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EDITOR's NOTE: The following is a statement from Walker Racing owner Derrick Walker in response to Robin Miller's most recent article regarding Champ Car's decision to change responsibilities held by Champ Car management.
Derrick Walker, Walker Racing Owner:
"Included in an article written by Robin Miller regarding Champ Car's decision to change the responsibilities held by front office management, namely Steve Johnson and Tony Cotman, I was quoted by Robin Miller, in a manner which I felt did not fairly represent all that I had said and the context in which I said it. The informal conversation we had on the subject was included in his writings. On reading the quotes attributed to me, I felt I needed to clarify what I had said in the way that I said it. However, I reconsidered and instead decided it would be more productive for me to make some remarks for the record regarding Steve Johnson and more importantly Champ Car.
"Steve Johnson has a tiger by the tail. Anybody who is the CEO of Champ Car has had a difficult job, just ask those who came before him. Recovery of the series will take some time and Steve, with a small staff, limited resources, and more things to do with not enough hours in the day to do them, has done his best to be all things to all people. To me, as CEO he has always gone out of his way to help, used his influence when needed enabling us to continue in Champ Car. Let's face it it's a big challenge for anybody. The reallocation of his time to concentrate on sales and securing the need for sponsorship dollars is a more important use for him than chairing meetings and micro managing the price of car parts as we tend to do, quite frankly.
"Moving Champ Car up the ladder is going to take three to five years. Times have changed since the glory days of CART. We need new ideas that work in the very different market place of today. The owners of Champ Car (who I jokingly referred to as 'The Brothers'), have made a huge commitment to open wheel racing, which we all tend to take for granted sometimes, need to provide the leadership to make it happen. In the winter of 2006 valuable momentum was lost, but now there are positive signs of change and a new direction emerging.
"Thank you for allowing me to make my comments known."
Click here to read Robin Miller's commentary - A New Sheriff in Champ Car's Town
