Cotman to the IRL

UPDATE #2 A reader asks, Why wasn't Cotman under a non-compete clause and why didn't management give him a golden handcuffs contract? Every other company in the world makes their senior people sign these type of deals to make sure their intellectual property stays with them. Either Champ Car didn't care if he left or Kevin Kalkhoven et al are not as savvy business people as we were led to believe. Randy Stocker

Dear Randy, Good question. What on earth were they thinking? Hopefully Champ Car learns from all this and they start to run it like a proper corporation, instead of treating it like a hobby. They need a President that can be in the office every day, a realistic and believable strategic plan, a proper marketing and advertising budget and proper corporate governance. With proper corporate governance Champ Car would never be in the shape it is today. Mark C.

01/31/08 This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' today. Champ Car tried to convince Tony Cotman to stay but Robin Miller reports on SPEEDTV.com – As speculated the past two weeks on SPEED, Tony Cotman will be named vice president of competition for the Indy Racing League on Friday.

“I’m just going where I think the future of open-wheel racing is going to be," said Cotman, who quit as Champ Car’s executive vice president earlier this month. "It’s a good job. I’m going to oversee anything that has to do with competition, technical issues, tracks and assist Brian (Barnhart) in race control."

01/21/08 According to a report on SPEEDTV's Speed Report Sunday night, Champ Car's VP of operations Tony Cotman, who announced his resignation from Champ Car last week, may be headed to the rival Indy Car organization to first run their Indy Pro Series and then move up to the Indy Car Series. If true, this becomes a double blow to Champ Car – they not only lose Cotman, their rival gets him.