When in doubt, follow the money……Texas

Eddie Gossage (L) and race winner Justin Wilson

IndyCar/LAT USA

IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said Saturday he’s made a point of not discussing 2013 with Texas until after Saturday night’s race, but said, “We definitely want to come back if it’s financially worthwhile." The crowd was way off Saturday night from previous years and the Houston race is not on the schedule this year, so Gossage cannot use that as an excuse can he?

Fact is the Gossage has already given up on IndyCar.

Bernard added that drivers — concerned about the compatibility of Indy cars on high-banked ovals following Dan Wheldon’s death at Las Vegas in October — won’t influence whether or not the series returns to Texas.

“We want input from team owners, drivers, sponsors and fans and our partners," he said. “I want to hear what their opinion is after (Saturday), but I want to also see how the schedule is laying out and what makes sense."

Bernard has already announced a street race in Houston for next season, and said there’s “a tremendous amount of interest" from promoters in Austin. Gossage doesn’t like the series racing in other Texas cities, arguing it pulls away from his fan base.

“Eddie doesn’t call me and tell me how many NASCAR events he’s going to have, or how many races he’s going to have here, and it’s none of my business," Bernard said. “My business is IndyCar and I think Eddie is a great partner, but let’s be honest, it’s two different markets. If you look at our crossover with the audience on ovals, it’s 67 percent crossover with NASCAR. When you look at road and street, it’s a different demographic."

AR1 predicts IndyCar will race in Houston and Austin, Texas in the future and critical Eddie Gossage, who never has anything good to say about IndyCar, can stick to his NASCAR races.