Kalkhoven leaves town without a deal
Kalkhoven could not be reached for comment, and George admitted to being "anxious" that details are still not resolved after a lengthy dinner meeting Thursday night at a downtown restaurant.
"We're still not where we need to be, and the more time passes the more challenging it becomes," he said.
George said the leaders of the two Indianapolis-based sanctioning bodies would continue working on the project, but he couldn't predict when it might come to a conclusion.
"We're still working just because he's not here," George said.
The IRL postponed a news conference today because George said there was no need to have one without all the details resolved.
"We want to have as positive of a press conference as we can have when we do have one," he said. Indy Star
02/22/08 Fred Nation, the executive vice president of public relations for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, echoed the same sentiments as the joint release.
“Talks have concluded for the evening with much progress," Nation said. “The process will resume on Friday morning. There will not be a scheduled news conference on Friday at this point. We hope to have a more complete report on the status Friday morning."
Nation said there is no cause for concern even though a news conference planned for this morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was put on hold.
"Absolutely not," he said. "They made a heck of a lot of progress, but they're not over the hump yet."
The IRL is seeking full rights to Indy-style racing, including its history and trademarks. All future races will be held under the IndyCar Series banner, and Champ Car's owners are not permitted to operate a rival series based in the U.S.
The season begins March 29 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway. It is not clear which Champ Car teams will participate, but that wasn't the pressing issue after 12 years of contentious relationships between people on both sides.
Nation said a resolution of the April 18-20 weekend was a key topic of discussion Thursday night after Kalkhoven arrived from a family trip to London.
Champ Car is to race in Long Beach, Calif., on April 20, one day after the IRL is to race in Motegi, Japan. Several options were considered, but it's likely the principals decided to continue with both events using each series' respective cars and awarding IRL points equally.
Jim Michaelian, the Long Beach Grand Prix president, acknowledged that wasn't an ideal situation, but he, like the rest of the open-wheel community, needed to hear the plan laid out by George and Kalkhoven.
"We've all got to wait to find out on that one," he said.
The IRL also is looking to add Champ Car races in Edmonton, Alberta, and Surfers Paradise, Australia, to its 2008 schedule.
The Edmonton race, set for July 20, requires an adjustment because that conflicts with the IRL's race in Lexington, Ohio, an event key to Honda, the league's lone engine supplier.
The IRL will offer Edmonton officials the July 27 and Aug. 3 dates. The former is the same day as the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
The Australia race is set for Oct. 26, which is an open date for the IRL. The IRL is under contract to crown its season champion at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 7, which means a deal with Chicagoland's owner (International Speedway Corp.) must be struck or the Australian promoter must accept the race being an exhibition.
The unified series will be officiated by the IRL. Champ Car, or CART as it was known at its inception in 1979, will no longer exist. Indy Star
02/22/08 The following statement was issued tonight jointly by the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series:
"The ongoing talks between the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series will continue into at least Friday in regards to the unification of open-wheel racing. Any confirmation of unification will be made once an agreement is in place. There are no plans for a news conference at this time. Much progress has been made toward unifying the sport"