coolhand
07-05-05, 09:12 PM
Auto rivals show signs of progress
Can IRL, Champ Car ever settle feud?
Role of sanctioning body a key hurdle
NORRIS MCDONALD
STAFF REPORTER
The 20th anniversary Toronto Indy is being run through the streets of Exhibition Place this weekend, but there's something missing: Danica Patrick.
The hottest attraction in Indy-car racing doesn't race in the Champ Car World Series, which sanctions the Toronto race, so anybody hoping to see her in action over at the Ex will be disappointed.
Don't laugh. There are people who tune in to the Indianapolis 500 on television every year expecting to see Paul Tracy. That race is sanctioned by the Indy Racing League and Tracy, who drives for a team in the Champ Car World Series, doesn't enter.
Such is the confusion that continues to exist 10 years after big-league motor racing's most famous divorce. (No, not Jeff Gordon's). The devastating breakup saw the upstart IRL break away from the established CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) circuit and two things happened:
#
Confusion (see above) was sown not only in the minds of many Indy-type racing fans but, most important, in the minds of potential fans. To say there was also bitterness and all-out hate would be an understatement.
#
The momentum that Indy-type racing enjoyed throughout North America (sellouts just about everywhere, from street circuits like Toronto, to short ovals like Milwaukee, to the super speedways like Michigan and Indianapolis) just flat-out fizzled. The opening that was created was filled rapidly by the NASCAR organization, which has gone on to become a juggernaut.
As a result, most people — including racing promoters, race teams, drivers and even the people who head up the two warring factions — agree that one Indy racing series is preferable to two. The challenge is how to kiss and make up without either side losing too much face.
That the two sides have gone from a frozen silence two years ago (when Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerald Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi purchased the assets and race dates of the bankrupt CART from under the nose of IRL founder Tony George) to a cheerful exchange of views in the living room of racing legend Mario Andretti's home in Nazareth, Pa., in May, speaks volumes about how much each side would like to find a solution.
Whether they will ever find one is debatable. But the fact they are talking and breaking bread together is enormous. Just think: Paul Newman, Kalkhoven, Curt Brighton (the IRL's legal counsel) and George dined together in Nazareth and nobody got up and walked out.
While there have not been any face-to-face meetings since, telephone contact continues.
The differences between the two groups started out as enormous but now are minute. The IRL has moved the most: from an extreme position of being an ovals-only series, the league now has three road/street races on its schedule.
There remains, however, one serious philosophical difference: The role of the sanctioning body.
Champ Car looks upon its headquarters as a profit centre. In other words, the sanctioning body is in business to make money. The IRL looks upon its headquarters as a conduit. In other words, the sanctioning body exists so race promoters and race participants can come together and make money.
As an IRL source told the Toronto Star in an interview: "We have a different world outlook and that will be hard to bridge. But other than that, we're not that far apart."
None of the principals involved in the negotiations is talking. The IRL source and a marketing agency executive close to Champ Car's front office agreed that neither side wants to talk about unification for publication.
"It's not good for business," said one. "We try to keep a lot of this quiet because to talk about negotiations creates problems for both series so far as sponsorship is concerned. For instance, maybe a corporation wants to sponsor a car in one series or the other but then gets wind that something's up, that there might be a change, so they decide to hold off. Nobody wants to jeopardize anybody's business.
"Publicly, we both will continue to go in our own direction and we'll each go ahead and plan for the future. But both doors are open. You never know where this will lead."
So where could it lead? If there was unification, what would it look like?
There are three scenarios, according to the IRL and Champ Car sources:
#
One series surrenders completely. There is a clear winner and loser. Odds on this happening: 100-1.
#
Complete unification with all sides stepping back and allowing a mediator/conciliator to determine the nuts and bolts, such as: a 16- or 18-race season made up of the best of both series managed by a governing council made up of representatives from both sides. Odds: 25-1.
#
Both series agree to the same chassis and engine specifications. Each goes its own way, runs its own races but agrees to a working relationship with the other. Like Major League Baseball, everybody meets up for three races — Indianapolis (oval), Long Beach (street) and either Montreal or Mexico City (road course). Results of the three interleague races would count in each series' standings.
With an agreement in place on engines and chassis, however, the possibility of crossovers for individual races would increase. Odds: 10-1.
"People say it's all about ego and control," the IRL source said. "But that's not true. If we could get past that one stumbling block — the role of the sanctioning body — then maybe we could do business."
Can IRL, Champ Car ever settle feud?
Role of sanctioning body a key hurdle
NORRIS MCDONALD
STAFF REPORTER
The 20th anniversary Toronto Indy is being run through the streets of Exhibition Place this weekend, but there's something missing: Danica Patrick.
The hottest attraction in Indy-car racing doesn't race in the Champ Car World Series, which sanctions the Toronto race, so anybody hoping to see her in action over at the Ex will be disappointed.
Don't laugh. There are people who tune in to the Indianapolis 500 on television every year expecting to see Paul Tracy. That race is sanctioned by the Indy Racing League and Tracy, who drives for a team in the Champ Car World Series, doesn't enter.
Such is the confusion that continues to exist 10 years after big-league motor racing's most famous divorce. (No, not Jeff Gordon's). The devastating breakup saw the upstart IRL break away from the established CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) circuit and two things happened:
#
Confusion (see above) was sown not only in the minds of many Indy-type racing fans but, most important, in the minds of potential fans. To say there was also bitterness and all-out hate would be an understatement.
#
The momentum that Indy-type racing enjoyed throughout North America (sellouts just about everywhere, from street circuits like Toronto, to short ovals like Milwaukee, to the super speedways like Michigan and Indianapolis) just flat-out fizzled. The opening that was created was filled rapidly by the NASCAR organization, which has gone on to become a juggernaut.
As a result, most people — including racing promoters, race teams, drivers and even the people who head up the two warring factions — agree that one Indy racing series is preferable to two. The challenge is how to kiss and make up without either side losing too much face.
That the two sides have gone from a frozen silence two years ago (when Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerald Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi purchased the assets and race dates of the bankrupt CART from under the nose of IRL founder Tony George) to a cheerful exchange of views in the living room of racing legend Mario Andretti's home in Nazareth, Pa., in May, speaks volumes about how much each side would like to find a solution.
Whether they will ever find one is debatable. But the fact they are talking and breaking bread together is enormous. Just think: Paul Newman, Kalkhoven, Curt Brighton (the IRL's legal counsel) and George dined together in Nazareth and nobody got up and walked out.
While there have not been any face-to-face meetings since, telephone contact continues.
The differences between the two groups started out as enormous but now are minute. The IRL has moved the most: from an extreme position of being an ovals-only series, the league now has three road/street races on its schedule.
There remains, however, one serious philosophical difference: The role of the sanctioning body.
Champ Car looks upon its headquarters as a profit centre. In other words, the sanctioning body is in business to make money. The IRL looks upon its headquarters as a conduit. In other words, the sanctioning body exists so race promoters and race participants can come together and make money.
As an IRL source told the Toronto Star in an interview: "We have a different world outlook and that will be hard to bridge. But other than that, we're not that far apart."
None of the principals involved in the negotiations is talking. The IRL source and a marketing agency executive close to Champ Car's front office agreed that neither side wants to talk about unification for publication.
"It's not good for business," said one. "We try to keep a lot of this quiet because to talk about negotiations creates problems for both series so far as sponsorship is concerned. For instance, maybe a corporation wants to sponsor a car in one series or the other but then gets wind that something's up, that there might be a change, so they decide to hold off. Nobody wants to jeopardize anybody's business.
"Publicly, we both will continue to go in our own direction and we'll each go ahead and plan for the future. But both doors are open. You never know where this will lead."
So where could it lead? If there was unification, what would it look like?
There are three scenarios, according to the IRL and Champ Car sources:
#
One series surrenders completely. There is a clear winner and loser. Odds on this happening: 100-1.
#
Complete unification with all sides stepping back and allowing a mediator/conciliator to determine the nuts and bolts, such as: a 16- or 18-race season made up of the best of both series managed by a governing council made up of representatives from both sides. Odds: 25-1.
#
Both series agree to the same chassis and engine specifications. Each goes its own way, runs its own races but agrees to a working relationship with the other. Like Major League Baseball, everybody meets up for three races — Indianapolis (oval), Long Beach (street) and either Montreal or Mexico City (road course). Results of the three interleague races would count in each series' standings.
With an agreement in place on engines and chassis, however, the possibility of crossovers for individual races would increase. Odds: 10-1.
"People say it's all about ego and control," the IRL source said. "But that's not true. If we could get past that one stumbling block — the role of the sanctioning body — then maybe we could do business."