All together now? The Indy 500 could benefit from an influx of teams and drivers, but the benefits of a unified series would extend far beyond the 500. (LAT photo)n
The long, costly war between Champ Car and the Indy Racing League is close to being over and, for the first time since 1995, there could be one open wheel series for 2008. But there’s still one major hurdle to overcome to make this long-awaited union a reality.
SPEED has learned that Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, the co-owners of Champ Car, have reached an agreement with IRL founder Tony George to race together this season.
As reported by SPEEDtv.com recently, George offered the Champ Car ownership free Dallara chassis and Honda engines to any CC team that signs up for the full season in addition to receiving $1.2 million per car as part of the IRL’s new TEAM program. Additionally, the Champ Car races at Long Beach, Edmonton and Surfer’s Paradise, Australia would be added to the ’08 IndyCar Series schedule.
However, it’s not quite that easy.
The IRL race at Motegi, Japan is scheduled to run April 18-20 which is the same weekend as the Long Beach Grand Prix. Jim Michaelian, the longtime LBGP president and general manager, says the most successful street race in North America is locked into its date and cannot be moved due to prior contract commitment with the Long Beach Convention Center (which anchors the track).
