CART and IRL to merge?

[DEAD!]

Open wheel was never the same when it split into CART (now Champ Car) and IRL. Now they are starting discussions about unification. I, for one, hope this happens. A strong single open-wheel series with the Indy 500 as the centrepiece is how things should be.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/raci...k.ap/index.html

[oz615]

Well its about damn time.

[LMU]

A long time coming, but at the same time, it seems like there should be some sort of partnership with Formula 1 as well.

[TBGKon]

A long time coming, but at the same time, it seems like there should be some sort of partnership with Formula 1 as well.

eh, I agree there should be some kind of partnership, but when I see F1, I think international, when I think IRL/Champ Car I see North American based racing.

[Cujo]

I can remember back when I was much younger, the days of legends such as Unser Jr., Fittipaldi, and the Andrettis just to name a few, before the sport had to rely on overrated female racers for attention ... When the Indianapolis 500 was "The Race", much bigger than anything NASCAR had at the time.

Having the tour split into two leagues totally killed everything the the sport of Indy car racing had going for it, which really is too bad because as a casual sports fan, I find Indy racing far more exciting than NASCAR. I wouldn't mind seeing the merge happen. Maybe it can get the Indy racing back to where it once was.

[-Helix-]

The split never should have happened in the first place. The sport completely turned to after the IRL stole Indy.

The IRL was full of boring ovals and no-name drivers.

CART was getting less respect and attention since they no longer had the Indy 500 on their circuit.

Then it all just went down hill.

The Indy 500 should be the biggest race event in the states like it used to be. Screw the Daytona 500 and it's crappy stock cars. Personally, only the NASCAR drivers that have driven open wheel before get any respect from me.

As for F1, a natural partnership has kind of already worked itself out. The best drivers to come out of CART/IRL usually go to F1 considering it is the premier race series in the world.

[NJTank]

The split has ruined open wheel racing in America and the Indy 500 they realy do need to merge and get back on track and look legit again.

[epper]

I really hope they can get something worked out too. Tony George, and his selfishness, ruined Open-wheel in America, and his "grand-vision", the IRL, has failed. When he first started the IRL, he said it was to:

Have more homegrown, American drivers

Drive American built, American powered cars, with a diverse choice for competition.

An All-oval series

Promote the Indy 500 as the greatest race on earth, and grow the sport of IndyCar Racing

Well, well well. Here we are 10 years later.

Other than Hornish Jr and Tony Stewart (who is much more famous for his NASCAR stardom), the IRL has been dominated by foreigners like Kannan, Castroneves, Wheldon and Brack. Not saying this is bad, but its just going against everything George set out to do.

More than 3/4s of the field are Dallaras, an Italian company. And now every single car is Japanese-powered, a spec-Honda series.

They have added 3 road courses, blurring the line even further between themselves and the series they have tried to "better", Champ Car.

The Indy 500 hasnt been won by an American only 3 times since the series started, and the entry lists have dwinlded to bad that for the time ever, they probably wont have a 33-car grid this year. NASCAR has skyrocketed past open-wheel as the premier form of racing in North America.

I just hope the George realizes the mess he's made, and lets the Champ Car owners, Forsythe and Kalkhoven, call the shot from now on. He should stick to running the Speedway, like he used to. A 20-race season. 10 ovals with Indy as the showcase, and 10 road courses. Ford and Honda powered cars. It would be a real treat.

[oz615]

I just hope the George realizes the mess he's a failure, and lets the Champ Car owners, Forsythe and Kalkhoven, call the shot from now on. He should stick to running the Speedway, like he used to. A 20-race season. 10 ovals with Indy as the showcase, and 10 road courses. Ford and Honda powered cars. It would be a real treat.

don't forget Chevy and Toyota as well.

[epper]

I just hope the George realizes the mess he's a failure, and lets the Champ Car owners, Forsythe and Kalkhoven, call the shot from now on. He should stick to running the Speedway, like he used to. A 20-race season. 10 ovals with Indy as the showcase, and 10 road courses. Ford and Honda powered cars. It would be a real treat.

don't forget Chevy and Toyota as well.

sure. the more the merrier.

[harperdc]

this *has* been a long time coming, and I think if it doesn't happen this year - with Champ Car preparing plans for new chassis (and possibly an engine package) for 2007 and the IRL in supplier limbo due to the pulling out of Chevy and Toyota (don't bank on either to return to a re-merged series either) - then Open Wheel racing in the US (bar F1 becoming bigger) is sunk. It was amazing how CART was able to survive up until about 2001 without the Indy 500 too - hell, it was thriving. Now all the best teams followed the siren song of the almighty dollar to the IRL, and it's a shame to see talented drivers such as Dario Franchiti and Scott Dixon plying their trade on dangerous ovals instead of on wide-open road courses.

(with all respect and condolences to Paul Dana, the IRL - hell, open wheel cars in general - really should not be going so fast continually on ovals. the IRL has had the biggest wrecks resulting in the most injuries out of the top racing series on the planet. only rally raids such as the Dakar are as dangerous)

Champ Car has been dwindling ever since it went private...but the racing has finally caught a nice equilibrium and, shock and awe, is actually pretty fun to watch. There's just not enough interest and almost no money put into it. Every year for the past four or five years the "event" and the concessions area surrounding the Champ Car race here in Portland has gotten smaller and smaller - now the 'upstart' American Le Mans race is *much* bigger, not to mention a better show for what you're paying (better support series).

on that note, anybody remember the hey-day of IMSA? I may only be 20 but I remember some of those races and cars *incredibly* well. Ah, when CART Indy Cars and IMSA ruled ESPN and the auto racing scene in general, and NASCAR was just some over-inflated redneck fetish...wait, some things never change...

I think open wheel racing has a lot to offer - it's been successful before, and I definitely think it can be successful again. And I think the egos have finally died down to the point where a unified series - hell, call it the IRL if you want - running equally on road courses, street circuits, short ovals (with full downforce package) and superspeedways can be a very successful proposition. I think we can get back to the glory days. But I think the window of opportunity for returning to those days is almost closed. At least the parties involved realise that.

[epper]

I think a schedule like this would make for a great series. (not in this order). A great mix of street, road, superspeedways and short ovals.

Ovals

Indianapolis

Michigan

California

Las Vegas

Texas

Homestead

Motegi, Japan

Milwaukee

Phoenix

Richmond

Road & Street

Laguna Seca

Portland

Elkhart Lake

Mexico City, Mexico

Montreal, Canada

Long Beach

Toronto, Canada

Cleveland

St. Petersburg

Surfer's Paradise, Australia

[oz615]

I think a schedule like this would make for a great series. (not in this order). A great mix of street, road, superspeedways and short ovals.

Ovals

Indianapolis

Michigan

California

Las Vegas

Texas

Homestead

Motegi, Japan

Milwaukee

Phoenix

Richmond

Road & Street

Laguna Seca

Portland

Elkhart Lake

Mexico City, Mexico

Montreal, Canada

Long Beach

Toronto, Canada

Cleveland

St. Petersburg

Surfer's Paradise, Australia

no more Nashville?

[harperdc]

Richmond is IMO horrible for open wheel racers...and I think there needs to be more a 70/30 balance between ovals and road courses, if only because the street events seem to pull a lot of fans and it makes the oval events more special. maybe dropping LV, Texas and Richmond from epper's list would do the trick.

and if a travesty is indeed pulled off and Fuji Speedway (bleh! I hate the redesign) is given the Japanese GP over Suzuka, I think the race in Japan would *have* to be there. Honda own both Twin Ring Motegi and Suzuka, and I think keeping a big race at one of the greatest road courses in the world is an admirable goal. I hope Suzuka keeps the GP, if not then it adds one back in as the Asian GP or Pacific GP (they ran TI Aida as that for at least one or two years).

[jr79]

Do you guys think the Australian race still has a long term future on a CART and/or IRL schedule? I know it was looking a little shaky a few years back.

[harperdc]

Do you guys think the Australian race still has a long term future on a CART and/or IRL schedule? I know it was looking a little shaky a few years back.

I think so. I love watching the racing from Surfer's, it's got as grand a tradition as any othe race on the Champ Car schedule and it'll draw at least as a support race for the V8 Supercars

[oz615]

Well folks,the dream is one step closer.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/5728492

IRL, Champ Car take key steps toward unifying

The Indy Racing League and Champ Car have taken important steps toward unifying the two open-wheel series of American racing.

Champ Car World Series boss Kevin Kalkhoven told The Associated Press on Sunday there is no written agreement, although the two sides have reached an understanding. He said there are many issues to resolve, but he is "very optimistic" the deal can be completed.

The Indianapolis Star on Sunday said the parties have an "ownership sharing agreement," although Kalkhoven characterized developments to the AP as "more a progress report than anything else."

IRL founder and chief executive Tony George told the Star: "We've agreed conceptually (to share ownership). Now we have to agree on how we would go about resolving differences that might come up."

Kalkhoven agreed that finding a way to settle disagreements is critical.

He said one possibility discussed is choosing a person to arbitrate these differences or be the deciding vote. Among the names reportedly brought up are Roger Penske, and IRL team owner and one of the founders of Champ Car's predecessor, CART; and longtime CART star Mario Andretti.

"Obviously, we need some kind of tiebreaker," Kalkhoven said. "We've had suggestions on both sides, but nothing has been resolved at this point."

Kalkhoven also said he supports an idea put forward by IRL president Brian Barnhardt suggesting that the IRL and Champ Car could run separate races at the same venue once or twice next season.

Kalkhoven, a Champ Car team owner and co-owner of the series that was racing in Cleveland on Sunday, remains "very optimistic that we can get this done."

"What it means, though, is we have a lot of agreements on a lot of issues and there are still a lot of issues to resolve," Kalkhoven added.

Among the things yet to be decided: Which races survive a merger? What chassis and engine combination a unified series would run? Who would run day-to-day operations.

"The good news is that Tony and I talking," Kalkhoven said. "And, as I've said from the start, doing it right is more important than just getting it done."

Also, Kalkhoven and Champ Car president Steve Johnson have said the 2007 schedule will leave free time in May for any Champ Car teams or drivers to compete in the IRL's Indianapolis 500.

The IRL began competition in 1996, starting a damaging split in the open-wheel world that cut into an already diminished fan base and sinking TV ratings, as well as scaring away big-money sponsors. Both sides have struggled since, with CART eventually sinking into bankruptcy and being resurrected in 2004 as Champ Car.

There have been several previous attempts by representatives of both sides to negotiate some kind of peace or merger, but none has succeeded. The latest talks began in December when Kalkhoven and George had a chance meeting and began developing a friendship and dialogue.

"We have had some face-to-face meetings but, mostly, we stay in contact by telephone and e-mail and we continue to have a very good relationship," Kalkhoven said.

[harperdc]

that Indianapolis Star article is a lot more optimistic than Kalkhoven portrayed it as in a brief post-Cleveland GP interview with Robin Miller on Speed News Sunday. Though, thinking about it more, that may be as much a tempering move to try and hide the worst-kept-secret more than anything else.

it needs to happen, but some of the same issues - which cars to use (or, more precisely, how to accomodate the nearly-done new Panoz for Champ Car next season and Honda's engine package vs. the Champ Car turbo Cosworths) and which tracks to remain (ovals being a problem for said new Champ Car Panoz).

I was hoping for the dream announcement - weekend leading into the 500 - but an announcement after next weekends' United States GP is more likely.

[-Helix-]

The Champ Cars have always been sexier than their Indy counterparts. I hope that is taken into account when the cars are decided upon.

Overall, good news to hear. However, it seems that it's going to be awhile before the actual merger. Not sure if I can hang on that long. They still have alot to do before they can count me fully back on the bandwagon.

[DrBear]

Just an opinion: Have a one-body, two-division setup, similar to NASCAR's Nextel Cup/Busch, only with both being "major" circuts.

Merge the two bodies into one - call it, say, Open Wheel America Inc.

The body would have two divisions: Indy Racing League for ovals, Champ Car League for roads. The cars would basically be the same with only setup for the courses being different.

The leagues would alternate Saturday and Sunday events so that each would get about half on each day. This would also allow drivers who wanted to drive in both to do so. If only one group races on a weekend, they'd get the Sunday gig. This would assure open-wheel racing every Sunday and provide some of the continuity the long NASCAR season provides.

Each series would keep its own points and have its own champion, and those drivers who drove in both would be eligible for an overall champion's trophy.

Of course, everyone would race at Indy; Indy's road course could be the site of the season-ending race for Champ Car League.

Could lead to some interesting end-of-season racing as two drivers could be going at the end for not one but two trophies, or one driver could try to beat another out of the circuit trophy to win the overall trophy.