Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Merger? No Merger? Champcar vs. IRL

It has been a whirlwind of gossip and quotes in the past couple of days around my beloved Champcar series. With Robin Miller’s article on Thursday we hear that talks are apparently hot and heavy. This has been reported before only to have everything fall apart; according to Kevin Kalkhoven due to leaks in the press(that in itself can stop a merger????). I truly hope that these two series can come to some type of arrangement but I don’t know how that can be done for the ‘08 season, no way, no how.

I had the chance to meet Kalkhoven and he acted sincere in what we thought about the price points for the RedBull suite tickets we purchased(for the Denver Grand Prix) and what we thought, as fans, could be done to improve for the following year.

Well, next year never came as it was cancelled for 2007, and along with it went my chance for a guys road trip. Maybe I can work out Wrigley Field somehow!

Here’s my take on the whole ball of wax: Remember when Honda dumped CART/Champcar for greener pastures in the IRL(to make it more like CART)? Now they may be in a position that can be a potential hurdle in the two series merging, due to the Motegi race date. Go figure.

Personally I WANT THIS MERGER TO HAPPEN. Have I mentioned that? BUT…..I cannot stand the Dallaras that the IRL uses. Hate ‘em, hate ‘em, hate ‘em. They’re boxy, loud, and sound like nothing more than a souped up NeckCar engine. I got to see them in action at Texas Motor Speedway from row 1. Which brings up another kick in the pants. I was at TMS for the CART debacle in which the race was cancelled on race day. I don’t blame them; I watched qualifying on Saturday and Michael Andretti took a line out of the front stretch kink that made me think he was seeing CareBears and unicorns. I didn’t want to see anyone die on that track.

I would love to see the DP01 for years to come but if they merge we may no longer see that chassis. It’s nice and has had most of the bugs worked out.

For now, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that something fruitful comes out of these talks and they can get a plan together for the ‘09 season.

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