What Happens Next?

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Originally Posted by Chaparral66

What merger rumor?

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It was just a reference to and comment on Curt Cavin's piece today.... nothing of substance - more interested that it was pulled than what it said....

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Originally Posted by ChaimWitz

Two quotes from that great American "race" fan Eldrigidge Cleaver, come to mind when reading these forums:

"You're either part of the solution or you're part of the problem."

"The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less."

Have some people here forgotten this was once "one" sport?

Have they also forgotten that this has been a business competition based upon differences in business ideals and business models?

In the end, the IRL is becoming much more CART like (or is it lites?) in its make up... while the CCWS becomes less so. One series is more promoter centric and the other is more entrant centric. One series is likely far more sustainable and the other is likely not.

Business, like racing has a finish line. People do look at the results and ask themselves "who won?" Sometimes, like in racing, the winner looks like it has been trough a war and will require a complete rebuild.

I think the hard truth is that we are there now and the IRL is limping to the white flag lap while the CCWS is slowing to a crawl with smoke trailing behind it.

When the checkered flag falls soon, I have little doubt that the IRL car will be in the winner's circle. Too bad the grandstands will be less than half full and the TV time window will have been exceeded so few will notice or care. There will of course be a few thousand fanatical CC fans rioting outside the winners circle crying "foul" but the race will have been run and won and the results will stand. Business is business and is the most unforgiving competition outside of armed conflict and open wheel racing itself.

So, back to the topic of this tread: what happens next?

Do the Amigos cut a deal now with The Grandson and salvage some of their investment, their key events., Mazda Atlantics and Cosworth or do they play to their own egos (and those of the fanatical haters) and drive the series into oblivion?

My hope is for the former while they still have a hint of leverage left.

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The amigos are not selling.

The IRL is not a qualified buyer, even if they were.

That's just silly. Link for "the amigos are not selling." And why would the IRL not be a "qualified buyer?"

And sorry, Chaimwitz.........my math is failing me in my old age! :)

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Originally Posted by Chris R

Speaking of what is next - anybody know why autoracing1.com pulled the merger rumor this afternoon???

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Me thinks he pulled it too soon.

As seen in another thread

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/42686/

Jeff

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Originally Posted by Sandfly

The amigos are not selling.

The IRL is not a qualified buyer, even if they were.

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"This was the wrong week to stop sniffing glue!". Dude, this post reflects that you are standing in the "sand" waiting for an oasis to appear. It ain't happening! The Amigos not only have to sell, but if they don't do it soon, there will be no there there. IMO, of course!

Well, if true......a respectable chance was there a month ago.

Cmon IndyCool,

There's always another chance. I really hope this rumour is true.

Please, please, I can dream that very soon the Indy 500 will have 33 super competitive entries and the Road America Classic will see Castro Neves and Andretti duelling with Graham Rahal.

Surely, you would love to see that as well Indy?

I have always been pro-one series. It sounds like there was another chance. But if Forsythe was looking for $100 million, he has to be out of his mind. In the similar case with Trans Am, Panoz reportedly gave Gentilozzi $2 million to take it off his hands. This sounds like a much better deal than that. And there's no indication that any of this was brought up to the CC car owners, although Walker and Haas kind of indicate they've been keeping track of things with the IRL. Oughta create real trust in the CC paddock in combination with the loss of Cotman. We're talking about Forsythe here....the guy who hired Heitzler after CART red-flagged him......guess he just sniffs different glue.

I just read Miller's report. Sounds interesting. I've always been pro-one series too, I just hope it doesn't have to take too much of a pound of flesh to get there...

The "pound of flesh" that is probably central to the issue is the same one that has always been there: control. Don't hold your breath waiting for Tony George to hand any portion of control or enter into an equity holding business partnership to the Amigos. The reality is he doesn't need to and from recent Amigo history it would probably be an unwise choice for him. The sport needs clarity and singular leadership not more paralysis like we've seen from the four headed monster that ChampCar has become. I am not saying that TG is the man, but I am saying that one leader is better than five or four or three or two.

So what do you think will happen next? What would be a good outcome given the reality of the situation?