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Hoop-98
20th February 2008, 21:13
IndyCar resolution to come Friday
February 20, 2008

By Bruce Martin PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor

IndyCar officials have confirmed a press conference scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. in Indianapolis, where they will announce that the long American open-wheel racing war has come to an end.

Series officials had hoped to make the announcement Thursday. But Champ Car principle Kevin Kalkhoven will not be back from England, where he is tending to family business.

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Friday's announcement will end the 13-year feud that began when Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George announced the creation of a new racing series on March 20, 1994. At that time, most of the teams that competed in the Indianapolis 500 were in CART, a series that went bankrupt and would later be revived as Champ Car.

George's original intention was to have CART teams participate in what was then known as the Indy Racing League. But most of those teams refused, starting a lengthy and divisive battle for supremacy in North American open wheel racing.

But Champ Car has agreed to cease operations, which will allow its teams to accept George's offer of a free Dallara car and free Honda engines to make the transition to the new series.

As part of the agreement, IndyCar will purchase Champ Car's "intellectual properties," including the historical database.

For example, Sam Hornish Jr. is officially listed as the series' all-time wins leader with 19. But under the new agreement, the all-time lead would be returned to A.J. Foyt, who has 67 career victories.

In addition, IndyCar is expected to get Champ Car's race dates for the Long Beach Grand Prix along with street races in Edmonton, Alberta; Surfer's Paradise, Australia and Mexico City.

This would not be a merger of Champ Car and IndyCar because the IndyCar Series will be the only series in competition. And it is not technically an acquisition because IndyCar will not be acquiring the assets of Champ Car.

The proper term would be an "amalgamation," which means Champ Car closes up business and its teams join IndyCar.

In recent weeks while George was making his offer to bring the two sides together, Champ Car's principles, which include Kalkhoven, Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi and Dan Pettit, have considered one last effort to stage the 2008 season or to file bankruptcy.

Either way, the IndyCar Series will now have the opportunity to lead this form of racing into the future with the Indianapolis 500 as its cornerstone event.

But the agreement does not necessarily mean a large contingent of Champ Car teams will be joining IndyCar this year. Some teams may close up or enter a new form of racing, such as sports cars.

Champ Car teams Walker Racing and Newman-Haas-Lanigan are expected to join the IndyCar Series but some of IndyCar's current teams, such as Dreyer & Reinbold and Vision Racing, which ironically is owned by George, may have to reduce the number of cars it fields this season.

Dreyer & Reinbold campaigned two cars in IndyCar last season but may run just one car in 2008. Also, Vision Racing has 10 cars in its possession and will be the main source of cars that will be heading to Champ Car teams that decide to join IndyCar.

Larry Curry is the team manager at Vision Racing and will be in charge of preparing the cars that will be going to the new teams joining the IndyCar Series, as well as his own effort for his drivers.

"I think certainly we've anticipated this was in the works and I want to say that we are prepared," Curry said. "If and when we get the final word that we need to get some of that stuff distributed we'll be able to answer the bell. It hasn't been totally defined exactly yet how all of that transpires - if and when it becomes official to tell you the truth.

"You're going to expect more of your people and things of that nature, but to me the sooner it's official the better. You want to get done what you need to get done for that and then move on because you are 100 percent right. ... If they announce this thing tomorrow, it's not too soon for me."

Curry said his crew at Vision Racing will be working throughout the weekend to get all 10 of its cars prepared for use at next week's IndyCar Open test at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"It adds work to the plate for sure," Curry said. "Even though you have all these cars, they are in a cycle and you have to bring that to the forefront quicker than anticipated. What Vision was doing with all of these cars was the 2008 modifications with the anti-intrusion panels. We're installing those on all 10 of those cars. That's a process in itself that is new to us and has added more time to the physical build of the cars.

"We're going to run two cars full time. Tony George needs to officially announce his driver lineup with that but what we would do beyond that is yet to be determined."

If the IndyCar Series began racing tomorrow, there would only be 16 cars, and that's assuming Rahal Letterman competes this season along with Marty Roth running two cars.

It remains unclear which Champ Car teams will actually join IndyCar.

"I hope they all come," Curry said. "If you have eight cars plus the 16 you have and get to 24, that would be pretty big. Once we get it and get it done, it's who all is really going to come. Hopefully, they all do.

"I want to see open-wheel racing gets back to where qualifying actually means something. That would be pretty cool. It hasn't been that way in a long, long time."

Curry has been involved in the IndyCar Series since it was called the Indy Racing League in 1996, when he was the team manager at Team Menard and Tony Stewart was one of his drivers.

Prior to the 1996 season, when CART and the IRL went separate ways, a case could be made that IndyCar racing was the dominant form of racing in the United States over NASCAR in terms of general, broad-based interest.

That was before NASCAR pulled away from the field.

Now that IndyCar could be one unified group, Curry is hopefully the building process can begin.

"Once this announcement comes down, let's everyone focus on what needs to be done to make this series the best it could be," Curry said. "Let's make a single focus about where we need to take this thing for the future. That's the only way we are ultimately going to get to where we need to get.

"I want people in open-wheel racing to always believe they have the best guys in one series and not in another series."

As former CART and IndyCar driver Robby Gordon said at last week's Daytona 500 "Getting the cars together is the easy part; the hard part was getting the two sides to finally agree to become one."

Even with one unified IndyCar Series, it may be difficult to compete in the racing world with NASCAR's huge sponsorship, media and fan base advantages.

But at the very least, it will help restore stature to IndyCar's premier event, the Indianapolis 500.

"I just hope it happens," said Chip Ganassi, who owns teams in IndyCar, NASCAR and Rolex Grand American Sports Car Racing. "There can't be five people on the planet that don't want it to happen, so let's hope it happens.

"If they were to get back together, I think that's only when the work would begin. It's probably like the 1994 baseball strike. The work really begins once you get all of the problems behind you. It would be nice to get all of the issues in one place. Get all of the rulesmakers in one place. Get all of the promoters in one place. Get everybody at one table instead of two. It would certainly end a lot of confusion in the marketplace."

Updated on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 1:51 pm, EST

FormerFF
20th February 2008, 21:29
It's a bittersweet moment, but it's good to hear that the deal is almost here.

Breeze
20th February 2008, 21:36
Hallefrickinluja



I hope Paul Newman and Roger Penske kiss an make up.

F1boat
20th February 2008, 22:03
I hope that IRL now will aknowledge the achievements of both its own champions and the CC ones. As champions in different "versions" of the same sport. This will be wise.

Cartomante
20th February 2008, 22:09
"But at the very least, it will help restore stature to IndyCar's premier event, the Indianapolis 500."


That's all this has been about since day one. So much has been squandered on this one stinkin' race, it's disgusting.

SoCalPVguy
20th February 2008, 22:24
UPDATE #16 This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' that the merger is on. The merger announcement is scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. in Indianapolis.

Per AR1

Bittersweet, as I always liked CART but was frustrated that the Amigos mismanaged the successor, CCWS, in every way (and I emphasize "every").

As I've said before, I am not a TG fan here; but a businessman who knows "when to say when". Bite the bullet: take a few steps back, regroup (i.e suffer the crapwagons for a while), rebuild the popularity of the Indy 500, re-formualize the product (progessive cars & engines) in a year or two, attract new sponsors to a unified series, attract new venues (possibly some old CART locations), drop bad (possibly some old IRL locations) locations, attract some 'known' American drivers, increase TV exposure, increase marketing, and in about 10 years AOWR could (and I emphasize "could") be back on the road to success - the damage of the split has been so bad that it will take that long.

I'd be very sorry to see ANY long-time valued fans and forum posters leave "open wheel racing" due to a petty hatred of TG or any other entity or individual.

CART first, then CCWS, had every chance to sieze the moment and bury the IRL but could not do so for two reasons: 1) They made all the wrong moves and I do mean "all", and 2) They did NOT have the Indy 500. It was inevitable.

Please work your way through the five phases of grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance) and support the new effort - it cannot be any worse that what we've gone through the past 12 years.

With that, I hope we can all meet (well maybe not Sanguin) at the Yardhouse Friday afternoon prior to the LBGP.

Andrewmcm
20th February 2008, 23:23
I shall be inquiring as to whether I can get cable TV in my flat post-haste. Sky Sports here I come for Indycar racing action!

BobGarage
20th February 2008, 23:27
I shall be inquiring as to whether I can get cable TV in my flat post-haste. Sky Sports here I come for Indycar racing action!

honestly as a customer of both cable and sky... i would seriously recommned you get sky over cable.

Andrewmcm
20th February 2008, 23:40
Well I live in a Conservation area so a satellite dish is a no-no!

PTCrash3
21st February 2008, 01:39
Bite the bullet: take a few steps back, regroup (i.e suffer the crapwagons for a while), rebuild the popularity of the Indy 500, re-formualize the product (progessive cars & engines) in a year or two, attract new sponsors to a unified series, attract new venues (possibly some old CART locations), drop bad (possibly some old IRL locations) locations, attract some 'known' American drivers, increase TV exposure, increase marketing, and in about 10 years AOWR could (and I emphasize "could") be back on the road to success - the damage of the split has been so bad that it will take that long.

Good thoughts. Any series with Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti taking on the rest of the world will be interesting. They can build a rivalry between those two. Also Ryan Hunter-Reay adds to the mix. Too bad we couldn't get Allmendinger and Scott Speed in too, then you'd have some "Young Guns" to take on the NASCAR boys.

db

namarow
21st February 2008, 01:52
I really hope open wheel can milk this for all it is worth.

Though I will not pay to see those ****boxes in person, and I have nothing for the ovals B O R I N G. The worst is having to se those smug idiots like King George and ##### etc in the paddock.

Hard to believe Toronto is getting left out, but like I said before, I would be up north waterskiing if this came to town.

Perhaps if they get newcars down the road, standing starts and alot less ovals I may be interested down the road.

MotoGP, AMA Superbike, F1, GP2 and ALMS etc are all beckoning.

Ugly ##### around an oval? No thanks

Rogelio
21st February 2008, 01:59
Well...it will be both a sad day and a jubilant one. Since 2004, the Amigos have simply mis-managed the series. What was there plan? Who knows. I am sad that it is over, and in essence we lost. Then again, I am happy that it is over because the Amigos were never going get their head out of you know where. Even with all the wealth of the Amigos, they were unable to get the sponsorship needed. What else needs to be said, it was a lost opportunity.

I just hope that more of the Champ Car venues are brought back. In particular: Portland, Laguna Seca, Vegas, and even Fontana, of course that is my West Coast bias. The oval formula has not worked for the IRL. They must reconsider that option. And obviously, the street circuit has not been the answer. Hopefully, next year they put good thought into where the series should race. I am sure that the venues that lose this years race will not be happy, nor will the fans. We will end up losing fans.

Unfortuantely, a merger was necessary because the Amigos were never going to figure it out. The IRL has the Indy 500 and that is the race that matters.

Miatanut
21st February 2008, 06:13
I'd be very sorry to see ANY long-time valued fans and forum posters leave "open wheel racing" due to a petty hatred of TG or any other entity or individual.

Petty?

The Hulman/George clan has been, at the very least, a thorn in the side of this sport since before I started watching in '70. It got bad enough to finally drive most of the teams to unite in saying "ENOUGH". CART was born. Tony saw it as his destiny to bring down CART. In the process, he completely trashed my favorite sport.

At the same time, there is the Hulman/George ghoulish approach to driver safety. That's why we had drivers dying against the concrete walls at Indy years after there were published engineering drawings and papers about a solution to the problem. That's why we had cars with a back-killing transaxle poking out of the rear of the car. That's why we have cars with a design flaw that causes them to get airborne too easily, after other forms of racing dealt with this problem.

I don't consider my hatred "petty". If the teams ever have the balls to face Tony down and get at least 50% control of their destinys, and transform it back into a sport where Indy might be the most important race, but the entire series isn't dedicated to it, then I'll watch again.

In the mean time, as I won't be watching, that will leave me without much to post about, except the very enjoyable technical threads that appear from time to time, so it will probably impact my posting habits, and those of some others who have feelings similar to mine.

Tony made this mess. It's now his job to clean it up.

gofastandwynn
21st February 2008, 07:03
I really hope open wheel can milk this for all it is worth.

Though I will not pay to see those ****boxes in person, and I have nothing for the ovals B O R I N G. The worst is having to se those smug idiots like King George and ##### etc in the paddock.

Hard to believe Toronto is getting left out, but like I said before, I would be up north waterskiing if this came to town.

Perhaps if they get newcars down the road, standing starts and alot less ovals I may be interested down the road.

MotoGP, AMA Superbike, F1, GP2 and ALMS etc are all beckoning.

Ugly ##### around an oval? No thanks

Then leave. Stop crying about "how it isn't fair", accept your loss and either try the new series or move on.

mlittle
21st February 2008, 08:02
Then leave. Stop crying about "how it isn't fair", accept your loss and either try the new series or move on.

I agree with gofastandwynn.......at least give the new series a chance to prove itself first before giving up on it.

F1boat
21st February 2008, 08:59
If you don't like oval racing, watch European series. Indy Cars are... well... Indy Cars, cars racing on Indy. This is an oval, you know.

JPMfan
21st February 2008, 09:09
This is great news, finally one unified series.

'08 will be a transition year for sure, so I hope they'll bring the turbo's and Michigan and Toronto back into the mix for '09.

When this is realized and you're still complaining about TG and the ovals etc., you'll just be like those old japanese soldiers they found 30 years after ww2 on some remote pacific island still thinking that the war is still on.

Claus Hansen
21st February 2008, 09:21
Sounds good, just wonder if e merger is so simple ?

Arent we gonna see some court action from thoose who not gonna get included, promotors, tracks, Panoz, etc ???

Why are the not axing any IRL races, like Homestead, where the crowd is very small ? Just wonder ?

Cart750hp
21st February 2008, 09:58
Sounds good, just wonder if e merger is so simple ?

Arent we gonna see some court action from thoose who not gonna get included, promotors, tracks, Panoz, etc ???

Why are the not axing any IRL races, like Homestead, where the crowd is very small ? Just wonder ?

We will soon about to find out. Long Beach, Edmonton, Surfers and Mexico are huge add ons to IndyCar schedule and I won't be surprised if they slash next year or anytime in the future one or two of these ovals inder IRL schedule still. But we'll see how this one goes.

millencolin
21st February 2008, 10:30
Why are the not axing any IRL races, like Homestead, where the crowd is very small ? Just wonder ?

hopefully they will. its good though to have Milwaukee back. but hopefully some of the less attended tracks from the current IRL schedule will get the choppy chop chop so they can bring back successful events like Toronto, Mexico and Cleveland

Dr. Krogshöj
21st February 2008, 10:50
We will soon about to find out. Long Beach, Edmonton, Surfers and Mexico are huge add ons to IndyCar schedule and I won't be surprised if they slash next year or anytime in the future one or two of these ovals inder IRL schedule still. But we'll see how this one goes.

Ditched Champ Car markets also worth considering:

Toronto - 6,241,695 metro population, no NASCAR race
Houston - 5,406,390 metro population, no NASCAR race
Cleveland - 2,954,420 metro population, no NASCAR race
Portland - 2,549,836 metro population, no NASCAR race

One can only hope Road America will be added as well in 2009.

Laguna Seca is doubtful. What's the IRL attendance at Infineon?

Mont-Tremblant is a great circuit but very remote and the Québec market is NASCAR-bound.

namarow
22nd February 2008, 00:29
Then leave. Stop crying about "how it isn't fair", accept your loss and either try the new series or move on.

Easy for you to say, you get to keep your crapwagons, the idiot grandson who just throws miney at his problems, the group of backstabbers to openwheel and the lovely ovals.

I lose my favorite sport since I was a little kid. Sorry if i am just a tad angry here.

Jimmy Magnusson
22nd February 2008, 01:06
The CART I loved died years ago. Atleast the IRL now have some potential for success, but I can't say I'm that confident about it...

BenRoethig
22nd February 2008, 02:52
Ditched Champ Car markets also worth considering:

Toronto - 6,241,695 metro population, no NASCAR race
Houston - 5,406,390 metro population, no NASCAR race
Cleveland - 2,954,420 metro population, no NASCAR race
Portland - 2,549,836 metro population, no NASCAR race

One can only hope Road America will be added as well in 2009.

Laguna Seca is doubtful. What's the IRL attendance at Infineon?

Mont-Tremblant is a great circuit but very remote and the Québec market is NASCAR-bound.

Look, when all is said and done, the remaining legal entity will be the IRL. That means unless the venue doesn't live up to their agreement or there is a mutual agreement for a change, the races must go on as per the current IRL schedule. Any Champ Car that can be fit in will be. Some will have to wait until they work out the 2009 schedule. Hopefully Kansas, Richmond, and Iowa will be out and California, Michigan, and those four will be back in.

Dr. Krogshöj
22nd February 2008, 11:19
I have another question. What will ISC racetracks think of the amalgamation? Will they be happy that they can stage another profitable race every season or will they see the unified series as a threat to nascar?

Rudy Tamasz
22nd February 2008, 12:46
I have another question. What will ISC racetracks think of the amalgamation? Will they be happy that they can stage another profitable race every season or will they see the unified series as a threat to nascar?

Just wait for a couple of events to be thrown out of ISC tracks.

beachbum
22nd February 2008, 12:47
I have another question. What will ISC racetracks think of the amalgamation? Will they be happy that they can stage another profitable race every season or will they see the unified series as a threat to nascar?NASCAR considers almost ALL racing in the US other than their support series as threats.

Rex Monaco
22nd February 2008, 15:42
I have another question. What will ISC racetracks think of the amalgamation? Will they be happy that they can stage another profitable race every season or will they see the unified series as a threat to nascar?

Who cares? TG controls the second most popular NASCAR race if they want to start playing that game.

Rogelio
22nd February 2008, 16:30
Ditched Champ Car markets also worth considering:

Toronto - 6,241,695 metro population, no NASCAR race
Houston - 5,406,390 metro population, no NASCAR race
Cleveland - 2,954,420 metro population, no NASCAR race
Portland - 2,549,836 metro population, no NASCAR race

One can only hope Road America will be added as well in 2009.

Laguna Seca is doubtful. What's the IRL attendance at Infineon?

Mont-Tremblant is a great circuit but very remote and the Québec market is NASCAR-bound.

I agree. The more that the "merged" series avoids racing in NASCAR's backyard, the quicker the series can get back on its feet. Even a "merged" series can not compete (future ?) with the economic juggernaut that is NASCAR. We need to slowly regroup and choose the right races that will enable our series to prosper and of course, challenge NASCAR.

As we all know, in the early 90s CART was at the top of the game. TG has pretty much joined with NASCAR in running on many of its tracks, and what has it done for the IRL? The attendance at Infineon has been abysmal, that is one reason we need to go back to a track with tradition like Laguna.

Again, the more we stay out of the NASCAR market the better we will be. I am not suggesting that we run/hide from them, but for the time being we should strengthen market that they do not dominate.

nigelred5
22nd February 2008, 16:35
Of course I'm biased, but I can live without Kansas and Iowa. The Kansas track is as boring as they come no matter what is on track, and I really think Iowa had a lot to with someone who is part owner of the track that used to sit in the IRL TV booth. Homestead and the Miami market has never drawn for open wheel, yet both sides have continued to try to crack the Miami market.

Richmond is actually a pretty good race, and don't forget that Richmond is the HQ of The Captains sponsor. It is also the only Indycar race between upstate New Yawk and Florida on the East Coast.

I'm more worried about how they work out the date for Surfers being so late. Would Surfers consider going back to an early season date? It's the same ol story, but If they are going to continue to go to Surfers and Mexico City, they really need to be early season races rather than late going head to head with foootball. I'd shoot for a March to late September, every other weekend season for 09.


Considering what I see as races that are must haves from CC and tracks that realistically probably won't be dropped by the IRL, here's my first shot at a 20 race schedule for 09 with a couple variables:

1.Homestead oval
2.St Petersburg street
3.Surfers street
4.Motegi oval
5.Long Beach street
6.Kansas or Chicago oval
7.Indy ss oval
8.Milwaukee oval
9.Texas oval
10.Richmond oval
11.Cleveland street
13.Watkins Glen r/c
14.Mid Ohio r/c
15.Toronto /Detroit street
16.Road America /Edmonton r/c
17.Kentucky or Nashville oval
18.Chicago or Kansas oval
19.Portland or Mexico City r/c
20.California Speedway! ss/ oval

Make it 20 over a roughly 30 week timeframe from early march to the end of september

JasonD
22nd February 2008, 16:43
Like we didnt see this coming, Press Conference Postponed (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/open-wheel-unification-announcement-postponed/)

Well at least we know the IRL s taking on some of CC's "asssets" to bad one of them is making promises and not delivering. :rolleyes:

nigelred5
22nd February 2008, 17:09
Hopefully what they are down to right now is the nitty gritty. KK didn't come back from England until yesterday afternoon according to reports. That's one hell of an important meeting that probably went into the night with a case of jetlag. Hopefully kk's trying to preserve a bit more of CC without squandering the whole deal.

Ruben Barrios
22nd February 2008, 17:14
"Hopefully kk's trying to preserve a bit more of CC without squandering the whole deal."

Yeah, both KK and GF are trying to preserve a little more $$$ ...