IndyCar
  • Peg It on GarageMonkey
INDYCAR: 2009 Schedule Reactions
“We don’t think it’s the perfect schedule but we think it’s great progress,” says IRL’s Angstadt. Other opinions vary…
Robin Miller  |  Posted July 30, 2008   Indianapolis, Ind.

The 18-race 2009 IndyCar schedule begins and ends in Florida, no longer has the grueling stretch of six races in a row and extends into October. It also features a return to a pair of the most popular street races in North America at Long Beach and Toronto.

“We think we hit some important key venues with an overall goal of serving our fan base,” said Terry Angstadt, president of the IRL’s commercial division. “We don’t think it’s the perfect schedule but we think it’s great progress.”

Yet the venues that were excluded created some of the strongest reactions following Wednesday’s unveiling.

Australia, a cornerstone of CART/Champ Car since 1991 which draws upwards of 225,000 for three days, is not in the lineup at this time and the ramifications could cost IndyCar one of its teams.

“I told Tony (George) several times that Australia was critical for our sponsorship and, without that sponsorship, we had problems,” said Kevin Kalkhoven, the former co-owner of Champ Car who fields a two-car IndyCar effort with Jimmy Vasser and is supported by Aussie Craig Gore.

“Without Surfers Paradise, we are going to have a problem.”

A couple hours before the schedule announcement, the IRL issued a release stating that it would be going to Surfers Paradise Oct. 23-26 this year for a non-points exhibition race.

According to Angstadt, Australia was offered two dates for 2009 (early and late) with the goal of running Motegi, Japan on the same trip. Japan has moved from April to Sept. 19 next season, but evidently there is a national rugby championship clashing with the proposed fall date for Surfers. Still, it hasn’t totally been ruled out for 2009.

“We are keeping slots open for them and we are still in active conversations,” said Angstadt. “We’re hopeful it can be announced, but the ball is in their court.”

Cleveland, the original airport circuit in CART’s heydays, did not get nod, nor did Houston – both promoted by IndyCar owner Mike Lanigan.

“I’m a little surprised we had neither one of our races was picked up, but I certainly understand Tony has other obligations and contracts so we’ll just have to be patient,” said Lanigan, who is co-owner with Paul Newman and Carl Haas of the cars driven by Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson. “I do think we have two winners and I do think they’re interested.”

To which Angstadt replied: “We’re hopeful those can be incorporated in the future.”

Page 1 of 2
Prev
12
Next
robin_miller's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Miller

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2013

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.