Done deal

Schwartz Fan · 02-22-2008, 09:43 PM

Done deal

Friday, February 22, 2008

George, series owners sign unification agreement

By Dave Lewandowski
indycar.com

Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George and owners of the Champ Car World Series have completed an agreement in principle that will unify the sport for 2008.

Gerald Forsythe, co-owner of Champ Car, signed an agreement in principle Feb. 22 in Chicago, joining his partner, Kevin Kalkhoven. George signed the agreement Feb. 21.

Details of a news conference about unification will be forthcoming. When scheduled, the news conference will be shown live on indycar.com.

"I'm happy for open-wheel racing, its fans, sponsors and teams," George said.

The Indy Racing League, sanctioning body of the IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series, is poised to absorb teams and potentially '08 race events from the CCWS. The IndyCar Series will conduct its first Open Test of the year at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Feb. 27-28. The test (4-10 p.m. ET both days) is open to the public free of charge, with viewing from the fourth level of the main grandstand. Timing and Scoring will be available on indycar.com. An Open Test on the Sebring International Raceway road course for the IndyCar Series is scheduled for March 3-6.

"Now the work begins," said Terry Angstadt, president of the Indy Racing League's coommercial division, in a meeting with league personnel.

There have been two open-wheel racing series in North America since 1996, when the Indy Racing League conducted its first event at Walt Disney World Speedway. On March 11, 1994, George announced plans for an open-wheel racing series -- with the Indianapolis 500 as its cornerstone -- as an alternative to Championship Auto Racing Teams. That series went bankrupt in 2003 and emerged as the Champ Car World Series in 2004.

"This is a huge day for the IndyCar Series and for our sport as a whole, for sure," said Andretti Green Racing co-owner Michael Andretti, a former CART season champion. "Over the years, whether I was in the role of driver, team owner or promoter, I have always wanted a unified sport. That has been my only goal throughout this entire process and I applaud everyone who played a role in making this happen. So many people have worked tirelessly, both publicly and behind the scenes, to get this done. Everyone can now focus on taking the IndyCar Series to new heights for the good of our sport and everyone involved in it."

Andretti's sentiments were shared by competitors, promoters and suppliers to the IndyCar Series.

Said four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt, who team, A.J. Foyt Racing, has competed in the IndyCar Series since its inception: "I'm glad that they were able to get it done. It'll eliminate the confusion for the race fans and the sponsors because there'll be just one type of car and one type of motor and everyone will be running together. May the best team win."

Said Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage, whose facility hosts the Bombardier Learjet 550k under the lights June 7: "The fans have won and we have to give Tony George and the Indy Racing League credit for making a generous offer to resolve this issue."

Said Sarah Fisher: "As a driver I am extremely excited about the unification of open-wheel racing from an opportunity standpoint," Sarah Fisher said. "This gives us the opportunity to compete against the very best in open-wheel racing. It will combine two great fanbases and grow a different fanbase that has not previously watched us on either side. In addition, there will be less confusion for casual fans and potential sponsors in the future. We have a clear vision with a clear goal and objective as a series moving forward."

Honda, which began Championship Auto Racing Team competition in 1994, entered the IndyCar Series in 2003. Its Honda Indy V-8 engines, fueled by 100 fuel-grade ethanol, will power all the cars this season.

"We are elated that the sanctioning bodies have elected to combine into a single, cohesive and powerful IndyCar Series," said Erik Berkman, president of Honda Performance Development, the wholly-owned motorsports subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "We welcome the opportunity to provide our Honda Indy V-8 racing engines to all participants in what we believe will instantly be a larger, stronger and even much more competitive field; and we eagerly look forward to what surely will be a very exciting 2008 racing season. Not only is this unification good for all the teams and sanctioning bodies; most importantly, it is great for fans of open-wheel racing, whose loyalties have been divided by two competing racing series."

Done deal :: IndyCar® Series

Schwartz Fan · 02-22-2008, 09:51 PM

Sides ink agreement Friday to unify sport for '08
Posted: Friday February 22, 2008 4:46PM; Updated: Friday February 22, 2008 5:07PM

By Bruce Martin, Special to SI.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- On a cold and snowy day in Indianapolis, the long, bitter and divisive IndyCar "Cold War" has come to an end, ironically with the stroke of a pen in Chicago and not the "World Capital of Auto Racing" in Indianapolis.

Owners of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League completed an agreement in principle Friday that will unify the sport for 2008.

Champ Car co-owner Gerald Forsythe signed the agreement in Chicago, joining partner Kevin Kalkhoven and Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George, who signed late Thursday in Indianapolis.

Forsythe's was the last signature required to bring this long process to a conclusion.

Details of a press conference on the agreement will be forthcoming.

Kalkhoven, the main principal of Champ Car Racing, and George both left Indianapolis after a Friday morning meeting.

George and Kalkhoven met late into the night on Thursday at a downtown Indianapolis restaurant and made what both sides called "significant progress." The two met again on Friday morning to finalize the agreement.

Time was a major consideration for both sides. The IndyCar Series is set to have its first open practice of the season next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway and some of the Champ Car teams expected to join the series were hoping to attend. But without a firm agreement between the two sides, that attendance remained in limbo until the agreement was signed by Forsythe.

The IndyCar Series had hoped to call a press conference for noon Friday but the plan was scuttled after the meeting Thursday night.

News of the agreement was met with near-immediate approval from sources and suppliers in both series.

"This is a great day for open-wheel racing and one that I and my Rahal Letterman Racing team have looked forward to for a long time," said IndyCar team owner Bobby Rahal, who at one time was the CEO of the CART series -- the predecessor to Champ Car. "I applaud all of those that made this possible, but want to especially recognize all of those that made sacrifices and concessions to secure the future of open-wheel racing. I truly believe that this is the first step toward restoring open-wheel racing and the Indianapolis 500 to not only where it once was, but beyond."

Among those suppliers was Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, which served as sole tire supplier to both circuits since 2000 and added marketing leverage as a strong promotional partner with each organization.

"Overall, Bridgestone Firestone Motorsports is quite pleased for the sport," said Al Speyer, executive director of Bridgestone Firestone Motorsports. "We are looking for a unified American open-wheel racing series to maximize fan interest, as well as bring in additional teams, drivers and sponsors -- all of which will contribute to the health and growth of that series. We are eager to work with everyone involved in the transition and look forward to an even more promising future.

"As always, we look forward to a solid future supplying the best racing tires in the business," Speyer added. "The synergies possible with all of the great people involved working toward a common goal really excites us."

SI.com - Racing - Bruce Martin: IRL, Champ Car reach merger agreement - Friday February 22, 2008 4:46PM

VaDirt · 02-24-2008, 09:24 PM

This is such great news, I can't wait until the season gets started so we can see how this shakes out. How the Motegi/Long Beach deal shakes out, how the Indy 500 plays out (maybe bump day will actuall mean somehting again), and how well some of the CCWS teams can do on such a tight time frame.

Psyched!

snipes · 06-01-2008, 04:23 PM

Switched over to the Indy Car race just to see who is winning and saw there are only 26cars running at Milwaukee, thought there would be more than that with the unification, where are all the Champ Car drivers, last year in the IRL there was probly 22 cars per event so only 2 teams came in from Champ?

02-22-2008, 09:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
Schwartz Fan Co-Administrator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: The flatlands...Where dirt is for farming, clay is for racin' and asphalt is for gettin there!!! Posts: 7,340	Done deal Done deal Friday, February 22, 2008 George, series owners sign unification agreement By Dave Lewandowski indycar.com Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George and owners of the Champ Car World Series have completed an agreement in principle that will unify the sport for 2008. Gerald Forsythe, co-owner of Champ Car, signed an agreement in principle Feb. 22 in Chicago, joining his partner, Kevin Kalkhoven. George signed the agreement Feb. 21. Details of a news conference about unification will be forthcoming. When scheduled, the news conference will be shown live on indycar.com. "I'm happy for open-wheel racing, its fans, sponsors and teams," George said. The Indy Racing League, sanctioning body of the IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series, is poised to absorb teams and potentially '08 race events from the CCWS. The IndyCar Series will conduct its first Open Test of the year at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Feb. 27-28. The test (4-10 p.m. ET both days) is open to the public free of charge, with viewing from the fourth level of the main grandstand. Timing and Scoring will be available on indycar.com. An Open Test on the Sebring International Raceway road course for the IndyCar Series is scheduled for March 3-6. "Now the work begins," said Terry Angstadt, president of the Indy Racing League's coommercial division, in a meeting with league personnel. There have been two open-wheel racing series in North America since 1996, when the Indy Racing League conducted its first event at Walt Disney World Speedway. On March 11, 1994, George announced plans for an open-wheel racing series -- with the Indianapolis 500 as its cornerstone -- as an alternative to Championship Auto Racing Teams. That series went bankrupt in 2003 and emerged as the Champ Car World Series in 2004. "This is a huge day for the IndyCar Series and for our sport as a whole, for sure," said Andretti Green Racing co-owner Michael Andretti, a former CART season champion. "Over the years, whether I was in the role of driver, team owner or promoter, I have always wanted a unified sport. That has been my only goal throughout this entire process and I applaud everyone who played a role in making this happen. So many people have worked tirelessly, both publicly and behind the scenes, to get this done. Everyone can now focus on taking the IndyCar Series to new heights for the good of our sport and everyone involved in it." Andretti's sentiments were shared by competitors, promoters and suppliers to the IndyCar Series. Said four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt, who team, A.J. Foyt Racing, has competed in the IndyCar Series since its inception: "I'm glad that they were able to get it done. It'll eliminate the confusion for the race fans and the sponsors because there'll be just one type of car and one type of motor and everyone will be running together. May the best team win." Said Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage, whose facility hosts the Bombardier Learjet 550k under the lights June 7: "The fans have won and we have to give Tony George and the Indy Racing League credit for making a generous offer to resolve this issue." Said Sarah Fisher: "As a driver I am extremely excited about the unification of open-wheel racing from an opportunity standpoint," Sarah Fisher said. "This gives us the opportunity to compete against the very best in open-wheel racing. It will combine two great fanbases and grow a different fanbase that has not previously watched us on either side. In addition, there will be less confusion for casual fans and potential sponsors in the future. We have a clear vision with a clear goal and objective as a series moving forward." Honda, which began Championship Auto Racing Team competition in 1994, entered the IndyCar Series in 2003. Its Honda Indy V-8 engines, fueled by 100 fuel-grade ethanol, will power all the cars this season. "We are elated that the sanctioning bodies have elected to combine into a single, cohesive and powerful IndyCar Series," said Erik Berkman, president of Honda Performance Development, the wholly-owned motorsports subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "We welcome the opportunity to provide our Honda Indy V-8 racing engines to all participants in what we believe will instantly be a larger, stronger and even much more competitive field; and we eagerly look forward to what surely will be a very exciting 2008 racing season. Not only is this unification good for all the teams and sanctioning bodies; most importantly, it is great for fans of open-wheel racing, whose loyalties have been divided by two competing racing series." Done deal :: IndyCar® Series __________________

02-22-2008, 09:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
Schwartz Fan Co-Administrator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: The flatlands...Where dirt is for farming, clay is for racin' and asphalt is for gettin there!!! Posts: 7,340	Sides ink agreement Friday to unify sport for '08 Posted: Friday February 22, 2008 4:46PM; Updated: Friday February 22, 2008 5:07PM By Bruce Martin, Special to SI.com INDIANAPOLIS -- On a cold and snowy day in Indianapolis, the long, bitter and divisive IndyCar "Cold War" has come to an end, ironically with the stroke of a pen in Chicago and not the "World Capital of Auto Racing" in Indianapolis. Owners of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League completed an agreement in principle Friday that will unify the sport for 2008. Champ Car co-owner Gerald Forsythe signed the agreement in Chicago, joining partner Kevin Kalkhoven and Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George, who signed late Thursday in Indianapolis. Forsythe's was the last signature required to bring this long process to a conclusion. Details of a press conference on the agreement will be forthcoming. Kalkhoven, the main principal of Champ Car Racing, and George both left Indianapolis after a Friday morning meeting. George and Kalkhoven met late into the night on Thursday at a downtown Indianapolis restaurant and made what both sides called "significant progress." The two met again on Friday morning to finalize the agreement. Time was a major consideration for both sides. The IndyCar Series is set to have its first open practice of the season next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway and some of the Champ Car teams expected to join the series were hoping to attend. But without a firm agreement between the two sides, that attendance remained in limbo until the agreement was signed by Forsythe. The IndyCar Series had hoped to call a press conference for noon Friday but the plan was scuttled after the meeting Thursday night. News of the agreement was met with near-immediate approval from sources and suppliers in both series. "This is a great day for open-wheel racing and one that I and my Rahal Letterman Racing team have looked forward to for a long time," said IndyCar team owner Bobby Rahal, who at one time was the CEO of the CART series -- the predecessor to Champ Car. "I applaud all of those that made this possible, but want to especially recognize all of those that made sacrifices and concessions to secure the future of open-wheel racing. I truly believe that this is the first step toward restoring open-wheel racing and the Indianapolis 500 to not only where it once was, but beyond." Among those suppliers was Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, which served as sole tire supplier to both circuits since 2000 and added marketing leverage as a strong promotional partner with each organization. "Overall, Bridgestone Firestone Motorsports is quite pleased for the sport," said Al Speyer, executive director of Bridgestone Firestone Motorsports. "We are looking for a unified American open-wheel racing series to maximize fan interest, as well as bring in additional teams, drivers and sponsors -- all of which will contribute to the health and growth of that series. We are eager to work with everyone involved in the transition and look forward to an even more promising future. "As always, we look forward to a solid future supplying the best racing tires in the business," Speyer added. "The synergies possible with all of the great people involved working toward a common goal really excites us." SI.com - Racing - Bruce Martin: IRL, Champ Car reach merger agreement - Friday February 22, 2008 4:46PM __________________

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02-24-2008, 09:24 PM	#3 (permalink)
VaDirt Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Poquoson, VA Posts: 211	This is such great news, I can't wait until the season gets started so we can see how this shakes out. How the Motegi/Long Beach deal shakes out, how the Indy 500 plays out (maybe bump day will actuall mean somehting again), and how well some of the CCWS teams can do on such a tight time frame. Psyched!

06-01-2008, 04:23 PM	#4 (permalink)
snipes Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 810	Switched over to the Indy Car race just to see who is winning and saw there are only 26cars running at Milwaukee, thought there would be more than that with the unification, where are all the Champ Car drivers, last year in the IRL there was probly 22 cars per event so only 2 teams came in from Champ?

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