Well, I'm officially confused! From TSN.ca: http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/news_s...70818&hubName=
Patrick Racing looks to leave CART
Canadian Press
2/3/2004
Patrick Racing will leave the troubled Championship Auto Racing Teams series and join the rival Indy Racing League if a sponsorship package can be arranged.
``I just think CART has been completely mishandled and, even though it's very disappointing to me personally, I just think it's time to move on,'' team owner U.E. (Pat) Patrick said Tuesday. ``This makes me very sad, but I finally accepted this is the way it has to be.''
CART, founded in 1978 by Patrick and car owner Roger Penske, became a publicly traded company in 1998 and filed for bankruptcy late last year. Its assets were sold in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis last week to a group headed by three other team owners who want to revive the series under the name Open Wheel Racing.
Penske left CART for the IRL two years ago.
``I have enough funding to do it right now, if I fund part of it myself,'' Patrick told The Associated Press during a telephone interview. ``I'm just not sure yet what we will do, but we have to make some decisions pretty fast.''
The IRL season opens Feb. 29 at Miami-Homestead Speedway.
CART officials did not return calls seeking comment.
IRL spokesman Fred Nation said the IndyCar Series would be happy to have Patrick Racing in its fold.
``Many things in racing have come full circle in the last 10 years,'' he said. ``Pat Patrick is a legend in open-wheel racing, and we would certainly welcome him.''
CART, which broke away from the U.S. Auto Club so that the team owners could have more autonomy, took a major blow in 1996 when the IRL began, dividing a small base of fans and major sponsors.
The battling open-wheel series have struggled with dwindling attendance and TV ratings.
IRL president and founder Tony George made a bid for the assets, but a bankruptcy judge chose to award them to the new ownership group that includes Champ Car team owners Paul Gentilozzi, Kevin Kalkoven and Gerald Forsythe. That group said it has a 18 cars, a schedule and a television contract in place and will open the season April 18 at Long Beach, Calif.
Didn't KK buy Patrick Racing!? :confused: