[Tailwind]

It appears Indy Racing League founder Tony George will be going for the jugular here next week in bankruptcy court but the principals of Open Wheel Racing Series (OWRS) say they aren't concerned about what promises to be Bloody Wednesday.

George indicated late Thursday afternoon he had filed a bid to purchase certain assets of Championship Auto Racing Teams in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Jan. 28. OWRS, comprised of CART owners Gerald Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven and Paul Gentilozzi, has already submitted a bid to run a series in 2004 using most of the venues on CART's 2003 schedule.

Fred Nation, vice president of corporate communications for IMS/IRL and George's spokesman, claimed the bid was "substantial" but refused to give any details in an email message sent to several IRL constituents.

But SPEEDTV.COM has learned that George is only bidding on the Long Beach Grand Prix, CART's engine lease program and possibly some equipment.

It had been assumed that George's all-oval circuit wanted to take over one of CART's Canadian dates (Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver) and Mexico City, which drew nearly 200,000 on race day last year, in additon to Long Beach.

Since taking over for Formula One in 1984, CART's cornerstone event has been the spring street show at Long Beach. It's the second biggest open-wheel race in this country behind the Indianapolis 500 -- usually drawing more than 150,000 spectators in three days.

Sponsored by Toyota, one of the IRL's engine suppliers, Long Beach is scheduled to celebrate its 30th anniversary April 18 when OWRS opens its season.

The IRL, which competes at Motegi, Japan that weekend, has publicly stated it will not be possible to race on road courses or street circuits in 2004. But there has been speculation that the Rolex Grand American Road Racing Series, owned by International Speedway Corporation and partners with George at several IRL tracks, could also make a run at Long Beach and other CART venues by Friday's filing deadline.

It's also possible that George could offer to pay the LBGP Association several million dollars in lieu of a race in '04 and add it to the 2005 IRL schedule.

But the most critical battle could be over power, literally.

CART owns all the turbocharged Cosworth engines that OWRS plans to use and last year they were leased to the teams by CART. If George, whose series uses normally-aspirated engines manufactured by Honda, General Motors and Toyota, would out-bid OWRS for the engines that would effectively end this eight-year war.

Judge Frank Otte will rule on the bids Wednesday and Forsythe feels confident OWRS will win the right to continue CART's 25-year tradition.

"My read is that the judge will throw their (IRL) bid out because there is no way anybody can come up with as competitive a bid as we have," said the longtime car owner from Chicago who captured the 2003 CART championship with Paul Tracy. "He's got to look at the whole picture and we've got a comprehensive business plan that we've been working on for seven months.

"There are obligations to race promoters, sponsors and investors and the IRL could be looking at huge claims against them. I feel we have all our bases covered. I'm extremely confident."

OWRS has the opportunity to increase its earlier bid of $1.6 million prior to Wednesday's hearing and Forsythe said his group has Plans "A through D" ready.

But one CART owner, who requested anonymity, cautioned that "We may not be prepared for the amount of money Tony will spend to try and kill us."

During an OWRS meeting in Indianapolis last week Kalkhoven said George's intent should be obvious. "He wants to shut us down and we want to build CART back up."

The Civil War that has been IRL vs. CART since 1996, mostly verbal along with some high-profile defections, will bring out the heavy artillery Wednesday. And it's a battle that will likely hold the future of open wheel racing.

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Most of this is nothing new, but id does clairify TGs intent.