i have just seen two pieces of information that if it weren't so typical of the owners of the series the last 5 years would be distressing. and that's the sad depressing part of it:
Champ Car Departs Portland
By Jeff Zurschmeide
It's sad news for open wheel racing fans, but it appears that Champ Car will not return to Portland for a 25th race in 2008. With the City and the racing series several hundred thousand dollars apart in talks to bring the event back to Portland, it would take a minor miracle to
bring the event back next year.
This is a setback for big-time pro racing in Portland - there's no denying that, but it's also true that the impact on PIR itself will be minimal. With the new pavement being laid this fall, the track will be more popular than ever with the local organizations and regional events that come to Portland. Events such as the Rose Cup Races, Portland Historic Races, and the Columbia River Classic will get a boost from fresh pavement and some redesigned corners.
As we look back, Champ Car has been instrumental in making PIR what it is today. The money that flowed into our facility during the glory years of CART racing helped build much of the infrastructure we use year 'round, and established PIR as a first class permanent racing facility. We get to keep all that investment - and that is a crucial point in our favor.
There are numerous professional racing organizations in the world, and all of them are looking for good venues. With its excellent infrastructure and capability of seating tens of thousands of fans, PIR remains an attractive venue and it won't be long before the next big events are announced for our favorite city park.
this next bit of news comes from a pretty accurate poster in terms of rumors. this is reguarding champcar's top team of the last 4 years newman/haas/lanigan:
They have two new sponsors for their IRL effort, and are loosing one (Medizone) from CCWS. Mr. Newman, has decided against putting his own money into keeping the team in CCWS, and has relented to Mr. Haas's wish to return to Indy to compete against Team Penske, AGR and Ganassi in the IRL. Despite what their personal preferences are, it comes down to money.
The three Amigos have ***** big time, by not following through on several promises, and have generally ticked off several owners, including Mr. Haas.
They have purchased four/five Dallara's. They have signed JW in SB's seat. They are NOT signing Marco, as he is staying at AGR. They are looking to sell their DP01’s.
Will there be a CCWS series nest year? Yes.
While the owners have not put money up to promote the series, they are trying to sign additional European races, in hopes of generating enough funding to ensure there are at least 18 cars next year. They are also trying to get more money for promotion and possibly HD, but again, money is not something they have a lot of. But, they will have to endure one more canceled race (Las Vegas, unless they buy the promoters out) and another upcoming lawsuit.
As I've indicated for almost a year, three cars are gone (NHL and RuSport) and there were going to be two new ones, who have vanished. So, you might see Vision II/Three Amigo Racing/Eldon Rassmusson's Wrent a Racer/whatever.
if the collective 5 year plan was to run a once well respected, internationally renowned, profitable series into the ground while simultaneously pissing off the old loyal fanbase to cater to ONE PERSON WHO KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT NOTHING, along with major international sponsors and manufacturers and sell what was bought at pennies on the dollar for hundreths of a penny on the dollar, well i would say mission accomplished, job well done. these people have even devalued the value of the vanderbilt cup just by proxy. there is no doubt in my mind that if given the choice between selling to nascar who knows something about making series successful and selling to anton who is just intelligent enough to not drool on his shirt, they'd sell to anton 5 times out of 4.
so what about those of us who prefer real racing to that contrived shit that the major american-based series are trying to put on the racing public?
shoulda had a get-together in cleveland, chances are it was the last race i will ever go to. not unless some changes are made pretty fucking quick (highly unlikely).
it amazes me, it simply amazes me, how a series could go from reaching a point where it could maybe barely reach relevance at the end of the year to going beyond obscurity with no hope of rediscovery the next.
championship auto racing teams/indycar/champcar 1979-2007
