Overheard at Watkins Glen – 4

Word in the Watkins Glen paddock is that the Champ Car teams that transitioned over to the IRL each got one new car and one used car per driver. That everyone knew. What was not known was that some of those used cars were as much as 7 years old and had parts that were known to be defective and should have been replaced but never were. Some broke during testing. Luckily no one was injured……..And what did the IndyCar teams get in return for giving up their old junk IndyCars? Brand new cars courtesy of the IRL…….We hear the IRL wanted $1 million per year to sanction the Atlantic series and that was the deal breaker. So series owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe took the series to IMSA to sanction for a fraction of the amount. Many in the paddock felt the Atlantic series should have been one step below the Firestone Indy Lights Series and that it won't do well now that it is not tied into an open wheel series ladder. We always said the Atlantic Series should have run with F3 spec cars (F3 is used worldwide), rather than their own proprietary formula……..Whether the Mexico City race gets added to next year's schedule has a lot to do with whether Mario Dominguez's sponsor (the Mexico Tourism Bureau) steps up to sponsor the event…….Mark C. reporting from Watkins Glen