Does anyone else smell a screw up in the reunification ?

[SoCalPVguy]

Per Robin Miller:
"In the past 24 hours I’ve heard:
• Gerry Forsythe has decided to keep Champ Car going without Kevin Kalkhoven.
• Forsythe is buying all of Derrick Walker’s equipment because he’s going to have to field at least six cars to make sure there’s a dozen on the grid.
• Kalkhoven and Craig Gore, the co-owner of Team Australia who still owes Derrick Walker a fortune from 2007, are going to run a team in the Indy Racing League.
• Kalkhoven owns the majority rights to Long Beach so he’ll still cut a deal with George to have the IRL there in April and Motegi will be postponed until 2009.
• Champ Car will show up at Long Beach for the season opener, then disband and join Tony George’s series at Indianapolis.
• The four Champ Car owners will have a conference call on Friday to decide their fate.
• They’ve already decided to file for bankruptcy but, for some reason, they’re dragging their feet.

The lack of communication from Kalkhoven and Forsythe to the other owners and their employees is disengenous, unprofessional and Enron-like in its insulting silence."

This is a big mess ! On that we must all agree.

And it looks like that this time, unlike past efforts where it looked like TG backed out, the fault lies directly with the amigos who are going to unprecendented heights of poor business practices. KK isn't just bailing out on a whim - they are broke, as evidenced by the un-paid service contracts, unpaid prize money and unpaid Atlantics championship scholarship, as just "tip of the iceberg" examples.

Given the present situation, I cannot see how CCWS could run any kind of "lame duck" series in 2008 prior to a merger in 2009.

Who would attend ?
who would watch ?
what sponsor would invest ? and
what driver would risk life and limb in that scenario ???

The time is now - or never, because if it is not now, CCWS will just cease to exist in 2008 anyway after teams switch over on their own. No way GF could break off a separate CCWS series with less than 10-cars and no sponsorship, if they are going bankrupt now imagine that cost...

Taking one step back this year, unifying the AOWR situation NOW (2008) and allowing the (soon to be) former CCWS management at least some input and coming back in 2009 / 2010 with a better chassis/engine formula is the way to go, VERSUS having CCWS just go away and having IRL absorb a few teams with no former CCWS input, as there will be no incentive in that situation to move forward in the future.

We all need to think longer-term strategically instead of emotionally in the present.

[OWFan19]

I am sorry, but this is a very easy fix. CC stops the bleeding. I am tired of hearing about doing this right. Teams can come over and be a little behind in the competiveness of Indy Car for a few races, which if they will be in 2009 or when ever they finally come over. Might as well do it now and get it done and over with. All they need is a new car, which push come to shove isnt hard for them. They have the haulers, the personel, everything they need to run a team.

The teams are just as guilty as the owners in my opinion. Time from them to take the life rafts that TG has offered them. As long as they give GF or whoever else the reason to keep Champ Car going, they have no right to complain or refer to one series. The opportunity is there, they just need to grow some balls and go to Indy Car.

[Pat Wiatrowski]

Nonsense!

[garyshell]

Nonsense!

Really? Care to be a bit more specific?

Gary

[Brad Erman]

IMO, the genie is out and not going back in the bottle. The questions I have relate to if there will be something more organized than bankruptcy by CCWS. The wrong guy won but (again IMO) the war is over.

[Miatanut]

"screw-up" implies that there was a unified intention. It has been clear the Amigos have been on different pages for a few months. The only difference is it appeared their discord was going to lead to CCWS going out of business, and now it may be that some of them will continue to run a crippled series.

I would also question calling it a reunification. There may be a few CCWS teams that go, but there will be CCWS teams, and legions of fans, who won't go. At least not to the IRL. ALMS stands to profit nicely off all this.

Now if they would just get some closed top P1's!

[weeflyonthewall]

2009 was always the projected year of reunification. Why does everyone think TG is holding all the cards? He is as much under pressure from Honda as both series from the financial shortfalls of racing in general. With most of the obstacles out of the way it will be Tony Cotman who brokers a schedule acceptable to both sides.

[Wilf]

With most of the obstacles out of the way it will be Tony Cotman who brokers a schedule acceptable to both sides.

And his position as saviour was created how?

[Chaparral66]

And his position as saviour was created how?

Maybe we should just let Cotman be arbrtraitor and come up with a solution to this mess.

[garyshell]

Why does everyone think TG is holding all the cards?

I think the deck of cards is quite small. It is a deck of a single wildcard. It is the card that the sponsors are interested in. (They are REALLY the ones holding all the cards by the way.) But back to my "single card theory", that card is a large parcel of land at 16th and Georgetown in Speedway, IN.

Gary