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Written by:
David Phillips
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09/04/2007 - 07:00 PM
Assen, Holland
A breakout year '07 wasn't, but there's plenty to be celebrated about this season according to Champ Car's honchos, such as the success of the Zolder-Assen European doubleheader. (LAT Photo) ยป More Photos
If there was a theme to Saturday's get together in Assen with Champ Car owners Paul Gentilozzi, Kevin Kalkhoven and Dan Pettit and president Steve Johnson, it was that Champ Car's glass is half empty or half full depending on your perspective.
Make no mistake, it was a humbled -- if only slightly -- cadre of executives who met with David Malsher ("Autosport"), John Oreovicz ("National Speed Sport News" / "espn.com"), Mark Cippoloni ("autoracing1.com") and me at TT-Circuit Assen. How else could they be, having recently announced the demise of the Arizona Grand Prix and finally conceded the race in Zhuhai, China they had so optimistically/foolishly/arrogantly/stubbornly (take your pick, multiple adverbs permitted) maintained would be staged in October had been scrapped for 2007.
Johnson's response to Mr. Malsher's observation that canceling five races (Korea twice, Denver and now China and Phoenix) in three years makes Champ Car look like "schmucks" was refreshingly candid:
"It does," said Johnson. "It doesn't matter who's responsible, it's us -- at the end of the day -- that's responsible for it."
Subsequently, Johnson also fessed-up to having miscalculated last year when he confidently talked of 22 and 24 car fields in the 2007 Champ Car World Series
"We're in discussions on a daily basis with potential new teams," he said, when asked about new Champ Car teams in '08. "Am I going to tell you how many cars? No, I can't. Unfortunately I made that mistake last year and I'm not going to
Later, Kalkhoven joined in the self-flagellation when he said, "We've made mistakes. Come on, we all know that" when asked about Champ Car's (so far) unsuccessful efforts to stage a race in Southeast Asia.
Gentilozzi too, admitted the obvious when, after he rhetorically asked how A.J. Allmendinger's switch to NASCAR had worked out for him, I turned the rhetoric around and asked how the loss of a potential American champion had worked out for Champ Car.
"It was terrible," he said. Gentilozzi also conceded Champ Car learned some lessons in international diplomacy when dealing with the FIA over its unilateral decision to switch the Zhuhai date from May to October.
"We've always known the power of the FIA," he said. "We didn't anticipate, necessarily, their desire to follow guidelines. They're very structured and honestly they had a very valid point. It's their rules. And if we're going to race internationally, we have to abide by their rules.
"I think sometimes in the U.S. we don't understand that we're more willing to compromise than the rest of the world. Here when they tell you to get in line, get in line. Don't get out of line. In the U.S. we're always trying to cut the line."
David Phillips profiles Champ Car's breakout star Robert Doornbos in our October issue, on sale now.
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