Champ Car teams rejoice in continuation of series
source:
autosport.com
Bankruptcy Judge Frank Otte's decision to award the assets of CART to Open
Wheel Racing Series, instead of a bid from the Indy Racing League for nearly
four times as much cash, came down to two key factors. Firstly, the
unpredictable amount of litigation that would have resulted from the termination
of at least six promoter contracts, plus the fact that awarding the deal to OWRS
would have effectively put the entire Champ Car industry out of business.
"Now we can stop worrying about all that go racing," said OWRS co-principal
Kevin Kalkhoven, who hosted a celebration party Thursday night at CART
headquarters on Indianapolis' northwest side.
Judge Otte stated that in his own research, he determined that between 300 and
460 industry jobs would be lost aside from the 45 people employed by CART.
Outside sources believe the overall number of jobs lost would be closer to
1,000.
"Kevin did his part to keep CART afloat," said Russell Cameron, team manager
for Kalkhoven's PK Racing. "If those 18 teams blew up, maybe four CART cars
would have gone to the IRL. All along he seemed very confident that OWRS had the
best solution for everyone involved. It's good that the judge saw it that way
because there are a lot of people who believe in Champ Car racing.
"Thank God there are people like Kevin," Cameron added. "Look back to the '70s
at why CART was formed. It was a group of enthusiastic team owners who wanted a
better way. It's a good product, top-level racing with a lot of diversity. Kevin
and his group have a rough road in front of them. It's a complex business, but
he wants to see it succeed."