Exclusive: Asian country wants IndyCar race

UPDATE According to this Hot News item today, Bernie Ecclestone is in Beijing working to scoop this race right out from under IndyCar's nose. The Beijing government is making plans on what to do with their Olympic facilities after the games are over and they have money set aside to bring a race to town. Recall that you read in detail on these pages two years ago that the Beijing Champ Car race was put on hold because they were told by the Beijing government to wait until the Summer Olympics are over. Well they are almost over and Ecclestone, never one to be beaten to the punch, is already there talking to them about bringing F1 to town.

Meanwhile IndyCar, which could have held a race there, is asleep at the wheel, probably planning another USA race. The very successful Team Penske cannot even find a sponsor to replace Marlboro so what does that tell you about an IndyCar team's ability to land a big sponsor given the current "USA- Only thinking?"

Meanwhile, because of the weak dollar it is inexpensive for foreign companies to sponsor an IndyCar team, but except for Aussie Vineyards (which will quit immediately when the IRL announces this year's Surfers race will be the last or that the Versus TV deal lacks good international TV distribution) there are not many taking the bait. If they didn't race in Japan each year they would lose Honda as well, but if it was up to some of the myopic IndyCar team owners, that would be OK too. And of course NASCAR gives any potential IndyCar sponsor a far better value with regard to TV viewership in the USA so they pretty much have all the potential USA sponsors locked up. Therefore, where are all the new sponsors going to come from to fuel IndyCar's desire to grow?

08/06/08 Exclusive: Asian country wants IndyCar race According to our inside sources in Asia, a major country is putting together a proposal to IndyCar to host a race in their country. We are embargoed from telling you what country and what city it is right now, but will do so in the near future once the proposal is ready to present to the IRL.