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SPECIAL: White Paper + 30
Written by: David Phillips
Senior writer, RACER Magazine   http://www.racer.com/speedtv
02/13/2008
Irvine, Calif.
 
Editor’s note: the following story is abridged from an article originally appearing in the March issue of RACER magazine. For details about the current issue, visit www.racer.com.

Dan Gurney laid down the vision that led to CART, although his assumptions of team owners pulling together proved optimistic. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos

Thirty years ago, Dan Gurney authored one of the most influential documents in the history of American motorsport, his fabled “White Paper.” In it, Gurney noted his conversations with the various constituents of the United States Auto Club (USAC) Championship Series produced a consensus that “Something is wrong with our sport – it is not reaching its full potential by any means, and there is great need for a change!”

Gurney believed the sport had “the potential to be financially rewarding and healthy from a business standpoint for all participants.” That it was instead beset by runaway costs, puny purses, spotty media coverage, indifferent attendance and had difficulty attracting and retaining sponsors was, to Gurney’s thinking, ultimately the responsibility of he and his fellow team owners who were so focused on competing on the racetrack they “let the track owners or promoters and the sanctioning body lead us around by
the nose while they reap the benefits.”

As a solution, Gurney proposed creating an organization of team owners called Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), based loosely on the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) which had given a member of their fraternity – one Bernard Ecclestone – carte blanche in negotiating with track owners, race promoters and television networks for a better deal; a deal that “upgraded the entire sport to the point where the paying spectator crowds are much, much larger, sponsors are numerous and happy to be involved, the media is vigorous in covering all the events on TV and so are weekly magazines and daily newspapers on a worldwide basis, and money is coming back to the constructors and track owners in the form of larger ticket sales, more sponsorship... and the spectator is getting a much bigger, better spectacle for his ticket money.”

The rest is history. CART was duly formed – with the enthusiastic backing of team owners Roger Penske, Pat Patrick, Jim Hall, Team McLaren’s Tyler Alexander, Bob Fletcher and Gurney – and everyone lived happily every after.

Not by a long shot.
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