Champ Car, Indy Racing League working on truce

[nadepalma]

SOURCE: AutoWeek

Champ Car, Indy Racing League working on truce

By CURT CAVIN

The off-again, on-again talks between the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series appear to be on again in an 11th-hour attempt to unify the two series for 2008.

IRL officials confirmed on Friday (Feb. 8) that league chairman Tony George and two of his top associates, along with Robert Clarke, the former head of Honda Performance Development, will fly to Motegi, Japan, this weekend to meet with Motegi track officials. Their pitch: Moving the April 19 Motegi race so that this year's Long Beach Grand Prix can be added to the IndyCar Series schedule.

Long Beach, which has been on Champ Car's schedule since 1984, is set to host its race April 20. The Long Beach promoter has a contract with the California city to stage the event and says the date is not changeable. Honda owns the Motegi track, which explains Clarke's presence on the trip with George.

The Motegi/Long Beach situation is just one of the key issues yet to be resolved, but George's willingness to fly 13 hours from Indianapolis to Japan indicates he is dedicated to finding a solution.

There are several things that must be accounted for before the two series can become one.

Champ Car has a handful of contracts with race promoters that need to be resolved. George said he's willing to add as many of those races to the IRL's 2008 schedule as possible. Date conflicts with existing IRL races are part of the obstacles, he said.

MORE HERE

[nadepalma]

If it happens, AMEN.

I knew they've been split for awhile, but I hope they can unify the series to create a true, premium open-wheel race series for the US.

The sooner this happens, the better.

[Silverado14]

Originally Posted by nadepalma

If it happens, AMEN.

I knew they've been split for awhile, but I hope they can unify the series to create a true, premium open-wheel race series for the US.

The sooner this happens, the better.

...I couldn't agree more. Hope it FINALLY happens!

[DMC]

I hope fans never forget that Tony George is to blame for the current state of American Open Wheel Racing. This is the man that will apparently be hailed as its savior if this deal is done.

Thankfully, I have ALMS to watch. I will never spend a dime on anything owned by Tony George.

[Family Man]

I'm happy they're coming together, but whoa... So close to the start of the season?

Making the CHAMP guys switch to Dallaras for the season is going to be tough, since so much effort has been put into the Panoz chasis. I would like to see them merge this year, however still run their own races (much like Rolex series or American LeMans). This way, this allows the CHAMP guys to familiarize themselves with the Dallara cars before competing. The only problem would be the Indy 500, as you can really have just one winner.

However, I like were this is going. Tony's idea of creating an inexpensive, oval-only series for Americans has been a flop... The series has gotten expensive, major car manufacturers have left, road courses have been added and the field is full of foreign drivers. With F1 gone from the US, let's hope that the merge ingnites Americans love of open wheel racing.

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by Family Man

Making the CHAMP guys switch to Dallaras for the season is going to be tough, since so much effort has been put into the Panoz chasis. I would like to see them merge this year, however still run their own races (much like Rolex series or American LeMans). This way, this allows the CHAMP guys to familiarize themselves with the Dallara cars before competing. The only problem would be the Indy 500, as you can really have just one winner.

Why can't Dallara and Panoz compete?

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

Ehh, I'm more interested in the ALMS and Rolex Series. The Rolex Series has an awesome roster of drivers this year. I saw McNish was driving a DP at the '24hrs of Daytona'. I assume he is only doing that until the ALMS starts up again. I'm looking forward to another exciting summer of road racing. The "chase" between Gurney, Pruett and Angelelli last year was epic. And obviously I'm pulling for my boys Ron Fellows and Jan Magnussen with Pratt and Miller.

[Hunid Racks]

Maybe they can come up with the "Indy Car of Tomorrow"?

Oh the heck with that, there's already one group that races stickers.

[funkietowne]

Originally Posted by HoosierRon

Why can't Dallara and Panoz compete?

The kmart car is a 1993 Lola with Nigel Mansell driving back when there was only 1 series. The current champ car chassis was designed specifically for champ car by panoz and is built more for roadcourses rather than the IRL dallara which is designed with oval racing in mind (crush zones, suspension setup, wing configuration, etc.). The engine champ car is currently using is quite similar to the one in Mansell's car pictured tuned to around 800hp whereas the IRL honda engine is around 600hp.

The whole open wheel racing thing is a big mess now and there has been talk of this every year since CART went bankrupt.

[camaro_freak]

Good move and about time... they better come together if they want to keep going.

[bone]

I don't see it happening for 2008. The cars are completely incompatible so the losers in this deal would be the Champ Car teams. Where would they get the money to buy the Indy car and even if they had the money,are any cars available? What about Ford? and Honda? 2009 at the earliest.

[dindak]

This is something they should have been working on 4 months ago when it was clear many teams and top driver on both sides were leaving the sport.

This is the first year I have not renewed my seats to the Toronto Indy because the event has slowly gone down hill and my kids wanted to go to a NASCAR race. Only so many dollars to spend so we are heading to Michigan in August. Many of the top Champ Car, F1 and Indy Car drivers are there anyway.

[dindak]

Originally Posted by bone

I don't see it happening for 2008. The cars are completely incompatible so the losers in this deal would be the Champ Car teams. Where would they get the money to buy the Indy car and even if they had the money,are any cars available? What about Ford? and Honda? 2009 at the earliest.

I agree. It's WAY too late. What they should do is work on a joint Indy 500 event and then a plan for 2009. That could build on hope and much better super series for the future!

[dederer]

It would be nice if they allowed more than one type of car and engine to compete in the series. I think they would get more interest in open wheeled racing in the US if GM and Ford were involved.

[geozinger]

Originally Posted by dederer

It would be nice if they allowed more than one type of car and engine to compete in the series. I think they would get more interest in open wheeled racing in the US if GM and Ford were involved.

Bring back the stock blocks!

Imagine a LS9 powering an open wheel racer...