Toronto GP may be saved

The good news is that the Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League are back together (or were supposed to be, as of noon yesterday). The bad news is that because this deal came together in such a rush at the absolutely last minute, the Toronto Grand Prix (née the Molson Indy) is not on the schedule. Toronto is out and Edmonton is in – which is a disgrace and a mistake, all at the same time.

It's a disgrace because the media and corporate capital of this country is being ignored. Edmonton is a wonderful place and they put on a wonderful race but Toronto is where the action is and where the growth – financial and otherwise – would come.

Oh, they say, don't worry, Toronto will be back in 2009. But the people saying that don't know Toronto. If Danica (Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue model) Patrick, Helio (Dancing with the Stars) Castroneves and Paul (Hometown Hero) Tracy aren't racing through the streets of the CNE this summer, they're going to be a tough sell a year from now.

I'll tell you why. Except for the Maple Leafs, nothing is certain in Toronto. The Blue Jays won two world championships and played in front of 50,000 people every time they stepped on the field. Then, in 1994, there was the players' strike and the Rogers Centre has been more than half empty ever since.

So the powers-that-be shouldn't assume that the people of Toronto will automatically go flocking back to the Ex just because the IRL deigns to come here when it feels like it.

This year? Now, that would have been a different story. Wheels.ca