Can Cleveland GP make a comeback?

There will be no auto racing in Cleveland this summer. Chuck Kosich, general manager for the Grand Prix of Cleveland, confirmed Monday that the entire Grand Prix of Cleveland race weekend at Burke Lakefront Airport is canceled. But he also said plans are moving forward to secure a race date with the Indy Racing League for 2009.

"We have meetings with airport officials soon, as well as [IRL CEO] Tony George, that's about all that I can tell you at this point," Kosich said.

The race was lost Friday when IRL and Champ Car ended a 12-year open-wheel split and became one series again. Most of the Champ Car races, including Cleveland, were not added to the IRL's existing schedule for 2008.

Champ Car and Atlantics were the two biggest races at the Grand Prix of Cleveland the past few years. The smaller support races also have been scrubbed.

GPC promoter Mike Lanigan is hopeful the Cleveland event will be on the calendar in 2009. "Tony George said he would welcome sitting down within the next two weeks and trying to see what we can figure out for 2009," Lanigan said when the unification was announced last week. "Tony told me a lot more than the other guys did. And he called me to make sure I understood [the 2008 race dates were] a conflict."

This year, the IRL will race the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Newton, Iowa, on June 22.

"I know that everyone loves the Grand Prix of Cleveland, from the drivers to the team owners and so on," Lanigan said. "There's a lot of rich history here that I'd like to keep going. Now I have to look at this as an opportunity and a challenge that could be good, long-term, for the city of Cleveland. I'm going to try my best to get something for 2009. But I don't have anything right now." More at Cleveland Plain Dealer