CART teams waiting....

[Dov]

From Motorsport.com: http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=144123

It's waiting time for Champ Car teams in Indianapolis, as the news reports keep mounting on the Indy Racing League's interest in property owned by CART, Inc., the Michigan-based firm that Open Wheel Racing Series (OWRS) is trying to buy in Federal bankruptcy court.


A trip around this Circle City yields different answers to the question of: what do you do while you're waiting for CART to either rise from the ashes or go quietly into the dusk?


Of all the groups that competed in last year's Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford, American Spirit Team Johansson is the only entity that has shut its doors completely, barely making it to the end of the year and its initial Champ Car victory in Surfers Paradise, Australia. A cadre of tractor trailers painted in Johansson's dark blue colors sits ready to take off for new adventures, but the doors are closed and nobody's home at the Gasoline Alley shops.


Just across the way, Herdez Competition is getting ready for testing at Sebring the first week of February and intends to run two cars: one for sophomore sensation Mario Dominguez and the other for a player to be named later, who might possibly not be from south of the border, according to managing director Keith Wiggins. Wiggins feels certain the series will go ahead and his team is making plans just for that.


Dale Coyne Racing is located in the Chicago area and Coyne has stated that, during the 2004 season, he'll be in CART if anywhere. It's pretty normal for Coyne to be a last-minute entry and he's said he's still putting his plans together. He did emphasize, when we talked in late 2003, that the Indy Racing League has little to offer his backers. Coyne did test Tomas Enge and Michael Keohane at Sebring in November and hopes to sign either or both.


It's wait-and-see for the Champ Car division of Fernandez Racing on Indy's north side. While the IRL side of their shop is moving forward with plans to run Kosuke Matsuura, nothing much is happening in the area reserved for team co-owner Adrian Fernandez' Lola/Ford mount.


There are only three people still on the payroll at Patrick Racing, all in the hopes that Emerson Fittipaldi will find the funds he needs to take over the Georgetown Road shops and run the 2004 Champ Car season. Mr. Patrick will not be back in CART, the team advised, having lost sponsor Visteon at the close of the 2003 campaign, and Jim McGee, the venerable team manager/crew chief is in California somewhere, taking a good vacation.


As for Fittipaldi, he's still looking for the proper funding to take over the assets at Patrick Racing's shops and to run at least one car next year. The former Champ Car, Indy and Formula One champion came late to the party last year, and will likely do so again.


Eric Bachelart is another on the wait-and-see list, but he has tested Frenchman Nelson Philippe and expects to have the Barber Dodge Pro Series driver wring out his Reynard/Ford at Sebring again next week. A shrug of the shoulders was the best we could get from the Belgian, a former CART Indy Lights champion. Bachelart's Conquest Racing shop has much of its crew intact at this time.


Newman/Haas Racing, based close to the Wisconsin border expects to go racing in 2004 and is prepared to do either CART or the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series. The 2002 champs are simply waiting, like the rest of us to find out whether they'll be turning left or left and right with Bruno Junqueira and Sebastien Bourdais signed for the season. Their preference, from one end of the team to the other, is to remain in CART.


PK Racing has had to shelve Mika Salo's expected test at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca scheduled for later this month due to a supplier problem. A part they needed for the intended flog could not be received in time and they've elected to take the Finn to Sebring the first weekend of February. The entire crew is intact from last year and the team is hoping to find funding to run a second car in the Champ Car World Series.


At Team Canada, aka Forsythe Racing, the work goes on to prepare for the coming season for drivers Paul Tracy and Patrick Carpentier. The team is intact and they'll likely be testing the first part of next month. Only two guys have left the shop and those departures were expected. The bright sign on Georgetown Road still says "Player's - Forsythe" and hopefully, always will.


In Lansing, Paul Gentilozzi's Rocketsports Racing is gearing up for the new season with a new engineer for Alex Tagliani in Brian Ma, late of Herdez Competition. Gentilozzi is hoping to attract funding for a two-car effort next year and there has been conjecture as to the driver he will hire for that second seat. One thing for sure - it likely will not be Jacques Villeneuve.


Over at Team Rahal, co-owner Bobby Rahal expressed his hope that the 2004 Champ Car season will commence and Michel Jourdain Jr. will continue to move up the points ladder this year from the third-place finish he had in 2003. Sponsor Gigante, as a Mexico-based company is primarily interested in the Champ Car World Series for its marketing purposes.


Derrick Walker has some outside work to do that's keeping his crew busy at his north Indy shops and is waiting to see what happens with CART's court dates. The veteran team owner and manager is hoping to secure sufficient funds to run at least one car in CART this coming season and has already tested three dynamos: Michael Valiante, Jonathan Macri and Timo Glock as he prepares to choose a young pilot to mentor.

[suzmac]

At Team Canada, aka Forsythe Racing, the work goes on to prepare for the coming season for drivers Paul Tracy and Patrick Carpentier. The team is intact and they'll likely be testing the first part of next month. Only two guys have left the shop and those departures were expected. The bright sign on Georgetown Road still says "Player's - Forsythe" and hopefully, always will.


Dov you know I love to hear this!! LOL Just giving you a hard time! Thanks for posting this!! Team Rahal shop is really close to my sister's house and I pass it everytime I go to visit her!

Sue

[Dov]

Originally posted by suzmac
At Team Canada, aka Forsythe Racing, the work goes on to prepare for the coming season for drivers Paul Tracy and Patrick Carpentier. The team is intact and they'll likely be testing the first part of next month. Only two guys have left the shop and those departures were expected. The bright sign on Georgetown Road still says "Player's - Forsythe" and hopefully, always will.


Dov you know I love to hear this!! LOL Just giving you a hard time! Thanks for posting this!! Team Rahal shop is really close to my sister's house and I pass it everytime I go to visit her!

Sue

Sue,
next time you go visit your sister, could you drop by the Team Rahal shop and tell Bobby to stop yacking on about a possible CCWS/IRL merger! Tell him that CART and now OWRS have extended enough olive branches over the years only to have TG snap them in half. If TG really want's to unite the series, he will have to make the next move!!! Btw, Team ?/Forsythe is going to kick some major you know what this season! I predict that Carp will win at least 2 races this season and PT will win between 4-5 races!! I think the battle for the Championship will be between SeaBass and Jourdain. Junky will fight it out with PT for 3rd in the Championship! I'm hoping that Tags gets his first win as well....

[Tim Northcutt]

I think if TG "really wants to unite the two series" he WILL make that next move....in court on January 23....

Guess we'll all wait and see...

[suzmac]

Originally posted by Dov
Sue,
next time you go visit your sister, could you drop by the Team Rahal shop and tell Bobby to stop yacking on about a possible CCWS/IRL merger! Tell him that CART and now OWRS have extended enough olive branches over the years only to have TG snap them in half. If TG really want's to unite the series, he will have to make the next move!!! Btw, Team ?/Forsythe is going to kick some major you know what this season! I predict that Carp will win at least 2 races this season and PT will win between 4-5 races!! I think the battle for the Championship will be between SeaBass and Jourdain. Junky will fight it out with PT for 3rd in the Championship! I'm hoping that Tags gets his first win as well....

I'll be sure to do that Dov!! As many times as I have been down there I have never stopped in that place. I wanted to the last time I was there but didn't have the time. Yeah I think PF Racing will do quite well again this year! I would like to see Jourdain have a good season as well. Thanks for not making fun of me because I posted about my favorite team/man!!! I am quite shocked BTW Tags is my second favorite race car driver!!

Sue

[Dov]

Originally posted by suzmac
Thanks for not making fun of me because I posted about my favorite team/man!!!

Sue,
I hope you haven't been taking my little jabs at you and "your Patrick" seriously? I've only been having some fun with you and MLM! Most of the threads are so serious and I'm in the middle of it all the time, trying to fight off the TG/IRL supporter's. So sometimes we need a thread like "St. Pete Countdown" to just joke around and get away from the heavy subjects! Btw, I'm about to lay the Smackdown on Tim here.....seriously!!!

[Dov]

Sorry, Macdaddy, I no your probably going to edit this thread...

- Then why post it?

[suzmac]

Originally posted by Dov
Sue,
I hope you haven't been taking my little jabs at you and "your Patrick" seriously? I've only been having some fun with you and MLM! Most of the threads are so serious and I'm in the middle of it all the time, trying to fight off the TG/IRL supporter's. So sometimes we need a thread like "St. Pete Countdown" to just joke around and get away from the heavy subjects! Btw, I'm about to lay the Smackdown on Tim here.....seriously!!!

Oh come on Dov....I know you were kidding!! I am all about having fun!! I never took you seriously...that's why I told you I love reading the posts because they make me laugh when I am having a stressful day at work! I am definately NOT one of those supporters!!! Yeah I like that thread!! It's been so much fun since you started with the "control yourself woman" crack

Sue

[Tim Northcutt]

I'm not an IRL lover, Dov....just a race fan of both series who is furious with the previous administrators of CART for bankrupting the series and with the OWRS Group for trying to nickel and dime the thing to the point where it opened the door for this whole mess that is now before us....

I follow both series very closely and enjoy both for what they have to offer in open-wheeled racing...

I have always blamed BOTH sides for the split....now the only people who will really profit from this current mess will be the lawyers....

But that doesn't alter the fact that IF the IRL does intend to make a bid and make a case for support before Judge Otte as to why their bid should be considered, it will be heard when they publicly state their intentions in court on Jan. 23....

To be honest with you, I would be surprised if the IRL DOES in fact make a bid...unless they want to put this transaction into a situation where OWRS will have to spend a lot more than the estimated $3 million it will cost them under the current terms of the proposal OWRS has submitted....

They aren't ready to race on road courses with their current equipment yet....and one of the prized events that would be desired by them -- Long Beach -- already conflicts with their Motegi date....just for starters....

THese issues above only scratch the surface of problems this could cause for the IRL by getting involved in this process...

Like Mr. Gentilozzi said earlier this week, there are many aspects of this buyout that involves contracts with sponsors, suppliers, etc., that could very well make a successful IRL bid a total legal nightmare for them....because there would be conflicts with existing deals they have already struck with their own suppliers, sponsors, etc....contracts with SOMEONE would have to be broken or altered....

and only the lawyers would get richer, while we...the fans...would suffer the most....

I'm not happy at all with the whole situation, Dov....

It stinks!!!!

[Dov]

Tim,
Of course it's the OW racing fan(s) who get hurt the most. If you want to be a fan of both series like some others on this forum, then that's your right! What I don't like is when you guys always seem to side with TG and the IRL!! We all no that CART has never been managed properly, but let's not forget that TG played a big role in the split and since then he hasn't done anything to unite the two series, while CART has tried numbers of times! That's fine with me because I can't stand the IRL cars and their contrived races!

[Tim Northcutt]

You're entitled to your opinion, Dov....

I actually have a great deal of respect for you, and enjoy reading your posts....

But I have not sided with TG and the IRL in this....I've merely stated facts as I see them as this whole mess has evolved....

The post above that has apparently lit your fuse was my response to a sentence you had written earlier in this thread:

"If TG really want's to unite the series, he will have to make the next move!!!"

I merely stated that his next move just might be made on January 23 if the IRL submits their own bid for the assets....

I didn't mean to offend you, and if it did, I apologize....

I hope it doesn't come to this, but IF this thing ultimately turns out to be the IRL as the only open-wheel series, and you do not like TG or the IRL type of racing, I do hope that you will take a look at the ALMS for racing if you haven't already...

I enjoy the ALMS a great deal....and my love of sportscars is the reason that brought me to the "10/10ths" network of forums....

[Dov]

Tim,
to me it looked like you were implying that on Jan/23rd & the 28 that TG will outbid OWRS for CART's assets because he's the almighty one! Now that I've looked at your original thread for a second time, I believe I misread it and I apologize for blowing up like that. While I respect your right to your opinion I can't respect anyone who is an IRL fan. It may sound harsh, but it looks like if there is no merger, then it will come down to one of the series falling by the wayside and I'll be damned if it's ChampCars! Btw, I do like ALMS. I've only seen it so far on TV, but I'm going to try to attend the race this summer at Mosport.....depending on how much money I have available to me at the time.....

P.S. You said that you haven't sided with TG or the IRL!? Well maybe, but I've never seen you slam TG or the IRL like you have ChampCars in the past or present!

[Tim Northcutt]

For the record...

When I first started posting on this Champ Car forum, CamCartFan got into an exchange with me and I stated all of the many problems I have with TG and the IRL...

To name a few....He started that series because CART chose not to give him a seat on their Board....instead of trying to work with them, he decided to act like a spoiled child and "take his bag of marbles home, and play his own little game in his own little sand box"...t

Thus splitting fans, teams, sponsors and suppliers into two camps...

There are many, many more items I could tick off through the years...the "25/8" rule at Indy....the dramatic changes in chassis and engines for 2003 just when they were getting momentum with teams participating....and most of all:

Breaking off every Olive Branch that CART has ever extended to him to try to bring things back together amicably....

But just because I don't like many decisions he has made, it willnot keep me from enjoying the oval side of open-wheeled racing....

Just as the many years of CART's Board members as "Franchise Holders" -- a true crock of turds in itself as a concept...brought about the intense desire of TG in the first place to try to get that seat on the CART Board...their own self-defeating selfish-interest, closed-club approach was screwing up the sport....plus the years of mismanagement, etc. also ticked me off..

But it didn't keep me from watching CART races or attending their events...

A Note to elaborate on the whole "Franchise" mentality of the Board as owners and how they operated in the early 1990s....

One of the most talented drivers in racing today had one goal in the early 1990s...to drive Champ Cars and to race in the Indy 500...

His name -- Jeff Gordon....

But the whole mind-set of the CART owners left a guy like Jeff, and would have left Tony Stewart as well, on the outside looking in while guys like Hiro "The Human Roadblock" Matsushida were driving every race...

That kind of stuff, as well as Penske building the "Indy-Only" Pushrod Mercedes because he has the bankroll to do it, etc., was what led TG to want that Board seat in the first place...


I don't have to like the leaders of a series, or how they choose to run their business, to watch their races....

I'm not going to let petty people screw up one of my favorite hobbies....auto racing....

Life's too short to let little things like that get in the way of what I enjoy....

[Testure]

Originally posted by Dov
P.S. You said that you haven't sided with TG or the IRL!? Well maybe, but I've never seen you slam TG or the IRL like you have ChampCars in the past or present!

Dov, I've seen Tim post a number of times about his issues with Tony George. I'm sure if you check his posting record, you'll see them too.

[BootsOntheSide]

So that's Patrick gone, ASTJ gone, Conquest on the brink, RuSport unmentioned and seemingly MIA, and Walker seemingly putting two different fronts on the situation. The likelihood of a full grid for 2004 is minimal. I've basically lost all hope in this thing, at least we could have an exciting merged 2005 IRL series.

I still hate Tony George quite intensely, and regard him as the biggest cause of open-wheel's current problems, but we all hate Bill Gates and I bet most of us choose to use Mcirosoft over Linux or MacOS, simply because it's more versatile and capable. If I let my heart rule, I'd still be using a Commodore Amiga.

[GP Racer]

Tim, I agree with you about Gordon, and I also think many other NASCAR guys could have come this way, if things had been different, but I ranted long and hard on this subject in another thread, "OWRS Press Release", and its probably best I leave it there!

[Tim Northcutt]

By the same token, even though Tony Stewart did get his long-desired shot at Indy cars and the Indy 500, the whole split itself made it more profitable for him as a driver and for endoresement contracts, etc., to go to NASCAR anyway...

So the split can cut two ways...it can give a guy a shot at Champ Cars who would have never seen the light of day in the pre-split days, but the split has reduced the overall value monetarily that a driver can earn in either open-wheeled series...which has made NASCAR the ultimate winner in the whole mess...

[Jay]

I have to disagree about guys like Gordon and Stewart being huge losses to open-wheel racing. Nobody can say that they would have done nearly as well had they come to CART or the IRL... Stock car racing is very very different from open-wheel racing, and there is no guarantee that because a driver is good at one, he'd be equally good at the other... Also, there are other factors that could have led to an unsuccessful career in open-wheel racing(e.g. Townsend Bell) or other factors that could have led to a lack-luster career (e.g. Bryan Herta, Memo Gidley, etc). Just because I am a success at one company, does not mean I will be equally successful at another with a different job.

[GP Racer]

You also have to talk about marketing and fan appeal when you look at these guys Jay.

NASCAR has been able to make them household names, heroes and celebrities, even to people who don't follow racing! There a huge draw, for fans, sponsors and teams. Everyone wants a piece of these guys. I feel CART could have done the same for these guys, just like they did for Mears, Sullivan, and Andretti back in the glory days.

IMHO, things could be very different today, had they brought these guys in.

[Tim Northcutt]

Sorry Jay, but the facts sepak differently:

1. Tony Stewart did run in the IRL....won the Series Title before going to stockers, and

2. I personally witnessed Jeff Gordon drive Montoya's F-1 Williams in the "Trading Paint" exhibition at IMS last June...within 3-4 laps, Gordon was flying in that F-1 car, and was within a half-second of
F-1 qualifying times before the 10th lap he turned....

Literally everyone in the racing world who was there or watched it later and reported on it said there is no doubt that Jeff Gordon could drive competitively in an open-wheeled racing series once he got fully acclimated to whatever chassis he would be racing in....

Look up the stories if you don't believe me....

[MLM]

You know, you're talking about "ride buyers" like "King Hiro" taking seats away from qualified drivers (like Gordon and Stewart) because they didn't have the bucks....and this little piece of irony just popped into my mind.....

Just think of the money Gordon and Stewart are raking in now!
And all that money and popularity could be in open wheel racing right now.
Of course, Stewart did have his chance in OW racing...in the IRL.
What the heck happened to not only CART but to "Tony's Vision"? (that's a rhetorical question, of course )

[Jay]

Tim, there's a huge difference between turning a few demonstration laps at speed and being a full race grand prix driver. Again, as I said, there are few guarantees, that say if a team in CART had signed Gordon that he would have done nearly as well... also, who's to say that if CART had Gordon it would have helped them anymore? They did have Jimmy Vasser who also has a Southern accent, won a championship and a few other races, yet he hasn't helped CART a ton - so why would someone like Jeff Gordon?

ANascar made Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart what they are - they did not make Nascar what it is. If Jeff Gordon had stuck with CART, there's no guarantee he'd be any better known or more marketable right now than Memo Gidley or Bryan Herta. So, moral of it all - why cry over 'might have's now.

[GP Racer]

Originally posted by MLM
You know, you're talking about "ride buyers" like "King Hiro" taking seats away from qualified drivers (like Gordon and Stewart) because they didn't have the bucks....and this little piece of irony just popped into my mind.....

Just think of the money Gordon and Stewart are raking in now!
And all that money and popularity could be in open wheel racing right now.
Of course, Stewart did have his chance in OW racing...in the IRL.
What the heck happened to not only CART but to "Tony's Vision"? (that's a rhetorical question, of course )

Your pretty much making the point, that I got beat up for yesterday.

These guys never should have slipped through open wheel racings fingers, and your question, what the heck happened is a valid one...

[Tim Northcutt]

I'd agree totally on "Tony's Vision..."

You could draw a fat line through every concept he stated when he started the IRL

But Jay, many people in motorsports were quite surprised by what Gordon showed them that day...

Do a web search by plugging in his name, Juan's and "Trading Paint" for your search items and see what you run across...just for the hell of it....

I haven't done that search, but I heard many different announcers on various race telecasts such as Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, Tommy Kendall, Dave Despain, etc., spend a lot of time telling viewers of various "other" types of racing (so it wasn't NASCAR propaganda) exactly what I stated above....and I read it in various mostorsports web accounts that covered or mentioned the event...

So what I stated above is not my opinion, but from those who are involved in covering the sport....

But I've also been watching all forms of auto racing for about 35 years ad a rabid fan of the sport....

Some people stand out when it comes to talent....

Jeff Gordon can drive anything on four wheels fast...don't make any mistake about that...he was fast in open-wheeled cars in USAC before he went to NASCAR...

and whether readers of this forum choose to believe it or not, the fact that Jeff Gordon had to go to NASCAR to move up when it was no secret that he really wanted to drive Indy Cars was one of many instances or reasons why Tony George chose to start his own little game...the one named EARL...

That also is fact....

Personally...

I think both sides of this mess have spent a lot of time giving themselves self-inflicted wounds more than they've been shooting at each other...

and the ones who have been getting screwed are us...the fans...

Simply because too many egos and too many wallets on both sides of the fence couldn't just play nice together...

[GP Racer]

Visions change as opportunity arises.

I can't think of any series that has stayed true to its vision, and is still around. Sometimes you have to change to survive. All of us have visions for our own lives, but we all have had to make adjustments to.