[Racer Duck]

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 the agreement will be forthcoming. When scheduled, the news conference will be shown live on indycar.com.

The Indy Racing League, sanctioning body of the IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series, will conduct its first Open Test of 2008 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 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."

[Racer Duck]

I thought the Dakar cancellation was gonna be the biggest motorsports story of 2008, but now I think this one's gonna be bigger! (IMHO)

[Phils20]

I think this is great news! I'm really looking forward to the season!

[Bob Tanner]

I heard, awhile back, Charlie, that the IRL would subsidise the CART team's cars and the engines would be provided by Honda, gratis for initial issue.

If true, or even partially true, that's one Hell of a deal!

[DOF_power]

It won't satisfy everyone, and there will be losers in this, but the greater goal should worth the sacrifice.