'm trying to get them interested in cross-dressing," Newman joked.

"I want them to use a little dressing on their salads and a little salad dressing on their hamburgers."

Turning serious, Newman said the McDonald's sponsorship should have "a powerful influence on our team, Champ Cars and racing in general."

One of the criticisms of some of Champ Car's previous major sponsors has been the lack of marketing and promotions away from the racetrack.

John Lewicki, McDonald's USA director of alliances, said that will not be the case with his company's commitment.

"Our development of the marketing plans are a little premature, but our desire is to use the assets of Champ Cars in our commercials," said Lewicki.

Tracy, who finished second to Bourdais last week in Denver, could manage no better than the seventh fastest time, .925 seconds behind Bourdais.

"It was not a good day," he said. "I never put a good lap together."

He hit his right rear wheel off the wall on his final lap ruining the gearbox on his Ford/Cosworth-Lola. Quebecer Alex Tagliani, who won his first career race three weeks ago at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., had the second-fastest qualifying time yesterday just 0.096 second slower than Bourdais' one minute, 21.695-second run.

Montreal's other hometown hero, Patrick Carpentier failed to get in a qualifying time when the Ford/Cosworth engine let go just five laps into the session.

"It's a sad thing to have the same thing as last year here," he said.

"But we did finish on the podium (third), so I'll be looking to do the same thing this year, I guess."

NOTE: Andrew Ranger, the 17-year-old sensation from Roxton Pond, Que., was second quickest on the first qualifying session in the Toyota Atlantic series. He was .126 behind early pole sitter Ryan Dalziel's time of 1:34.187.

Additional articles by Rick Matsumoto (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Render&c=Page&cid=1044529390035&ce=Columnist&colid=980451626144)

General Mike

08-29-2004, 11:40 AM

I got comped so I'm going to the Nazareth Indy 225 today. Take that for what it's worth.

TLK

08-29-2004, 11:44 AM

sorry to hear that.... good luck

General Mike

08-29-2004, 11:08 PM

sorry to hear that.... good luck

Redneck Central. :(

TLK

08-29-2004, 11:24 PM

It's pretty sad that the only time the IRL makes the local news around here.... is when there is a bad accident or they set one of their pit crew members on fire....

here's an article covering the latter...

Hornish too quick at Nazareth

By DICK BRINSTER, AP Sports Writer

August 29, 2004

NAZARETH, Pa. (AP) -- It certainly looked as if Sam Hornish Jr. was about to give car owner Roger Penske an emotional victory Sunday in the final race on the track he built 17 years ago.

Not so fast! No, maybe too fast.

Hornish attempted to leave his pit stall before refueler Chris Seaman disengaged the hose. Methanol fuel, which burns invisibly, spilled out and Seaman had to be doused with water to avoid injury late in the race at Nazareth Speedway.

``It's a shame what happened,'' Hornish said. ``I made a mistake and tried to leave the pits too soon.''

But that was just the beginning for the two-time IRL champion, who wound up 11th in the Firestone Indy 225. Another unpleasant surprise awaited Hornish after he pulled away.

``When I went back out on the track, I realized the car was on fire,'' he said.

``I had to pull back into the pits, and the crew put it out.'' Hornish lamented the loss, in part because he's winless since taking the season's first race in February. But he was happy no one was injured by his mistake. ``They did a good job all weekend,'' Hornish said of the crew. ``It's too bad that the driver screwed up.''

CHEMICAL SOLDIER

08-30-2004, 08:09 AM

At least Dale Jr. won at Bristol.

TLK

08-30-2004, 11:19 AM

IT'S STILL NEWMAN-HAAS

Carl Haas doesn't want to talk about it yet but Paul Newman made it official over the weekend at Montreal.

"Carl and I are together forever," said Newman in response to the future of his 21-year partnership with Haas in Champ Car. "Now the cat's out of the bag."

Haas had received a large financial offer from Tony George and Honda about jumping to the Indy Racing League but they demanded he close the doors of his Champ Car team.

Newman, easily Champ Car's most vocal and visible supporter, vowed to continue the team if Haas left for the IRL but they've decided to stay together.

"I haven't said anything yet and I won't," said Haas.

An official announcement is expected next week and there's a good chance Cristiano da Matta may be in a third Newman-Haas entry in 2005 with Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira.

http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/12697/ (http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/12697/)

TLK

09-01-2004, 12:03 AM

http://espn.go.com/i/rpm/headers/h_irl_s.gif (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/seriesIndex?series=irl)
Saturday, August 28, 2004

<SCRIPT language=Javascript type=text/javascript></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT>For IRL founder, it's been worth it

</NOSCRIPT>

By John Oreovicz
Special to ESPN.com

Indianapolis Motor Speedway President and Indy Racing League founder Tony George took time out to talk to ESPN.com's John Oreovicz on the eve of the IRL's 100th race, running Sunday (ABC, 3:30 ET) at Nazareth Speedway. George expounded on a variety of topics related to the League and American open-wheel racing.

<TABLE height=10 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=300><IFRAME align=center marginWidth=0 marginHeight=0 src="http://adsatt.espn.go.com/ad/sponsors/utilities/espn/adslug_120_160.html" frameBorder=0 width=300 scrolling=no height=12></IFRAME></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=300>http://adsatt.espn.go.com/ad/sponsors/general_motors/Aug_2004/gene-300x250-0015.gif (http://log.go.com/log?srvc=sz&a=1&drop=0&addata=1331:53406:166328:65&guid=DFA7A7B7-52A1-45FF-B8C7-F2CC196A002A&goto=http://games.espn.go.com/s/ffllm/04/tour/index.html) http://mds.centrport.net/mdsefc?a2125;MGMC9FAC4673P340260B340240S0
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ESPN.com: I'm sure it's hard to quantify, but do you feel like your plan for the League is on schedule?

George: The plan has changed from time to time. Right now, it's easy to say I would have envisioned the League being where it is today four or five years ago, but hindsight is 20/20. We're pleased with where we're at and just stay focused on where we are today and where we want to be tomorrow, not worry about what could have been. This 100th race of the Indy Racing League is considered by some as a milepost. Certainly to those of us who have been here since Day One, since the first race, it probably means something more than to others who haven't been here from the beginning, whether it's their second season or their 12th or 13th race. It means different things to different people, I guess. I think the addition of road courses to our schedule next year sort of ushers in a new era for the League. We'll try to continue to provide close, exciting racing on track and see what opportunities going into a new discipline and new markets will present us. I think we have to do a better job of telling our story and getting connected with the public. That's our biggest challenge today.

ESPN.com: Obviously, the hallmark of the League is the close racing, especially on the big ovals. When you watch the cars running so closely together, what kind of feeling does it inspire in you?

George: I guess at different times I feel different things. It's not the same every race. I get some of those same feelings watching a race at Richmond or Nazareth that I do at the big tracks. Clearly, the side-by-side racing that the mile-and-a-half and two-mile tracks have produced has been good for the League from the standpoint that the rules package keeps our cars close. Success at the end of the day is often determined by the preparation of a given team on that weekend -- whoever works the hardest and has the best strategy, or adjusted the car to be good all day and be there at the end for the win. The best teams generally end up coming out on top. But it's that close, side-by-side racing that gets my blood flowing and generates a lot of different emotions. I've always believed that oval track racing provides a great opportunity for an entertaining product, and we've been able to establish and keep that.

ESPN.com: Why are oval tracks so important to you and the League?

George: As I said, I think ovals provide great entertainment for the viewing spectator. It's also something that can be covered cost-effectively for television. It lends itself to close racing. It's a uniquely American discipline, and for those reasons, it's important to me. The Indianapolis 500 has been run on an oval track for almost 90 years and the Indy Racing League was created to build on the history and tradition and legacy of the Indianapolis 500 and it is a very meaningful part of the American motorsports scene. When we started the League in '94, it was with the hopes that we would encourage more oval tracks to be built. In a small way, I think we have been able to play a part in that renaissance of being able to build and develop new tracks. Certainly a lot of tracks have been built in the hopes of getting a NASCAR race but many of them haven't ever received a Cup date. We want to provide quality inventory for those racetracks to hopefully make money and provide a return on investment. There have been some great tracks built in some exciting new markets and we have been fortunate enough to take advantage and be a part of the business plan of many of those tracks.

All the while, we said we would be interested in running road courses as part of our schedule. We always said that if and when the right opportunity presented itself, we would consider it. Fortunately or unfortunately, I don't know, it has taken us until now until we could work out a deal and add them in 2005. But we've had several starts and stops, beginning with Chris Pook before the IRL even turned a wheel. Back in 1994-95 he was a part of some of the formative meetings of the Indy Racing League and he contemplated Long Beach being part of our schedule from the beginning. For whatever reasons, that didn't work out and that's all part of history. We've gone on to build a great series that I think has a bright future. Now that we're ushering in a new era of running on road courses the challenge will be to continue to provide the same quality and entertaining product on road courses that we do on ovals.

ESPN.com: It seems a key change in public perception over the last couple of years has come from the fact that many of the top drivers, sponsors, manufacturers and teams in American open-wheel racing have decided that it is better for them to do business in the IRL rather than Champ Car. Can you discuss the impact that these known quantities have made on your series?

George: For the most part, the partnerships that existed between teams and sponsors and manufacturers existed for a reason and had an objective. By and large, the ones that came over here had the objective to be in the American markets. Most people would enjoy running a race in Canada or Mexico, but clearly, North America is where their focus is. They are not interested in globetrotting and going all around the world because of domestic budgets and domestic business they are trying to build or awareness they are trying to create. Our television partner wants many of those same things, and as a result, that coincides with our objectives too. I think we've tried to create an environment for these teams to do business. Many of them who came over here with a bit of trepidation have come to enjoy it and genuinely like it. It's something that we hope remains the case for many years to come.

ESPN.com: One of the themes of 2004 has been the performance of the Honda engine. Do you think the League needs to take steps to restrict Honda, or assist Chevrolet and Toyota?

George: I think by and large Honda and Toyota recognize that Honda did a fair amount of homework in the offseason and has come out with a strong package this year. They all tend to be competitive and Brian Barnhart or any manufacturer has not made me aware that they are asking or looking for any kind of assistance or relief or tightening down on one manufacturer as a result of their success on the track. I think there is a system in place to deal with that if requests of that nature come about, but to my knowledge, no one has come to Brian or me with any request. I think a lot of it is attributed to their respect of the job Honda has been able to do.

ESPN.com: How important was it for the League to identify and develop an American star to become the identity of the IRL? I'm talking about Sam Hornish Jr.

George: I thought you were talking about Buddy Rice! I'm just pointing out that there is a lot of American talent out there. Sam is a great talent and a great race driver. I recognized it early when he was with PDM. Panther gave him a great opportunity and they had a lot of success together and it was important for us to try to keep him involved in IndyCar racing. Obviously, Roger recognized that and offered him a situation, which to Sam, I'm sure, fulfilled a lifelong dream. We're happy that Sam is there, hopefully for the long term, and we wish him continued success. I hope there is a lot of competition on the track to make him work for his successes and hopefully there are more Sam Hornishes out there to come along in the future.

ESPN.com: In creating the additional races you now run at the Speedway you have worked closely with Bill France Jr. and Bernie Ecclestone. Are there any lessons you learned from those respected businessmen that you were able to apply to the IRL?

George: There are always lessons to be learned. You live your whole life learning new things. I've learned a lot since 1990. Since the early '90s, I really started developing a relationship and a dialogue with those guys and I guess there are lessons I've learned from them -- though I'm not sure it is appropriate to share. But it's all a part of business. I think there are some things we have taken from Formula 1, some things we have taken from NASCAR, some things we have taken from CART as we were looking to put our series together.

I think Formula 1 has been a challenge to develop in the United States because of the business model. Likewise, you can look at the success of NASCAR in the United States and try to formulate a model for international expansion and it becomes more challenging. I guess with IndyCars, CART always tried to do that and we want to try to find the right balance or the right mix and position our series as an eclectic international series with true international interest. It is an American product that we want to export on a limited basis by doing races outside the country, but we also want to make it something that through other forms of medium, take it to the world. Television obviously plays a big part in that, having the right partners. It helps to have international stars when you are doing that. I think we're just trying to find the right balance.

ESPN.com: The France family kind of created a blueprint where they own Daytona and run NASCAR. As the steward of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, do you feel that it is your right or your responsibility to lead open wheel racing in this country?

George: I have a responsibility being in the position I'm in at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With the position I was offered in 1990 came a great deal of responsibility and opportunity. So I tried to take that seriously and position the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a leader in sports entertainment and do some things beyond opening up the gates one month a year to run a race. I think my grandfather always tried to be a benefactor of racing and he supported it at many levels. I think we have expanded on that legacy and tried to continue to provide some leadership and direction in growing motorsports. You know, motorsports was becoming very popular in the late '80s into the '90s. I guess I just came along at a time when our family was sort of looking to broaden its horizon. With the Formula 1 race and the Brickyard 400, we wanted to expand our base and introduce new fans to our facility, and certainly having those races has accomplished that. We have a very diverse group of fans that come through the gates every year for our three races. At the same time, it has been fun and challenging being a part of those and starting the League.

ESPN.com: You mentioned earlier that building a fan base was the toughest challenge. Has it been harder than you expected in that respect? Has there been more backlash then you expected from what seems to be a very loyal Champ Car fan base?

George: Yes, but I think the IRL has a very solid core group of fans. I think CART or Champ Car had a very solid core group. I think both have a lot of casual viewers that we need to connect with. Before Marlboro was here, reaching out to their consumers and bringing them to our races and introducing them to the experience here, they were doing that at CART races. The challenge when you have a sponsor who helps connect you with their consumers is to convert them into ticket buyers going forward. That's probably a challenge that both CART and IndyCar have had.

It's the vocal minority that have sort of fueled the back and forth verbal barrages over the last nine or 10 years that really turned a lot of people off. It wasn't so much the racing -- it's the territorial nature of fervent fans who follow it. I think both organizations would have been better served by trying to just stick to their business and not try to go tit for tat. The people that work for me have really tried to do that. I can't control the people that support us as racetrack owners or promoters or car owners or drivers, but as far as the League is concerned, we've really tried to worry about our own business. It has created some distractions that haven't allowed us to focus on developing our fan base. If CART or Champ Car was as strong as it believed it was, it wouldn't see the erosion that it has today. There is a lot to be said for maybe trying to have coexisted peacefully instead of allowing so much emotion to enter into it. Again, you can't control all the other people. You can only control things you can control.

ESPN.com: Given that the so-called reunification efforts that took place this summer have ended, are you optimistic that the two series can coexist peacefully?

George: I don't know why not. As it was laid out to me last fall, clearly their vision and their business plan for the future is inconsistent with ours. That's why things didn't lead to a unification. If they are true to their word, they are going about doing things differently than us. So I don't know why we couldn't coexist. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Their plan or vision for a unified series was different than mine. I think you'll see us focusing more on our business and developing future opportunities that are unique to us. I have encouraged our people to stay away from anything that might look like we're sitting around trying to pick at the bones of the CART carcass. That's people's perception. We don't make phone calls to race promoters trying to steal races. On occasion we take phone calls when they call us. But one thing I am not interested in is being played off CART anymore. That has happened since Day One. I started with Chris Pook when he sat in on the formative meetings of the IRL and I'm just not interested in playing that game anymore.

ESPN.com: Clearly, you have invested a great deal of money in forming and sustaining the League and you have been personally attacked for doing it. Has it been worth it?

George: Yeah. I mean, I haven't missed one of these races because I enjoy coming to them. If I didn't enjoy coming to them and being a part of it, I would miss one every once in a while. But I genuinely enjoy it. It has all been worth it. Maybe it's a good thing that I don't know everything that everyone has said or has thought about me. I know of some of it. I've had personal close contact encounters with angry fans over the course of the years and I have always tried to either try to personally respond, whether in an e-mail or face-to-face response, to an angry fan because I think it's important. If they are sincere, then they deserve a sincere response from me. If they are insincere, I generally don't give them the benefit of a personal response. But I have tried to be accessible and personal in my response to many of the people who have expressed their displeasure with me personally or with the League. On occasion I have just tried to explain things from my point of view. Sometimes they see it and sometimes they don't, but that's okay.

Part of the learning experience for me is having people have a different perspective and sharing it. Not everybody likes NASCAR at the Speedway, not everyone likes Formula 1 at the Speedway and not everyone likes the IRL, but they are entitled to their opinion. On balance, I think that myself and the organization at both the Speedway and the League have been able to add value to the motorsports equation -- more so than detract from it.

John Oreovicz covers open-wheel racing for National Speed Sport News and ESPN.com.

TLK

09-01-2004, 12:27 AM

Motorsports: A Golden Future? Champ Car's new McDonald's relationship has potential

AUTOWEEK
Posted Date: 8/31/04

There is no doubt CART and its reformation as the Champ Car World Series has had a tough couple of years.

Yet after its race in Montreal, where the series again drew in excess of 100,000 fans for the weekend, Champ Car shows all signs of succeeding where many thought it would fail.

The value of the new McDonald’s relationship for the series will ultimately be demonstrated next season and beyond; its real potential varies depending on whom you ask and how it gets spun. Still, the relationship is significant and the chatter in the Montreal hospitality tents indicates more is on the way. At the least, doubts about Champ Car’s buoyancy—or the commitment of its new owners—should be quelled.

Arch this

Perhaps now we know one reason team owner Carl Haas passed on an offer to join the rival IRL (AW, Aug. 30). For weeks the rumor floated that McDonald’s would join the Champ Car World Series in some large capacity. In so doing, Mickey D’s represents the first significant new marketing partnership Champ Car has arranged in years.

On Friday before the Montreal race, McDonald’s announced it signed as the series’ official fast food restaurant through 2006. The world’s largest restaurant chain will also remain as primary sponsor of one of Newman-Haas Racing’s Champ Car entries through 2007.

What does it mean to be the official fast food restaurant, and how much will McDonald’s spend? "We never discuss financials," said John Lewicki, the company’s senior director of alliance marketing. "You’ll see some results of this for the balance of this year, but really we are getting our plans in place for a kickoff in 2005."

McDonald’s joined the series last season, when it was still CART, as part-time sponsor of one of the Newman-Haas cars. It signed on with the team full time this season. Clearly, the latest deal was personally influenced by Newman-Haas co-owner Paul Newman, who supplies McDonald’s with salad dressing and other products through his Newman’s Own nonprofit company.

"Paul opened our eyes to this," said Lewicki. "We’d walk through a wall for Paul. Now we see the value here and we want to take it a step further. We can certainly benefit for this series’ international reach."

McDonald’s subsidiaries in Canada and Mexico readily signed on with the program, according to Lewicki. He concedes it has been a more difficult proposition in the United States, where NASCAR reigns. Nonetheless, the McDonald’s franchise council in the States has approved the program and will participate.

"It would be our desire to use the Champ Car logo and series in [U.S.] television advertising," Lewicki said. "We’ll likely see the logo in our restaurants for periods of time, certainly in connection with race markets."

What about a full title sponsorship?

"We’re kind of taking it one step at a time," said Lewicki. "There may be an opportunity for that at some point."

Next?

McDonald’s is the first new consumer-based company to take a major role in Champ Car since the heyday of cigarette and beer brands. Series sources also said in Montreal that Champ Car is negotiating with "a prominent consumer company" to be the series title sponsor.

"It’s all about momentum," said one. "I think people are going to be surprised."

In Montreal, neither Paul Gentilozzi nor Kevin Kalkhoven, two of Champ Car’s three owners, would let on as to whom that sponsor might be. But other sources indicate Champ Car is in discussions with America Online, and that talks center around joint marketing programs between the series, McDonald’s and AOL.

No race in San Juan

The proposed Champ Car World Series race in San Juan, Puerto Rico, won’t happen this season. Series officials say they still hope to put the 10-turn, 1.6-mile circuit at Isla Grande Airport on their schedule in 2005.

The Trans-Am series used the San Juan circuit in 2003, but the late effort to move Champ Car there this year came up short. While the FAA has not quashed the plan (Isla Grande is a working airport, like Cleveland’s Burke Lake-front), agreements and arrangements with local authorities, including Puerto Rico’s tourist board, could not be ironed out in time for a November race.

With few options at this point, it is unlikely Champ Car will fill the open date on its
calendar in November. Expect the season to end Nov. 7 in Mexico City after 14 races.

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=100736 (http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=100736)

TLK

09-07-2004, 01:34 PM

Two articles worth a read.... hard to argue with anyof the points brought up in either article....

News
Motorsports: The confusing face of open-wheel

AUTOWEEK
Posted Date: 9/7/04
It's all looked rosy for big-league open-wheel racing the last few weeks. The Champ Car World Series nailed down a new long-term deal with Portland International Raceway and a potentially significant marketing partnership with McDonald's. The series is deep in negotiations with AOL as its new title sponsor and promises to release a 2005 schedule Sept. 30 with 16 or 17 races chosen from 21 possibilities.

The IRL, meanwhile, released a 2005 schedule with the first two road races in its nine-year history. Last week, the League confirmed that it will indeed race in St. Petersburg, Fla. on April 3, 2005.

The IRL will run its first street race at Albert Whitted Airport on the same circuit CART used in St. Pete in 2003. Honda will be title sponsor, and the event will be promoted by Andretti-Green Promotions, new subsidiary of Andretti-Green Racing, headed by long-time CART team owner Barry Green, who sold his race team to Michael Andretti (with Honda carrying the paper) at the end 2002.

Good thing, isn't it? Certainly it seems so for IRL fans and participants, at least from the racing perspective. Most of the IRL's premier teams, including Ganassi, AGR, Rahal and Fernandez were road racers first and foremost, as were nearly all of the IRL's current drivers. It also seems to push the political pendulum in the IRL's direction, because the League now has a toehold in what was Champ Car's last clear domain of superiority: well-attended street races--call them happenings--in key urban markets. But even for IRL fans, is that really good?

Not sure. In the micro view, IRL and Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss Tony George is the financial backstop in St. Petersburg, and ultimately his money will balance any red ink the race generates. History has proven that even the most successful street races take at least three years to reach critical mass and generate a profit. In the short term the IRL's first street race is at best an investment in the future, and at worst another financial drain.

The macro view looks more pessimistic, and let it be clear what we think on this score: If open-wheel racing in the United States has any hope of unsubsidized commercial success in the face of the NASCAR monolith (not to mention renewed vigor and real GROWTH), the prospects increase exponentially with a single, premier series. Those are our politics.

But let's work with prevailing conditions, because that's what we live with. The recent developments offer reason for hope--hope that each open-wheel series can build a more viable brand, or niche, and peacefully co-exist with the other. Each claims it's doing exactly that. Even with a couple of NASCAR-style road races, the IRL could continue to shape its brand as a predominately oval, more traditionally American open-wheel series. Champ Car, meanwhile, keeps a couple of ovals and pays lip service to diversity, building its brand with cosmopolitan urban venues and a more pronounced international flavor. The problem is that the IRL in St. Pete muddles this scenario further.

Let's face it. Hard-core racing fans--those who know the history--have long since chosen sides. In the process that fan base, like the talent and financial resources in each series, has been diluted. The battle from here out rages for the hearts and minds of casual race fans or people simply looking for an interesting place to spend their time and money. So which series is racing here this weekend, Jane? Is it the oval guys who race at Indy or that series that does all the street races? No, Joe, Dale Jr. races in NASCAR.

You can be sure the France family does not distribute its wealth keeping NASCAR in the black, and NASCAR is way in the black. You can be equally sure that George has subsidized the IRL since its inception, and continues to; that Champ Car (or CART) hasn't made a dime in at least three years, and won't anytime soon. And if you think Champ Car's new owners don't have the resources to subsidize for the long haul, you should have your medications re-evaluated.

Both sides can keep themselves in business for five, ten years or more, if they choose to, at some functioning level of mediocrity. Regardless, the current environment is not conducive to making big league open-wheel self-sustaining again, much less to restoring a situation where open-wheel more often than not beats NASCAR in television ratings. The IRL in St. Pete does nothing to improve the environment.

Most confounding of all, the men who run Champ Car and the IRL have publicly agreed on ONE thing: That a single North American-based series is ``the optimal situation.''

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD

Given recent retrenchment in both Champ Car and the IRL, it's easy to forget that less than two months ago the two series were flirting (briefly) with unification. In the interim, enough people have talked to reconstruct what happened with some accuracy.

After an initial meeting between Champ Car honchos and Roger Penske, who took the job of intermediary, the two sides met aboard Penske's jet at the airport in Toronto after the Champ Car race there July 11: Penske, Champ Car owners Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi and Kevin Kalkhoven, and Craig Brighton, general counsel for Indianapolis Motor Speedway, representing IRL boss Tony George.

Brighton traveled with the task of exploring how much it might take to "merge'' by writing Champ Car a check. The Champ Car trio made its baseline clear at the start: 50-50 ownership and control, and a hired CEO to run things (as opposed to George).

That firm position cooled things quickly. With greetings and small talk, the meeting lasted no more than 20 minutes. Three days later, Champ Car and the IRL simultaneously issued the only "joint statement'' ever released by both series. It read:

``While the ownership representatives of both series agree that one open wheel series is the optimal situation, it is the belief of all involved that the time is not right for further discussion of unification. Both parties appreciate the efforts of Mr. Penske, and both parties believe that each has a better understanding of where common ground exists.''

Is anyone laughing at this? We can think of at least few people who might be.

TLK

09-14-2004, 10:56 PM

Indianapolis Confirms Schedule Changes

Written by: RACER staff Indianapolis, Ind. – 9/14/2004

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/41835_pv_142228.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/41835_pv_142228.jpg) The Indy 500 has made a series of changes to its schedule for 2005. (LAT photo)

Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials have confirmed a number of changes to the schedule for the 89th Indianapolis 500 next May 14.

The race is scheduled for Sunday, May 29. Opening Day is scheduled for Sunday, May 8, with a full three weeks of activity during the traditional Month of May at the Speedway.

Changes include:

* A new start time of noon local time, one hour later than in past years. The new start time is intended to move the event into a better time slot for national television viewers and also provides more time for hundreds of thousands of race fans to arrive at the track on Race Day morning. Of course, it will also make things a bit more problematic for drivers like Robby Gordon who attemnpt to race in both the Indy 500 and NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

* A new qualifying format was announced that is intended to ensure bumping on each day of qualifying (click here for details) (http://speedtv.com/articles/auto/indycar/12919/). There also will be a return to the traditional four days of qualifying, expanding from the three days of recent years. MBNA Pole Day is scheduled for Saturday, May 14, with Second Day Qualifying on Sunday, May 15, Third Day Qualifying on Saturday, May 21 and Bump Day on Sunday, May 22.

* A new date for Miller Lite Carb Day, which shifts to Friday, May 27 from its past Thursday date. The Menards Infiniti Pro Series’ Futaba Freedom 100 also moves to Carb Day.

* A new schedule for practice days, with on-track activity taking place from noon-6 p.m. each day except for May 8-9, one hour less of track time per day than in past years. Track activity will take place from noon-5 p.m. May 8-9.

* A new schedule for the Rookie Orientation Program, which returns to its traditional Month of May slot, as ROP will take place during the first two days of practice, May 8-9.

“While making the schedule for the 2005 Indianapolis 500, we’ve listened closely to competitors, fans and community leaders because we know how important the Month of May is to them for so many reasons,” said Tony George, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president and CEO. “Our goal was to provide a schedule that balances the best interests of each party and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway while maintaining the traditions of the event and the exciting buildup to Race Day during the entire month.

“We believe the schedule achieves those goals while providing even more excitement with the new race start time, qualifying format and Carb Day date.”<SCRIPT language=Javascript>var axel = Math.random() + "";var ord = axel * 1000000000000000000;document.write('<script language=\\\"Javascript1.1\\\" src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/speedvision.tmus/autoracing/irl/banner;dcopt=ist;abr=!webtv;sz=300x250;ord=' + ord + '"><\/script>');</SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=Javascript1.1 src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/speedvision.tmus/autoracing/irl/banner;dcopt=ist;abr=!webtv;sz=300x250;ord=828991686249324700"></SCRIPT>

TLK

09-15-2004, 12:58 AM

I need to hear this.... nice job

Las Vegas Promotion Begins
<HR style="COLOR: #d1d1e1" SIZE=1>My friend emailed me that he heard a commercial for the Las Vegas race on the radio today. KK mentioned that the Las Vegas tourism people were going to begin pouring some money into the LA market, so I guess this is the first sign.

Here is my friends report:

"It starts with the announcer saying “this is for all you nascar fans out there” Then some redneck talks about loading the cooler with beer and heading out in the pickup for an evening of racing. Then the announcer says “this message is for the champcar fans” You hear some preppy Harvard guy talking about getting some brie and chardonnay and heading out in the Volvo for an evening of racing. It was really funny."

TLK

09-15-2004, 10:48 PM

Newman optimistic Champ Car moving in right direction again

Newman optimistic Champ Car moving in right direction again

Sept. 15, 2004
SportsLine.com wire reports

For a series that was almost dead and buried nine months ago, the Champ Car World Series is showing some real signs of life these days.

Eleven races into its first season under the stewardship of owners Kevin Kalkhoven, Paul Gentilozzi and Gerald Forsythe, the Champ Car series has a highly competitive 18-car field, a compelling championship battle between Newman-Haas Racing teammates Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira, big crowds at most evemts and, most important, some new interest from corporate America that could bode well for its future.

"Everything I see out there right now is positive," said Paul Newman, co-owner of the Newman-Haas team, as well as racer, businessman, Academy Award-winning actor and Champ Car's biggest cheerleader.

Newman, whose energy and determination belie his 79 years, has always tried to keep a low profile in racing. But he has recently, and reluctantly, taken a leadership role in the battle to get the once-moribund open-wheel series back to the prominence it enjoyed as Championship Auto Racing Teams before the rival Indy Racing League began competition in 1996 and split both allegiance and the fan base.

"I didn't have to be involved before," Newman said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I could simply be kind of an absentee landlord, but I have a vested interest in this series and its future. And I wouldn't be here if I didn't think this offered great promise."

Newman said he is delighted that fellow team owners Kalkhoven, Gentilozzi and Forsythe stepped up to buy the assets and form a new company to run the series after CART declared bankruptcy late last year.

The series has been losing top teams and big-name drivers to the IRL for years, its television ratings have been nearly invisible -- at several races in 2003, there were fewer TV viewers than spectators at the event -- and teams have been struggling to attract sponsors.

Meanwhile, NASCAR has continued to grow in popularity and the IRL has kept the pressure on in the battle for existing American open-wheel fans, a job made easier with former CART championship teams like Penske Racing, Team Rahal and Chip Ganassi Racing now in the rival series.

Even Carl Haas, a longtime CART stalwart, Newman's partner and the guy who has run the team on a day-to-day basis since they got together in 1983, acknowledges he was thinking about joining the IRL this season -- a move that would likely have ended the long partnership.

"Four months ago, I was a little pessimistic over it, but I see a lot of good signs right now," Haas said. "The whole job isn't done, but I think it has a good chance. It has become a lot better. I want to be optimistic about it."

And things are looking up for Champ Car.

Newman-Haas got fast food giant MacDonald's to sponsor Bourdais' car -- thanks to Newman's relationship with the company through his Newman's Own food conglomerate -- and Champ Car recently announced that the international company has signed a three-year deal to be the official fast food of the series.

The current TV package is on cable's Spike TV, but a new deal, which would put at least some races back on network television, is in the works, as is a deal for a new title sponsor.

"The general feeling is good and we're starting to make some progress on what I call real strategic pieces of the puzzle," said first-year series president Dick Eidswick. "At this point, we're concentrating on 2005 and beyond."

Newman said there is a lot more going on behind the scenes that can't be talked about in detail.

"It would be premature to say that everything is wonderful," he said. "Some of this stuff is going to work out and some of it isn't, but I think there's going to be enough of it that's going to work out that the series will be stronger next year and stronger the year after that.

"I look forward to things improving and I want it to be so good that Rahal, Penske and Ganassi and all those guys will come back so we can run against them," Newman added. "I miss them."

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

TLK

09-15-2004, 10:58 PM

Ford’s future

Will Ford be back in the Champ Car World Series next season, beyond its role as engine supplier through its Cosworth subsidiary? At the Champ Car opener April 18 in Long Beach, Ford Racing boss Dan Davis said,"Let’s
wait and see." With the season winding down, Davis was back in the Champ Car paddock at Laguna Seca, and apparently likes what he’s seen so far.

Davis wasn’t ready to confirm Ford’s return as one of Champ Car’s presenting sponsors, nor rumors Ford will step up its marketing program (and cash contribution) in 2005. But Davis’ tone, and his affinity for long-term contracts, suggest Ford will be involved in Champ Car for at least a few years.

"Before this season they went from near-extinction to life-support," Davis said. "Now they are off life-support and growing, and they are listening to us and considering what we need.

"Don’t get me wrong. There’s still a lot of things that need fixing, but there’s some confidence that they will be fixed. We like what we’re getting here."

TLK

09-18-2004, 02:54 AM

almost ironic after my last post in this thread....

Jaguar Pulls Out of Formula 1

Written by: RACER staff Coventry, England – 9/17/2004
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/42084_jagah.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/42084_jagah.jpg) The end is nigh for the Jaguar F1 team (LAT Photo)

Jaguar are pulling out of Formula 1, with Ford announcing it is putting the team up for sale.

It had been widely expected that the team would be rebranded as Ford for 2005, but Chief Technical Officer Richard Parry-Jones said on Friday that was not viable.

"In order for Formula 1 to pay-off for Jaguar, it needs to able to win," said Parry-Jones. "Jaguar just cannot afford the escalating costs required to win in F1. We looked at rebranding the team Ford, but it did not create a compelling business argument."

To further add to Formula 1's plight, Parry-Jones also confirmed that Cosworth – which supplies customer Ford engines to Jordan and Minardi – is also being put up for sale.

"Supplying subsidized engines for teams is no longer possible,” said Parry-Jones. “We have talked to Jordan and Minardi and we intend to work with them to find a solution."

The Jaguar brand entered F1 in 2000 when Ford bought the Stewart Grand Prix team. It has had mixed fortunes and has never achieved the success of similar manufacturer rivals.

In the immediate aftermath it is unclear what the impact of Cosworth being put up for sale will have on the Champ Car World Series.

TLK

09-18-2004, 02:57 AM

<HR> INDIANAPOLIS (September 17, 2004) – What follows is a statement released by the Champ Car World Series concerning today’s announcement by series sponsor Ford Motor Company that it was putting the assets of Cosworth Racing Inc. up for sale. Cosworth Racing Inc. is the exclusive engine supplier to the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. The statement should be attributed to Champ Car President and CEO Dick Eidswick.

“It comes as no surprise that Ford has decided to take these actions. It is important to note the Champ Car World Series owns the Cosworth XFE engines our teams currently use and that this decision will not impact Champ Car’s ability to compete now or in the future. We’ve been very pleased with our partners at Cosworth and anticipate the continuation of our relationship as both companies move forward with plans for the 2005 season.

<HR>

TLK

09-25-2004, 01:12 AM

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=ArticleHeadline colSpan=3>CHAMP CAR LAS VEGAS PRE-EVENT PRESS CONFERENCE NOTES</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; FONT-SIZE: 11px" vAlign=bottom align=right width=201>Thursday, September 23, 2004</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD><TD align=right width=201>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD background=/images/news/DottedLine_h.gif colSpan=2>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center align=left>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/CONTENT/Images/prIcon/20020618PRi_0001.gif </TD><TD vAlign=center align=right><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/news/TextButton_email_off.gif (Someone?Subject=Fw:%20ChampCarWorldSeries.com%20Link&Body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecart%2Ecom%2FNews%2FArticle%2Easp%3FID%3D8381)</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/news/TextButton_print_off.gif (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/News/Article.asp?ID=8381&print=true)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford held a press conference Thursday morning at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino as part of the pre-race activities for this weekend's Bridgestone 400 Presented by Corona. What follows are a few of the key points addressed in the press conference by Champ Car World Series co-owner Paul Gentilozzi.

2005 Schedule - Management had targeted the end of September or the first weeks of October for the release of the 2005 Champ Car schedule. Factors involved in putting together a quality schedule have meant that the release of schedule will take a little longer than anticipated.

Canadian venues - Recent media reports about Champ Car not returning to Vancouver have been misrepresented. Vancouver's preparation for the Olympics will have little effect on Champ Car's events in the coming years. 1Champ Car will run at least three races in Canada next season.

Bridgestone Award - Bridgestone has announced a $10,000 award to be given to the polesitter for Saturday's race. The Bridgestone Pole Award is of great value to our drivers and teams and Champ Car is very pleased to have the support of Bridgestone as well as all of its partners and sponsors.

2005 Television Package - Champ Car is currently working on a new television package for 2005 that will involve both cable and network exposure, but can not discuss the elements of the new package until the race schedule is finalized.

Korea Event - Champ Car will not compete in South Korea this year as previously scheduled, leaving three races remaining in the 2004 Champ Car season. The season will end with the November 7 event in Mexico City.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

TLK

09-25-2004, 01:19 AM

I'm not to quick to bash CART/OWRS/ChampCar, but I will say.... please put out a schedule... ASAP.... every other major series has their schedule out, and it's been out for month or so..... Let's get it out there guys....

:from what I hear (and I don't belive this :) ):

Argentina (???)
Long Beach (April 10)~
Monterrey (May 22)
Milwaukee (June 4)
Portland (June 19)
Clevland (July 2)
Toronto (July 10)
Vancouver (July 24)*
San Jose (Aug 7)
Denver (Aug 14)
Montreal (Aug 28)
Calgary (Sep 4)
Laguna Seca (Sep 11)
Las Vegas (Sep 24)
China (Oct 16)*
Surfers (Oct 23)
Mexico City (Nov 6)

China won't happen next year..... but the rest looks good to me... Who knows? maybe I'm wrong about China...

TLK

09-25-2004, 01:49 AM

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Carpentier grabs pole in inaugural Las Vegas Champ Car race</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER width="1" height="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By TOM GARDNER, Associated Press Writer

September 24, 2004

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Patrick Carpentier (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1010/), coming off his first victory of the Champ Car season, won his first pole of the year Friday with a 206.186 mph run in the series' first outing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

``We tweaked it a little bit this morning. We thought we needed more speed,'' he said.

<TABLE cellPadding=1 align=left border=0 vspace="5" hspace="10"><TBODY><TR><TD><STYLE>.textforyp {FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 10px; COLOR: #ffffff; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Arial,helvetica}.boxforyp { FONT: 10px Verdana,Arial,helvetica; COLOR: #505050; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff}.buttonforyp {FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10px; WIDTH: 70px; COLOR: #ffffff; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #93a4b1}</STYLE><TABLE height=250 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300 bgColor=#4b617d border=0></FORM><FORM action=http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=129llpt7c/M=302081.5145062.6268379.1414694/D=sports/S=95862713:LREC/EXP=1096181168/A=1945546/R=0/SIG=11i1nj0u5/*http://personals.yahoo.com/us/common/quicksearch method=get target=_blank><INPUT type=hidden value=1 name=submit> <INPUT type=hidden value=2 name=r_has_photo> <INPUT type=hidden value=search name=dest> <TBODY><TR><TD width=173>http://us.a1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/a/ya/yahoo_personals/yp_rp2_lrec_m2w_photo.jpg (http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=129llpt7c/M=302081.5145062.6268379.1414694/D=sports/S=95862713:LREC/EXP=1096181168/A=1945546/R=1/SIG=10tbvh54u/*http://personals.yahoo.com/)</TD><TD align=middle>http://us.a1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/a/ya/yahoo_personals/yp_rp2_lrec_m2w_logo.gif (http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=129llpt7c/M=302081.5145062.6268379.1414694/D=sports/S=95862713:LREC/EXP=1096181168/A=1945546/R=2/SIG=10tbvh54u/*http://personals.yahoo.com/) <TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=textforyp vAlign=bottom align=middle height=16>I'm a:</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle><SELECT class=boxforyp id=r_gender_pref style="VISIBILITY: visible" name=r_gender_pref> <OPTION value=2 selected>Man<OPTION value=1>Woman</OPTION></SELECT> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=textforyp vAlign=bottom align=middle height=18>Seeking a:</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle><SELECT class=boxforyp id=r_gender style="VISIBILITY: visible" name=r_gender> <OPTION value=1 selected>Woman<OPTION value=2>Man</OPTION></SELECT> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=textforyp vAlign=bottom align=middle height=18>Age:</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle><INPUT class=boxforyp id=r_min_age maxLength=80 size=2 name=r_min_age> to <INPUT class=boxforyp id=r_max_age maxLength=80 size=2 name=r_max_age> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=textforyp vAlign=bottom align=middle height=18>City or Zip:</TD></TR><TR><TD class=textforyp align=middle><INPUT class=boxforyp maxLength=80 size=11 name=csz></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=bottom align=middle height=30><INPUT class=buttonforyp type=submit value=Search name=submit> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></FORM><FORM name=vbform onsubmit="return checkQR(this);" action=newreply.php method=post></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The point he received for the pole moved him into a tie for fourth in the series standings with Paul Tracy (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1022/), who qualified 11th.

Jimmy Vasser (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/945/) made it an all Las Vegas front row with a speed of 205.495 mph, followed by series points leader Sebastien Bourdais (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1008/) at 205.323.

Vasser, who's 11th in the standings with three races to go, said he was pleased that the run came together well for his team. He said Saturday night's race would be an unusual challenge for drivers more accustomed to racing on streets and road courses.

``You're going to have to keep your foot down all race long,'' he said.

Bourdais, who won the last Champ Car superspeedway race a year ago in Germany, agreed with Vasser.

``We know it's going to be a different affair tomorrow. We have to keep ourselves out of trouble. I can only put the throttle down and see what it does,'' he said.

Despite winning four consecutive poles, early race problems have relegated him to finishes of 15th and eighth in his last two races, cutting a one-time lead of 58 points by more than half. Bruno Junqueira (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/256/), who is second in the standings 24 points behind his teammate, qualified fourth at 205.245 followed by Michel Jourdain Jr. (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1016/) at 205.19. The champ cars are sharing a rare doubleheader under the lights on Saturday with NASCAR's Craftsman Trucks. The trucks are scheduled to race at 7 p.m. PDT, followed by the open-wheel cars at about 10 p.m.

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TLK

09-25-2004, 11:01 AM

JOE HAWK: Wheels in motion to make Las Vegas Champ Car haven




</B>
</B> (http://www.reviewjournal.com/about/print/rjstaff.html#Sports)<TABLE cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=5 width=150 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


The smooth racecourse with its ample room for passing. The bright desert sun with its warm, chamber-of-commerce welcome.

Race fans cheering their favorite drivers from temporary grandstands. A black-tie gala the night before that drew celebrities from far and wide.

Two decades have passed. Hundreds of like races have since been run.

But Paul Gentilozzi remembers well the last motorsports venture that used the Las Vegas Strip as its glitzy backdrop and, frankly, he can't get the neon vision out of his mind.

"It was all overwhelming," Gentilozzi says of the 1984 Caesars Palace Grand Prix. "There was a lot of Hollywood glamour and international flavor. Just really neat stuff."

Which is why Gentilozzi, co-owner of the Champ Car Series that races tonight in a double-header event with NASCAR's Craftsman Trucks at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, has designs -- early though they may be -- on bringing open-wheel racing back to the city proper.

No, it won't be on the Strip -- "That would be like closing Fifth Avenue in New York or Lake Shore (Drive) in Chicago," Gentilozzi acknowledges -- nor will it be on a temporary course set up in a hotel parking lot, such as the four-year Caesars Palace Grand Prix was.

Rather, Gentilozzi is eyeing service roads just off the Strip, still with the glorious resort skyline as a backdrop, for a possible road race in 2006.

"Every day in Vegas, there's something special going on. We think we could be one of those special things," he says unabashedly.

Just the mention of a possible road race in the resort corridor brings back fond memories of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix, first held in 1981. It was a special event at a special time in the city's history. It was a grand local production at a time when the city was beginning to spread its wings internationally.

Today, what happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas. But in the early 1980s, advertising wasn't so coy: What happened in Vegas was fodder for conventional international marketing.

When Watkins Glen fell off the schedule after the 1980 season, Formula One racing used the opportunity to further cultivate the western United States. Whereas Long Beach, Calif., started the organization's 1981 race season, a new venture in Las Vegas was set to conclude it.

With a winding but wide 2.3-mile course constructed in a parking lot where today the Forum Shops sit, the first two Caesars Palace Grand Prixes featured spirited racing and were a huge success with the 30,000-plus fans annually, many of whom traveled from France, Italy, Argentina, Brazil and even Australia to support their drivers with the series championship on the line.

The event wasn't so popular with the racers, however. First, there was the counterclockwise driving, which put a tremendous strain on their necks. Then, with the 1981 event being held in October and the '82 event contested even a month earlier, the lingering desert heat was troubling. When Nelson Piquet of Brazil won his first world championship by placing fifth in the 1981 race, it took him 15 minutes to recover from heat exhaustion after barely making it to the finish line. 

Still, moments after Strip entertainer Diana Ross stood on the winner's platform and toasted both Italy's Michele Alboreto, who won the 1982 race, and Finland's Keke Rosberg, who captured that year's points title, then-resort president Harry Wald announced the signing of a deal with NBC to televise Las Vegas races the next two years.

The deal, however, would not be consummated -- not with Formula One, that is. Formula One dropped Las Vegas from its schedule, but CART, then a 4-year-old version of open-wheel racing, gladly jumped aboard.

The Caesars Palace Grand Prix was run two more years as a CART event, with Mario Andretti winning on a revamped 1.125-mile course in 1983 and Tom Sneva winning in 1984.

The relationship ended soon thereafter when the resort decided to use the parking lot as the site for its high-end shopping mall.

The idea of returning open-wheel road racing to the Strip was broached several times in the late 1990s. But with the heavy traffic the resort corridor creates, all the marketing in the world -- or world marketing, for that matter -- couldn't convince hotel executives to shut down the Strip for a weekend of racing.

"And we understand that," says Gentilozzi, a former drag racer and road racer, who took in the 1984 Caesars Palace Grand Prix as an observer. "You have to compromise. But at the same time, we want to create something that won't be a compromise in terms of racing or racetrack.

"We've found a couple of locations that stay off the Strip and use low-service roads. We have some ideas that offer some real challenges for the drivers and great viewing for the fans."

These ideas have been zipping through Gentilozzi's mind at 200 mph since he and fellow Champ Car owners Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven bought the bankrupt CART racing series at the start of the year.

"We've only been going for eight-plus months so we haven't been able to get everything done," Gentilozzi explains. "But this is in our plans for 2006. We hope there are people out there who understand the creativity it takes to create the financial impact of a venture like ours (estimated $20 million in nongaming local revenue this week)."

Gentilozzi says the Champ Car Series could come to Las Vegas twice each year, with a race at the Speedway and one off the Strip.

"I really think it can be done," Gentilozzi says of the latter venture. "All it takes is a little bit of an open mind. It would draw world attention. ... When people think of street racing, most think of Long Beach or Monte Carlo. This could be both Long Beach and Monte Carlo."

</B>Joe Hawk's column is published Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He can be reached at 387-2912 or jhawk@reviewjournal.com.

TLK

11-04-2004, 12:55 AM

Chevy announced today that their done with the IRL after 2005.... it breaks my heart...

TLK

11-07-2004, 06:33 PM

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=750 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=560><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" width="1" type="block"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Bourdais wins Champ Car title, Mexican GP</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" width="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By JOHN RICE, Associated Press Writer

November 7, 2004

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Sebastien Bourdais (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1008/) took his first Champ Car title, beating teammate Bruno Junqueira (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/256/) with a flag-to-flag victory Sunday in the Mexican Grand Prix.

Frenchman Bourdais managed to win despite a slide on the 42nd lap that cost him about 12 seconds of the lead he held over Newman/Haas teammate Junqueira. The Brazilian finished second in the standings for the third year in a row and wound up second in the race, more than 5 seconds behind.

Bourdais scored 369 points to 341 for Junqueira.

Rookie of the year A.J. Allmendinger (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1245/) was third in the race, just ahead of rookie Justin Wilson (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/957/).

Patrick Carpenter wound up sixth and held off Forsythe teammate Paul Tracy (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1022/) to finish third in the points races. Tracy, who won the title last year, wound up 10th in the race.

Bourdais steadily built a lead of nearly 18 seconds over Junqueira through the first 41 laps on the 2.786-mile road course. But Bourdais put a wheel onto the grass and took a spin just before the track cuts through a baseball stadium.

Tracy's day hardly went well. A bump from another car put him in the grass coming out the first turn on the opening lap. Two laps later, he scraped against Roberto Gonzalez (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1013/), who had been turned into the wall, and found the grass again on the 17th of 63 laps.

Updated

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

SunDancer

11-07-2004, 07:08 PM

Miss alot of the action on TV this year, but I think they did quite well. I read that Cristiano da Matta (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?id=1917174) might return. I love the Vegas idea. I think it would be the best thing for ChampCar.

TLK

11-07-2004, 11:10 PM

Champ Car “Silly Season” Warms Up as 2004 Season Concludes
Written by: David Phillips
11/7/2004
The season closed on an optimistic note for the Champ Car fraternity in Mexico City.

A year ago in Mexico City, the hot topic of conversation was the survival/future of CART and the Champ Car World Series. This year, with the survival of the Champ Car World Series secure -- at least for the foreseeable future -- conversation has turned to more conventional and, at least from a race fan’s standpoint, interesting topics.

In other words, there is a silly season of sorts in the Champ Car paddock at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez with the ’05 plans for drivers like Michel Jourdain Jr., Justin Wilson, Oriol Servia, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Roberto Gonzalez -- among others -- in play, along with those of teams such as Herdez Competition, Mi-Jack/Conquest, RuSPORT, PKV and Forsythe. Not to mention, of course, 2004 championship Newman/Haas Racing which is widely expected to run a third car for Cristiano da Matta in addition to Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira.

Jourdain’s position at RuSPORT has attracted a lot of attention in the midst of news that Gigante may not renew its sponsorship agreement with the popular Mexican in the face of disappointing earnings. Although neither Jourdain or RuSPORT team owner Carl Russo would make ironclad commitments regarding ’05, Jourdain seems likely to return for a second year there.

“We’ll have two cars, maybe three,” said Russo.

2004 rookie of the year A.J. Allmendinger is contractually locked in at RuSPORT for the near future, but what about Jourdain in the face of the potential loss of Gigante?
“Gigante is not 100 percent either way,” said Jourdain. “But my relationship with RuSPORT is not dependent on Gigante.”

Russo as much as seconded those sentiments, saying “We value continuity highly . . . We cannot allow our team to be driven by any one sponsor or (our) business model would begin resembling that of a prep shop. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but that’s not consistent with what this organization represents.”

Next door to RuSPORT’s hospitality operation stands that of Herdez Competition. Herdez (which owns a large stake in the team) announced earlier this year that it will be drastically reducing its involvement in the team, if not bowing out altogether, at the end of this year. Nevertheless, managing director Keith Wiggins is cautiously optimistic about his team’s prospects for ’05.

“I’d be lying to you if I told you it’s cut and dried,” he said. “But we’re moving forward on the sponsorship side of things. There are two more years remaining on Mario’s (Dominguez) contract. The second car? We’d like to maintain continuity and have Ryan (Hunter-Reay) back, but there are money issues.”
Wilson’s name is commonly mentioned in connection with Wiggins’ team for ’05, right?

“I’ve heard that,” Wiggins grinned. “It’s no secret we had an option on Justin’s services two years ago but Herdez made the decision to employ Roberto (Moreno), which is perfectly understandable.

“I thought pretty highly of Justin then and nothing he’s done this season had changed my opinion but, as I said, it comes down to money issues.”

“I’m talking to a few people,” said Wilson, “but I’ve got nothing settled as of now. But people seem interested, so it’s looking good. Who with and how I don’t know but I aim to be back in this series next year.”

Gonzalez, who is largely responsible for the Nextel (Mexico) sponsorship at PKV Racing, is also thought to be in the frame at the team about to be formerly known as Herdez Competition.

As for RHR, he has received entreaties from at least one Toyota-powered Indy Racing League team for 2005, but has made no decisions about next year as of yet.

“I’d like to stay in Champ Car with Herdez,” said RHR. “Outside of the Milwaukee race, we haven’t had the season we hoped for, but it’s a good, growing team, and road racing is my first love.”

Sponsorship will also be a deciding factor at Mi-Jack/Conquest where Wilson did a stellar job this season on a modest budget; so stellar that his name is being mentioned around the paddock, most often in connection with Herdez but also at RuSPORT, perhaps in that third car Russo hinted at….

“I want to run two cars again,” said Mi-Jack/Conquest’s Eric Bachelart, but at the moment I don’t have the budget in place. We’re working very hard, and we have some promising prospects but nothing had been closed.

“I’d very much like to keep Justin. He’s very, very good, but I’m sure he’s attracted interest from other teams, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

As for young Nelson Philippe, Bachelart remains a strong supporter. “Nelson is young (18 years old) but he has a lot of potential. He makes mistakes, yes, but that should not be a surprise. He has good chemistry with the team and I hope we can put together something to run him again next year.”

Then there’s Forsythe Racing. Although Patrick Carpentier is as good as gone to the Indy Racing League’s Team Cheever, Gerald Forsythe says 2003 champion Paul Tracy will be back along with Rodolfo Lavin and sponsor Corona. Beyond that?

“We’re looking at the opportunity to run a couple of young Czech drivers,” said Forsythe, “and we’re also going to test David Martinez (age 21) who won the Cupa Corona here in Mexico and deserves a chance.

“I’ve spoken with (vice president of operations) Neil (Micklewright) says it’s almost cheaper to run four cars than three. More than that and we would have to expand our facility in Indianapolis . . . and we’re considering that.

“I’m dedicated to making this series a success and we’ll do whatever need to be done to support it. If we have the ability to run more than three cars and do it well, we will.”

Perhaps it was Servia who best summed up the situation, not only for himself and for a number of other drivers, but for the series as a whole. “People are excited,” he said, “and there’s a lot of talk, but it all depends on getting the funding together. But it definitely feels better than the end of last year.”

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/13818/ (http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/13818/)

TLK

11-07-2004, 11:15 PM

by the way.... here was the schedule announcement from when the board was down...

INDIANAPOLIS (October 28, 2004) – The end of the 2004 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season is rapidly approaching with just one week left before the season finale in Mexico City.

But in auto racing, the end of one season simply signals the beginning of a new one, and the Champ Car World Series today marked the start of the 2005 season with the announcement of 14 race dates for next year.

The current schedule features events on three continents and five countries as the worldwide appeal of the premier open-wheel racing series in North America continues to grow. The calendar features seven races in the United States, three in Canada, two in Mexico and one each in Australia and Korea. It gets underway on April 10 at Long Beach, where the 2004 season opener drew 170,000 fans for the three-day event, and closes with a November 6 event in Mexico City.

“This is a schedule that really shows the international flavor of our series, and is one that we think will make our teams, sponsors and fans very happy,” said Champ Car President and CEO Dick Eidswick. “In our last race, drivers from seven nations were among the top eight finishers and it is diversity like that which helps broaden our appeal and makes our series attractive throughout the world. We believe that this year’s schedule will develop awareness of Champ Car even further.”

The 2005 schedule welcomes three new events to the Champ Car World Series. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada will host its first Champ Car race on July 17, running on a temporary airport course similar to the one used for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland. The series will also travel to Ansan, Korea for a race on October 17. In addition, a race will be held in California’s Silicon Valley on July 31.

“We’re very pleased with the interest we have gotten from venues around the world and the fact that we have added three new venues speaks to the strength and attractiveness of the Champ Car product and we believe that the ones that are currently on the schedule provided Champ Car with the highest potential for long-term growth,” said Champ Car Vice-President of Development, Governmental Affairs and Planning Joe Chrnelich. “We are in discussions with other potential new venues for the future as well as we strive to build the best series possible for our teams, sponsors and fans.”

Consequently, this schedule may see some other additions before the beginning of the 2005 season. The outcome of these negotiations will determine the final number of races on the 2005 schedule.

The new venues are liberally mixed with a number of long-running events on the Champ Car calendar. Long Beach returns for its 22nd year on the Champ Car schedule, while Cleveland will host the turbocharged Champ Cars for the 24th time, moving up a week from the Fourth-of-July weekend where it had run the last two seasons.

The venerable Milwaukee Mile will again see the Champ Cars in early June as it has for 56 of the last 57 years, while teams will battle through the Festival Curves of Portland International Raceway for the 22nd consecutive season. Toronto will celebrate its 20th anniversary of Champ Cars this year and Surfers Paradise, Australia will look to keep the longest streak of different race winners in the series alive for the 15th straight year.

Successful recent additions to the Champ Car calendar such as Denver, Montreal, Monterrey, Mexico and Mexico City will also return to the schedule as will Las Vegas, which hosted the Champ Cars in front of 80,000 fans in September.

2005 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford Season Schedule

April 10 Long Beach

May 22 Monterrey

June 4 Milwaukee

June 19 Portland

June 26 Cleveland

July 10 Toronto

July 17 Edmonton

July 31 Silicon Valley

Aug. 14 Denver

Aug. 28 Montreal

Sept. 24 Las Vegas

Oct. 16 Korea

Oct. 23 Australia

Nov. 6 Mexico City

TLK

11-07-2004, 11:19 PM

and an article on future of Toyota in motorsports

Toyota's NASCAR Plans Steady; IRL in Question
Written by: Ben Blake
11/6/2004 What Toyota will do next was the burning question at Phoenix.

Chevrolet's announced departure from the IRL Indy Car series after this season created a buzz around the NASCAR garages at Phoenix Friday, with many wondering what could result for Chevrolet, and hence Toyota, in the respective series.

Arising in reference to the Chevrolet reports were compounding reports that Toyota could withdraw from the IRL as well after 2006, perhaps as a prelude to involvement in NASCAR's primary series, Nextel Cup, by 2007.

And on top of all were reports that Kevin Kalkhoven, one of the leaders of the Champ Car group -- bitter rivals to Tony George's IRL, could be in line to purchase Cosworth, which has manufactured the Chevy-badged Indy engines for the past 16 months or so. That could indeed tilt the balance back in favor of Champ Car -- much at the expense of the IRL -- and put Toyota in a dictating position with the IRL.

The ramifications are well beyond what I should be discussing, as I am not up enough on the full scope in open-wheel. However, Toyota racing chief Lee White, on hand for the Craftsman Truck race at Phoenix this weekend, indicated Toyota could not express commitment to the IRL beyond 2006, until it knows what the engine rules will be.

"We're committed for next year and the year after," White said Friday. "Beyond that, we don't know what the [IRL] rules are, so I can't really comment. I don't know what their plans are for the future. We don't know what the rules are, so I can't really comment.

"We're concerned about cost, cost vs. return, and the business model is not what was lined up for us three years ago. I'm not going to sit here and tell you there is not concern.

"Hopefully we'll be able to have discussions with them to address that. We're certainly open, and we've told them we're open, to do anything to sit down and try to help create a condition more of what we signed up for in cost vs. return."

Although IRL officials apparently have not yet begun to put the 2007 engine plans on paper, Toyota, and likely Honda, appear to be in position to help write those rules and make those drawings, with the apparent Champ Car/Cosworth transaction as a trump playing card.

Ford has announced that it intends to sell the Cosworth engine unit, which specializes in race engines. Chevrolet's in-house Indy engine program had lagged, and it finally agreed to have Cosworth create its IRL engines in 2003 and through this year.

Toyota, meanwhile, has not done particularly well in IRL this year, being outrun by Honda in most of the races. Again, I will not pretend to know all that is going on.

White, meanwhile, did not indicate Toyota has immediate plans to develop its Truck program to Cup, although most believe 2007 or so is the target date for introduction of the first offshore model into the "native" series. White indicated that Toyota has built solid relationships within NASCAR, and that the Truck program, despite some setbacks, was accomplishing its corporate aims.

He said Toyota has no plans to expand into the Busch (car) Series in 2005, although he added he would not be surprised to see an additional two or three Toyota Truck teams next year. Bill Davis, Toyota's ball-carrier in NASCAR, has hinted that Toyota might want to try the Busch Series with a NASCAR-approved model in 2006. It it not known what that model might be.

As for the future in NASCAR -- the question from the start -- White would not commit. "This is still a Truck program," he insisted. "[Busch
is] too far out for next year. Sorry."

As to whether a possible pull-out from the IRL could be a signal that Toyota was ready to commit fully to NASCAR, White added: "No, those are two completely separate things."

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/nascar/13806/ (http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/nascar/13806/)

SunDancer

11-08-2004, 10:14 AM

King,
I'm am excited. It seems across the pond, F1 is going to be thrown up in a battle as well. How is ChampCar doing stateside in ratings and attendence in the US races?

TLK

11-08-2004, 11:15 AM

SunDancer

11-08-2004, 11:28 AM

The television ratings were terrible this year. The deal with Spike ended up being a nightmare, as the production qualities were almost unwatchable. If nothing else, the ratings did rise, over the year, which isn't bad for a dead series. Next years television package will be announced shortly and look for it to include at least six network races with the rest being shown on Speed.

Attendence for the US races was about the same as it has been, which is a good thing. There are exceptions though, such as Road America, which loooked like a ghost town on race day. ChampCar won't be racing there in 2005. Cutting all the money losers will be important to ChampCar's survival, and although RA is a beautiful track, if people won't come, why waste money putting on the race?

I couldn't barely watch the Spike network. I also really didn't see much promotion by the network as well. Sucks that I don't get Speed, but I think it would be a better move for the series. Road America is a cool course, but it seems that the street circuits, Vegas, and the international courses were pretty good attendence. Any news on the Vegas street circuit? That would be a perfect season ending series, with a banquet in town and all.

TLK

11-08-2004, 11:41 AM

SunDancer

11-08-2004, 11:44 AM

They're shooting for a 2006 street race in Vegas, but not on the strip. They plan on using the service roads to one of the off-strip casinos. If it happens it would still be pretty cool, with the strip as a backdrop. They said that this would be in addition to the oval race at LVMS, with one in spring and the other in fall.

Sweet. The LVMS turned up a good crowd, didn't it? I always like the track too, its pretty fast, long enough, and lot of action, but not a super speedway.

TLK

11-08-2004, 12:00 PM

It was hard to get a good read on the crowd because the event was paired with a NASCAR Truck race. I'm guessing that there were more people in attendence for the Truck race, but at least they stayed around and watched the CC race. The released figure for the night was 80,000 which isn't too shabby.

SunDancer

11-08-2004, 12:03 PM

SunDancer

11-09-2004, 02:28 PM

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/formulaone/13842/
http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/13847/

F1 seems to be interested in CART's champion and Mexican stud.

TLK

11-09-2004, 10:30 PM

I'd hate to lose either Dominguez or Bourdais. Add to them Ryan Hunter Reay (rumored to Ganassi of the IRL) and Justin Wilson, who may not be in next years field. However, DaMatta and Bjorn Wirdham (2003 F-3000 Champion) could be added to the ChampCar lineup as early as this week. In all reality, I don't see Dominguez or Bourdais going anywhere this year.... maybe next. I'll get a silly season list going soon.....

TLK

11-09-2004, 10:32 PM

Bourdais is on Letterman tonight....

TLK

11-09-2004, 11:28 PM

Bourdais is on Letterman tonight....
Bourdais was an excellent guest and representative of ChampCar. He said he'd love to have a shot in F-1, but realizes that it's a business, and he won't always get what he deseves. He then confirmed that he would be returning to Newman/Hass in 2005.

TLK

11-09-2004, 11:31 PM

forgot about Carp... not really a big deal because he wouldn't of had a ride in ChampCar but here's the release....

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=750 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=560><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=7><SPACER width="1" height="1" type="block"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Carpentier jumps from Champ Car to IRL</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER width="1" height="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By MIKE HARRIS, AP Motorsports Writer

November 9, 2004

Patrick Carpentier (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1010/) will drive for Red Bull Cheever Racing next season and Toyota will supply the team's engines, a source close to the team told The Associated Press.

Carpentier will make the switch from the rival Champ Car World Series, joining holdover driver Alex Barron (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1044/), and Toyota will replace Chevrolet as the team's engine supplier, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Team owner Eddie Cheever will announce the moves Wednesday.

Carpentier, a 33-year-old Canadian, has driven in Champ Car for eight years, the last seven for Forsythe Racing. He has five victories, including a win this year at Monterey, Calif.

He will replace Ed Carpenter (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1091/), the stepson of IRL founder Tony George, on the Cheever team.

Carpentier had nine top-5 finishes in 13 races in 2004, finishing third in the season points, trailing only Newman/Haas Racing drivers Sebastien Bourdais (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1008/) and Bruno Junqueira (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/256/). That matched Carpentier's career best in the Champ Car series.

Carpentier said after the season-finale last Sunday in Mexico City that he had been negotiating with three IRL teams because he wants to drive in the IRL's Indianapolis 500 and do more oval racing.

The Champ Car schedule is mostly road and street courses, while the IRL is adding its first three road races to a previously all-oval schedule in 2005. One of Carpentier's victories came in 2001 on the 2-mile oval at Michigan International Speedway. Cheever used Chevrolet engines the past few seasons, but General Motors announced last week it is withdrawing from the IndyCar Series, leaving Japanese companies Toyota and Honda as the IRL's only engine suppliers. Carpentier and Barron are both former champions in the developmental Toyota-Atlantic series. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

TLK

11-10-2004, 02:14 AM

The Season That Almost Wasn't

Written by: David Phillips (http://www.speedtv.com/speed/bio/56/) Pittsburgh, PA – 11/9/2004 All in all, 2004 was a successful season for the Champ Car World Series; particularly when you figure that, eight or nine months ago, the number of people on the planet who'd have bet money there was even going to be a 2004 Champ Car World Series was pretty much limited to Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi and Kevin Kalkhoven.

Yes, there were some hiccups, mis-steps and outright blunders. Remember the new qualifying procedure rules instituted for about a minute and half in Monterrey? The mis-treatment afforded Patrick Carpentier in the run-up to the season? The lack of respect by all too many drivers for the Champ Car officials? The on-again, off-again Seoul race? The dwindling attendance at Road America and Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway, two showcase events in Champ Car World Series-past? A points system dictating that a driver who won six of the first 13 races (four more than anyone else) and finished on the podium in all but four of them went into the 14th and final race of the season with his title in jeopardy? Television ranging from mediocre to worse on a niche cable network? The curious lack of interest in retaining Carpentier's services after he finished third in the championship?

But the 2004 Champ Car World Series' shortcomings were offset by positive developments. Like push-to-pass on the Ford/Cosworth XFE engines and option tires from Bridgestone (even if it did take a couple of stabs to get their sidewalls red enough!); like a thoroughly revitalized Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver; like establishing a toe-hold in the entertainment capital of America - Vegas (even if it did take officials 21 laps to figure out who was leading the race at one point); like, with a handful of notable (and noted) exceptions, attendance ranging from good to overwhelming at most events; like continually strengthened relationships with series partner/sponsors Bridgestone and Ford as evinced by the fact that upwards of a dozen senior Ford executives from throughout North and South America were in attendance at the Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante.

Heck, the fact there were 18 cars on track at the season-opening Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was a victory in itself.

Competition-wise, we were treated to Sebastien Bourdais' brilliant season, highlighted by that stunning charge through the field at Denver. Bruno Junqueira, perhaps doomed to be the perennial bridesmaid, drove well enough to earn his third straight runner-up Champ Car World Series finish in a season in which Newman/Haas Racing was clearly the class of the field.

Still… as Oriol Servia and Dale Coyne Racing, and Justin Wilson and Mi-Jack/Conquest Racing proved, talented racers driving for modestly funded teams could compete -- at least for podium positions -- in the brave new Champ Car World Series of spec engines and (nearly) spec chassis.

Nobody will mistake RuSPORT for being modestly funded, but that takes nothing away from the team's outstanding first season of Champ Car racing or the indisputable fact that rookie of the year A.J. Allmendinger is the real deal.

And, in his inimitable fashion, Paul Tracy represented the series well as defending champion, driving with characteristic verve for Forsythe Racing on the race track and speaking his mind with equal force off the track.

Other highlights? Ryan Hunter-Reay's crushing performance at Milwaukee; Alex Tagliani's long-awaited first win at Road America and Michael Valiante's impressive debut at Mexico City with Walker Racing.Sure he 'only' finished 14th, but he out-paced vastly more experienced teammate Mario Haberfeld throughout the weekend and qualified 12th… in a Reynard, no less.

Substantial challenges await in the coming off-season. With Newman/Haas poised to expand to a three car operation for Bourdais, Junqueira and a returning Cristiano da Matta, Forsythe Racing mulling a similar expansion and RuSPORT and PKV Racing only figuring to get stronger, the gap between the top teams and the small teams figures to grow.

As well, a number of teams -- Herdez, Rocketsports, Walker, Mi-Jack/Conquest and even Forsythe, PKV and possibly RuSPORT -- will be challenged finding or replacing departing sponsors.

The television package must be upgraded -- although if rumors of some combination of NBC, CBS and a cable outlet (including a possible return to Speed Channel) come to fruition it will be a major step in the right direction. The provisional '05 calendar has few apparent weaknesses, apart from the fact that it is not yet complete. New events in San Jose, Edmonton and (again) Korea appear promising and two or three more races figure to be added within the coming weeks.

The technical package remains sound, competitively and financially, and only figures to be enhanced should rumors of Kalkhoven's purchase of Cosworth Racing bear fruit.

All told, when you think back to the state of the Champ Car World Series on November 9, 2003 -- and knowing now that the worst was yet to come -- it's hard to judge the 2004 season, the season that almost wasn't, as anything less than a success.
says it best, from an unlikely source....

TLK

11-11-2004, 12:03 AM

holy shit.....

"According to the latest issue of NSSN:

"Cosworth Finds New Life Under Kalkhoven

MEXICO CITY -- Twenty-two months ago, Kevin Kalkhoven was a restless venture capitalist with no previous involvement in professional auto racing. Now the Australia native is on the verge of becoming one of the most powerful men in the sport. National Speed Sport News has learned that Kalkhoven has completed an agreement to purchase engine builder and developer Cosworth Racing from Ford Motor Company. Kalkhoven was scheduled fly to England Tuesday to meet with Cosworth's 550 employees at the company's Northampton headquarters early on the morning of Nov. 11 to inform them of the new ownership.""

SunDancer

11-12-2004, 06:46 PM

holy shit.....

I read that. This is a big score for Cosworth. Will Ford still be involve? It seems the connection is good for sponsorship and promotion. How will this play out?

SunDancer

11-12-2004, 06:48 PM

I like to see ChampCar tweaker with it's point system.

TLK

11-13-2004, 01:42 PM

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>IRL loses Chevrolet; Toyota concerned</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" width="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
November 8, 2004

By Bruce Martin
SportsTicker Contributing Editor

AVONDALE, Arizona (Ticker) Although it was not completely unexpected, GM Racing's decision to yank the Chevrolet brand from the Indy Racing League after the 2005 season has sent shock waves through the sport.

Chevy's departure from the IRL leaves the series in the hands of two Japanese engine manufacturers Toyota and Honda. Because its future depends solely on companies based in Japan, the IRL should stand for "Ichiban Racing League."

To make matters worse for the IRL, the future of the series is in control of two companies that have proven in the past that if a sanctioning body makes a decision that is unpopular, they could yank its participation.

That's what happened in 2001 when CART decided to change the engine formula against the wishes of Toyota and Honda. When both decided to leave CART, it left that series in a position to be a single-engine, spec formula.

Chevrolet decided that the combination of higher costs and increased competition didn't justify the lack of exposure its product has gotten in an ever-shrinking sport.

"This situation was one where the investment in the series did not meet our business objectives any more," said Doug Duchardt, director of GM Racing. "We had to make a tough decision on whether to continue.

"At the beginning of the IRL, there was a certain model we could use and we were successful at it. That worked for us. There's no secret that the costs have gone up and the TV ratings and attendance have been flat or down. You have to lay that out. It is what it is. We have to make a decision based on our business model."

Duchardt was promoted to his current role after Herb Fishel retired two years ago. Prior to that, Duchardt was in charge of the GM Racing NASCAR program, which caused concern that he was never really interested in the IRL in the first place.

Chevrolet made a valiant effort in 2003 when it was successful in getting the IRL to adopt the Gen IV engine built by Cosworth after the Gen III engine was nothing more than a high-speed boat anchor.

With Sam Hornish Jr. (http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/1034/) at Panther Racing, the Gen IV engine proved to be a fast answer to Toyota and Honda. Hornish nearly overcame his deficit in the standings and wasn't eliminated until he dropped out of the final race of the 2003 season.

Unfortunately for both Chevrolet and Toyota, neither engine company could compete against Honda in 2004. Toyota won the first and the last race of the season with Honda winning every contest in between.

Because of Chevrolet's decision to leave, Toyota executives say they may also leave after the 2006 season unless things change within the IRL.

"Chevrolet's departure is very bad for the series," Toyota Motorsports manager Lee White said. "You have open-wheel racing without an American manufacturer and the Indianapolis 500 without an American manufacturer. That's a pretty serious deal."

After giving the bad news to Tony George on Wednesday, Duchardt and GM officials informed teams that used the engine last year that it would leave after 2005 and that Panther Racing would be the primary team it backed next year.

"Panther will be with us next year, and we're both committed to winning," Duchardt said. "We're committed to give them the piece that will help them win. After the other teams have this information, we'll sit down with them and help them decide where they want to go from here."

White and Toyota are dissatisfied with the current state of the IRL. After getting pounded by Honda in 2004, White indicated serious changes have to be made to keep costs under control or they could also leave the sport.

"When we entered the series, we spent two years discussing engine rules, distribution rules, buying, leasing and we signed up for the same program as Chevrolet," White said. "Our level of support is approaching that of what it was in CART. I would say our enthusiasm doesn't match that what it was in CART but the cost is and that is a huge worry for the company."

White said Toyota continues to believe the IRL is the best answer to save an entire form of racing in the United States, but it is time to make some changes before it's too late.

"It's a difficult decision because we support Tony George and we support the series," White said. "Unfortunately, the series business model isn't what it was two years ago. We went to the IRL and embraced the Chevrolet business model. We had people signed up as engine builders, we were prepared to sell engines but no one wanted to buy them. The direction we are going in now is very troubling."

According to numbers derived from the Joyce Julius Sponsor's Report, the average television ratings for IRL races in 2002 was 1.2067. That figure dropped to 1.0250 in 2003 a drop of 15 percent.

Ratings dropped even further in 2004 with an average TV rating of 0.8625 a 16 percent dip from 2003. Included in that rating was a 0.1 for the IRL race televised by ESPN at California this past October, which may be the lowest IRL rating of all time.

Attendance actually has shown an increase for the IRL, but what brings that number up is Joyce Julius' presumption that 400,000 fans were at the Indianapolis 500 in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Even the Indianapolis Motor Speedway admitted there were tickets left for sale the day of the race in 2003 and 2004.

But, using the presumption of 400,000 fans at the Indy 500, average attendance was 67,832 in 2002, 70,702 in 2003 and 74,120 in 2004. The reason for increase can be directly attributed to the additional race in 2003 and 2004 at Twin-Ring Motegi in Japan, where 60,000 fans attended last year and 76,000 in 2004.

The problem with the IRL is no matter how many young, eager types it hires in sales, marketing and promotion, do the folks in the "red states" really want to buy its product?

If someone invents "Onion Gum" no matter how much is spent in sales, advertising and promotion, no matter how many double-truck ads are purchased in USA Today, does anyone really want to buy onion-flavored gum?

The IRL has become motorsports version of "Onion Gum."

"Despite a tough economy, the IndyCar Series enters 2005 in its strongest position yet in terms of its overall economic health, with sponsorship up, attendance showing growth, team sponsorships the highest in series history and the strongest driver talent line-up in series history," said Fred Nation, the executive vice president of communications for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation and the IRL.

"The 2005 season will be the second year of a six-year contract for U.S. television with ABC/ESPN that pays rights and production fees, as well as the strongest worldwide television package in U.S. racing."

According to Nation, "ABC/ESPN and the Indy Racing League are committed to growing the series and ratings through a joint promotional plan that is in place for 2005 using resources of all three parties."

White said he remains extremely concerned for the series of costs involved in what was supposed to be a cost-contained series.

"We entered the series under the idea that you could have one or two works teams that were allowed with our agreement in the IRL," White said. "Now, there isn't a team that comes and talks to us unless they want everything for free and cash. It has absolutely turned into a 100 percent manufacturer head-to-head combat and that is not a comfortable position for us.

"I can't imagine the series is very comfortable with that."

White said Honda's involvement and spending has raised the bar of competition in the IRL. Sources indicate Honda even entered into a wind-tunnel program with its teams to help improve the chassis used in the series for those teams running Honda.

By underwriting such an enormous cost, it has created a gap between Honda and the teams that use Honda and Chevrolet engines.

"The problem is there is no mechanism within the structure of the organization to contain that," White said. "It makes it a very difficult problem unless you have full grandstands and really good TV ratings so that you can justify that type of expenditure."

White said renewing with the IRL is too far away to even consider, and the IRL has yet to consider a rules package for 2007 and beyond. White wants for a stock-based engine something Duchardt and Chevrolet have expressed interest in.

"Certainly we are disappointed in Chevrolet's stated intention to not return for the 2006 season," Nation said. "We understand that General Motors has its challenges both on and off the track. We do expect Chevrolet to review proposed changes to the engine package for 2007 once they are completed.

"It continues to be the IndyCar Series goal to draw the participation of major manufacturers. With two years of experience with Chevy, Honda and Toyota competing fiercely against each other, we are in active communication with all three as we formulate specifications and regulations for 2007 and beyond."

White said there hasn't been an initial meeting with the IRL regarding the engine specifications for 2007 and beyond. Joe Negri of GM Motorsports presented White with a worksheet of some proposals for the next generation engine, but there have been no talks with the IRL. "The first thing we have to do is get some people together to talk about it and it hasn't happened yet," White said of the IRL. "We haven't decided to leave. We are committed to the program through 2006. I'd hate to say we are in any position to dictate, but certainly I'm extremely concerned for the series. "We could have left and everything would have been fine. Honda could have left and it would have been fine. But the fact Chevrolet left is a very, very serious problem for the IRL. The IRL doesn't have the strength, in-house, to protect the engine manufacturers' from themselves."

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

SunDancer

11-13-2004, 05:57 PM

IRL keeps getting the black-eye. Love it!

TLK

11-15-2004, 12:25 AM

look at what I was notified of earlier today....

MEDIA TELECONFERENCE ALERT

The following alert is to inform the media of a teleconference with Champ Car World Series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven concerning the status of Cosworth Racing

What: Media teleconference concerning the impending sale of Cosworth Racing

Who: Champ Car World Series and PKV Racing co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven

When: Monday, November 15. 12 p.m. Eastern. The teleconference will run no longer than one hour.

How: Media should dial 1-800-795-1259 to participate. International media are requested to dial 1-785-832-1508. When prompted for a password, use 7MEDIA

There will be an audio-quality replay of this teleconference available through November 22. The call can be accessed by dialing 1-800-938-0996. International callers dial 402-220-1540

TLK

11-15-2004, 12:26 AM

I just have to say.... you almost heard it here first.....

SunDancer

11-15-2004, 10:54 AM

I just have to say.... you almost heard it here first.....

keep me posted..

TLK

11-15-2004, 11:30 AM

<TABLE class=story-table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=324 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=story-title height=24>FORD COMPLETE COSWORTH SALE
Last Updated: Monday, 15, November, 2004, 15:15 </TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.itv-f1.com/images/static/spacer.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=story-body>http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/31564_1.jpg (javascript:openwin('Popups/Photo.aspx?IM_ID=31564','',770,550,'yes');) F1 engine suppliers Cosworth have been taken over by the owners of the ChampCar racing series.

Ford confirmed the sale of the engine builders to Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe on the day that they also sold the Jaguar F1 team to Red Bull.

Ford vice-president Richard Parry-Jones said: "I …am reassured that we have sold our F1 businesses to new owners who have long histories in the sport and want to take these great companies forward.

"Kevin and Gerry are very successful businessmen, have a long history in the sport and a clear vision for how they wish to take Cosworth forward. I am pleased to announce this outcome."

Cosworth will supply two Formula 1 teams next season – the new Red Bull outfit and Minardi.

Jordan, who have used Cosworth engines for the past two seasons, are switching to Toyota.

Kalkhoven said: “We are strongly committed to continuing the great F1 tradition at Cosworth and take that very successful heritage into the future.”

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SunDancer

11-16-2004, 07:03 PM

SunDancer

11-17-2004, 01:31 PM

King,
What would you think of a race in Atlantic City?

SunDancer

11-20-2004, 05:56 PM

Found this commentary on the Cosworth purchase insightful:

http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/13959/

Yesterday’s announcement that Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe have purchased Cosworth Racing from the Ford Motor Company (click here for story) is the latest blockbuster in a series of events reshaping the motorsports landscape in the United States, indeed, worldwide.

It was less than a year ago that Kalkhoven, Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi, aka Open Wheel Racing Series, LLC (or, informally, the Three Amigos) abandoned their efforts to acquire Championship Auto Racing Teams lock, stock and barrel and instead rolled the dice on acquiring CART’s assets in bankruptcy court.

At the time, many observers thought Messrs. Forsythe, Gentilozzi and Kalkhoven were either a) daft, b) crooks or c) both. Eleven months and 14 Champ Car races later, it’s clear the correct answer was d) none of the above.

First, OWRS and its legal team ran rings around the Indy Racing League’s attempt to acquire CART’s assets. Next, they circled the wagons in the face of the 11th-hour defections of Team Rahal and Fernandez Racing to the IRL and, with the help of Carl Russo, secured a spot in the Champ Car World Series for Michel Jourdain Jr. Again confounding the skeptics, they managed to put 18 cars on the grid for the opening round of the season in Long Beach.

Most significant of all, when Roger Penske sent out feelers about a possible reconciliation between the warring factions of American open-wheel racing in May, the Three Amigos listened to what he had to say but declined to participate in a process which, history has shown, was destined to lead to a cul-de-sac.

“I’ve been involved in helping turn around several businesses,” commented Kalkhoven at the time. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s not to repeat the mistakes of the past.”

A simplistic bromide? More like an epiphany. For although Kalkhoven may have been speaking about the energy- and resource-sapping efforts of past CART administrations to find common ground with the IRL, his words now sound like
a clarion call for a new approach to the business of motorsports.

For if there’s one common thread running through auto racing from open wheel to stock cars, sports cars, rallying and drag racing it’s the double-edged sword of manufacturer involvement. Teams, drivers, sponsors, fans, tracks and series all benefit from the money spent by auto manufacturers on racing; all too often, those constituencies become addicted to the megabucks poured into the sport by those same auto manufacturers, only to crash and burn when they go cold turkey in the wake of the manufacturers’ strategic decisions to spend their dollars, yen, marks, francs, pounds and lire elsewhere.

The original Trans-Am? The original Can-Am? The Sports Prototype World Championship? IMSA? CART? WRC? Have I missed any? No doubt.

Only NASCAR and Formula 1 have managed manufacturer involvement to their benefit long term, primarily by becoming so big, so important that automakers have little choice but to get involved and stay involved if they are to be considered major players on the domestic and worldwide scenes, respectively. But as the events unfolding over the past 24 months have shown, even Formula 1 may have reached the limit of that particular model. Indeed, Cosworth came on the market precisely because Ford decided to sell its Jaguar team and withdraw from a Formula 1 environment that has long since ceased making financial sense.

Enter Forsythe and Kalkhoven with a new model. To wit, acquire the ability to produce your own engines. Not just any engines, but engines designed, manufactured, developed and maintained by one of the world’s foremost engineering firms. In one fell swoop Forsythe and Kalkhoven have gotten a handle on the hydra of escalating engine costs and technology for technology’s sake that have, ultimately, spelled the ruin of so many racing series in the past.

Manufacturer involvement? By all means, but manufacturer involvement contributing to the overall health of the series rather than lining the pockets of team owners and drivers while pursuing ever more esoteric technology that contributes little or nothing to the show.
The Champ Car field has changed a lot since this shot was taken in 2001, and manufacturer dollars are a big reason why (LAT photo)

Kalkhoven’s comments during yesterday’s announcement are revealing:

“Manufacturer support is, by definition, a two-edged sword,” he said. “The financial support that manufacturers bring is obviously significant; the financial support when it disappears as well we know in CART, now Champ Car, causes some significant heartburn.

“We worked through this and we’ve taken a very deliberate approach, which is we’ve worked with one manufacturer very successfully . . .our partners at Ford . . . in order to provide something that is increasingly important in motorsports, which is the fact that it is entertainment. We have to provide entertainment for our fans and that entertainment comes not just from seeing manufacturers compete with each other, but seeing close and competitive racing where the driver is the determining factor, not the manufacturer or the amount of money that they spend.

“And so what we’ve achieved in this year in Champ Car is a series where the driver is very much the king, where any driver, now that they all have very significantly the same package, can rise to the top. We’ve seen that clearly in the racing this year. When new teams can come in and rise to the top as we have seen with RuSPORT and A.J. Allmendinger.

“So what we have managed to do is, at least without the embarrassment of riches coming from the manufacturers in the way that it has in the past, is revert to what we think is important for the future which is to make motorsports entertainment, make it exciting, make it close, a lot of overtaking, a lot of incidents on track and not just have it dominated by money, but by the drivers.”

Kalkhoven stopped well short of saying the Champ Car World Series will be a one-engine-make series forever. Still, it’s clear the model developed with Ford – and for that matter, Bridgestone – in the past two seasons will carry Champ Car into the years ahead. In other words, working in partnership with manufacturers to strengthen the Champ Car World Series by investing money that might otherwise have been spent on unobtanium con rods, gumball tires and/or subsidies for drivers and teams on marketing their products and the series itself.

Only time will tell whether this model will work over the long haul. Will it really contribute to Ford’s bottom line? What happens if and when Ford decides to terminate its association with Champ Car? Will a Chevrolet or a Dodge be interested in assuming the manufacturer’s role in a Champ Car World Series so closely linked with Ford?

One thing is certain: when it comes to the role of auto manufacturers, Champ Car is not repeating the mistakes of the past.

TLK

11-29-2004, 12:02 PM

just a heads-up..

Alex Zanardi will be on Letterman on December 3rd....

TLK

12-05-2004, 11:47 PM

Tony George Speaks Out on Future IRL Engines
Written by: Dan Carney Dearborn, Mich. – 12/3/2004

The Indy Racing League will announce its 2007 season rules for engines by mid-2005, said Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George during his appearance at the Society of Automotive Engineers Motorsports Engineering Conference in Detroit .

With rumors swirling in the wake of General Motors’ announced departure from the IRL, George is discussing a new rules package with manufacturers designed to make supporting the series more appealing. At this point, all options are on the table, said George.

The IRL began with production-based engines, but as it has moved to pure race engines speeds have accelerated, prompting calls for a return to production-based engines. “Production engines are very good for road racing, but they are not as good for ovals,” opined George. But he added that the final decision could go either way, depending on what potential participants want.

“Production engines are something that we will look at and consider as part of the process,” George said. However, he noted, the danger of building a series around production engines is what to do if the manufacturers that build those engines pack up and go home? “If all the manufacturers pull out, we need something we can go racing with,” said George. Specialty racing engine builders like Cosworth and Ilmor could easily fill that gap, which is part of the appeal of purpose-built engines.

The IRL’s primary goals for the new engines are stability and cost containment, George said. Rules written with those goals in mind should make the series more attractive to manufacturers and teams alike. The IRL has had “one very productive meeting with one manufacturer” regarding participation in the series, and has another expressing interest in the series, but with whom he has not yet met, George added.
.

TLK

12-05-2004, 11:48 PM

AutoRacing1.com has learned that indeed for 2005 there will be four Champ Car races on CBS, two on NBC and the rest on CNBC. CNBC will also have a 1/2 hour qualifying show on Saturdays. Hopefully the deal will include mention of Champ Car during the financial portions of CNBC's broadcasts, which dominate weekday broadcasts. The tie-in between business and Champ Car could indeed be good news for the race series if someone is astute enough to make that happen.
.

TLK

12-19-2004, 11:55 PM

With the holidays fast approaching and the off-season deal making at a fever pitch, we caught up with Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven between buying holiday gifts, and working on his next deal, to talk about some of the key issues facing the sport today.

Now that the 2004 season is over are you satisfied with what you achieved given where Champ Car was back in January, i.e. bankruptcy?

"We are on or ahead of target, but am I completely satisfied? No, not completely," said Kalkhoven. "Television and officiating are areas I was not happy with and we are fixing them in 2005, and it will be even better in 2006. But considering where the series was on January 28th, I'd say we are doing remarkably well."

"Our top priorities for 2005 were having a better TV and production package, adding at least two more races to get the '05 schedule to 16, and building a more solid foundation for '06 and '07. That means a continuing development of the events we race at, and more evolution of our teams and our organization. You will also see us strengthen our ladder series. Look for a completely new format for the Atlantic series in 2006.

"We hope to have the cable portion of our 2005 TV package finalized in about two weeks. In addition to the USA we will have a comprehensive international TV coverage. Besides the Eurosport deal in Europe, which is huge, we will have TV deals in Canada, Mexico, Latin America and of course Asia," smiled Kalkhoven.

On the subject of new race venues, there have been rumors about possible races in Argentina, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic and even LeMans. How real are any of these?

"Literally as we speak a bill is on the floor of Argentina's assembly," said Kalkhoven. "That deal is the closest to happening. We are also looking at Brazil and another venue in Asia, but I prefer not to be more specific at this time."

All indications were that Ford was going to re-up with Champ Car, and possibly take a more active role, but things have gone rather silent in recent weeks.

"I am very confident that Ford will continue the relationship and possibly increase their role with Champ Car. Ford has been great and the deal will be announced when it is ready," said Kalkhoven.

What about sponsorship for the series, is a title sponsor coming on board?

"We expect to make a number of new sponsor announcements in the coming months. Whether we have a title sponsor I can't say right now," said Kalkhoven.

The topic of Formula One came up. At one time Kalkhoven was going to start a F1 team and instead he became a Champ Car team owner, which led to the purchase of Champ Car. Kalkhoven was quick to point out that it's nearly impossible to be a privateer in F1 with the current structure. "The FIA is trying to change that because the costs are outrageous," said Kalkhoven. Manufacturers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year. You can run a two-car Champ Car team for $10 to $12 million per year and that makes a lot more sense."

So what's Bernie really like we asked? "Bernie is the smartest manager in motor racing, period," said Kalkhoven. "We have been in touch and there are no barriers between Bernie and Champ Car. He has not hindered our efforts to expand globally at all."

With the Concorde Agreement stating a maximum of 16-races per year, does a 19-race (soon to be 20) F1 schedule surprise Kalkhoven? If they can do 19-races, how many can Champ Car eventually do?

"As you know, Champ Car did 19 in 2003, but that is very difficult, especially when you are globe hopping," said Kalkhoven. "There are a lot of people complaining in F1 about the schedule and I think eventually you will see the number of races reduced. I think that for now Bernie is simply trying to lock up as many venues as possible for long-term contracts to thwart the efforts of the GPWC."

<TABLE id=table3 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 width=200 align=right bgColor=#000000 border=1><TBODY><TR><TD>"I am completely confident we will have at least 18 cars on the grid in '05 and possibly more" Kevin Kalkhoven

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Speaking of numbers, a number of existing teams have yet to announce sponsorship deals for 2005. Things are awfully quiet and people are starting to wonder. "I am completely confident we will have at least 18 cars on the grid in '05 and possibly more. We have been approached by a number of new team owners and we hope to have some announcements early in the new year."

Part of the hesitation has been whether Champ Car will have all new equipment in 2006 and whether it pays to buy the old stuff now. "There are plenty of Lolas and Reynards around, which are perfect for new team owners who want to gain experience in our series in year one and year two. We have decided to keep the existing package through the 2006 season. Look for an all-new car/engine combo in 2007," said Kalkhoven.

Kevin Kalkhoven and his partners are venture capitalists, as such they are always looking for a return on their investment. Did he buy Champ Car because he's a sportsman and wanted to preserve the series or is this strictly a business opportunity?

"I would not have bought Champ Car had it not had significant business opportunities. We are about to start year two of our five year plan. Would we sell out after that? No, the most successful business ventures are the ones you can ride for the longest time," stated Kalkhoven.

"I have turned around a number of companies in my career. There were only two times that I had any doubt whether we could be successful with Champ Car. Of course there was some doubt during the bankruptcy proceedings in January and then when Fernandez and Rahal announced their 11th hour departures we had to scramble. Yes, we still have some issues to work through, but once we got past those two major hurdles we became pretty confident."

Take out your crystal ball and tell us what you see for Champ Car in five years time.

<TABLE id=table5 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 width=200 align=right bgColor=#000000 border=1><TBODY><TR><TD>"I believe Champ Car will be America's interpretation of Grand Prix racing showcasing American racing, i.e. more of a muscle car approach vs. the European finesse approach. That means no driver aids, a good combination of tracks, and maintaining a close level of racing with no one team completely dominating" Kevin Kalkhoven

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

"I believe Champ Car will be America's interpretation of Grand Prix racing showcasing American racing, i.e. more of a muscle car approach vs. the European finesse approach. That means no driver aids, a good combination of tracks, and maintaining a close level of racing with no one team completely dominating.

"The key to our success is not engine manufacturer money but sponsor money. We have to have the product and geography that sponsors want. It has to be economically feasible for them. Manufacturers spending engine money is not the way to success. San Jose and Silicon Valley are very important to our sponsors as are markets in the Pacific Rim and North and South America that are not currently dominated by F1 and NASCAR."

NASCAR is sometimes described as a religion. With NASCAR getting stronger by the day, is the USA indeed a NASCAR-only nation?

"The USA market is a very important market for Champ Car and we will maintain a significant presence there," said Kalkhoven. "We will never gain the TV ratings NASCAR does, at least not short-term, but we can provide significant business opportunities for our sponsors in key markets and grow our TV ratings to respectable numbers. At the end of the day, for our sponsors who increasingly sell product worldwide, the cumulative TV ratings globally are more important than just the USA ratings, and far higher I might add."

In many respects a sport's popularity is directly proportional to the popularity of its athletes. NASCAR is a prime example. We hear the excuse that Champ Car simply does not have enough American drivers, that the young Americans are all going to NASCAR, hence Champ Car's popularity in the USA has waned. How do you respond to that?

"We must have a continuity of drivers. To do that we need to strengthen our series to the point where drivers want to be in Champ Car and our teams can pay them the salary they deserve," said Kalkhoven. "Right now drivers can earn the most money in F1 and NASCAR so naturally that is the first choice for many."

The question on many peoples minds is whether any new engine manufacturers have expressed a 'real' interest in joining Champ Car. "Yes," said Kalkhoven, "but I can't comment further at this time. I can tell you that we will have a maximum of two chassis suppliers when we roll out the new car, and possibly even one. And on the tire front, we have no plans to open the series up to a tire war. It creates excess speeds, requires more test days, results in tires that create marbles (single line racing) and increases costs. We will stay a single tire series for the foreseeable future."

NASCAR has 43-car grids, more than double Champ Car. From our perspective an 18-car grid is far short of what the series needs to develop a sizable following because each driver brings in new fans. "As far as what's the right number for Champ Car, I would like to see about 24 to 26," said Kalkhoven. "It's impractical to have 43 open wheel cars on a grid, the 26 number existed for many years."

Short-term Cosworth is the sole supplier of engines for Champ Car. What is Cosworth's role long-term with Champ Car, particularly if car manufacturers choose to enter the series?

"Cosworth has to stand on its own two feet. Champ Car must turn a profit and provide entertainment. We would not exclude any manufacturer for the benefit of Cosworth, so yes, in the right situation we will allow multiple manufacturers to compete, but whatever we do we will not allow engine costs to dictate our series," said Kalkhoven

Some people are highly critical that Champ Car is becoming an urban street circuit series and lament over the fact that Champ Car is throwing its heritage right out the door with the dropping of each natural terrain road course. What will it take to get the Road Americas of the world back on the schedule?

"Promotion," snaps Kalkhoven. "It's very simple. Promoters who are active with their promotion will be successful. Motor racing exists because of sponsors and fans. In markets where our promoters really promote we have sponsors and fans."

Speaking of natural terrain road courses, Mexico has one of the best. Champ Car's popularity in Mexico is a direct result of their biggest name drivers being in the series. With Fernandez gone, Dominguez talking about F1 and Jourdain talking to NASCAR, Champ Car must protect their interests in Mexico.

"A lot of people are talking. We will wait and see who will be on the grid come Long Beach. We are confident. I am paranoid about events in every single country we are in - Canada, the USA, Mexico, Australia, etc. It's important that we safeguard our best venues."

The Long Beach Champ Car contract expires after the 2005 event. Many in the IRL have told AutoRacing1.com that they will be in Long Beach in 2006. That appears to be the next big battle with Tony George. Could Champ Car indeed lose its signature event to its arch-rival and if so, can it survive the negative media that will result?

<TABLE id=table4 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 width=200 align=right bgColor=#000000 border=1><TBODY><TR><TD>"We have already been approached to hold another street race in the LA area or Las Vegas on the same day if that were to happen (become an IRL race), and we will" Kevin Kalkhoven

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

"There is a possibility that we could," said Kalkhoven, "but we have already been approached to hold another street race in the LA area or Las Vegas on the same day if that were to happen, and we will. I also believe that the Long Beach City Council is 100% behind us, and if there is a change they will not be behind the event and support will wane."

Besides San Jose, which was recently announced, are there other new USA markets that are on the horizon for Champ Car? "Absolutely, just wait and see," winked Kalkhoven.

What do you say to the many Champ Car fans out there who still worry about the future of the sport they love?

"I can understand their concern, I really do," stated Kalkhoven. A lot of people don't know me and my partners and the passion that we have for this. We are backing this 24 hours a day. With that said, I get a bunch of emails from around the world that indicates to me more and more people are believing in what we are doing. Just give us time my friend. Give us time."

The author can be contacted at markc@autoracing1.com (markc@autoracing1.com)

SunDancer

12-20-2004, 01:06 AM

TLK

12-21-2004, 11:32 AM

Nice..Seems that he's not too concern about Long Beach. What are your thoughs about the article?
I like a lot of what was said, but will be happier when I actually see some of it coming to fruition. I'll put together a longer response when I have some more time.

TLK

12-21-2004, 11:32 AM

From SpeedTV.com:

Car-Count Blues
Written by: Cassio Cortes
Irvine, Calif. – 12/21/2004

Dwindling fields are no novelty in American motorsport, especially whereas open-wheel racing is concerned. These days, having a “2” ahead of your car-count figure means reasons to celebrate, a celebration that so far, heading into the holidays, is still on hold.

In the open-wheel civil war, car-count measures have usually favored the Indy Racing League in the past few years, albeit under insinuations from the Champ Car field that the IRL itself might be partially funding some entries. Whether that ever was true or not, it certainly doesn’t seem to be happening now.

Tony George’s league is scheduled to kick off at Homestead on March 6th - not much more than two months from now. And yet currently the IRL can count on about 18 IndyCars to line up for that Miami grid, a number its loyalists could mock as “Champ Car territory.”

So far, newly appointed IRL President Brian Barnhart relies on the return of the four Andretti Green cars, with defending champion and runner-up Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon being again joined by Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta with Honda power, the same engine that will propel Rahal-Letterman’s expanded three-car assault, led by Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice, newcomer Danica Patrick and Brazilian Vitor Meira.

The Honda field will be further strengthened by rookie-of-the-year Kosuke Matsuura on Adrian Fernandez’s team - and that’s where things begin to get iffy. In spite of his multiple-winning season, Fernandez has lost his longtime backers Tecate and Telmex, which accounted for over 80 percent of his budget.

The Mexican is still fighting to continue as the IRL’s only owner/driver, but as of now, things look like he’ll be forced to sticking to ownership roles - “My priority is to do what is best for the team,” he stated, hinting that subsidizing his own driving career in 2005 is not among his plans. The downturn of the Mexican economy also hurts Fernandez’s perspectives.

At least his operation hasn’t gone to the great scrapyard in the sky, in the way Tom Kelley’s has. The misfortune of ones may be the joy of others, as the death of Kelley Racing put free agent Scott Sharp in the market with Delphi backing, and the 1996 series co-champion may land on Fernandez’s squad, which would then be able to retain its two-car status. The buyers of Kelley Racing’s assets, a consortium known as Playa del Racing, have been silent enough to suggest the new squad has drowned before reaching dry land.

Jumping over the fence to the Toyota side, Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi will bring back its Castroneves/Hornish and Dixon/Manning duos respectively. Chip has tested Toyota protégé Ryan Briscoe, and although the possibilities of a stateside move by the Australian seem high, no ink has been laid down yet. Toyota’s major addition is Eddie Cheever’s Red Bull-backed two-car team, where Patrick Carpentier is the only confirmed driver. Alex Barron’s chances to remain with the team are high, but Red Bull favorite Scott Speed has also tested and could either land the second RBCR seat or run a partial schedule, with Cheever adding a third car at selected events - perhaps restricted to Speed’s forte, road courses.

There’s no doubt Chevrolet’s withdrawal from the series is the main reason the IRL car count is hurting. The General has committed to only its traditional Pennzoil-backed Panther Racing entry, again to be steered by Tomas Scheckter. There’s still a possibility Chevy will supply a second Panther car, a seat that, in case it does materialize, would be up for grabs between Ed Carpenter and German Andre Lotterer, who’ll test for the team next week. Both are likely to have to bring money to secure the ride, which can also still go for its ‘04 owner, Townsend Bell.

Are you still keeping count? That’s 16-18 confirmed cars, dedicated to focusing on 2005.

Those still fighting as 2004 dawns include sponsorless Mo Nunn Racing, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Patrick Racing, Access Motorsports and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

Of those, the worst situation is by far Patrick’s. The veteran owner’s Chevy-powered operation is essentially closed, and could only be rescued by, literally, a Christmas miracle.

D&R also suffered a major blow with Chevrolet’s exit, but Japanese-American Roger Yasukawa has substantial Honda backing that could land on the team, whose 2004 driver Felipe Giaffone is also still in the hunt to stay in the series, trying to garner sponsorship from Brazilian companies.

Greg Ray’s Access outfit sailed through stormy waters this season, and also needs a major sponsor cash infusion to stay afloat.

Mo Nunn’s relationship with Honda means his team’s survival possibilities are high, albeit the same cannot be said of his wife Kathryn’s Infiniti Pro Series operation.

Ditto for A.J. Foyt, whose pedigree name is a big asset to the league. Grandson A.J. Foyt IV will likely be back, but don’t expect Foyt to show up at the IRL’s newly added road courses - streets of St. Petesburg, Infineon/Sears Point and Watkins Glen.

Still, IRL president Brian Barnhart remains optimistic: “If you put down 18 or 19 that are pretty firm and the ones that are trying to finalize things, you could go as high as 23 or 24 cars," he told the Indy Star. "Usually it ends up being halfway in that range, and 21 or 22 seems to be consistent with where we've been the past couple of years."

Consistency with the past couple of years is what Champ Car is shaping up to achieve, albeit in the case of the Kevin Kalkhoven/Gerry Forsythe/Paul Gentilozzi-owned league, that is not a good thing.

Even boosted by Kalkhoven and Forsythe’s Cosworth acquisition in the off-season, 14 seems to be the most reasonable number of assured 2005 cars so far, with six or so still in the frame to come to a best-case scenario of circa 20 rides. Ford’s monopoly may spare Champ Car teams from engine woes, but still, the only officially confirmed lineups for 2005 are RuSPORT’s Justin Wilson/A.J. Allmendinger pairing, Alex Tagliani coming back with Rocketsports, and Jimmy Vasser making what could be his last driving year at PKV Racing.

Newman/Haas has Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira under contract, and wants to run 2002 champion Cristiano Da Matta “if sponsorship is found” (a phrase often heard from team owners' mouths these days). Whether Da Matta’s addition would mean a three-car effort from Paul Newman and Carl Haas or a threat to Junqueira’s seat remains unclear. The only certainty is Bourdais’ return to defend the Vanderbilt Cup.

2003 champions Forsythe ran three cars this season, but with Carpentier already canned, sure things are Rodolfo Lavin’s Corona-backed continuity and another year for Champ Car’s biggest star, Paul Tracy. Gerry Forsythe has tested several drivers in the off-season (including Toyota Atlantic standouts Andrew Ranger and Alex Figge), and maintains he could run “as much as four cars” in 2005, but that appears unlikely at the moment.

PKV’s biggest hiring so far has been new team director Jim McGee, an indication that Kalkhoven seems through with his team’s also-ran status. The second PKV seat will be filled purely on merit, and the squad has tested two-time Atlantics runner-up Ryan Dalziel and 2003 F3000 champ Bjorn Wirdheim. One of the two should get the nod, with Dalziel perhaps holding a slight edge over the Swede. That leaves Roberto Gonzalez and his Nextel Mexico sponsorship in the market, and where could the Mexican land is anybody’s guess.

Dale Coyne, Walker Racing and Conquest Racing are all in need of dough, and thus are strong possibilities for Gonzalez. Coyne will run one car for Gaston Mazzacane with sponsorship from Argentina, and has also staged several tests for his second seat, which could still be held by Oriol Servia, the man who brought a podium for the team after eight years.

Conquest will carry Nelson Philippe for another year, while Walker still doesn’t have anything confirmed. 2004 driver Mario Haberfeld, former Atlantics runner-up Michael Valiante and Dutch DTM driver Christijan Albers all have an eye on Walker’s operation, which could make a quantum leap up the grid next year “if sponsorship is found” for a pair of Lola chassis.

Herdez Competition is history with the Mexican company’s decision to withdraw from the sport. Keith Wiggins’ outfit will be known as HVM, and is expected to run Mario Dominguez next year. A second car is still possible, with RuSPORT exile Michel Jourdain being the frontrunner for it, even sans his Gigante sponsorship.

Former Herdez driver Ryan Hunter-Reay was the only American to win this season, and is seen by the Champ Car honchos as an asset for the series. In case he is indeed forced out of HVM, the second seat at Rocketsports could be his ultimate destination.

In all, putting up the IRL’s 18 alongside Champ Car’s 14 cars, and the grand total of 32 isn’t enough to fill a single Indianapolis 500 field. Champ Car and IRL officials surely would like to blame “the economy, stupid,” but with economical indicators on the rise, that no longer may be the case.

New technical packages are on the horizon for both series in a couple of years’ time. The clock is ticking for a final opportunity to strengthen open-wheel racing in North America.

TLK

12-21-2004, 11:34 AM

Kalkhoven & Forsythe Buy Pi Group

Written by: Cassio Cortes London, UK – 12/20/2004 http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/50568_kk.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/50568_kk.jpg)

Kalkhoven continues to extend his domains in the racing world (LAT Photo)

In an expected follow-up to their purchase of engine specialists Cosworth, Champ Car majority co-owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe have agreed to buy electronics arm Pi Group from Ford.

As part of Ford's decision to withdraw from Formula 1 at the end of the season, Pi Group was put up for sale alongside Cosworth and the Jaguar Racing team.

“This was a logical step for us following our recent acquisition of Cosworth. Electronics are increasingly important in motorsport and in the automotive industry. Pi Group will play an important part in our business plans going forward," stated Kalkhoven.

Pi Group has operations in the U.K. and stateside, where its base are located in Indianapolis, Detroit and Charlotte.

TLK

12-22-2004, 12:14 AM

<TABLE class=ImageBox><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.autoweek.com/images/articles/101396
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=Caption>Sebastien Bourdais collected seven wins and eight poles (in four fewer events) chasing the first drivers’ title under the Champ Car banner. (Photo by LAT Photographic)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

2004 Racing Wrap: Champ Car World Series

Promising Signs: For Champ Car, the future looks like a future

J.P. VETTRAINO
Published Date: 12/20/04
A year can make a big difference... or not much difference at all.

In 2003 Paul Tracy ended one era with an emphatic championship run, and fans and participants had fair reason to believe this series could not survive another season. This year Sebastien Bourdais just as forcefully launched a new era. Doubts about the short-term survivability of the road show previously known as CART, however, should finally be buried.

Tracy won seven races and six poles en route to the last CART championship; Bourdais collected seven wins and eight poles (in four fewer events) chasing the first drivers’ title under the Champ Car banner. Whether or not more changed in 2004 than stayed the same, a 25-year-old Frenchman born in the infield at Le Mans was clearly the class of the reformed Champ Car World Series.

Bourdais was a relative unknown when he came to America in 2003, hired by Newman-Haas Racing on the strength of his 2002 FIA F3000 championship and an impressive preseason test at Sebring. He won three races as a CART rookie and four more in the first seven races this season. He did so in the calculated, precise, deceptively fast style of such legends as Jackie Stewart and Alain Prost. Bourdais was at his best leading a race, metering his pace and never going faster than he had to.

Yet a different Bourdais appeared for the next seven races. This one pushed when he might have cruised, to the point of creating some of his own bad luck. Occasionally he had no choice but to push. In Denver Bourdais produced the most stirring drive of 2004, passing every car on the track after he fell from pole position to last during first-corner contact. His thoughts after the season finale in Mexico City, where he trounced the field when a top-10 finish would have clinched the championship, might have defined the real “SeaBass.” The thinking man’s driver is a charger at heart.

“I knew that if I could get through [the first corner] without crashing, I could take it as easy as I wanted to,” Bourdais said. “But then it became a question of honor. I’m a racer, and I’m supposed to win races.”

Bruno Junqueira, Bourdais’ Newman-Haas teammate, finished second in the drivers’ standings for the third straight season. The bridesmaid won two races to Bourdais’ seven, and stayed in it to the finish, thanks to a new points system that rewards consistency as much as wins. Junqueira nonetheless avoided the late-season meltdown he experienced in 2003. He seemed more comfortable with himself and got stronger late in the year, managing what was arguably the best race of his career at the penultimate event in Australia. Newman-Haas hopes to add a third car next season, and with the return of 2002 champ Cristiano da Matta likely, the prospect of a Newman-Haas World Series title looms large in 2005.

Third in the 2004 standings, perhaps surprisingly, was Tracy’s Forsythe Racing teammate Patrick Carpentier. Carpentier had his best season yet, punctuated by a dominant Laguna Seca win, his second in two years. He will not have a third in a row: Surely troubled by the belief he played second fiddle to Tracy, Carpentier is IRL-bound to drive for Eddie Cheever. The French Canadian’s switch could do more to broaden that series’ appeal than did the arrival of Penske Racing or Ganassi or any of several teams.

Tracy won in Long Beach and Vancouver, and at times was the only driver fast enough to hang with Bourdais. But against two wins he had three DNFs, and three more finishes of 10th or lower. His 2004 season more closely resembled his first 13 years than his championship run in 2003, and he seemed to see the writing on the wall just past the halfway point in the season. “Right now everything [Bourdais] touches turns to gold,” Tracy said. “I had some of that last year, so maybe it’s his turn.”

There were six different race winners. Ryan Hunter-Reay was so much better than everyone else at Milwaukee that you’d be forgiven if you suspected his team of cheating. It didn’t, or at least it didn’t get caught. At Road America Alex Tagliani ended four long-suffering years with his first win, but his Rocket-sports team seemed to backslide a bit in its second season.

A.J. Allmendinger, a 21-year-old California boy with a good attitude and finely tuned backside, won rookie-of-the-year honors with the startup RuSport team. RuSport has signed Champ Car’s other hot new commodity, Justin Wilson, for 2005. This well-crafted operation could regularly challenge the Forsythes and Newman-Haas Racings of the Champ Car world in only its second season.

Champ Car’s transition has proven a boon for containing costs, and it hasn’t hurt the show. The remaining Reynard chassis were hopelessly outclassed by the Lolas and will be gone next season. Cosworth is now owned by two of the series’ co-owners, Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven, ensuring an engine supply indefinitely. Bridgestone returns as tire supplier and marketing partner, and Ford is expected to return as a sponsor.

There were at least 18 largely self-sustaining entries from the first race through the last. Few beyond Champ Car’s new owners considered that a realistic possibility in January 2004. With a few exceptions, race attendance was impressive. On one hand, the 2004 schedule had one-third fewer races than CART at its peak, and ovals were a token rather than a crucial part of the championship. On the other, there will be at least two new races in major international markets in 2005 (Edmonton and Korea), and all of the best draws (including Mexico and Canada) over the last several years are back on the schedule.

Television ratings fell below abysmal, but hardly more abysmal than the IRL’s, even with the Indianapolis 500 factored in. Plus: It’s expected roughly half the Champ Car schedule will be on broadcast networks next year. Minus: Big improvements will be measured in fractions of Nielsen points, and a month after the 2004 season ended, there was still no confirmed TV package for 2005.

Bottom line: Anyone still entertaining thoughts that CART-turned-Champ Car is a temporary phenomenon should have his head examined. The owners are committed to the series, and they have the resources to back it up. For better or worse, the open-wheel scene in North America remains a two-horse show for at least the next two seasons, and probably beyond.

Fortunes can change quickly in racing. Whether he thinks, charges, shines or stumbles from here forward, Sebastien Bourdais will be remembered for a truly impressive season that kept the Champ Car World Series in business.

TLK

12-22-2004, 12:17 AM

from a fuckin' Indy paper..... This could be love....

Champ Car survival tops race year
GM pulls out of the IRL; NASCAR pulls off nail-biter

Ron Fellows does it again; Fergus woman sets record

NORRIS MCDONALD (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Render&c=Page&cid=968867497088&ce=Columnist&colid=1050314527474)

To: Norris McDonald

From: The Boss

Subject: Track Talk column

I know you told your readers — all 15 or 20 of them — that you intended to write your Christmas gift column and then finish off the year by writing up an exclusive interview you had with Ferrari engineer/strategist Luca Baldissierri.

You intimated that you then planned to take a sabbatical until the end of January, when you would preview the February Speed Weeks in Daytona.

I'm sorry you didn't clear this with me before shooting off your mouth because I have work for you to do.

I want you to write a review of the 2004 racing season. That's for this week. Then I want you to write the best thing and the worst thing that happened to you in racing in 2004 and we'll put that in the paper Christmas Eve. You can finish off the year — Dec. 31 — with a preview of the 2005 racing season.

I'm not finished.

I want you to interview Janet Guthrie, the first woman to make the field for the Indianapolis 500, who has written a book that will be published early in the new year. Then you can submit your interview with Baldissierri because, by then, it will be 2005 and people will actually be getting revved up for Formula One racing again.

So, get cracking. I might give you a week or two off in late January.

Maybe.

Okay, boss. I won't argue because, after all, you are the boss.

The big story of 2004 was the survival of the Champ Car World Series.

Given up for dead by just about everybody except the most zealous of fans, Champ Car (née CART) was rescued by two guys with really deep pockets and a third who doesn't have as much money but oozes charm. The three — Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerald Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi — fought off IRL founder Tony George last January and convinced an Indianapolis bankruptcy court judge to let them have one more kick at the can.

Gentilozzi was spokesperson for the Three Amigos (as they came to be known by the faithful). He said they knew why CART had failed and vowed they would not make the same mistakes. He told anyone who would listen that they had a business plan and would stick to it. He promised a television contract, swore they would open the season at Long Beach, Calif., with 18 cars (the contractual minimum) and declared that the season would be a success.

Those three guys pulled it off. But boy, it was close at times.

Just before the season started, long-time CART runners and team owners Adrián Fernández and Bobby Rahal defected to the IRL. Columnists (including me) counted noses, determined there was no way 18 cars would show up at Long Beach and called for the white towel to be waved. And Spike TV? Who were these guys kidding?

Spike TV aside, everything else they promised happened. And it was an exciting season of racing, too. Newman-Haas teammates Sébastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira had a great fight for the championship with Bourdais finally winning it. Canadians Patrick Carpentier and Paul Tracy finished third and fourth in the standings. Rookies A.J. Allmendinger and Justin Wilson turned heads.

The season ended on an incredibly high note. Kalkhoven and Forsythe purchased Ford-Cosworth, thus guaranteeing a supply of engines. Although Vancouver was dropped from the schedule, Edmonton became a member of the Champ Car family. And time-buys on CBS and NBC for next year guarantee U.S. network television exposure once again for important races like Long Beach, Milwaukee and the Molson Indy Toronto.

On the other side of the Indycar coin, Buddy Rice won the Indianapolis 500 and Tony Kanaan won the IRL championship, but the season was soured by General Motors, which not only announced it was ending its involvement in the league at the end of 2005 but also took some pretty good shots at it.

"Costs have gone up and TV ratings and attendance have been flat or down. The investment did not meet our business objectives any more,'' a GM official said.

That took a lot of chutzpah on the part of GM, which once upon a time was only too happy to provide the league with "Oldsmobile" spec engines.

I remember standing in pit lane at the Walt Disney World Mickyard on the day of the first "real'' IRL race in January, 1996. When the command, "Gentlemen, start your engines!'' was given, all the Oldsmobile division executives riding in the parade cars started to howl with laughter.

I couldn't figure out what they were laughing about, until it dawned on me what exactly they'd pulled off:

General Motors, as of that instant, was a cinch to win the biggest race in the world, the Indy 500, as well as the Indycar championship (all on ABC, by the way) for the foreseeable future. And it would cost them diddly for research and development.

Who wouldn't giggle at the prospect of cleaning up for next-to-nothing? Which GM proceeded to do for the next six years.

But then Honda and Toyota arrived on the scene and GM promptly got its butt kicked. Things got so bad that GM had to make a deal with Ford for Cosworth to take over GM's IRL engine program (rebadged Chevrolet).

NASCAR, meantime, invented its Chase for the Championship. This pretty much split the NASCAR nation down the middle.

Either a lot of disgruntled fans changed their minds, or else NASCAR attracted a whole lot of new ones because of this innovation: The last race of the season, in which any of five drivers could have won the title, attracted the largest television audience ever to watch a car race on NBC.

Kurt Busch won over Jimmie Johnson. Jeff Gordon was third.

These three were separated in the final standings by 16 points.

Marco Werner and JJ Lehto, driving an Audi, won the American Le Mans Series P1 (prototype one) class. Canada's most successful international racing star, Ron Fellows, and his American teammate, Johnny O'Connell, were again the class of the GTS division in a Corvette.

And, finally, the universe unfolded as it should and Michael Schumacher, the world's greatest racing driver, won 13 of the 18 F1 races in 2004. In so doing, he won his seventh World Driving Championship — his fifth in a row.

Now, although the story is more than a year old, the accomplishment was only officially recognized a few weeks ago, so it must be included in the 2004 roundup.

Jeannie Reiman, 91, of Fergus, was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records this year by becoming the oldest female racing driver on the planet.

Jeannie, who was born in New Zealand but immigrated to Canada in 1985, raced a Canadian Vintage Modified, owned by her son-in-law, Arnold (Doc) Roper, in a 10-lap race at Sunset Speedway in Stroud, Ont., on Aug. 3, 2003, at the official age of 90 years, 106 days.

In her youth, she was a competitive runner and hurdler, a basketball and hockey player and a member of Auckland's first women's rowing team.

These days, she keeps in shape by exercising in her home gym. She's a member of the Roper pit crew during the summer and is in charge of tire pressures.

Oh, and she works a couple of 12-hour days every week, helping out at Doc's Oakville chiropractic clinic.

I wonder what Jeannie does in her spare time?

TLK

12-28-2004, 12:26 AM

A gift that could save open-wheel

Dec. 24, 2004 12:00 AM

Here are some gifts we'd like some people to find beneath their trees this holiday season:

• Some intervention from the scarecrow, tin man and lion for Indy Racing League founder Tony George and co-owners of the Champ Car World Series.

George and company need to huddle and fix the mess that encompasses open-wheel racing, which means they need to show they have enough brains, heart and courage to do it.

This isn't about being pro-IRL or pro-Champ Car. It's about repairing a sport that's been fractured since the 1996 birth of the IRL.

Television ratings stink, and attendance at some venues is woeful.

Two major open-wheel circuits simply cannot - repeat, cannot - co-exist and grow at a time when NASCAR is attracting many of its top drivers.

Since when does NASCAR have the market cornered on creativity? George and Champ Car owners have pit roads full of smart people working for them, and a more appealing setup certainly is within reach.

So do it.

• A Driver of the Year trophy for drag racer Greg Anderson.

Certainly, there's a lot of sentiment for NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch and runner-up Jimmie Johnson, who won a series-high eight races. And a valid argument could be made that the stock car drivers deserve the award.

But in our eyes, Anderson had the better season. He won 15 of 23 National Hot Rod Association Pro Stock races and also appeared in 19 final rounds.

What more does he have to do?

• Peace, for Julie Russell, whose late husband, Darrell, died in an NHRA Top Fuel crash last June.

A grim reminder of racing's dark side.

• An IRL contract for Arie Luyendyk Jr.

Luyendyk's father twice won the Indianapolis 500. Let's see if the younger Luyendyk has his father's tenacity.

• A Honda-powered Dallara for Formula One king Michael Schumacher.

We don't doubt Schuey just might be the best racer this side of the Rhineland. But wouldn't it be great to see the talented German-born driver go wheel to wheel with America's best at the Indy 500?

Come to think about it, wouldn't it be great to see Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman duke it out in a combined field of NASCAR, F-1, IRL and Champ Car drivers?

'Tis the season to be dreaming.

• A zero-deductible collision insurance policy for Robby Gordon.

We like Gordon, we really do. He's aggressive, and he's talented. How many drivers can compete in NASCAR, the Indy 500 and the Baja 1000 all in the same season?

Gordon also led all drivers this season in number of accidents. Some weren't his fault, but many were.

We'll still take Gordon over middle-of-the-road drivers on any given Sunday.

• A new scoring format for NASCAR chief Brian France.

We didn't agree with this season's overhaul of the points system that included a 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. We still don't, even though it did prove exciting down the homestretch.

But NASCAR isn't about to return to the former format, so we think more points should be given to race winners. As it is now, a runner-up can accumulate as many as 180 points, just five fewer than the winner.

Not good.

• A replica Nextel Cup championship trophy for Jeff Gordon.

Under the format used from 1975 to 2003, Gordon would have won this year's title by 47 points over teammate Jimmie Johnson.

We don't believe Gordon will ever reach the seven titles won by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. But another to go with four he's already won would have been nice for a driver who's had a lot to do with NASCAR's recent popularity surge.
.

TLK

01-05-2005, 01:26 AM

damn... Jourdain is off to the Busch Series.... only makes sense since Busch will race in Mexico City next year, but this really sucks. Jourdain stuck with ChampCar when they were in dire straits, and now he couldn't find a decent paying ride.... ?

JonInMiddleGA

01-07-2005, 07:54 AM

TLK beat me to it, but anyhow ...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar-jourdain&prov=ap&type=lgns
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Champ Car driver Michel Jourdain Jr. signed a deal Thursday with Ford Motorsports to switch to NASCAR and run the full Busch series schedule this season.

Jourdain plans to drive a Taurus for ppc Racing and will be the first Hispanic to race a full NASCAR Busch schedule.

``I'm very excited about this chance,'' Jourdain said. ``I've been wanting to come to NASCAR for a couple years now, and (Ford Racing director) Dan Davis worked very hard with me to find the right opportunity where I could have a chance to work and learn with a top team like ppc.''

The 28-year-old Jourdain spent nine years in top open-wheel competition, and finished 12th in the Champ Car World Series last season in a Ford-powered car for RuSport.

The son of well-known Mexican racer Michel Jourdain Sr., he became the youngest Champ Car driver at age 19 in 1996 and was the former CART series' Most Improved Driver in 1997.

In 152 career Champ Car starts, Jourdain had two wins, 25 top-10s and nine podiums. His best championship finish was third in 2003, when he raced for Team Rahal.

But Jourdain shifted to RuSport last season rather than go with Rahal to the IRL.

Ford, which has a history of working with its drivers to get them in the best rides possible, arranged for Jourdain to test with ppc Racing last October. The team plans to test him at Daytona International Speedway, but it's unclear if NASCAR will approve Jourdain to compete in the February season-opener there because of his lack of superspeedway experience.

He will, however, be eligible to race on many other tracks, including the Mexico City road course. The Busch cars compete there in March.

``This is something that has been in the works for a couple years, and we've been looking for an opportunity like this to give a deserving driver like Michel the chance to succeed in NASCAR,'' Davis said. ``The fact that we've been able to get this program together this year when the series is going to have its first race in Mexico just adds to the excitement.''

His new team fields cars in all three of NASCAR's premier divisions. John Andretti drives for ppc in the Nextel Cup series, Kenny Wallace in Busch and Terry Cook in Craftsman Truck.

TLK

01-13-2005, 11:45 PM

BRIDGESTONE PRESENTS THE CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES POWERED BY FORD EVENTS RETURN TO SPEED CHANNEL FOR 2005 SEASON

INDIANAPOLIS (January 13, 2005) – The Champ Car World Series today finalized its 2005 television schedule, announcing a return to SPEED Channel for seven of the 14 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford events, beginning with live coverage of the inaugural Grand Prix of Edmonton July 17.

SPEED Channel, which broadcast Champ Car races in 2002 and 2003, is the premier motorsports network in the United States reaching 68 million households across the nation. Seven of the year’s final eight Champ Car events will be shown on SPEED Channel, culminating with live coverage of the season-ending race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.

“Champ Car is pleased to renew our partnership with SPEED Channel in 2005 and we look forward to a long and prosperous relationship,” said Champ Car President Dick Eidswick. “The opportunity to get Champ Car racing on one of the leading motorsports networks in the world is a major step for our series and our fans. It is only fitting that the top open-wheel series in the country be featured on the best racing network in the United States.”

SPEED Channel will air four races live including the inaugural Grand Prix of San Jose July 31 and the Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver. As it did during the 2003 season, SPEED Channel will feature two-and-a-half hours of coverage from each event, allowing fans to see not only all of the high-speed action on track, but also some of the pre-race pageantry and the post-race reaction and excitement.

“SPEED Channel viewers will be thrilled to have Champ Car back on the network,” said SPEED Channel President Jim Liberatore. “The fans of American open-wheel racing are some of the most passionate in our audience and we look forward to serving them. This relationship further defines SPEED as the television home of motor sports and all things automotive.”

In addition, Champ Car has added another race to its network television package for 2005. NBC will broadcast the May 21 event in Monterrey, Mexico live from the temporary road circuit in Fundidora Park. The event will move to Saturday from its original Sunday date. The addition gives Champ Car a total of seven races on network television in 2005, with four events on CBS and three on NBC, including the season-opening Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Each of the first six races of the Champ Car season will be shown live on CBS or NBC, marking the first time since 1997 that Champ Car will open its year with six consecutive races on network television.

“CBS Sports is excited to be back televising the premiere open-wheel racing series in the United States.” said CBS Sports Senior Vice-President of Programming Rob Correa.

As announced previously, Champ Car fans in Europe will be treated to live coverage of every 2005 series event on Eurosport and the new Eurosport 2 network. Champ Car action will be available in 19 different languages through Eurosprt, reaching 98 million households and 240 million viewers across 54 nations.

SPEED Channel, entering its 10th season in 2005, is the nation's first and foremost cable network dedicated to motor sports and the passion for everything automotive. From racing to restoration, motorcycles to movies, SPEED Channel delivers quality programming from the track to the garage. Now available in more than 68 million homes in North America, SPEED Channel is among the fastest growing sports cable networks in the country. For more information, please visit SPEEDTV.com.

The Champ Car World Series features some of the greatest race car drivers in the world competing in the most diverse and exciting series in the world. Champions Sebastien Bourdais, Jimmy Vasser and Canadian Paul Tracy along with 2004 Roshfrans Rookie of the Year A. J. Allmendinger, Bruno Junqueira and Alex Tagliani are among the drivers who battle for the Vanderbilt Cup, which is awarded to the winner of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. The title is contested on oval circuits, temporary street circuits and permanent road courses.It could of been much worse, with the announcement coming this late. I can deal with three tape-delays, as two are oversea races and the other is a Saturday night deal....

SunDancer

01-13-2005, 11:48 PM

It could of been much worse, with the announcement coming this late. I can deal with three tape-delays, as two are oversea races and the other is a Saturday night deal....

Yeah, but I don't know about the three networks. Could be a ratings killer?

TLK

01-13-2005, 11:48 PM

Date Venue TV
Apr 10 Long Beach, California NBC
May 21 Monterrey, Mexico NBC
June 4 Milwaukee, Wisconsin CBS
June 19 Portland, Oregon CBS
June 26 Cleveland, Ohio CBS
July 10 Toronto CBS
July 17 Edmonton SPEED
July 31 San Jose, California SPEED
Aug. 14 Denver, Colorado SPEED
Aug. 28 Montreal NBC
Sept 24 Las Vegas, Nevada SPEED *
Oct. 16 Ansan, Korea SPEED *
Oct. 23 Surfers Paradise, Australia SPEED *
Nov. 6 Mexico City SPEED

* - Events to be shown on a next-day tape-delay basis

TLK

01-13-2005, 11:56 PM

Yeah, but I don't know about the three networks. Could be a ratings killer?
I might be wrong, but NASCAR used to spread over 4 or 5 networks before they made it. It needed to be done, and hopefully it all leads to a better 2006 contract. Seven network races is a big step from none the year before. This is just year two of a five year plan....

SunDancer

01-13-2005, 11:59 PM

I might be wrong, but NASCAR used to spread over 4 or 5 networks before they made it. It needed to be done, and hopefully it all leads to a better 2006 contract. Seven network races is a big step from none the year before. This is just year two of a five year plan....

True...Do you think if the ratings are decent for the network telecasts, that they might try to get the SPEED races later in the year?

Axxon

01-14-2005, 12:15 AM

You know, every time I see this thread bumped I think, "damn, how many times can they run this freakin race anyway?"

Just wanted to point out that it was a horrible thread title for what turned into a long term thread.

TLK

01-14-2005, 12:19 AM

True...Do you think if the ratings are decent for the network telecasts, that they might try to get the SPEED races later in the year?
Seeing as ChampCar is buying time on CBS and NBC, I don't see that happening. I wouldn't put it out of relm of possibilities that CBS carries and pays for a good portion of ChampCar races in 06'.

The thing to watch for in 05' is the ratings for ChampCar vs. the IRL. Both have 7 network races, the difference being one of the IRL races is the 500. If you remove the 500, I think they will similar ratings, with ChampCar having the slight advantage....

JonInMiddleGA

01-14-2005, 06:37 AM

I might be wrong, but NASCAR used to spread over 4 or 5 networks before they made it.

I recall ESPN, TNN, and TBS having NASCAR coverage at various times, along with CBS having a select few races. Not sure if more than 3 networks had races in a single season.

TLK

01-14-2005, 11:50 AM

Looking at the 1999 schedule, NASCAR had races on CBS, TNN, ABC, ESPN, and TBS.

http://www.indymotorspeedway.com/nascar9.htm

JonInMiddleGA

01-14-2005, 12:09 PM

How odd, I have no recollection of ABC ever having any NASCAR race. Hmm ... I think that may say more about their coverage than my memory ;)

TLK

01-18-2005, 02:59 PM

The IROC Series will soon announce it's participants for the 2005 season. ChampCar will be represented for the first time in a while. A little more diversity than past years in regards to drivers, but I'd still like to see a road course thrown in again, or at least an oval infield....

Matt Kenseth - NASCAR Nextel Cup (2004 Crown Royal IROC champion)
Kurt Busch - NASCAR Nextel Cup (2004 Series champion)
Mark Martin - NASCAR Nextel Cup (4-time Crown Royal IROC champion)
Sebastien Bourdais - CHAMP CAR (2004 Series champion)
Bobby Hamilton NASCAR - Craftsman Truck (2004 Series champion)
Steve Kinser - World of Outlaws (2004 Series champion)
Max Papis - Grand American Road Racing (2004 Series co-champion)
Scott Pruett - Grand American Road Racing (2004 Series co-champion)
Martin Truex Jr. - NASCAR Busch Series (2004 Series champion)
Helio Castroneves - IRL IndyCar Series (2-time Indianapolis 500 champion)
Buddy Rice - IRL IndyCar Series (2004 Indianapolis 500 champion)
Danny Lasoski - World of Outlaws (2001 Series champion)

TLK

01-19-2005, 10:28 PM

With all televison final, here is a complete schedule of open-wheel racing in 2005-

2005 Open Wheel Racing Combined Schedule

March 5 F1 - Australian Grand Prix - 9:30 PM SPEED
March 6 IRL - Homestead-Miami Speedway - 2:00 PM ESPN
March 19 F1 - Malaysia Grand Prix - 1:30 AM SPEED
March 19 IRL - Phoenix Int'l Raceway - 3:00 PM ABC
April 3 F1 - Grand Prix of Bahrain - 7:00 AM SPEED
April 3 IRL - Streets of St. Petersburg - 3:30 PM ESPN
April 10 CCWS - Long Beach, California - 4:00 PM NBC
April 24 F1 - San Marino Grand Prix - CBS**
April 30 IRL - Twin Ring Motegi - 12:00 PM ESPN*
May 8 F1 - Spanish Grand Prix - CBS**
May 21 CCWS - Monterrey, Mexico - 3:00 PM NBC
May 22 F1 - Monaco Grand Prix - 7:30 AM SPEED
May 29 IRL - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - 12:00 PM ABC
May 29 F1 - Grand Prix of Europe - CBS**
June 4 CCWS - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - 2:00 PM CBS
June 11 IRL - Texas Motor Speedway - 8:30 PM ESPN
June 12 F1 - Canadian Grand Prix - CBS**
June 19 F1 - U.S. Grand Prix - 1:30 PM SPEED
June 19 CCWS - Portland, Oregon - 4:00 PM CBS
June 25 IRL - Richmond Int'l Raceway - 7:30 PM ESPN2
June 26 CCWS - Cleveland, Ohio - 1:00 PM CBS
July 3 F1 - French Grand Prix - 7:30 AM SPEED
July 3 IRL - Kansas Speedway - 1:00 PM ESPN
July 10 F1 - British Grand Prix - 7:30 AM SPEED
July 10 CCWS - Toronto - 1:00 PM CBS
July 16 IRL - Nashville Superspeedway - 7:00 PM ESPN
July 17 CCWS - Edmonton - 3:00 PM SPEED
July 24 F1 - German Grand Prix - 7:30 AM SPEED
July 24 IRL - The Milwaukee Mile - 2:30 PM ESPN
July 31 F1 - Hungarian Grand Prix - 7:30 AM SPEED
July 31 IRL - Michigan Int'l Speedway - 3:00 PM ABC
July 31 CCWS - San Jose, California - 4:00 PM SPEED
Aug. 14 IRL - Kentucky Speedway - 3:30 PM ABC
Aug. 14 CCWS - Denver, Colorado - 3:00 PM SPEED
Aug. 21 F1 - Turkish Grand Prix - 7:30 AM SPEED
Aug. 21 IRL - Pikes Peak Int'l Raceway - 3:30 PM ABC
Aug. 28 IRL - Infineon Raceway - 3:30 PM ESPN
Aug. 28 CCWS - Montreal - 1:00 PM NBC
Sept. 4 F1 - Italian Grand Prix - 7:30 AM SPEED
Sept. 11 F1 - Grand Prix of Belgium - 7:30 AM SPEED
Sept. 11 IRL - Chicagoland Speedway - 1:30 PM ABC
Sept. 24 CCWS - Las Vegas, Nevada - SPEED*
Sept. 25 F1 - Brazilian Grand Prix - 12:30 PM SPEED
Sept. 25 IRL - Watkins Glen Int'l - 3:30 PM ABC
Oct. 8 F1 - Japanese Grand Prix - 1:00 AM SPEED
Oct. 15 F1 - Grand Prix of China - 1:30 AM SPEED
Oct. 16 IRL - California Speedway - 3:30 PM ESPN
Oct. 16 CCWS - Ansan, Korea - SPEED*
Oct. 23 CCWS - Surfers Paradise, Australia - SPEED*
Nov. 6 CCWS - Mexico City - 3:00 PM SPEED

SPEED TV's TAPE DELAY COVERAGE OF CBS BROADCASTS:
April 29 F1 - San Marino Grand Prix - 12:00 AM SPEED
May 13 F1 - Spanish Grand Prix - 12:00 AM SPEED
June 3 F1 - Grand Prix of Europe - 12:00 AM SPEED
June 17 F1 - Canadian Grand Prix - 12:00 AM SPEED

* - Events to be shown on a tape-delay basis, TV Times TBD
** - F1 CBS TV Times TBD

All times Eastern

Glengoyne

01-19-2005, 10:40 PM

[/url]
The Indy 500 *is* Today!
NO IT ISN'T!!!

Now quit bumping this misleading Thread, or change the damn title!
[url="showthread.php?t=26130"] (showthread.php?t=26130)

TLK

01-19-2005, 11:10 PM

NO IT ISN'T!!!

Now quit bumping this misleading Thread, or change the damn title!
why cluster the board with more than one open-wheel thread?

:edit: shall we also rename the NBA Draft thread that is popular, since the draft was held in the past? :) :/edit:

Axxon

01-20-2005, 12:40 AM

why cluster the board with more than one open-wheel thread?

:edit: shall we also rename the NBA Draft thread that is popular, since the draft was held in the past? :) :/edit:

Yes please.

TLK

01-20-2005, 01:39 AM

MARCO ANDRETTI EARNS TOYOTA ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP TEST SESSION

INDIANAPOLIS (January 19, 2005) - The Andretti family has had a rich tradition of racing in the Toyota Atlantic Championship Presented by Yokohama and another generation will get an opportunity to show what he can do behind the wheel of a 240 HP Atlantic machine at the end of this month when Marco Andretti will test at California's Buttonwillow Raceway road course, January 26-27.

The 17-year-old son of 1991 Champ Car Champion Michael Andretti and grandson of legendary racer Mario Andretti earned the two-day Atlantic test session after capturing the 2004 Skip Barber National Championship Presented by RACER. The test is made possible through an agreement with the RuSPORT racing team and the Skip Barber Racing School, which was announced in 2003. RuSPORT joined the Toyota Atlantic Championship with a two-car program in '03 and won the series title that season with rookie A.J. Allmendinger. Showing its desire to help the continued development of top young open-wheel drivers, RuSPORT pledged to give a two-day test to the Skip Barber National champ through the 2005 season.

Both Allmendinger and RuSPORT moved up to the Champ Car World Series in 2004 and the Colorado-based team was able to continue its success as Allmendinger captured series Rookie of the Year honors. RuSPORT will work with the Sierra Sierra Enterprises team to host next week's test. Marco Andretti will pilot one of the Toyota-powered Swift 014.a Atlantic cars with Yokohama ADVAN Racing Slicks that the Sierra Sierra team guided to a second- and fourth-place finish in last season's championship with drivers Ryan Dalziel and Andrew Ranger, respectively.

"I'm really excited about the opportunity to drive a Toyota Atlantic car," said Marco Andretti. "This test is one of the great things that comes with being the 2004 Skip Barber National Champion and I'm really looking forward to learning about the car and working with the engineers. I want to thank Skip Barber, RuSPORT and the Sierra Sierra team and if everything my dad tells me is true about driving an Atlantic car, I'm going to have a lot of fun over the two days of the test."

Marco Andretti won't have to look far to get some advice on taming the Atlantic beast. Both his father and his uncle have experienced their share of success in the Toyota Atlantic series, beginning its 32nd year of competition in 2005. Michael Andretti captured the 1983 Atlantic crown while his younger brother Jeff Andretti finished sixth in the series in 1989.

"The year that I spent driving in the Atlantic series was honestly one of my most enjoyable seasons ever in racing," said Michael Andretti. "The competition package from the power to the driveability to the tires is tremendous in the Atlantic cars and we're really looking forward to Marco's test. It should be a real challenge for him at this stage of his career."

"We're certainly excited to have another generation of Andretti run in a Toyota Atlantic car," said Vicki O'Connor, Managing Director of the Toyota Atlantic Championship Presented by Yokohama. "We were fortunate enough to have both Michael and Jeff run with our series as they were developing their racing careers and Mario has always been a big supporter of the Toyota Atlantic Championship. We want to thank RuSPORT for continuing this important testing program with Skip Barber and we know Marco will be in good hands with the Sierra Sierra team. We wish him the best of luck."

RuSPORT compiled seven victories, nine poles and 12 podium finishes in its lone season of Atlantic competition. In its rookie Champ Car season in 2004, the team earned four podium results.

"RuSPORT is really pleased to continue being a part of this testing program with Skip Barber and the Toyota Atlantic Championship," said RuSPORT Team President Jeremy Dale. "These steps clearly helped A.J. and RuSPORT to develop and gain experience to compete at the highest level of motorsport in Champ Cars. I think Marco is going to have a great experience and do well in his Toyota Atlantic debut."

In addition to winning the 2004 Skip Barber National Championship, Marco Andretti won the 2003-2004 Skip Barber Southern Series title, captured the 2003 Skip Barber Eastern Series crown and won the 2002 Snap-On Stars of Karting National Championship. In 2005, Andretti will compete for the championship in the North American Star Mazda Series.

The Toyota Atlantic Championship Presented by Yokohama continues to be the premier open-wheel development series in North America. The championship is noted for its long history of graduating its stars into Champ Car competition and has helped produce past Champ Car champions Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan, Michael Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve.

http://www.toyotaatlantic.com/

Why isn't Michael pushing his son into that great IRL organization (where he owns 1/5 of the cars announced for testing)?

[

TLK

01-24-2005, 03:27 AM

CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES SELECTS MOLSON SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT TO PRODUCE TELEVISION BROADCASTS FOR 2005
Thursday, January 20, 2005

INDIANAPOLIS (January 21, 2005) – The Champ Car World Series will turn to one of the most experienced sports production companies in all of North America to produce the broadcasts of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford in 2005, naming Molson Sports & Entertainment Inc. to produce the television package for the 2005 Champ Car World Series season.
Molson Sports & Entertainment has produced the world feed for the Champ Car World Series events in Canada in recent seasons, providing the world with all of the turbocharged racing action from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

“I’m delighted that Molson Sports & Entertainment and Champ Car have agreed to extend our motorsport partnership to include the broadcast of the series,” stated Jo Ann McArthur, President, Molson Sports & Entertainment Inc. “Our team will utilize years of live broadcast experience to bring the Champ Car television viewer closer to the racing action.”

Along with providing first-rate coverage of Champ Car action, Molson Sports & Entertainment live broadcasts have included National Hockey League season games, Stanley Cup Championship Series, World Championship Boxing, Major League Baseball, Triple A Baseball, National Lacrosse League, CFL Football, Arena Football, North American Soccer League, CPGA Golf, Men’s and Women’s Professional Tennis, Major Junior Hockey League, Offshore Powerboat Racing and Equestrian events.

“Our primary concern heading into the 2005 season was to find a way to improve the scope and quality of our television broadcasts,” said Champ Car President Dick Eidswick. “Our new agreement with Molson Sports & Entertainment will provide our fans around the world with first-class coverage of Champ Car racing at every event. Combining Molson Sports & Entertainment’s production with our new multi-year network deals with NBC and CBS, as well as live European coverage with Eurosport and Eurosport 2, we believe we are giving our fans one of the strongest television packages available.”
Molson Sports & Entertainment’s Champ Car program will be headed by Director of Broadcast Operations Claude Briere, who will work closely with Senior Manager of Broadcast Operations Jim Wilkes.

“We take great pride in being selected by Champ Car to produce the live broadcasts for the series,” said Briere. “We are confident in taking this challenge on based on our experience and expertise in live television coverage of major sporting events. Just like in racing, the key to success in live television is hard work and a dedicated team.”

The 2005 Champ Car World Series season gets underway April 10 with the 22nd running of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, an event that will be covered live on NBC.
Sounds good to me. The television last year was awful, so they can only go up.

TLK

01-24-2005, 03:37 AM

Farewell to Fernandez

Written by: Cassio Cortes Homestead, Fla. – 1/20/2005 Fernandez leaves on a high, having won three races last year (LAT Photo)

Adrian Fernandez’s absence behind the wheel at this week’s IndyCar testing at Homestead only confirmed what was already considered a given in the IRL paddock: the popular Mexican, a three-time winner last season, won’t be driving in the 2005 IndyCar championship on a regular basis. As originally reported by SPEED Channel's Robin Miller last month, Fernandez will give up his full-time seat at Fernandez Racing to Scott Sharp, who brings with him sponsorship from Delphi.

"I am proud of our accomplishments in our first season of IRL competition,” stated Fernandez. “Three wins and fifth in the championship showed the strength and maturity of the team we began four years ago. However, as we enter a new season, I am faced with the hard fact that I do not have the necessary budget to compete in 2005. Given our current situation with the start of the new season just over two months away and as necessary to keep the team intact and functioning at maximum levels, the team will focus its attention on Scott Sharp and Kosuke Matsuura.”

" I enjoyed one of the best seasons of my career in 2004,” continued the statement. “As a driver, I feel I have a lot left to offer. I am working hard to be able to race again as soon as possible."

Fernandez’s 2004 success wasn’t enough to change the minds of his longtime backers Tecate and Telmex, which had decided to withdraw from open-wheel racing by last season’s end. Besides his three IRL victories, the Mexican won eight times in 178 starts during a Champ Car career highlighted by his runner-up position in the 2000 championship, won by Gil de Ferran.

Karma is a bitch...

Axxon

01-24-2005, 05:12 AM

Karma is a bitch...

Karma is apparently related to my boss then.

TLK

01-26-2005, 03:28 AM

Seeds of change

Champ Car drivers get a chance to reap what Cosworth Racing and Ford Motor Co. have sown.

Sherri Koucky
Associate Editor <TABLE align=left border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD vAlign=top align=left rowSpan=3><TABLE width=300 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>http://www.machinedesign.com/Content/Issue/10384/seeds1.jpg Paul Tracy stops for fuel and tires on his way to winning the Long Beach Grand Prix.

</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>http://www.machinedesign.com/Content/Issue/10384/seeds2.jpg Cosworth engineer examines a CAD drawing of a CART engine.

</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR>
<TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>http://www.machinedesign.com/Content/Issue/10384/seeds3.jpg Headers glow on the XF engine.

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With the recent exodus of Toyota and Honda, the Champ Car World Series, under the Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc. (CART) organization, was ripe for change. Enter Ford Motor Co. and Cosworth Racing Inc. Ford and CART entered into a two-year relationship, renaming the Series "Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford." Cosworth Racing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford, is the sole supplier of engines for the Series, presenting a detuned version of the tried-and-true XF engine, now called the XFE.

The XFE engine is the fourth evolution of Cosworth's X Series Champ Car engines. The XFE is a 2.65-liter turbocharged V8 that provides 750 hp at 12,000 rpm and a maximum torque of 400 lb-ft. The top speed for Champ cars is over 230 mph.

To level the playing field and cut costs, teams now lease the same engines from CART. One team carries three engines and can have 13 rebuilds during the 19-race season for $1.3 million. Compare that to last year's lease, which cost teams $4 million, and included nine engines and 35 rebuilds. Evolution of X

Entering the scene in 2000, the XF is said to be the smallest, lightest, and highest-revving Champ Car engine, and is 2-in. shorter and 18% lighter than its predecessor. The 2003 XFE is the evolution of the XF. It contains several performance modifications to comply with new Champ Car rules regarding horsepower and engine life. According to Ian Bisco, vice president of Cosworth Racing, "Our XF engine ran 300 to 400 miles before a rebuild. Now we have tripled the life of the XFE and we're running it to 1,200 miles."

Two issues came up: lowering the usable power of the engine while maintaining efficiency and oil consumption. Basically, in the world of racing, high rpms equal more engine damage. "The biggest thing was to reduce the rpms from 16,000 to 12,000," says Bisco. Power range for the XF ranged from 11,000 to 16,000 rpm. Cosworth engineers brought the power band down to a range of 7,000 to 12,000 to get a 5,000-rpm spread that drivers could work with.

Pistons in the XF were extremely light with low friction to maintain high horsepower. For the XFE, engineers designed a stronger piston by increasing the weight using more of the same material in different areas. Also, another O-ring was added to ensure oil consumption didn't escalate over 400 miles. This adds more friction to the piston, but boosts durability. Other changes for strength and longevity include switching from titanium components in the valve train back to steel, although Cosworth won't get into specifics. The increased weight of the pistons meant that the crankshaft had to be balanced differently and weight added as well.

To get performance levels up, intake trumpet length increased from 1 to 3 in. Cam time and fuel-injection timing also were tweaked. But how to get the required horsepower? By increasing boost in the turbocharger. Over the past few years, as speeds rose, CART reduced the amount of boost from a whopping 45 psi down to 34, using pop-off valves. The valves are electronically monitored by sensors. The only way for teams to get power up was by increasing rpms, which was costly. "Part of the cost savings this year was our ability to reduce the rpms back to 12,000. But to bring the power back up again, we increased the boost," says Bisco. Currently, 41.5 psi blasts through the turbocharger, making 750 hp at 12,000 rpm.

The XFE carries a conventional commercial-type turbocharger that runs with bronze bearings with aluminum and iron housings. Previously, the XF ran an expensive, titanium and magnesium turbocharger with roller bearings. A ring of injectors around the outside of the turbo would spray alcohol into the inlet wheel before it was forced into the engine. "This was costly, and a service problem because the turbo was separate from the engine," says Bisco. "Also, it was a maintenance issue because the electronic injectors and wire harnesses wrapped around a very hot turbo. But in the days when you were looking for that last 2 or 5 hp, it was a necessary evil," he adds.

In the current turbo, Cosworth engineers reintroduced precompression injection (PCI) to the inlet runner and made it part of the engine. "The injectors now get serviced with the engine and there are no electrical wires around the hot turbo housing, which will help with maintenance," says Bisco. "The current turbo is $7,000 compared to $13,000," he adds. Garrett Corp., of Torrance, Calif., makes the turbo. Other modifications to the powerplant include changes to the fuel pump and materials in the engine. Fuel pumps had to increase flow to coincide with the higher turbo boost. The rpm reduction forced the mechanical fuel pump to turn more slowly. This necessitated increasing the size of the pump rotors, ensuring the same amount of fuel at lower rpms. Magnesium and carbon-fiber-engine components switched to aluminum for longevity. Dynamometer tests after 1,200 miles show the XFE with only an average 10-hp power loss. The powerplant weighs about 240 lb, or about the same as a conventional four-cylinder engine.

<TABLE bgColor=#cccccc><TBODY><TR><TD>CART controversy

CART is considering changing its engine program from a V8 to V10 as early as 2005. However, Ford and Cosworth are pushing to keep the current program. According to Ian Bisco, vice president of Cosworth Racing Inc., an engine redesign would have to begin this July, complete with funding from manufacturers and major OEMs. "I think CART should concentrate on building the Series up a bit, and then more manufacturers will come on board," he says. Also, with a new engine comes a new chassis, new equipment, etc., all adding extra costs to teams. "Previously, manufacturers were working on the dynos every week to gain an advantage and, if you found a 5-hp advantage, the manufacturer would give that engine to his lead driver for the week," says Bisco. "That creates the haves and have nots. The drivers have been very vocal this year on how they like having the same engine because it's eliminated all that," he adds.

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TLK

01-29-2005, 03:00 PM

Christiano da Matta (http://www.speedsportmag.de/motorsport/race_driver_biography.php?sprache=en&back=1&sid=135&driver=184) has signed to race for PKV Racing in ChampCar. I'm waiting for a press release, but the deal is done according to AutoRacing1.com .

TLK

02-03-2005, 04:01 AM

<table _base_target="_top" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody _base_target="_top"><tr _base_target="_top"><td colspan="3" class="ArticleHeadline" _base_target="_top">CRISTIANO DA MATTA REJUVENATES PKV RACING</td></tr> <tr _base_target="_top"><td _base_target="_top">http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</td> <td _base_target="_top">http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</td> <td style="font-size: 11px; padding-right: 3px;" _base_target="_top" align="right" valign="bottom" width="201">Wednesday, February 2, 2005</td> </tr> <tr _base_target="_top"><td colspan="2" _base_target="_top">http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</td> <td _base_target="_top" align="right" width="201">http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</td> </tr> <tr _base_target="_top"><td _base_target="_top" valign="top" width="100%"> <table _base_target="_top" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody _base_target="_top"><tr _base_target="_top"><td colspan="2" _base_target="_top" background="/images/news/DottedLine_h.gif">http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</td></tr> <tr _base_target="_top"><td colspan="2" _base_target="_top">http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</td></tr> <tr _base_target="_top"><td _base_target="_top" align="left" valign="center"> http://www.champcarworldseries.com/CONTENT/Images/prIcon/20020904PRi_0002.gif </td> <td _base_target="_top" align="right" valign="center"> <table _base_target="_top" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody _base_target="_top"><tr _base_target="_top"><td _base_target="_top">http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/news/TextButton_email_off.gif (Someone?Subject=Fw:%20ChampCarWorldSeries.com%20Link&Body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Echampcarworldseries%2Ecom%2FNews%2FArticle%2Easp%3FID%3D8676)</td></tr> <tr _base_target="_top"><td _base_target="_top">http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</td></tr> <tr _base_target="_top"><td _base_target="_top">http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/news/TextButton_print_off.gif (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/News/Article.asp?ID=8676&print=true)</td></tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr _base_target="_top"><td colspan="2" _base_target="_top">http://www.champcarworldseries.com/images/clear.gif</td></tr> </tbody></table> By Robin Miller It was mid-morning on the first day of February, still two months away from the season opener, but the atmosphere inside the PKV Racing shop in Indianapolis had a bit of a buzz. This veteran crew, not a group that impresses easily, had a collective smile on their face and a little bounce in their step.

They were invigorated because, with apologies to Robert Gonzalez, hope had replaced hopeless and now they were strapping a gunfighter into the cockpit instead of a guy who simply wore the holster.

Cristiano da Matta has yet to turn a lap but his mere presence had everyone at PKV salivating for the 2005 season to start.

"He was my first choice and he was Jimmy's (Vasser) first choice because he's perfect," said Jim McGee, the wise old team manager who brokered the deal to bring the 2002 CART champion to the third-year team owned by Dan Pettit, Kevin Kalkhoven and Vasser.

"The guy is a helluva driver who has no ego. He shows up at the track with his backpack and his bicycle and all he wants to do is go racing. And I think it's pretty obvious our guys are happy he's here."

But probably no more so than the little 125-pound dynamo known as Shorty. He left Champ Car for Formula One because it was his dream, he'd accomplished his goal in America and CART's future looked real shaky for 2003.

"I didn't go there because I thought the grass was greener it's just that there was uncertainty over here and I had an opportunity to drive Formula One," he explained. "Every race car driver wants to drive an F-1 car one of these days. I thought if I want to do that some day in my life, I think that is my opportunity and I cannot miss it.

"But never because I thought it was nicer over there or if it was better to race or more fun or whatever."

The Toyota F-1 car wasn't up to snuff and da Matta probably hurt himself by saying so halfway through 2004 but you could tell at last year's US Grand Prix here he wasn't enjoying the experience.

"Every single year I was in Champ Car I had fun but last year wasn't much fun," he admitted. "My rookie year with Toyota was OK because we ran better than people expected us to and driving the car was always fun.

"But nothing else about F-1 is fun and it was an easy decision to come back to Champ Car after two years in Europe. I feel like this is home."

Another appealing aspect of his return is the fact everybody drives Lolas with Cosworths -- there is no Ferrari.

"Naturally that is good for any driver because it's more up to you, your engineer and your team because everyone has the same equipment," said the man who replaced Michael Andretti at Newman/Haas in 2001.

"They don't let technology take over too much here and that's good. I'm sure my arms will be pretty sore the first couple of days without power steering but I'm looking forward to shifting again and I should be OK after a couple of tests."

Having Vasser as a teammate also makes da Matta happy.

"Jimmy and I have always been friends and he's obviously been a great teammate for guys through the years. I think we'll be good for each other, I'll push him and he'll push me, but it will be a friendly competition."

Even though Paul Newman did everything to try and bring da Matta back to Newman/Haas, it couldn't be worked out. Considering Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira ran 1-2 last year and dominated much of the season, it's probably good for the balance of power that Shorty landed at PKV.

"There are four or five pretty strong teams but Newman/Haas probably has a little edge starting the season," reasoned da Matta, who scored 10 victories in his two years with Newman/Haas. "They will be tough but we have a lot of good people on this PKV team.

"It will be a little strange I suppose, not being in that Newman/Haas car, but now I will have to fight them like hell."

Which could be heaven for Champ Car fans.

</td></tr></tbody> </table>

TLK

02-08-2005, 03:08 AM

IRL Founder Tony George to Provide Ride for Stepson, Ed Carpenter

Written by: Robin Miller Indianapolis, Ind. – 2/6/2005 http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/54327_ed.carpenter.web.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/54327_ed.carpenter.web.jpg)Ed Carpenter, driver of the #52 Cheever Racing Chevy, talks with a crew member prior to the 2004 Indy 500 (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Ed Carpenter drove for Eddie Cheever last year during his rookie season in the IRL, crashed out of six races and didn't have his contract renewed for 2005. But Carpenter's new owner figures to be a little more understanding.

SpeedTV.com has learned that IRL founder Tony George is becoming an official car owner in the series he started 10 years ago. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway president purchased the cars and equipment from Tom Kelley so his step-son, Carpenter, will have a ride this season.

"Yes, we're in the process of getting everything finalized and I'm happy to have this deal done," said Kelley, who campaigned cars in the IRL since 1998 before closing the doors at the end of 2004.

"Tony is also going to run the team out of our shop in Indianapolis."

It's long been assumed that George has spent millions since 1996 helping keep IRL teams afloat with cars, engines, travel expenses, etc. and his mother, Mari Hulman George, gave Stephan Gregoire financial assistance in the IRL's infancy. But this would be the first official ownership stance, although it's believed the team could run under the banner of Hemelgarn or PDM Racing.

George, who couldn't be reached for comment, is expected to have Toyota power in the Dallara chassis for Carpenter and veteran Tim Wardrop has been hired to engineer the 23-year-old graduate of USAC midgets and sprints. Larry Curry, who worked with Tony Stewart in their 1997 IRL championship, is reportedly the team manager.

Carpenter, who had one Top 10 finish during 2004 (eighth at Kentucky) in his under-powered Chevrolet, is expected to be testing at Phoenix this week. He will be the lone, American, short-track, sprint-car driver in the series that was originally created to restore the USAC, World of Outlaw and grass roots dirt drivers to Indianapolis.

George's entry brings the number of full-time participants to 21 and the IRL season opens March 6 at Homestead, Fla.

TLK

02-08-2005, 03:18 AM

Champ Car's Musical Chairs Dance On

Written by: Cassio Cortes Indianapolis, Ind. – 2/7/2005

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/54287_apiz.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/54287_apiz.jpg)Relegated by Williams, Pizzonia could have the backing for a third Newman/Haas seat (LAT Photo)

With Champ Car’s season kickoff still a good two months and change away, the series’ silly season wages on well into 2005, a time when most other championships are making the final tweaks to their lineups - similarly-sized F1 and IRL grids are close to completion, for instance.

The CCWS’s lateness is not necessarily a bad thing, though, as silly season’s wildly speculative nature is a fan favorite for the majority of Champ Car’s followers (and a fun they deserve to have, after enduring two previous year’s in which the silliest rumor regarded their favorite’s series own extinction).

Let’s recap how the 2005 Champ Car grid is shaping up so far, then:

NEWMAN/HAAS:

Reigning champion and runner-up Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira are confirmed, with McDonald’s and PacifiCare backing respectively. With the possibilities of a Williams race drive virtually over for him, word from Brazil is that Antonio Pizzonia could bring the backing to materialize N/H’s third seat, initially tipped for Cristiano da Matta. Though only speculation at this point, Brazilian oil giant and Williams backer Petrobras did come close to a Champ Car program with Emerson Fittipaldi’s now-defunct team. Pizzonia’s manager Jayme Brito is believed to have held talks with Carl Haas last week.

FORSYTHE:

Although still sponsorless (last year’s backer, Indeck Energy, belongs to team owner Gerry Forsythe) 2003 champion Paul Tracy is a certainty - the only one - in Forsythe’s camp. Previously a shoe-in to remain with the squad, Rodolfo Lavin may find his situation complicating in case the rumors he may lose his Corona beer backing materialize.
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/54317_af.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/54317_af.jpg)Toyota Atlantic racewinner Alex Figge has tested with Forsythe and Conquest (LAT Photo)

The team has tested a bunch of drivers, from Toyota Atlantic standouts Andrew Ranger and Alex Figge to Czech Jarek Janis, and Gerry Forsythe has stated he could run “as many as four cars” this season. Ryan Hunter-Reay has a commitment from “The Three Amigos” that he will have a 2005 Champ Car seat, which could be at Chez Gerry. Last but not least, Mathias Lauda, the son of three-time F1 World Champion Niki Lauda, has held talks with the squad and would bring a pedigree last name to the series.

In any event, as a stalwart of the “new” Champ Car, don’t expect Forsythe to run less than two cars.

RuSPORT:

The first squad to confirm its 2005 lineup, Carl Russo’s operation figures to mount a title charge this season on the back of 2004 Rookie-of-the-Year A.J. Allmendinger and rated new hiring Justin Wilson.

PKV RACING:

The confirmation of 2002 champion Cristiano da Matta last week means that Kevin Kalkhoven’s outfit is set for a quantum leap with two former champions - co-owner and 1996 Champ Car titlist Jimmy Vasser will continue to steer his traditional #12 car - and the winningest general manager in the sport’s history, Jim McGee.

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/54297_tg.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/54297_tg.jpg)Midland's Jordan acquisition has prompted Timo Glock to consider a stateside move - he tested with Rocketsports this weekend (LAT Photo)

ROCKETSPORTS:

Paul Gentilozzi’s team will run two cars. Alex Tagliani has a three-year contract with the squad and will remain in the Johnson Controls-backed machine. The second seat is all up for grabs, the latest frontrunner for the ride being Jordan F1 refugee Timo Glock, who tested with the squad at Sebring last weekend. Ryan Hunter-Reay’s promised ride could also come from Gentilozzi’s operation.

HVM:

Keith Wiggins’s team was rumored to lose Mario Dominguez for the new Midland F1 squad, but Jordan’s announcement of Narain Karthikeyan and former Champ Car driver Tiago Monteiro quelled such speculations - although Dominguez may still test for Jordan this year. The team is trying to finalize sponsorship to remain a two-car operation, with a Mexican with a bagfull of pesos being preferred. Roberto Gonzalez is a good bet if he manages to retain his Nextel Mexico support, with countryman David Martinez also in the frame.

CONQUEST:
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/54307_mh.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/54307_mh.jpg)With no Aussie drivers in the frame, New Zealander Matt Halliday is the next-best thing to boost interest in Champ Car's Australian round (LAT Photo)

18-year-old Nelson Philippe will return for a sophomore season. The team continues to scramble for a well-funded driver to take over its second car, having tested Alex Figge, New Zealander Matt Halliday and Frenchman Bruce Jouanny at Sebring this weekend.

Cousins Ricardo and Alex Sperafico and, according to the latest speculation from Europe, ex-Minardi driver Zsolt Baumgartner are also rumored to still be in the hunt for a seat with Eric Bachelart.

WALKER:

The only confirmation from Derrick Walker’s camp is that the team will make a long-awaited Lola switch this season, after being the last squad in the Champ Car field still relegated to Reynards. Perennial Champ Car hopeful Michael Valiante is highly rated by Walker, but the stars have yet to align to secure funding for the promising Canadian.

Walker tested new Minardi hiring Christijan Albers and seems keen to establish a Dutch Champ Car connection, meaning that Nicky Pastorelli, who also tested with the squad, has good prospects. The switch to Lolas may persuade 2004 driver Mario Haberfeld to remain with the team.

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/54322_np.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/54322_np.jpg)Nicky Pastorelly could seal Walker's Dutch connection (LAT Photo)

DALE COYNE:

Champ Car’s die-hard team wants to remain a two-car operation. Michael Valiante, Toyota Atlantic race winner Bryan Sellers and Estonian Tonis Kasemets have tested with the outfit, which would like to retain the services of Spaniard Oriol Servia, responsible for the squad’s first podium finish since 1996 last season. Gaston Mazzacane was considered a shoe-in for a ride when the confirmation of Champ Car’s Argentinean round was thought to be imminent. The race hasn’t been confirmed so far, and neither has Mazzacane.

JENSEN MOTORSPORT:

The team has announced last yeaer its plans to contest the four Canadian events this season, but no driver or sponsorship announcements have taken place so far.

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/champcar/auto/15070/

TLK

02-10-2005, 04:13 AM

Tony’s “Vision” an Eyesore
Written by: Robin Miller
2/9/2005

Either he's acquired a great sense of humor in the last couple days or he's truly blind to the reality of what he's done in the past decade. “Vision Racing”. Are you serious? Hell, that would have been the name I chose for Tony George's new Indy Racing League team.

That or “Seeing Eye Dog Motorsports”. Or possibly “The Good, The Bad & The Convicted”. How about “The Latest Spectacle In Racing”?

The fact George has officially become a car owner in the series he started 10 years ago because he hated car owners who ran their own series is mildly amusing and highly hypocritical.

Let's see; it's evil to have car owners making decisions about the day-to-day business, engine leases, cars, rules, etc., unless they own the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

It should be interesting to see how IMS publicist Fred "Baghdad Bob" Nation spins this one. "Tony never said he wouldn't road race, street race, race in Japan, lease engines or own cars," is a likely quote we may be seeing shortly.

Whatever philosophy lesson Nation hands us you can bet it will also be tempered with "Tony continues to do what is best for the little guy, the American short track racer, the backbone and cornerstone of the Indy Racing League."

What you won't read is that George miscalculated back in the mid-90s when he declared there was an ocean of car owners out there waiting to jump into Indy-car racing. Turns out there wasn't even enough to fill White River.

Counting TG and if A.J. Foyt finds a sponsor, the IRL now has double digits (10 owners) but if you took the funding from Honda and Toyota out of the equation, it would be a real struggle to field 10 cars.

So, in order to make sure there will be at least SEVEN rows at this year's Indianapolis 500, that stepson Ed Carpenter's career doesn't end after one season and the IRL will have at least 20 full-time runners this season, Tony did something his mother wanted to do back in the '60s.

At that time Mari Hulman George wanted to field a car for husband, Elmer George, but Tony Hulman wouldn't hear of it. According to the late David Cassidy, Mr. Hulman felt like it was way out of line to have a "house car."

IMS co-founder Carl Fisher recognized the need to have an autonomous sanctioning body to run the Indianapolis 500 so he commissioned Triple AAA.

Of course we all remember the inaugural Menard's Inifitini Pro Series race at Indy in 2002 when Carpenter "motored" to a runaway victory. At one point when he was a half a lap ahead of second place, Mari felt so uncomfortable she whispered to a friend, "I sure wish Ed would slow down a little."

But, unless Ed wins the pole position by five mph or Brian Barnhart decides to invert the field, Indy won't become incestuous. Carpenter is a good kid who showed some spark in midgets, sprints and Silver Crown and it's tough to judge him by last season since he was driving for Eddie Cheever.

What's really questionable is George's decision to hire Larry "Save Big Money at Menard's" Curry as team manager. Yep, the same guy who stole a million dollars from John Menard when he ran Menard's IRL team. I understand Curry served his jail time but I wonder how Menard (who sponsors the IPS and IRL driver Vitor Meira in 2005) really feels about Curry being back in the pits.

And all this time I thought Tony Stewart was the worst judge of character because he fired his father and hired Curry to run his sprint/dirt car team.

The saddest part of this story is that before he ripped a hole in open wheel racing and mangled the month of May, George could have opted for ownership instead of dictatorship in 1996.

Back then some of us suggested that if, in fact, Tony truly cared about the fate of the American short tracker he could field a three-car effort in CART for the reigning USAC champions or whomever he chose from the nation's grass roots. Good lord, he could have put the entire Little 500 field in the Indianapolis lineup for all the money he's spent keeping the IRL afloat.

But here we are, 10 years removed from "Tony's Vision" and what have we got? Two series struggling for survival, abysmal attendance, not enough cars or owners to contest Indianapolis, pathetic TV ratings, two engine companies dictating drivers and one sprint-car guy with a full-time ride who sits across from George at Thanksgiving dinner.

Some may call that a vision. I call it an eyesore.

Tony’s “Vision” an Eyesore (http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/15120/)

TLK

03-12-2005, 01:32 AM

nothing more to add to this thread.... I plan on starting a new thread before Long Beach, but here is a great photo of Tonis Kasemets testing a Coyne car this week in the snow....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/TheLionKing/20050311P_0001.jpg

TLK

03-22-2005, 08:55 PM

JENSEN READY WITH CANADIAN CHAMP CAR TEAM
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
By: Robin Miller

The newest team owner to join Champ Car comes with major sponsors, plenty of racing heritage and a passion that mirrors his homeland.

"Champ Car has always interested me and I'm excited to become part of it," said Canadian native Eric Jensen, whose Montreal-based Jensen Motorsports will officially unveil its driver and crew in a March 30 press conference. "I would do Formula One but I don't want to live in Europe and NASCAR has a lot more value but I don't have any general interest in stock cars.

"I couldn't sell anything in the IRL and I wouldn't want to be in it anyway.

"But I can sell Champ Car. I think it's future is great and I've thanked Kevin (Kalkhoven) many times for keeping it alive."

Unlike many of his fellow car owners, Jensen's main business is motorsports. He's competed in F2000, Indy Lights and Toyota Atlantic as a driver, fielded teams in Atlantics and serves as his own marketing and promotion agency.

It's a small business but it's all me and it's what I do for a living," said Jensen, who went to business school in Toronto. "It's always been in my family to go racing. My dad (Bruce) was a pretty fair racer in Atlantics when Keke Rosberg and Gilles Villeneuve were in that series and then he helped out Brian Stewart in the early '90s.

"I attended the Jim Russell School at Laguna Seca in 1989 with Mario Dominguez and then started racing Formula Fords and 2-liter sports cars. My dad bought me an old Ralt to run the SCCA and then I moved into the pro series.

"I got tired of giving money to other teams for crappy deals so I went out and got some good guys to work for me. I've still got three good guys who are my nucleus but I know a lot of good people and I just hired one away from BAR."

Jensen nearly jumped into CART in 2003, but backed off at the last minute.

"They promised me the world but didn't deliver and I think I made the right decision," he continued. "CART's bankruptcy in 2004 killed me because I had some decent sponsors and suddenly it was like, What are we selling?' You have to be able to create value for your sponsors and Kevin did that buy doing a deal with NBC and CBS.

"And Champ Car also goes to big cities where there is commercial value."

Jensen has already revealed that Konica and Minolta of Canada are on board as sponsors and has two other American companies to announce next week. There's speculation that the first Canadian team in 20 years of major open wheel racing might be leaning towards Vancouver's Michael Valiente, who made an impressive Champ Car debut last year at Mexico City.

"I've received a bunch of emails from fans thanking me for doing this," said Jensen. "And that makes me feel good but they don't have to thank me for something I've wanted to do for a long time."

 http://www.champcarworldseries.com/...cle.asp?ID=8768 (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/News/Article.asp?ID=8768)

TLK

03-25-2005, 04:47 AM

a day late but....

Champ Car series set to stage Beijing race in 2006
March 25, 2005

INDIANAPOLIS, United States (AFP) - Champ Car signed a deal with a Chinese auto group to stage a race in China in 2006, officials of the series announced.

Champ Car's memorandum of understanding with the Beijing Auto and Motor Sports Association, the government-supported auto sport regulatory agency, allows both groups to decide upon a promoter and exact location for the race.

This year's 14-race schedule begins April 10 at Long Beach and includes seven US races, two events in Mexico, three in Canada and October races in South Korea and Australia.

"This is a major step forward for the Champ Car World Series as we continue to establish our presence in the Asian markets," said series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven.

"We believe these markets are fundamental to our series growth and future success. Adding an exciting new event in China to go with races in Korea and Australia solidifies our presence in a very important region of the world."

September, which could lead into the typical late-season Australia trip and the projected Korean date, and May are considered the likeliest times for the 2006 race but the final decision has not been made.

Kalkhoven indicated the deal could lead to Chinese racers competing in the open-wheel series.

"We are excited because it is about more than just a race," Kalkhoven said. "The warm reception we have received here could lead to even bigger things in the future, including the potential to bring Chinese drivers and teams into the series."

The race would be another jewel in Beijing's sporting crown as preparations continue for the city's 2008 Olympics.

"The city is now working towards becoming an international sports center and to hold world renowned auto races is an important part towards accomplishing that goal," said Zhang Junyu, the Beijing auto group's secretary general.

Updated on Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 7:53 pm EST
http://sports.yahoo.com/cart/news?slug=afp-autousachampcarchn&prov=afp&type=lgns

TLK

04-02-2005, 02:34 PM

George fair game, or unfair target

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO and IRL founder has stayed calm amid a 10-year maelstrom of controversy.

By BRANT JAMES, Times Staff Writer
Published April 1, 2005
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1"> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2"> <tbody><tr> <td rowspan="3" width="6">http://www.sptimes.com/trans.gif</td> <td width="300">http://www.sptimes.com/2005/04/01/images/large/OTH_8_george__0401.jpg</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="300"> [Getty Images]
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="300"> Tony George talks at Indy with Michael Andretti, one of many who left CART (now Champ Car) for the IRL. Andretti, now a team owner, is helping to promote the St. Petersburg race.
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="6">
</td> <td width="300"> <hr noshade="noshade" size="1"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

There is no end to Tony George's ability to conjure contrast. Or opinion.

The Indy Racing League's founder and CEO had made it clear on this afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway he doesn't really want to talk about the latest lightning rod atop his wavy-haired head. Yet he wears a slick blue team shirt bearing the logo of his new Vision Racing team, which he fields for his stepson, Ed Carpenter.

George, the grandson of Tony Hulman Jr., who bought Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Eddie Rickenbacker in 1945 and restored its pre-World War II glory, considers much of the criticism he has absorbed for breaking North American open wheel racing into two pieces to be fair. He just wants to make decisions that are good for his family and company and avoid the fray.

But lying across the dash of his motorcoach for all passersby to see is a photocopied caricature proclaiming, "Whether you agree with his attitudes and motives, Tony George is in the driver's seat of open wheel racing in the United States."

Now that's provocative.

"I keep doing what I believe is the right thing," he said, "and more often than not I believe my moral and ethical and personal values are correct and all I can do is what I believe is the right thing. If others have a problem with that, then it's their problem, not mine."

<center> * * * </center> He was born Anton Hulman George on Dec. 30, 1959, to retired driver and IMS vice president Elmer George and Mari Hulman George, heiress to the Hulman & Co. grocery, media and racing empire. Now the lanky godson of four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt is either a forward-thinking entrepreneur who secured his family's hold on the Indianapolis 500 and spawned a racing league that has reached its 10th anniversary, or an overmatched trust fund baby whose bold grabs for respect and power have been bankrolled - as Champ Car co-owner and self-described friend Paul Gentilozzi said - by "continuing to spend the Hulman family trust money."

Oh, and many say he destroyed open wheel racing in the United States.

The Indy Racing League, critics say, has failed in its promise to promote American racing or contain costs, and, according to legendary driver Mario Andretti, ruined the Indy 500. George's decision to bring NASCAR to IMS has proved a bigger financial success than the Indy 500 in recent years, but is still reviled by open wheel purists who see it as equivalent to a tractor pull at Churchill Downs.

"I don't care what theory, what philosophy was behind the thought," Andretti said of forming the IRL. "It put a chink in that armor. It violated something so sacred in our sport."

But there are those who acknowledge George's initiative, or at least recognize piling on when they see it. Roger Penske, an IRL team owner who raced in CART before the split, said George receives too much negative publicity.

"I think Tony gets a lot of criticism no matter what he does," Penske said. "He seems to be at the butt end of a gun."

Brian France can empathize. The grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France took over as CEO in 2004, replacing his father, Bill Jr., who took stock car racing to unimagined heights of popularity.

"The expectations are high," he said of running a very public family business. "There is a lot at stake. ... I know I have some job security, but at the end of the day, unlike anybody else, I have to answer for what I've done."

George gets a lot of that back home in Indiana. His family has been to the Hoosier State what the Kennedys have been to Massachusetts: builders, benefactors, fodder for gossip.

Details concerning the shooting death of George's father by horse trainer Guy Trolinger on Indy 500 day in 1976 (Trolinger was not indicted) and George's drug use, as detailed in a 1989 divorce proceeding, are repeated as if breaking news. He's critiqued in the media and lampooned by what he calls "CART fanatics." An essay on deepthrottle.com once asked in a headline, "Are George Bush and Tony George Twins Separated At Birth?"

That George's demeanor appears to flit between relaxed and vapid only adds - fairly or not - to his critics' anger over what they think he is doing to their sport.

"Tony George is an extremely bright guy who, for the most part, shuns the limelight," said NASCAR vice president of communications Jim Hunter.

But after 15 years "in the drivers seat of open wheel racing in the United States," George said he is used to the flak. That doesn't mean he likes or accepts it.

"I guess it's something I realize comes with the territory," said George, easing into the kitchen nook of his coach, occasionally gazing through a window as Infiniti Pro Series cars zoom over the track. "It's not that I don't care, but it's not something I let consume me or bother me.

"But I understand to a certain extent that I'm a public figure - at least I'm told I'm fair game. I don't always believe that. I believe there are times when people cross the line."

George became Indianapolis Motor Speedway president at age 30 and immediately tried to expand the voice of promoters and tracks, and control costs in CART, then North America's open-wheel sanctioning body. After his proposal to reorganize CART's power structure was rebuffed by a majority of the board of directors in 1991, he announced plans to bring NASCAR to IMS. And after resigning his non-voting seat on the CART board in 1994, he announced plans for what would become the IRL. This year he became a team owner, much to the amusement of those who recall his plan in 1991 to move power away from car owners and toward IMS.

"It's kind of nice to be involved in a privately owned family business where you can make entrepreneurial decisions and take some risks you might not otherwise be afforded in another job," said George, who gave up the title of IMS president in 2004 and now track CEO. "Frankly, I'm not sure and I'm sure others might agree, I might not be able to hold another position in another company."

That was the general mood after NASCAR used IMS's legendary yard of bricks as a launching pad to increased national exposure and credibility. But the Brickyard 400 also proved to be an attendance success and a financial boost for the speedway and city of Indianapolis.

"There's part of me that I would like to take (critics) to task, but it's often the case my critics are people with a journalistic slant or background or fanatics of Champ Car in particular," he said. "The others, again, I don't know that they feel passionate about some of the comments they make or the statements they make, but I do believe that some of the journalists, critics and Champ Car fans genuinely believe what the say, write, do. Some of it bothers me, some of it doesn't. More often than not I don't pay attention to it anymore. It's something I learned over time, it's best to ignore most of it and go with your gut and heart."

His gut thought in creating the IRL was simply wrong, Andretti said.

"I can excuse Tony from being disgruntled with the political side of the sport as it was," said Andretti, a former CART board member, "but what I cannot excuse is the strategy, to me, to fix it was wrong. You have to fix the problem. The product was working.

"What he did by trying to come up with a new series, I think, it created so much uncertainty, it created forced loyalties, it forced everyone to make choices and the biggest travesty of it all was it diminished the value of Indianapolis 500 as an event. No one can dispute that.

"And it all happened almost simultaneously. It gives NASCAR the Brickyard, which is fine, I think that was great, but at the same time it diminished the value of the Indianapolis 500 by having the new series. That's why I felt to fix this thing, he should have tried to fix the politics of it. Buy out the owners, do whatever, it probably would have cost him 1/50th of what he spent since."

<center> * * * </center> Fingering through a bowl of snack mix, then shaking in his hand the peanuts he has culled, George pauses for a long moment. He knows his company and his sport will look much different in 10 or 15 years than they do now, that he might not be in a position of power then. But he's confident he will have a hand in shaping it.

"I've always been brought up around an environment where you reap what you sow and sometimes things work and sometimes they don't," he said. "But fortunately, our family has been involved in a lot of different things in the last 150 years and at one time or another, they've all been successful ventures for us."

Like it or not.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/04/01/Sports/George_fair_game__or_.shtml

TLK

04-02-2005, 02:38 PM

Here's the essay that was referenced in the previous artice....
<center>Are George Bush and Tony George Twins Separated At Birth?</center>
<center>By <script language="javascript">  </script>Russell Jaslow (rjaslow@DeepThrottle.com) </center>
<center>10/30/04</center> One has to wonder. The similarities between the President of the United States, George Bush, and the president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tony George, are unnerving. And, we're not just talking about the fact they share the name George.

Both were born into a life of privilege. Tony George was born into one of the richest families in the Midwest. George Bush entered life into a rich Texas family.

Both came from a previous generation that made their mark from World War II. Tony George's grandfather, Tony Hulman, turned IMS around after purchasing the Speedway after years of neglect during WWII. George Bush's father was a war hero, shot down over the Pacific, and rose to prominence in politics.

Both spent their youth partying with mind altering substances. Tony George's use of cocaine became public knowledge in court documents during his divorce proceedings. George Bush has acknowledged his fondness of alcohol during his younger years.

Neither were particularly successful before going into their family's business. Tony George's attempts at becoming a race car driver was nothing more than a midpack effort in Indy Lights (then, the American Racing Series) while driving for his godfather's team, A.J. Foyt. George Bush's attempts at being a businessman didn't excite the editors of Forbes magazine, and his only publicly visible deed was firing manager Bobby Valentine when he owned the Texas Rangers.

Both finally arrived in the public's eye by riding the coattails of their family's name. Tony George took over the top spot at IMS simply because he was the only male left in his family, and his sisters did not care for the job. George Bush parlayed the success of his father and his Texas roots to become Governor of the Lone Star State, and then took over as the Republican's favorite presidential candidate simply because he was the only possible choice that could garner the fund raising and public perception necessary to beat the Democrats.

Both are considered to be lesser intelligent men (whose supporters hold their breath every time they make an unscripted public statement) who have been manipulated by those around them fighting an old battle. It is alleged that Tony George was swayed by the "Old Guard" still stewing over the revolt by the team owners who formed CART and changed the direction of open wheel racing. It is alleged that George Bush was swayed by those still wishing that the job in Iraq had been "completed" back in 1991.

Both never learned from their predecessors who knew when it was best to shy away from a fight. Tony George's grandfather knew when it was no longer worth fighting CART and lived with an uneasy peace so the greater good of IMS and the sport could be fulfilled. George Bush's father knew when it was no longer worth continuing to fight Iraq once they were kicked out of Kuwait and lived with an uneasy peace so the greater good of the country and the Middle East could be fulfilled.

Both apparently had destructive agendas from day one. Soon after Tony George took over IMS, he proposed to CART a plan that would essentially have him take over the sport, dumping the goals of the team owners. He later used Penske's Mercedes killer engine as the impetus to go ahead and form the IRL in an attempt to take over open wheel racing. George Bush, soon after taking office, allegedly looked for a reason to topple Saddam Hussein. He used the events of September 11 as the impetus to go ahead with those plans.

Both are unable to realize their goals and vision are not working. Tony George is unwilling to admit that declining attendance, empty stands on Pole Day, and rapidly falling ratings of the Indianapolis 500 have anything to do with his actions in splitting the sport and forming the IRL, while his minions spout off one ridiculously glowing press release after another. George Bush is unwilling to admit the inability to create stability in Iraq, the formation of terror cells in a country where they didn't exist before, and the rapidly declining opinion of the United States by the rest of the world had anything to do with his actions in splitting world opinion and attacking a country that was of little threat, while his minions spout off at one ridiculously glowing press conference after another.

However, don't assume I'm advocating the other choice. That's not necessarily any better either.

Because John Kerry reminds me of Joe Heitzler.

http://www.deepthrottle.com/Essays/bush_george.shtml

TLK

04-02-2005, 08:44 PM

linky (http://www.sptimes.com/2005/04/01/Sports/Answers_elusive_for_o.shtml)

Answers elusive for open-wheel woes

As NASCAR zooms into the distance in popularity, a decade of divided loyalties plague open-wheel teams and fans.

By BRANT JAMES, Times Staff Writer
Published April 1, 2005

Roger Penske just doesn't understand. Mario Andretti is highly agitated. Tony George isn't sure he needs to worry about it anymore.

Nothing purses the lips in an Indy Racing League or Champ Car garage like the question that underpins both series' very existence:

How do you fix this open-wheel problem?

As the dilemma barely flickers on the periphery of racing fans' consciousness, NASCAR has roared into a dominant position, the Daytona 500 holding the place of prominence once reserved for the Indianapolis 500.

That's all part of the problem - or opportunity, depending on your point of view - created when George, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO and president, broke away from Championship Auto Racing Teams in 1996, creating a league that would control the cars in the race his family stewards. With CART reconstituted through bankruptcy in Decemeber 2003, as Champ Car, the IRL might be in its strongest position to advance its cause as it goes road and street racing for the first time.

But what is that worth? The IRL, too, has problems, with spotty attendance and dwindling car counts at the Indy 500.

Two series, many say, confuse fans and weaken everyone.

"It needs to filter down to one, I think," said 2003 IRL champion Scott Dixon. "Now, they're just shooting each other and no one is getting anywhere in terms of popularity. I'd like to see it be one and full budgets and good full fields, but who knows what will happen?"

So how do these very rich men with very fast cars and grandstands to fill fix this thing?

"First we've got to get everyone under one tent," said Chip Ganassi, who owns teams that have won four CART titles and one in the IRL with Scott Dixon in 2003. "Everybody has their idea of what racing should be. And at the end of the day the fans make the real vote what racing should be. The fans and the sponsors have the votes. It's a dangerous thing for someone to make racing what they think it ought to be."

It will not be as simple as 22 IndyCars and 16 Champ Cars showing up at the same place on the same weekend. The IRL's North American slate - excluding a race in Japan - and Champ Car's far-flung schedule with races in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Australia, gives each a unique niche and individual importance to sponsors. Mexican owner-driver Adrian Fernandez lost his Mexican sponsors and eventually his full-time ride after switching from Champ Car to the IRL for last season. The leagues share just one common venue - Milwaukee - in their combined 31 races.

Some markets with races - like St. Petersburg, which hosts its first IRL race Sunday - would be highly scrutinized unless the combined leagues doubled their schedules to NASCAR proportions, which would be highly unlikely.

"I don't necessarily believe that we'd have guaranteed success by having one open-wheel championship or not," George said. "It appears we're more focused on domestic venues and they're more focused more on international venues, so it may not really matter."

Then there is the matter of matching equipment. The IRL has Honda, Toyota and Chevrolet (until the end of this year) as engine manufacturers, while Champ Car uses league-owned Ford Cosworth power plants.

But the biggest impediment could be ego and power. George and Champ Car counterparts Gerald Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven and Paul Gentilozzi - who purchased CART's assets in bankruptcy court and will launch a second season as Champ Car at Long Beach on April 10 - now enjoy autonomy.

So perhaps it's not fixable, especially considering that Penske tried and failed last year to bring the sides together. CART's first championship owner and an original board member, he has turned a penchant for resurrecting failing businesses into a $14-billion-per-year empire. His team has won a record 13 Indy 500s. He has friends and associates in both series. But he was soundly rebuffed when he made overtures toward heads of both series last year about reunification.

"I'm not sure there's anybody out there who has the power tie them together," Penske said. "I tried to talk with Gerry Forsythe and the people involved in (Champ Car) They have a vision, and they're willing to commit their own capital to go racing, and they've made it work."

In 1999, a group of then CART team owners including Barry Green - now head of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg promoter group - Derrick Walker and Bobby Rahal "got very, very close, but in the end there were issues on both sides and we couldn't get it done," Green said.

George isn't sure if he has the power, or if he'd be willing to wield it anyway.

"At different times over the last 10 years I think I've said both, that "yes' it needed to (be one series) and today I'd rather just not comment on it because everyone has an opinion, and I'm not sure mine matters any more than anyone else's," he said. "The reality is, they're in business, we're in business and we're competing not just against each other but against a lot of other sports-entertainment properties. It's tough out there whether there was one, two, or three."

By all appearances, however, he tried to put Champ Car out of business when he made a $13.5-million bid on all of CART's league-owned engines and the sanctioning rights to the Grand Prix of Long Beach - Champ Car's marquee event - in U.S. Bankruptcy court, citing in legal papers a desire to create a "unified, market-driven North American open-wheel series." Judge Frank Otte accepted a $3.2-million bid from Forsythe, Kalkhoven and Gentilozzi, saying the IRL bid could be devalued by litigation from cities whose races George intended to fold.

Penske said the dwindling number of engine manufacturers might eventually provide the impetus for reunion.

"To me, people are going to have to get together and maybe it'll be engines that ultimately drive them together," he said. "The cars are not that different. Cars are cheap, but they all have power plants. We all have trailers. We all have drivers. We all go stay in motels, so it's just a few things. But it's like trying to merge two companies and if the CEOs at the top are not interested in getting together, then it's pretty hard to merge them. That's where we are today, the top people see things with a different vision."

Racing legend Andretti, a former CART champion and board member, remains bitter about the split. Now, he said, could be the only opportunity to reunite before the equipment becomes too different between the leagues.

"The only answer right now for things to come around, for both sides to find an answer, is for both sides to maintain enough equity in themselves so they can maintain autonomy. Each side has something to offer," he said. "Each side separately does not have enough to be a force in this sport, to be anywhere where they used to be."

Andretti proposes treating the IRL (with its mostly ovals regimen) and Champ Car (mostly street and road courses) like conferences in the NFL. The series would have three to five common races - including Indianapolis - to determine a unified champion and still crown separate champions with points from their own events.

"If you combine the two series at Indianapolis you will have almost 40 bona fide cars competing for 33 places," he said. "Back to the glory days."