IRL blames Kalkhoven for talks breakdown

UPDATE #2 A reader writes, What in the world is Bruce Martin talking about? Below are the "quotes" and statements attributed to Barnhart, George and Kalkhoven from the Indy Star story. Cavin has gone on record stating that he stands by the story. When I first read the story the other day when it first came out one of my first thoughts was that based on these quotes and statements everyone was on the same page. If everything had been attributed to just one person on one side of the issue then there’s always the possibility of a misunderstanding. However, all parties are clearly on the same page in this article. Given this I can only presume that Tony’s back-peddling is indicative of a possible change of heart.

George quotes:

"We've agreed conceptually (to share ownership), yes," George said from Richmond International Raceway, which was hosting the IRL's SunTrust Indy Challenge on Saturday night. "Now we have to agree on how we would go about resolving differences that might come up."

Said George: "There are still a lot of things yet to be fully developed, and it's not going to get any better by talking about it in the media. But I think we'll be able to agree on how we'll develop this business as one entity as we go forward."

Kalkhoven quotes:

A merger of the two series most likely would happen a piece at a time rather than all at once, Kalkhoven said.

Or the unification process might start with the two series running on the same weekend in different cities, Kalkhoven said from Cleveland, where Champ Car will hold a race today. "It could be a whole world of things."

Kalkhoven said Champ Car will unveil its new Panoz chassis for 2007 at the San Jose (Calif.) Grand Prix in late July, and the car will be used in a unified series in some form.

"You don't throw away that kind of development," Kalkhoven said. "It will be extremely economic to operate."

But there is no deadline, Kalkhoven said.

Kalkhoven said he is optimistic a merger will occur, but he can see why similar attempts in the past have failed.

"You go into either paddock, and everybody wants to see it done," he said. "The fact it hasn't been done in 10 years is indicative of how difficult it is."

Kalkhoven insisted that information such as this has been kept as quiet as possible for a reason.

"In a normal business situation, you'd be doing this in private instead of under the public gaze," he said. "You'd announce you were talking when you were done (with the deal)."

Barnhart quote:

League President Brian Barnhart said there could be a handful of race weekends, including two in April, when the IRL and Champ Car could be at the same event. Name Withheld

07/06/06 AutoRacing1.com spoke to Champ Car's Kevin Kalkhoven about the report in this week's National Speed Sport News whereby the writer, Bruce Martin, claims that someone from the IRL told him that Kevin Kalkhoven leaked the story to the Indy Star that merger talks were progressing nicely, and that this pissed Tony George off and caused a setback in the merger talks.

Kalkhoven responded by telling AutoRacing1.com, "I am tired of ill informed leaks and speculations. I guess you cannot believe everything you read . I have no further comment."

07/06/06 IRL shill Bruce Martin, who last year crashed one of the IRL's loaner pace cars on the streets of Indianapolis while reportedly drunk, a story the IRL quickly swept under the rug, writes in a column this week in National Speed Sport News:

When Tony George realized that tidbit (merger was imminent) of information was leaked to a reporter at the Champ Car Cleveland Grand Prix by none other than Kalkhoven himself in an "off-the-record" revelation, it infuriated the IRL leader who believed he was negotiating in good faith with his Champ Car counterpart, according to high-level IRL sources.

Because of that, George has taken a step back to cool off before proceeding further with a merger proposal that has been damaged in the last week.

According to IRL sources, George's trust in Kalkhoven has been tarnished and it's time to step back and re-evaluate.

Then Martin writes:

"There hasn't been anything really new to report for quite some time," George said before Sunday's United States Grand Prix. "We talk when we have an opportunity to talk but there haven't been any opportunities lately."

George's comment is much different than what he told Curt Cavin of The Indianapolis Star last week at the IRL's race in Richmond, Va.

"We've agreed conceptually (to share ownership), yes," George told The Star. "Now we have to agree on how we would go about resolving differences that might come up.

"There are still a lot of things yet to be fully developed, and it's not going to get any better by talking about it in the media. But I think we'll be able to agree on how we'll develop this business as one entity as we go forward."

So he says that an Indy Star reporter, Curt Cavin, quoted George in Richmond that merger talks had resulted in some sort of agreement using Tony George comments, yet claims it was Kalkhoven who leaked the information to a reporter in Cleveland. In fact when AutoRacing1.com questioned Kalkhoven in Cleveland about the story Cavin reported from Richmond, he was caught totally off guard and had no knowledge of it. Yet the IRL is blaming Kalkhoven for leaking it. Amazing.