IRL / Champ Car Merger

[Steven Roy]

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/champcar/news/159453-0/motegi_sticking_point_to_'08_merger?.html

It looks like there has been an outbreak of common sense in US single seater racing.  There is even a chance of a merger before the season starts in March.

[cosworth151]

I'd like to see the two series unite, but there have been so many rumors about it over the past few years that I won't get my hopes up.

I see several things I don't like about the proposal. The best thing about Champ Car is the engine. The worst thing about IRL is the engine. Why exclusively use the Honda lump? Why not have a dual engine standard, like F1 did up until 1989?

Since Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, the co-owners of Champ Car, now own Cosworth, what will happen to it?

Also, I'll loose my home race, the one at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland. Why keep the Boring Charlotte Clone tracks from NASCAR (Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, Chicago) and give up Laguna Seca, Road Atlanta, Cleveland and Mont-Tremblant?

Tony George does a whale of a good job putting on races and running a fan-friendly series. I'd just like to see a few of these things worked out.

[Dare]

Cos said,. Why keep the Boring Charlotte Clone tracks from NASCAR (Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, Chicago


Hey pardner,watch it

[cosworth151]

Sorry, Dare, but just what the world didn't need was yet another mile and a half tri-oval. It's a nice facility but it's out in the middle of nowhere. The only thing near it is a BP station.

Have you ever made the trip up I-71 to see it?

[Dare]

Sorry, Dare, but just what the world didn't need was yet another mile and a half tri-oval. It's a nice facility but it's out in the middle of nowhere. The only thing near it is a BP station.

Have you ever made the trip up I-71 to see it?

Actually I got free tickets to last years race but I
picked bowling over a IRL race on a lousey mile and
a half tri-oval

[Steven Roy]

I don't see how they can change to one series for this season.  All the teams/drivers have sponsorship contracts in place.  Are the sponsors just supposed to go along with whatever is decided.

[Scott]

Yeah, it seems a bit quick to me to do it for the coming season - and like Steven said, what about sponsor contracts and such? 

Are Champ Cars doing so badly that they have to do this?  I like the idea of one open wheel series, but it seems to me that it is going to be on IRL terms.  I had thought that Forsythe and Kalkhoven were doing an ok job of it.  Losing road and city courses for boring ovals is sad.  I wonder what will happen to the Canadian races, especially since some of the IRL sponsorship is US only.

[cosworth151]

This from AutoWeek's e-newsletter's Fast Alert, dated 19 Feb, 09:01 est:

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.

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

It looks like this might be the real deal.

Cos

[Steven Roy]

I read something quoting AJ Foyt yesterday or the day before which may upset the current harmony.  Tony George is giving the Champ Car teams free chassis and $1.2 million per car.  AJ is slightly miffed verging on apoplexy that he has supported the series from the start and is not receiving this package.  He has threatened to quit the IRL and take others with him.  He also pointed out that in his opinion the IRL gained nothing by the merger with Champ Car other than the participation of Newman-Hass. 

[cosworth151]

This just went up on Auto123.com:

Indy Racing League boss Tony George's offer of free chassis and engines, plus $1.2 million for any Champ Car team that will contest the full IRL season is believed to have been taken up by at least five teams.

Newman/Haas/Lanigan, PKV, and Forsythe are expected to enter the IRL with two cars each, while Walker, Conquest, and Dale Coyne Racing are likely to field one each. Pacific Coast Motorsports are believed to be heading for the American Le Mans Series while the faiths of Rocketsports and team Minardi is not yet known.

Already, Champ Car veteran Paul Tracy is believed to be in Indianapolis for a seat fitting before heading to Homestead for the first IRL test of the season on February 27-28.

From Edmonton Grand Prix president Jim Haskins, earlier today:

"I don't know who their source was but I would say it's questionable. Every spring it seems someone floats the merger, the financial difficulty rumours out there and at the end of the day both series continue to do business. Our event is solid and we're very busy planning for '08."

Gill Campbell, CEO and general manager of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, received a communiqué from Champ Car counsel Matt Breeden that said, in part:

"We're (Champ Car) happy to confirm the May 16-18 race. I have not heard anything to the contrary. There has been lots of speculation and gossip. I'm sticking to what I know. That's (the word from the Champ Car counsel) the only fact I know and that is what I'm presenting to the board."

As for A.J., he isn't exactly know for being even tempered. I remember one time when he was driving, he jumped out of the car during a pit stop and started working on the car himself. He thought the pit crew was too slow.

[Steven Roy]

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/indycar/news/159781-0/foyt_id_throw_a_fit.html

Veteran team owner AJ Foyt has admitted that he would 'throw a fit' if Champ CarWorld Series teams were given incentives to sign up to a merged American open-wheel series.

Discussion continue to rumble on about such a merger – albeit more in private than in the gaze of the public – with Champ Car teams reported to have been offered the incentive of free Dallara chassis and Honda engines from IndyCar Series chief Tony George to sign-up, with the added promise of the $1.2m bonus payment per car as part of the IRL's new TEAM programme.

While such an incentive would obviously appeal to Champ Car outfits eagerly awaiting the outcome of the merger talks, Foyt – one of the longest supporters of the IndyCar Series – admitted that it wasn't such a popular move amongst the existing teams and said he would 'pack his bags' if reports of the incentives proved to be correct.

"I would throw a fit and pack up my bags if that was true," Foyt told Motorsport.com. "And others may do the same."

Foyt added that he didn't know how the land currently lies between Champ Car and the IndyCar Series about the possible tie-up, although he did say that he felt there wasn't much to gain from a merger aside from extra cars on the grid.

"I don't really know [what is happening] as you hear this today and that tomorrow," he said. "I haven't talked with Brian [Barnhart] or Tony [George] about it, so I really don't know. I don't know whether the merger would make much of a difference, although we might pick up a couple more races somewhere. I do know it would be better to have one circuit than two; that would be a plus.

"The top names and owners are there [IRL] now and the only ones you would pick up would be Newman-Haas. I don't know of any American drivers other than Graham Rahal over there, plus Paul Tracy, who is a Canadian driver. Other than car count I don't know where you would gain."

AJ has never been known to be unnecessarily diplomatic.

I have seen footage of the incident where he pushed away his mechanic because he wasn't fast enough.  Incredible.

[Dare]

If the merge takes place looks
like Cos's Cosworth will be left
out in the open again

[cosworth151]

Looks like the Cleaveland race at Burke Airport is on the block, too.

[Dare]

Looks like Long Beach is out as it is the
same weekend as the Japanese race

[Steven Roy]

Long Beach is in and they are negotiating with Motegi to switch dates.  There are a few dates/tracks being shuffled.