IRL Woos Champ Car Owners With Free Cars Cash in Reunion Bid
IRL Woos Champ Car Owners With Free Cars, Cash in Reunion Bid
By Gene Laverty
Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — The Indy Racing League, which
sanctions the Indianapolis 500, is offering team owners in the
rival Champ Car World Series free cars and engines in a bid to
reunite the two biggest open-wheel circuits in the U.S.
Owners who move to the IRL also would receive $1.2 million
in cash, the same compensation offered to all teams that commit
to race the full season, league spokesman John Griffin said in
an interview. IRL founder Tony George will fly to Japan tomorrow
in an attempt to get promoters in that country to swap a race
date that would help the deal work, Griffin said.
No deal has been reached to unify the series, Champ Car co-
owner Kevin Kalkhoven said in an e-mailed statement. Discussions
between the racing leagues are stalled and Champ Car is planning
its own season, he said.
“Leaks and media reports about a possible unification of
Champ Car and the IRL have significantly hampered discussions,;;
Kalkhoven said. “Discussions currently are at a standstill, and
we therefore are proceeding with plans to continue as Champ
Car.;;
A merger would add Champ Car;s races in Long Beach,
California; Surfer;s Paradise, Australia; and Edmonton, Alberta,
to the IRL schedule. Each team would receive a new Dallara
chassis and Honda engine, both of which are specific to IRL. The
single-seat, open-cockpit cars that look similar to Formula One
machines cost about $309,000 and engines are leased from Honda
Motor Co.
1995 Split
Attendance and television ratings for open-wheel car racing
have slumped since the IRL and Champ Car;s predecessor,
Championship Auto Racing Teams, split in 1995, leaving some of
the top drivers and cars out of the Indianapolis 500, then the
biggest and richest U.S. auto race. George;s family owns
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Since the split, Nascar, which uses racers based on
production models, has grown to be the second-most-watched sport
on U.S. television. Nascar;s Daytona 500, the richest U.S. auto
race, has a purse of more than $18 million, compared with about
$10 million for the Indy 500.
Dario Franchitti, last season;s Indy 500 and IRL
championship winner, left the series to drive in Nascar this
year. Sebastien Bourdais, who won the 2007 Champ Car title, left
that series for Formula One.
Champ Car started in 2004 after Kalkhoven and car owners
Paul Gentilozzi and Gerald Forsythe bought the assets of
bankrupt CART in the 2003 offseason. Both racing leagues are
based in Indianapolis.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Gene Laverty in Charlotte, North Carolina, at
