Champ Cars & Indy Racing League Merger
 

Source: AutoWeek Feb 8th:

The off-again, on-again talks between the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series appear to be on again in an 11th-hour attempt to unify the two series for 2008.

IRL officials confirmed on Friday (Feb. 8) that league chairman Tony George and two of his top associates, along with Robert Clarke, the former head of Honda Performance Development, will fly to Motegi, Japan, this weekend to meet with Motegi track officials. Their pitch: Moving the April 19 Motegi race so that this year's Long Beach Grand Prix can be added to the IndyCar Series schedule.

Long Beach, which has been on Champ Car's schedule since 1984, is set to host its race April 20. The Long Beach promoter has a contract with the California city to stage the event and says the date is not changeable. Honda owns the Motegi track, which explains Clarke's presence on the trip with George.

The Motegi/Long Beach situation is just one of the key issues yet to be resolved, but George's willingness to fly 13 hours from Indianapolis to Japan indicates he is dedicated to finding a solution.

There are several things that must be accounted for before the two series can become one.

Champ Car has a handful of contracts with race promoters that need to be resolved. George said he's willing to add as many of those races to the IRL's 2008 schedule as possible. Date conflicts with existing IRL races are part of the obstacles, he said.

George and Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven insist an agreement is not yet in place, but it appears the settling of the schedules could go a long way toward assisting that.

George still says that the deadline has passed for Champ Car teams to get free cars and engines from the IRL, even if they can prove they have enough sponsorship to operate them. But that offer might reappear if a deal is reached.

The IndyCar Series' first open test is set for Feb. 27-28 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. IRL President Brian Barnhart said it would take "about a week" for a Champ Car team to prepare its car to participate in the session. Those cars would come from teams already in the IRL.


AutoWeek | Updated: 02/08/08, 12:40 pm et

Article URL: Champ Car, Indy Racing League working on truce - AutoWeek Magazine

This is a good thing. I hope they succeed.

If they don't get together I don't see how they can survive much longer. The just don't draw the crowds with the split and the cost of racing is going up as fast as the economy is going down.

Ron :JEKYLHYDE

USA Today Feb 12:

Race is against time in open-wheel merger talks
By A.J. Perez, USA TODAY

As talks continue to end the split in American open-wheel racing between the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series, at least one team might not wait for an accord.

Longtime Champ Car owner Derrick Walker said he's considering taking his two-car operation to the IndyCar Series, a move that would leave Champ Car with as few as 15 confirmed cars if an agreement isn't reached in the coming days to end the 12-year rift between the two Indy-style racing series.

"We're just a small company who is trying to sell our wares, which for us is getting sponsors and going racing," said Walker, who is in discussion to keep his drivers (Will Power and Simon Pagenaud) and main sponsor (Aussie Vineyards) on board if he makes the transition. "That's our business. So we had to look at the IRL and look at the Indy 500, which we thought had a comeback year in 2007."

Walker, however, said he hopes he doesn't have to pick sides, something race fans, drivers and teams have done since the IRL made its debut in 1996. Many within open-wheel racing were cautiously optimistic Sunday that a deal could be worked out before the 2008 season that would merge both organizations under the IRL umbrella.

"Certainly, this is the closest the two organizations have been to finding a way to unify the sport," IRL spokesman Fred Nation said. "Unfortunately, time is short."


IRL founder Tony George and other series officials met with Honda executives in Japan on Monday in hopes of clearing the first major hurdle toward reunification: moving the date of the race at Twin Ring Motegi, the Japanese track owned by Honda.

Champ Car's season-opening Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 20, the USA's biggest open-wheel event outside the Indianapolis 500, takes place the same weekend as Motegi. The LBGP receives clearance from the city to run on its streets a year in advance, making a date change impractical.

"I sure wouldn't want to be the person or entity that stands in the way (of a merger)," said Bobby Rahal, an IRL team owner and Indy 500 winner. "If all that's in the way is moving Motegi to the fall, I sure hope (Honda officials) can see how a merger would benefit everybody."

Moving Motegi's date is just the first step. Merging the rest of the schedule and getting Champ Car teams the IRL's engine and chassis package would need to be worked out quickly since the IRL opens its season March 29.

"When I see it, I'll believe it," Rahal said. "We've been down this road so many times."

Don,

I just don't see either series surviving much longer. They don't draw many people to the races, the leadership just seems to want to fight, and drivers are going to NASCAR as fast as they can. But NASCAR isn't going to save them if they don't get their own mess straightened up and start gaining back fans. I saw a report on last season and NASCAR lost a huge amount of fan appeal and many sponsors are looking for other things to put their money into. Now we have Sprint Cup and I can't even remember the name of the old Bush Series. And in another year or so of their stupid rules and lack of racing, Sprint will most likely leave. The LeMans series and other types are gaining more and more now.

Ron

Ron,
It is the Nationwide Series.

The Sprint Cup is because Sprint bought Nextel, and are slowly phasing out the Nextel name. First it was Sprint and Nextel toegether, but the 2 really were 2 complete different services. Then Nextel was an option that you could get from Sprint, Do you want Sprint or Nextel service? Really still seperate. Then it was Nextel by Sprint. Nothing more than a service you could get depending on your phone capabilities. Kinda like the power vision vs regular vision. Now, I don't even see Nextel advertised any more, but it is still offered. This is just the next step in phasing out the name completely. I think that Nextel sponsored the series as a last ditch effort to keep in business, but it was already too late.

:JEKYLHYDE

Joe,

How long before Nationwide sells out to another company? I just received my tax forms from the broker yesterday and learned that I had some deductible foreign tax and I didn't even know I had any stock in a foreign company, I don't really. It seems that Lucent Technologies was bought by a French company and I got some stock from that. Darn, I can't keep up with what companies own which ones any more. :confused:

Ron **)

It was just plain stupidity that the IRL / Champ Car series split up in the first place. Open wheel racing has never been all that popular in the US (except for the Indy 500) then they fragment their product into two competing race series. The only thing that surprises me is that they have lasted this long.

As far as the sponsorship of NASCAR goes, I think that we will continue to see sponsors pull out as NASCAR becomes more of a show and less of a competition. Beyond the locked in 35 cars, how can the rest of the teams ask sponsors for millions of dollars when they don't have much of a chance of even starting the race.

By the way, isn't Rousch Racing cutting back one team next year?

Wayne

Wayne,

Yes, that was another NASCAR rule. No team may have over 4 cars. I wouldn't be surprised to see him cut back to three. Ray Everham has sold most of his team and said he is not going to be very active as he has just gotten burned out by the continual crap. Give NASCAR three more years of their no racing and all show crap and they will be hunting for a way to survive.
Throw out that dam top 35 rule, let the teams get cars from any dealer and make them safe and then do whatever work they want to make them better like they used to so the team that makes their car the best wins. Do away with the dam yellow phantom caution flags so they can get in their TV commercials and race. Next step will be NASCAR will script who is to win which race. I don't even like it any more and didn't watch any of the stuff so far except the 24 hour Sebring race.

Ron :(

Wayne: Rousch Racing from 5 Teams to 4 Teams, no choice, to conform to the NASCAR mandate that the maximum number of Teams with one owner is 4. Believe their reasoning was to potentially reduce the influence on competition of the high dollar Teams. Realistically, could also be that NASCAR did not want any one dominant Team in a position to challenge the race series rules.

IRL/Champ Car merger: The Indy 500 would also regain some of the past prestige, within the last few years, only 33 cars were available, some at the last moment, for the race. Qualifying was not a concern, missing was the suspense of being on the bubble

NASCAR: With all the cons and dislikes, still remains the dominant race series in the US. Why would Speed have programmed ,with sponsors, 100 hours of coverage for the Daytona Speed Week events ?

Business conditions, marketing reasons and financial concerns change for the race series business sponsors , Craftsman is dropping the sponsorship for the Truck series next year. Anyone's guess whether there will ever again be a sponsor that remained as long as Winston. As much as I enjoy ALMS, the series has a long way to go to have 100,000 + or - fans attend the races and on-going TV coverage by any of the 4 major networks. This year the Rolex 24 had 6+ hours of caution laps, 25% of the race

Included with the specs of the COT is an attempt to level the playing field, time will tell. Joe Nemechek qualified 3rd for the 500 as a single car Team based in OK or NE using a Hendrick engine, sponsored by Furniture Row. Mentioned was their Team had a permanent staff of 4. Robby Gordon is another single car Team, uses Everham engines. After the practice wrecks, Teams were using for this past weekend Saturday night race, their medium/short track cars at Daytona, which would not have been possible with the race cars prior to COT. Johnson's # 48 started at the back and finished 3rd, with a non-super speedway car. Maybe there is some logic that the COT approach will either reduce or stabilize the cost to build a car. But, Teams are also utilizing experts which adds to cost. Michael Waltrip has a PhD aeronautical engineer on his staff to determine the settings of the front splitter and rear wing.

Baseball had it's down times, but recovered, even in Boston which has one of the highest ticket prices of any baseball Team. With Dale JR's win Saturday night, the NASCAR's PR and Marketing Dept's must have been elated.

Will be interesting to revisit the topic in November. Kyle Petty struggled to make it to the top 35, but supports NASCAR's direction to reward those making a commitment to run the entire race series.

AutoWeek.com 2/19 Update:

Reports of a deal between the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series have reached their highest peak ever.

Champ Car teams were told to stop working on their Panoz chassis and prepare for delivery of the Dallaras they will use in the IndyCar Series in 2008 within days.

The first Indy-car test of the new season is scheduled for Feb. 27-28 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida, where Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss Tony George is expected to hold a news conference if he hasn't already done so by then.

So many questions now abound, from the number of Champ Car castoffs that will make the switch to the IRL to the number of Champ Car races George will add to his series. But there's a lot of work to be done if the deal comes to fruition.

"There is so much to do I haven't been able to sleep," said Brian Barnhart, the IRL president in charge of competition.

The IRL's existing guard has 16 car-and-driver combinations set, with a couple more possible. Champ Car figures to bring as many as eight, including two from Newman-Haas-Lanigan, two from PKV Racing, two from Forsythe Racing and one each from Walker Racing and Conquest Racing. Dale Coyne is likely to field at least one car; it is unclear what the rest will do. Regardless, it should be the largest IRL field since the league's earliest days.


AutoWeek | Updated: 02/19/08, 9:01 am et

Article URL: Dare to dream: Champ Car/IRL deal appears close to done - AutoWeek Magazine

A benevolent dictatorship was what open wheel racing needed...I just am not sure Tony George is the right dictator!
NASCAR seems headed the way of WWE, 'Sports Entertainment'. The artificial 'debris flags' always annoyed me, but the engineered finishes have just made me lose interest. I really hate dash to the cash crap at the end of the season. If you want to play rules, make winning more weighted tham finishing, circular file the restrictor plates and move the engines into something relevant to today (fuel injection, multiple cams, etc) and let the track wizards have at it. I for one would love to see 3-4 hours of actaul racing on the superspeedways....
It's really too bad, because NASCAR was once a great racing series...Petty in his prime, Pearson, Parsons, Elliott; good memories.

IndyCar resolution to come Friday
 

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.
IndyCar resolution to come Friday - IRL - Yahoo! Sports
wow, I can't believe it really is going to happen. There will be one happy family and Robin Miller won't have much to complain anymore;)

With the anticipated merger, there will be a sufficient number of cars to fill the field. NASCAR uses 43, maximum cars for the IRL is ?

Indy 500 should return to the drama of the past, Bubble Day, to fill the 33 slots. Believe it was the last few years where Teams entered their back up cars in order to have 33 cars for the race.

Overall, a good move for US racing, maybe those in control of F1 now wish they had stayed in the US.

Source: AutoWeek.com


Indy Racing League boss Tony George signed an agreement to combine the IRL and Champ Car.
By CURT CAVIN

Open-wheel racing completed a wild week on Friday by ending up as one series.

Indy Racing League founder Tony George and Champ Car World Series co-owners Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven completed a merger by putting their names on a contract that gives control of the sport to George's IRL IndyCar Series.

Few additional details were given. A press conference is expected next week, perhaps at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the IRL will stage its first test of the season on Wednesday and Thursday.

George and Kalkhoven signed their portion of the deal Thursday night over dinner in Indianapolis. There was some confusion when a planned Friday news conference was canceled and Kalkhoven left the city, but George delivered the move of the week by flying to Chicago to discuss the particulars with Forsythe.

George returned to Indy with Forsythe's signature and a unified sport for the first time since he started the IRL in 1996.

George said he did not want to hold a news conference until he has details related to several key issues. He did not elaborate, but it's likely one of them involves the particulars of a doubleheader weekend April 19-20 in Long Beach, California, and Motegi, Japan.

The IRL is expected to see its 16-race schedule expand to 19 races this season with the addition of the Long Beach race plus Champ Car's events in Edmonton and Australia.

It remains unclear how many Champ Car teams will participate in the IRL, but it's safe to assume that at least eight will, led by the Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing team that won the past four series championships with Sebastien Bourdais at the wheel.

In a statement, IRL team owner Bobby Rahal said: "This is a great day for open-wheel racing and one that I and my Rahal Letterman Racing team have looked forward to for a long time. I applaud all of those that made this possible, but want to especially recognize all of those that made sacrifices and concessions to secure the future of open-wheel racing. I truly believe that this is the first step toward restoring open-wheel racing and the Indianapolis 500 to not only where it once was, but beyond."

Champ Car team owner Derrick Walker said: “It’s back to the future. It’s been a long road, but it has finally come together. From a fan and sports business point of view, one open wheel racing series in the United States has long been recognized as what fans and sponsors want to have both series together and I’m happy to say that Walker Racing embraces the decision.”
Other reactions
Tim Mayer, COO of International Motor Sports Association and the American Le Mans Series: "For 2008 we have six of our 12 races slated to be shared with the two open wheel racing series, three with Champ Car and three with the IRL. Many details have yet to be worked out, so it is simply too soon to know all of these answers, and we do not think it is productive to speculate. However, we believe that it will affect our participation in the events very little.

John Wildhack, ESPN executive vice president: "This is a good day for fans who have long awaited a unification of the two series and we hope it is the beginning of a bright future for open wheel racing."

Erik Berkman, president of Honda Performance Development: “We are elated that the sanctioning bodies have elected to combine into a single, cohesive and powerful IndyCar Series.”


AutoWeek | Updated: 02/22/08, 8:11 pm et

Article URL: Champ Car, IRL reach deal - AutoWeek Magazine

Champ car
 

The reality is that the series have to get together to survive. Unfortunately. One problem is that the people who will be in charge - Tony George, Roger Penske, Honda execs., etc. - are the same ones that for reasons of ego and greed caused the split and the ongoing civil war in the first place.
Now we have to watch Dallaras go round and round. . . Even the old Lolas and Reynards with their turbocharged engines were more fun to watch (and faster) than the Dallaras with their Honda engines (and what happened to Toyota and Chevy).
Also, noted today that the Indianapolis Star today said that IRL's most recognizable driver is Dannicka Patrick. . . .
Champ Car used to attract retired FI drivers and would also feed young drivers to FI.
Due to egos and greed, we have lost a lot, including tracks, and in my case, we lost Nazareth, Loudon, Montreal and now Cleveland -- all tracks we have been going to regularly. We also traveled to Road America for Champ Car and Las Vegas and even had tickets for Phoenix (last fall).
Having followed Champ Car racing since the early 60s, I have seriously mixed emotions. Champ Car racing used to be on the level of FI -- drivers even got points for the 500. Jack Brabham, Jimmy Clark and Graham Hill would race. Now, the focus is on a fashion model driver, according to Indianapolis Star. . .
Maybe time will heal.
:)

I agree. It's a shame that Tony George won. If it wasn't for him controlling Indy, the IRL would not have lasted as long as the XFL football league.

Not the same as Dale JR's web site:

The Official Site of Danica Patrick

Source: MotorSports.com

John Andretti on open-wheel unification
Andretti Comments on Open Wheel Unification

Archdale, N.C. (February 22, 2008) -- Veteran racer John Andretti has competed in both CART and IRL events throughout his career. His career first started in the series formerly known as CART, now Champ Car, before moving to NASCAR. Andretti returned to open wheel last season to compete in the Indianapolis 500, an event sanctioned by the Indy Racing League. Andretti comments on the recent speculation of the unification of the two open wheel series.

John Andretti, former CART winner, NASCAR Sprint Cup winner and Indianapolis 500 winner:

What do you know or have heard about the unification of open wheel racing?

"I've talked to a few people that are somewhat in the know, or really in the know. I don't even know if it's been announced yet, but the idea and the feeling is that if it hasn't been, it's forthcoming. I think everything is really, really close. It will basically be IRL cars. It will be the IRL Series, but it will include some of the venues of Champ car, so some of the teams will obviously switch over. I assume some will dissolve. I think the process is short, though, because they have a Homestead test coming up and they've got racing to get started. There are cars available. I think there's been so much to take into account, but it's no longer November, December or January. We're right on the heel s of the first race."

Will this be a good step for open wheel racing?

"Right now, it's no different than if NASCAR had a competing series at the highest level. You sit there and talk about if there should be an east and a west series, and set it up like the conferences. Racing is different than football. You want to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte, all of them go head to head every week. You don't want to see them once a year or at the end of the season. That's the difference. We can do that because we have forty-three competitors, forty-three teams every weekend. Then we even have a race to get into that forty-three, so from that standpoint, that's probably the best comparison. That's what will happen -- you'll be bringing people in that fans recognize from both series as great drivers and solid organization team-wise. Yeah, I think it will make everything stronger."

What are your feelings if it happens?

"I thought that years ago when CART was being sold off that the judge made the best decision he could, but I think if you take all of the circumstances into account, this could have been resolved then. Tony (George) could have played hardball in my opinion and he didn't. He's always played fair. This could have happened a long time ago, but it's better to happen now than to keep whittling on. As time passed, that was everyone's excuse. I think the IRL has great racing. It's exciting. Some of those oval races like Texas are just unbelievable. I think the series is now going to have a lot of road racing again, some street racing; it's going to have a lot of diversity. It's going to look like back when Mario, Michael and myself raced and have that same sort of feel which I think is very positive."

-credit: Breaking Limits

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Saviors. . .
 

Tonight, on Windtunnel (9p.m.), it will be interesting to see who (all?) will claim to have saved open wheel racing. Most likely the people who killed it in the first place. They should run for office. . . .:cool: