Nov 6, 2006

Will Champ Car and IRL Get Together?

A recent Associated Press report on the long-rumored (re)union of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League was as disappointing as it was baffling. According to the story, Kevin Kalkhoven, who is a co-owner of the Champ Car series, has again pooh-poohed the possibility of a merger between his series and the Indy Racing League. Kalkhoven and Tony George, the founder of the IRL, had a now-famous meeting in June that led many to speculate that the two series would, at long last, get together after a decade of competing with one another for racing fans' attention. Unfortunately neither series has captured the imagination of the racing public over the last 10 years the way that NASCAR has, and that has left open-wheel racing in the United States in a state of serious decline.

The news is disappointing to open-wheel racing fans because it seems we are as far as ever from seeing a reunification of what used to be the most prestigious type of motorsport here in America. But Kalhoven told AP that his series is quite happy going its own way.

"That whole thing got blown out of proportion," Kalkhoven was quoted as saying. "Tony and I talked, but there was nothing specific."

What is baffling is why there would be no movement for a merger.  Despite Kalkhoven's claims to the contrary, the Champ Car circuit has endured a dismal year, at least in terms of capturing the imagination of the racing fan in the United States. TV coverage of Champ Car races is just about invisible, and IRL races, with the exception of the Indianapolis 500, are in the same leaky boat. While NASCAR seems to gain strength every day, the Champ Car series is crowing because it has recently added a race in China to its schedule. The only problem with that is that it comes in the middle of May, which means that Champ Car teams will find it virtually impossible to compete in the Indy 500, the only race where their sponsors might get some real TV exposure.

Even more baffling than the announcement that he was in no particular hurry to figure something out with the IRL was Kalkhoven's pronouncement that the two race sanctioning bodies are culturally unsuited to one another. We're not sure if the Champ Car co-owner ran the two organizations' profiles through eHarmony, but he was quoted as saying, "It would be nice to do a merger in some respects, but culturally the two organizations are very far apart. Paul Stoddart [a former Formula One team owner] is more our kind of guy than Roger Penske."

If true, that is a bizarre statement, since not only is Roger Penske one of the most respected names in all of motor racing, but he was also a founding member of CART, the precursor to Champ Car. After operating a Champ Car team for several years, Penske abandoned the series for the IRL, and his team has enjoyed a long run of success.