Reuniting IRL, Champ Car is an uphill climb blah blah blah

[SurfaceUnits]

02:54 AM CDT on Sunday, June 4, 2006
By TERRY BLOUNT / The Dallas Morning News

In a perfect world, more than 30 cars would line up on the starting grid next weekend for the Bombardier Learjet 500.

Fans at Texas Motor Speedway would see Paul Newman sitting on the pit box, glaring over at old rival Roger Penske as they got ready to watch their drivers compete.

Sebastien Bourdais, possibly the best open-wheel racer in America, would go wheel-to-wheel with the last two Indy 500 winners – Sam Hornish Jr. and Dan Wheldon.

Danica Patrick would try to show a thing or two to Katherine Legge.

Indy-car racing would be one big happy family again for the first time in more than a decade.

Unfortunately, American open-wheel racing is not a perfect world. Far from it.

The IRL and Champ Car went their separate ways 11 years ago. But for the first time, there's realistic hope that the bitter split will come to an end soon.

Dario Franchitti, who competes in the IRL, is one of several drivers who have raced in both leagues. He is cautiously optimistic of seeing the merger come to fruition.

"I would love for it to happen," Franchitti said. "I don't think having two different series is helping anybody at this point. We want to race against all the best drivers in open-wheel racing. And we want to go to all the best venues.

"It just makes so much sense for everybody concerned – drivers, teams and sponsors. If it were up to us, it already would have happened. I just hope the guys trying to do this can get it together. I'm keeping my fingers crossed."

The two men trying to work this out are IRL founder Tony George and Champ Car boss Kevin Kalkhoven. They continue to discuss the ramifications of a possible merger.

Kalkhoven attended the Indianapolis 500 last week as George's guest. It was his first trip to the Brickyard since 1966 when Graham Hill won the event.

George won't say how the talks are going. Kalkhoven spoke about it before the Houston Champ Car race last month but didn't give many details.

"The best thing people can do is leave us alone and let us work on it," he said.

Penske disagrees with that.

"I don't think this little dating game between Tony and Kevin is going to work," he said. "What we need to do is get all the [team] owners in a room, see if we can hammer out a schedule and go from there." is woger being weft out?

Some people would say that's what caused the breakup. Team owners had too much say in how CART, as Champ Car was known then, was run.

How the two leagues got to where they are today is ancient history. All that matters is how they can become one again.

"This thing needs to be unified," said Al Unser Jr., the two-time Indy 500 winner who also has raced in both leagues. "We all have to go in the same direction. The split has definitely hurt open-wheel racing. It needs to be rectified, and it needs to happen soon."

Even if George and Kalkhoven agreed to do it, which they haven't yet, getting it done is a major undertaking.

The cars look the same to the casual fan, but they are completely different. The chassis and engines are different styles with different manufacturers.

The leagues need to agree on a common formula, which also requires getting the manufacturers to agree.

Honda president Robert Clarke has said repeatedly that he's a big proponent of unification. Honda supplies engines for the IRL, but Honda used to build engines in Champ Car.

Kalkhoven recently purchased Cosworth, the division of Ford that builds racing engines. Cosworth supplies the Champ Car motors.

Both engine manufacturers could compete in a combined league if they can agree on an engine formula. The IRL uses normally aspirated motors; Champ Car uses turbocharged engines.

Another problem is the schedule. The IRL and Champ Car have only one common venue – the 1-mile oval in Milwaukee. The principals must agree on a combined schedule that keeps the best locations of both series.

Some tracks would get left out. That presents another problem if those tracks have multiyear agreements with either league.

The leagues use different TV networks, but the IRL has the better deal with ABC/ESPN.

Clearly, there's a lot to overcome.

"I don't know that it will ever happen," TMS president Eddie Gossage said. "But I wish it would. I love Indy-car racing. I'm very passionate about it. I feel we've done things here that have been incredibly good for the IRL. I just want Indy-car racing to succeed."

The problem on agreeing to a merger is deeper than deciding on equipment and scheduling. After all these years, bitter feelings remain on both sides.

Newman hasn't attended an Indy 500 since the split, even though his team competed in the event twice.

Some fans love one league and hate the other. IRL fans love the side-by-side racing of banked oval tracks. Some Champ Car fans see that as overly dangerous.

Even Bourdais, who won on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval last year, doesn't care for oval racing or the Indy 500.

"I did it once, and that was enough," Bourdais, who finished 12th at Indy in 2005, said in Houston last month. "Those [IRL] cars are dangerous."

Kalkhoven also prefers street races, which Champ Car sells as a three-day festival that culminates with the race.

Both leagues are suffering from a lack of sponsorship and low TV ratings in comparison with NASCAR. Only 19 cars are expected to race at TMS. Only 17 cars raced in the last Champ Car event.

No one thinks a merger would change things overnight, but it could begin to change public perception of two rival leagues heading in opposite directions.

"To me, it's the only chance open-wheel racing has of getting the attention it deserves," Michael Andretti said last week at Indianapolis. "So much has been lost. We have to put this back together."

E-mail tblount@dallasnews.com

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/060406dnspoirllede.8017695.html

[Spicoli]

"To me, it's the only chance open-wheel racing has of getting the attention it deserves," Michael Andretti said last week at Indianapolis. "So much has been lost. We have to put this back together."

Well, look in the mirror you money grubbing ****tard. :flame: Jeeezus, is there a bigger prick in racing? :shakehead

[nrc]

02:54 AM CDT on Sunday, June 4, 2006
By TERRY BLOUNT / The Dallas Morning News

Thanks for including the link, but we prefer to have quotes from the story rather than the whole article.

[KLang]

The comments by Franchitti and Andretti make me sick. You fools are part of the reason we are where we are today! :flame:

[nrc]

"I don't think this little dating game between Tony and Kevin is going to work," he said. "What we need to do is get all the [team] owners in a room, see if we can hammer out a schedule and go from there."

Penske hits this talking point every chance he gets. To me it means one of two things, either he's got some vested interest in an event that he thinks may be left out, or he's drumming up support for another owner revolt because he's been shut out by both sides.

[Spicoli]

Penske hits this talking point every chance he gets. To me it means one of two things, either he's got some vested interest in an event that he thinks may be left out, or he's drumming up support for another owner revolt because he's been shut out by both sides.

penske is the biggest prick on pit row. remember how he abandonded cart? wortless jacktardl. do not trust that man.

but to the point - he's getting shut out. :D

[Insomniac]

Not surprised Penske thinks he should be involved. There is no way adding more voices to it can help the situation. KK and TG just need to come together and tell them how it's going to be. Then stay or leave. Nothing seems unsurmountable to me.

TV
IRL has a contract, CCWS does not (time buying still).
Solution: IRL's ABC/ESPN contract.

Tracks/Schedule
Obviously keep the best events and ditch losers. If they still have multi-year agreements, either buy your way out, or suck it up and race there. If there is a problem scheduling, hopefully they can have 36+ cars at that point and you could just split them up and race both venues. This would be worst case, but it's still manageable and would be a minimal number of races until a buyout can happen or the contract ends.

Tires
Same parent company, doubt there's a problem here, they'll pick a brand or use both if they're inclined.

Engine
KK owns Cosworth so there is a lot of flexibility there. I think the wild card is Honda. How much power do they have in this. Can they force the issue towards NA or Turbo? They can bring a lot of money to the table.

Chassis
ChampCar has the oldest chassis with the Lola, but have a new one for 2007. IRL's chassis is getting quite old as well. Is it reasonable and affordable to go to a new chassis in 2007 for a combined series? I don't know.

For the Engine and Chassis, is there some way to get them close to equivalent (the new 2007 and current IRL) with the expectation that they will all be running the new Panoz by 2008?

It can be worked out and Roger can be left out. Quit asking him his opinion, it's useless.

[pchall]

Penske hits this talking point every chance he gets. To me it means one of two things, either he's got some vested interest in an event that he thinks may be left out, or he's drumming up support for another owner revolt because he's been shut out by both sides.

His vested interest would be every ISC owned track on the schedule. Look for Penske to move his cars to the new NASCAR openwheel division next year. :gomer:

[Al Czervik]

02:54 AM CDT on Sunday, June 4, 2006
By TERRY BLOUNT / The Dallas Morning News

In a perfect world, more than 30 cars would line up on the starting grid next weekend for the Bombardier Learjet 500.

E-mail tblount@dallasnews.com

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/060406dnspoirllede.8017695.html

In a perfect world, open wheel cars would not be anywhere near that place!

[Insomniac]

His vested interest would be every ISC owned track on the schedule. Look for Penske to move his cars to the new NASCAR openwheel division next year. :gomer:

I thought Penske sold all his shares to the France family which caused some of this mess as they then kicked CART out of ISC track after ISC track, replaced them with the IRL until attendance was so horrible the IRL left.

[pchall]

I thought Penske sold all his shares to the France family which caused some of this mess as they then kicked CART out of ISC track after ISC track, replaced them with the IRL until attendance was so horrible the IRL left.

Penske swapped his ovals with ISC for a nice block of stock. I haven't heard anything about Penske selling that ISC stock. And CART wasn't being booted from ISC tracks until after Penske went to the IRL.

[FanofMario]

Though I don't trust anybody quoted in that article, the tone of it from the EARL side seems desperate.

I also agree that it sounds like Pimpski is being left out. Boo-hoo--IMO he is the biggest traitor of the whole lot. Until FTG tastes some crow, NOTHING is going to be merged. And BTW, nothing has changed these past 11 years---it is totally on Anton's shoulders to get this deal fixed. For some reason I don't see happening soon. :shakehead

[Ankf00]

re: penske

too many chefs...

he can keep writhing :laugh: "squeal like a piggie!"

[Louie]

Penske disagrees with that.

"I don't think this little dating game between Tony and Kevin is going to work," he said. "What we need to do is get all the [team] owners in a room, see if we can hammer out a schedule and go from there."

The same formula that put CART where it is today. Shut up Roger.

[RacinM3]

The same formula that put CART where it is today. Shut up Roger.

It's also the same formula that made CART wildly successful by the mid-90's. Until Tony decided he knew what's best, and those same owners decided they were bigger than the sport.

[Lux Interior]

Well, look in the mirror you money grubbing ****tard. :flame: Jeeezus, is there a bigger prick in racing? :shakehead

Well put. I think champcar should cultivate their support series and bring in new teams from within. It's a new era for champcar, and I want to see home grown karting talent move up and compete. There's plenty of great kids right now that are in karting and formula bmw usa and other forms that can fill the field nicely in teams that will start at the bottom of the ladder system and worked their way up.

No way do we need penske or andretti or ganassi

[Spicoli]

The same formula that put CART where it is today. Shut up Roger.

Welcome louie. :)

:wave:

[Don Quixote]

The same formula that put CART where it is today. Shut up Roger.
Yep. Shut up Roger, indeed.

[L1P1]

Penske might not be far off the mark. I think all the team owners should get in a room - with TG - and hammer something out. With an emphasis on the hammer.

[Insomniac]

Yep. Shut up Roger, indeed.

Well, the good news is, with all his whining, you know both TG and KK aren't listening.

[SurfaceUnits]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - While talks with the Indy Racing League continue, Champ Car World Series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven doesn't expect the two leagues to merge in time for next season.

"It's like pressing two people to get married, it's not a wise thing to do," said Kalkhoven, the Australia-born venture capitalist whose PKV Racing includes drivers Oriol Servia and Katherine Legge.

Kalkhoven is still optimistic about plans to merge with Tony George's IRL, but the large task of combining two organizations with a contentious history takes time.

"Coming forward there are a number of issues," Kalkhoven said. "We both have a large number of partners to satisfy."

Racing legend Bobby Rahal, a car owner in the IRL whose son, Graham, drives in Champ Car's Atlantic series, believes a merger is necessary for the health of the sport.
"I think there's a lot of people who agree with me on that," he said. "But I think there are some people who are stuck on the details."

Merged with the IRL or not, Kalkhoven believes that Champ Car, which he purchased out of bankruptcy with fellow team owners Paul Gentilozzi and Gerald Forsythe in 2004, will continue to survive. He points to the developmental Atlantic series, which has provided Champ Car with popular and talented young drivers such as A.J. Allmendinger, Charles Zwolsman, Tonis Kasemets and Legge.

"The important thing (with a merger) is to get it right," Kalkhoven said. "If it came together and then broke up that would be a disaster."

[gjc2]

Here is my wild speculation.

There isn't going to be any merger, Kalkohven is playing TG like a fiddle. Kevin is wooing a few of the big IRL teams to switch to Champ Car in '07. As long as those now IRL teams believe they will still be able to run the I500 they will come over. The new spec Champ Car is a very attractive package for a team owner, they still have there IRL equipment for the 500, and as long as they're convinced they wont be boxed out of the I500 they will force the issue and come over to our side. This year TG financed one-third of the field for the 500 himself, do you think he will be willing to fund two-thirds next year? TG will "suspend" the rest of 2007 IRL season, since he would have to either be willing to field 12 cars at his other races or pay to fill those fields also.

What do you guys think?

George

[Spicoli]

Here is my wild speculation.

There isn't going to be any merger, Kalkohven is playing TG like a fiddle. Kevin is wooing a few of the big IRL teams to switch to Champ Car in '07. As long as those now IRL teams believe they will still be able to run the I500 they will come over. The new spec Champ Car is a very attractive package for a team owner, they still have there IRL equipment for the 500, and as long as they're convinced they wont be boxed out of the I500 they will force the issue and come over to our side. This year TG financed one-third of the field for the 500 himself, do you think he will be willing to fund two-thirds next year? TG will "suspend" the rest of 2007 IRL season, since he would have to either be willing to field 12 cars at his other races or pay to fill those fields also.

What do you guys think?

George


I think RobertE ClarkE is in Portland because his last proposal in Houston (crapwagon spec, NA Honda) went over like a lead balloon. I think he's scurrying to salvage any sort of merger THAT INCLUDES HIM AND HIS STUFF, OR HE'S sol AND GOTSTA SPLAIN HOW HE AIN;T GOT NO PLACE TO RACE IN THE 07. :D

I also think that TG is not as much of a problem as Penske, ISC, and Honda.

[dando]

I also think that TG is not as much of a problem as Penske, ISC, and Honda.

First thing ya gots right in this whole scenario. :gomer: :p

I'm still waiting to cash that check, BTW. ;)

-Kevin

[Insomniac]

Here is my wild speculation.

There isn't going to be any merger, Kalkohven is playing TG like a fiddle. Kevin is wooing a few of the big IRL teams to switch to Champ Car in '07. As long as those now IRL teams believe they will still be able to run the I500 they will come over. The new spec Champ Car is a very attractive package for a team owner, they still have there IRL equipment for the 500, and as long as they're convinced they wont be boxed out of the I500 they will force the issue and come over to our side. This year TG financed one-third of the field for the 500 himself, do you think he will be willing to fund two-thirds next year? TG will "suspend" the rest of 2007 IRL season, since he would have to either be willing to field 12 cars at his other races or pay to fill those fields also.

What do you guys think?

George

If KK truly wants a merger, he'd never try/do this. No one can force TG to merge. He has the resources to keep this split going to the very end.

[cheesewhiz]

If KK truly wants a merger, he'd never try/do this. No one can force TG to merge. He has the resources to keep this split going to the very end.

Could it ever get that bad? (i.e. The very end) :confused:

[oddlycalm]

Could it ever get that bad? (i.e. The very end) :confused: Don't look now, but TG fielded better than a third of the grid for his race and after Honda quits supporting the big teams it could be two thirds of the field. Meanwhile, you can just about count the number of sponsor logos on Champ Cars on one hand.

Bottom line is that a moderate economic downturn, say one year, would finish both series regardless of the owners funding. These guys need to figure this out before outside forces figure it out for them.

oc

[Insomniac]

Could it ever get that bad? (i.e. The very end) :confused:

I'm not sure. If CCWS never gets profitable, it would depend on how long KK, et. al. want to keep taking a loss. TG has the BY400 and F1 at IMS. He could probably have something going for a long, long time between the money they pull in for those 2 events and the name Indy has. Even a merger doesn't guarantee all will work out, but it would certainly be a better business proposition.

[trauma1]

he doesn't amke as much on the F1 race as the TF and ims failthful claim, he pays BE $15 mil. a year for the race and BE gets much of the ticket $$$ TG makes very little on the F1 race, the BY 400 is what keeps IMS and earl running and that's per fred nation

[Andrew Longman]

George

Your scenario is one that I have long thought was in play. Whether or not KK wants it to play out that way is another matter. Some key teams moving over and cherry picking Indy would also be a way for certain owners to regain some of the leverage and power they recently lost.

I think the last two years have convinced TG that the 500 can still be a big deal even if he is paying to fill the field, the entry list is short, and the talent a bit thin. So long as he can create a storyline each May, the fans will show up.

And he can afford to keep doing so.

What is of some interest is how much he cares about the IRL in general. If he is paying to fill fields for the entire season and meet contractual obligations with ABC and the tracks, will he think that makes sense if he believes he will be paying to fill the 500 field anyway? Supposedly he started the IRL to have a secure supply of cars for the 500. Well, if it is not doing that and he can otherwise fill the 500, why would he continue with the IRL?

[Insomniac]

he doesn't amke as much on the F1 race as the TF and ims failthful claim, he pays BE $15 mil. a year for the race and BE gets much of the ticket $$$ TG makes very little on the F1 race, the BY 400 is what keeps IMS and earl running and that's per fred nation

I'd be very surprised if he was losing money on F1. Did he build the infield road course and additional garages for F1?

[Insomniac]

George

Your scenario is one that I have long thought was in play. Whether or not KK wants it to play out that way is another matter. Some key teams moving over and cherry picking Indy would also be a way for certain owners to regain some of the leverage and power they recently lost.

I think the last two years have convinced TG that the 500 can still be a big deal even if he is paying to fill the field, the entry list is short, and the talent a bit thin. So long as he can create a storyline each May, the fans will show up.

And he can afford to keep doing so.

What is of some interest is how much he cares about the IRL in general. If he is paying to fill fields for the entire season and meet contractual obligations with ABC and the tracks, will he think that makes sense if he believes he will be paying to fill the 500 field anyway? Supposedly he started the IRL to have a secure supply of cars for the 500. Well, if it is not doing that and he can otherwise fill the 500, why would he continue with the IRL?

It may be more economical too. The key being they already own IRL equipment.

[Louie]

I don't see a lot of CC teams opting to run the 500 unless there are common rules. Or someone (TG?) pays for the IRL spec, one race, equipment.

Seperate series with common equipment would be great by me. Most teams would choose to run CC, with it's easier on cars and bodies schedule, and Indy. IRL dies and wallah! One series. But stupid as TG seems, he probably knows this would kill his league.

I just want one series. If one needs to die that's fine by me. No real dog in this fight.

[SurfaceUnits]

Paul Gentilozzi, one of Champ Car's three principal owners, does not sound hopeful that Champ Car and the rival Indy Racing League will merge before next season.

Asked how negotiations stand between Champ Car's Kevin Kalkhoven and the IRL's Tony George, Gentilozzi said, "I don't think it stands anywhere right now. There are a lot of points to agree on. Tony and Kevin are trying, but it's a tough deal."

Kalkhoven said Saturday there was nothing new to report. If there is no merger, it may help Portland's chances of staying on the schedule.

Gentilozzi once took a lead role in talks with the IRL, but no longer. "We didn't need too many talking heads. We've got enough of those," said Gentilozzi, who owns the Rocketsports team.

"There was a time when I was talking to Tony but we're reloading, and Kevin's gone after it. He's probably less emotional than the rest of us, and he's got a lot of experience with mergers."

Steve Johnson, Champ Car's new president, seemed equally pessimistic about unification coming in time for 2007. "I don't anticipate it happening," said Johnson. "There's just a lot of issues that have to be worked out."

However, said Johnson, "I do think that the two series will merge. It has to happen."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newman-Haas rules the roost, but Newman-Haas General Manager Brian Lisles Lisles prefers more competition. “It’s up to the other guys to beat us down, and for us to not make mistakes,” he says. “We would prefer to be a big fish in a big pond.” He even intimates that Newman-Haas might look to the Indy Racing League, but “it’s extremely likely” the team will have an entry in Champ Car in 2007, despite the fact that “we’re not profitable.”
Speaking of assets, Newman-Haas has Bourdais secured under contract for 2007, Lisles says, unless the driver gets hired by a competitive team in Formula One. “I’d be very surprised if he wasn’t here,” the general manager says.

Frustration bubbling

Bourdais sounded off on the Champ Car-IRL split. “I get a lot of crap for being negative, but they need to fix this,” he says. “I’m sick of hearing that ‘everything is going to be fine.’ It won’t be fine.
“People are sick of losing money,” he adds, alluding to even Newman-Haas’ lack of profitability. “The truth is, it’s a live or die situation for teams.”
Lisles voices the opinion of many by saying the split isn’t about contracts, scheduling, sponsors and chassis and engine deals, et al., but more about Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven and IRL’s Tony George and others being too power hungry. “It’s less of a business problem than a personality problem,” Bourdais says. “Everything is negotiable … and can be resolved by
senior officers.”

[G.]

Wanna LINK that bad boy, Surf?

[SurfaceUnits]

http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=35851

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/115060883271490.xml&coll=7

[Insomniac]

I don't see a lot of CC teams opting to run the 500 unless there are common rules. Or someone (TG?) pays for the IRL spec, one race, equipment.

Seperate series with common equipment would be great by me. Most teams would choose to run CC, with it's easier on cars and bodies schedule, and Indy. IRL dies and wallah! One series. But stupid as TG seems, he probably knows this would kill his league.

I just want one series. If one needs to die that's fine by me. No real dog in this fight.

TG kicks everyone out, 25/8 and we have the same thing all over again. No one is going to force a merger on him unless they secure IMS, but then TG is out of the picture.

[Louie]

TG kicks everyone out, 25/8 and we have the same thing all over again.

I was trying to suppress that dark thought thank you. :p

[Spicoli]

Frustration bubbling

Bourdais sounded off on the Champ Car-IRL split. “I get a lot of crap for being negative, but they need to fix this,” he says. “I’m sick of hearing that ‘everything is going to be fine.’ It won’t be fine.
“People are sick of losing money,” he adds, alluding to even Newman-Haas’ lack of profitability. “The truth is, it’s a live or die situation for teams.”
Lisles voices the opinion of many by saying the split isn’t about contracts, scheduling, sponsors and chassis and engine deals, et al., but more about Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven and IRL’s Tony George and others being too power hungry. “It’s less of a business problem than a personality problem,” Bourdais says. “Everything is negotiable … and can be resolved by
senior officers.”

oh.



well EXCUSE the F*** out of us, Senor Frogface. I'm sorry nobody consulted you, what with all your MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE, MERGER ACUMEN AND GENERAL BUSINEES SHINE. whadda dick. :shakehead

look, if you were THAT f'in good, you'd be in F1 already with Christian klein, tIago, Ralfie and Scooty Speed. BUT YOU AREN'T.

listen you little knowit allprick, you've not lived thru the last 40 years fo this crap, and especially the 90's when this thing was great, and then got cornholed by the prick on W 16th street. So STFU and get back in the COCKpit yopu smarmy little ****tard.



And the French wonder why we hate them. :flame:

[nrc]

It's pretty hypocritical to complain about crapwagons being unsafe and then turn around and claim that there are no issues other than personalities to be worked out.

[trauma1]

Newman-Haas rules the roost, but Newman-Haas General Manager Brian Lisles Lisles prefers more competition. “It’s up to the other guys to beat us down, and for us to not make mistakes,” he says. “We would prefer to be a big fish in a big pond.” He even intimates that Newman-Haas might look to the Indy Racing League
over newmans dead body, no way in hell :shakehead

[Insomniac]

Newman-Haas rules the roost, but Newman-Haas General Manager Brian Lisles Lisles prefers more competition. “It’s up to the other guys to beat us down, and for us to not make mistakes,” he says. “We would prefer to be a big fish in a big pond.” He even intimates that Newman-Haas might look to the Indy Racing League
over newmans dead body, no way in hell :shakehead

If they ever did, with Penske and Chip over there, they will go right back to being the medium sized fish like they were in CART until they left.

[racer2c]

That mouth needs to talk to his boss. PN ain't goin to the IRL.

[Racing Truth]

It's pretty hypocritical to complain about crapwagons being unsafe and then turn around and claim that there are no issues other than personalities to be worked out.

HYPOCRISY? In this sport?

NOOOO! :gomer:

[FanofMario]

Does anybody else think that Robert Clarke's visit to Portland had anything to do with these NH comments? :shakehead

I too would like to see a merger but only with our engines and car. Sounds to me that FTG is not moving an inch and with Clarke attending Portland pleading for merger---things are getting desperate. I do wish PN would step in and shut the NH crew up though.

[Rocketdoc]

02:54 AM CDT on Sunday, June 4, 2006
By TERRY BLOUNT / The Dallas Morning News

In a perfect world, more than 30 cars would line up on the starting grid next weekend for the Bombardier Learjet 500.

Fans at Texas Motor Speedway would see Paul Newman sitting on the pit box, glaring over at old rival Roger Penske as they got ready to watch their drivers compete.

Sebastien Bourdais, possibly the best open-wheel racer in America, would go wheel-to-wheel with the last two Indy 500 winners – Sam Hornish Jr. and Dan Wheldon.

Danica Patrick would try to show a thing or two to Katherine Legge.

Indy-car racing would be one big happy family again for the first time in more than a decade.

Unfortunately, American open-wheel racing is not a perfect world. Far from it.

The IRL and Champ Car went their separate ways 11 years ago. But for the first time, there's realistic hope that the bitter split will come to an end soon.

Dario Franchitti, who competes in the IRL, is one of several drivers who have raced in both leagues. He is cautiously optimistic of seeing the merger come to fruition.

"I would love for it to happen," Franchitti said. "I don't think having two different series is helping anybody at this point. We want to race against all the best drivers in open-wheel racing. And we want to go to all the best venues.

"It just makes so much sense for everybody concerned – drivers, teams and sponsors. If it were up to us, it already would have happened. I just hope the guys trying to do this can get it together. I'm keeping my fingers crossed."

The two men trying to work this out are IRL founder Tony George and Champ Car boss Kevin Kalkhoven. They continue to discuss the ramifications of a possible merger.

Kalkhoven attended the Indianapolis 500 last week as George's guest. It was his first trip to the Brickyard since 1966 when Graham Hill won the event.

George won't say how the talks are going. Kalkhoven spoke about it before the Houston Champ Car race last month but didn't give many details.

"The best thing people can do is leave us alone and let us work on it," he said.

Penske disagrees with that.

"I don't think this little dating game between Tony and Kevin is going to work," he said. "What we need to do is get all the [team] owners in a room, see if we can hammer out a schedule and go from there." is woger being weft out?

Some people would say that's what caused the breakup. Team owners had too much say in how CART, as Champ Car was known then, was run.

How the two leagues got to where they are today is ancient history. All that matters is how they can become one again.

"This thing needs to be unified," said Al Unser Jr., the two-time Indy 500 winner who also has raced in both leagues. "We all have to go in the same direction. The split has definitely hurt open-wheel racing. It needs to be rectified, and it needs to happen soon."

Even if George and Kalkhoven agreed to do it, which they haven't yet, getting it done is a major undertaking.

The cars look the same to the casual fan, but they are completely different. The chassis and engines are different styles with different manufacturers.

The leagues need to agree on a common formula, which also requires getting the manufacturers to agree.

Honda president Robert Clarke has said repeatedly that he's a big proponent of unification. Honda supplies engines for the IRL, but Honda used to build engines in Champ Car.

Kalkhoven recently purchased Cosworth, the division of Ford that builds racing engines. Cosworth supplies the Champ Car motors.

Both engine manufacturers could compete in a combined league if they can agree on an engine formula. The IRL uses normally aspirated motors; Champ Car uses turbocharged engines.

Another problem is the schedule. The IRL and Champ Car have only one common venue – the 1-mile oval in Milwaukee. The principals must agree on a combined schedule that keeps the best locations of both series.

Some tracks would get left out. That presents another problem if those tracks have multiyear agreements with either league.

The leagues use different TV networks, but the IRL has the better deal with ABC/ESPN.

Clearly, there's a lot to overcome.

"I don't know that it will ever happen," TMS president Eddie Gossage said. "But I wish it would. I love Indy-car racing. I'm very passionate about it. I feel we've done things here that have been incredibly good for the IRL. I just want Indy-car racing to succeed."

The problem on agreeing to a merger is deeper than deciding on equipment and scheduling. After all these years, bitter feelings remain on both sides.

Newman hasn't attended an Indy 500 since the split, even though his team competed in the event twice.

Some fans love one league and hate the other. IRL fans love the side-by-side racing of banked oval tracks. Some Champ Car fans see that as overly dangerous.

Even Bourdais, who won on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval last year, doesn't care for oval racing or the Indy 500.

"I did it once, and that was enough," Bourdais, who finished 12th at Indy in 2005, said in Houston last month. "Those [IRL] cars are dangerous."

Kalkhoven also prefers street races, which Champ Car sells as a three-day festival that culminates with the race.

Both leagues are suffering from a lack of sponsorship and low TV ratings in comparison with NASCAR. Only 19 cars are expected to race at TMS. Only 17 cars raced in the last Champ Car event.

No one thinks a merger would change things overnight, but it could begin to change public perception of two rival leagues heading in opposite directions.

"To me, it's the only chance open-wheel racing has of getting the attention it deserves," Michael Andretti said last week at Indianapolis. "So much has been lost. We have to put this back together."

E-mail tblount@dallasnews.com

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Honestly, who cares?