Champ Car needs to go on offensive

UPDATE A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, This was a very good article/Hot News item. We all know these two series need to get together but doing it in the 11th hour is going to make the situation worse. A solid plan for 2009 promotion supporting that plan and maybe some drivers and teams moving back and forth for selected races to "whet the appetite" for things to come.

If it is done now with no real business plan in place, it will hurt many teams. Current agreements will be canceled or have to be renegotiated and teams will go under because they cannot afford to make a switch when all their investment is made in obsolete equipment.

I hope smarter minds win out and we plan and prepare to bring open wheel back to where it was so many years ago before the "bloody civil war".

02/09/08 Well, they've really done it to themselves, now haven't they? Champ Car has let themselves be well-and-truly painted into a corner. The current news has so destabilized the perception of CCWS that almost no matter what they do, they're going under.

Bar one tactical move.

What's happening now, and will continue to happen, is that the IRL is in the driver's seat. Everyone is sure that the IRL series will happen for 2008. Not so for Champ Car. This leaves Champ Car looking to be on its last legs – something no driver or sponsor is going to touch, regardless of the length of the pole. The entire CCWS series hangs in the balance and they're frozen with fear. No real work is going on at the teams or at the CCWS headquarters. The sword dangling over everyone's head has seen to that.

Now, over in Japan, the most likely scenario is that Tony and gang will come back from Motegi with news that Honda MAY move the date. But they need a week or so to work it out. And Champ Car sits on its hands, waiting.

Then news will come that, yes, they’ll reschedule. However, now we need to move some OTHER dates as well. More time wasted. Meanwhile, CCWS twiddles its collective thumbs. More people begin to get nervous. And the season's start is only a few weeks away.

Eventually, no real resolution will come out of all this. The Champ Car series will simply fade away as nervous drivers, owners and sponsors simply give up on waiting for a reply and turn their backs. The IRL takes over by default.

Unless. Unless Champ Car makes one simple, offensive move. And quickly.

The series needs to come out of its corner, swinging, on Monday morning. They need to announce that, if an agreement is not reached by the day's end, that the series will go as planned and any merger talks will be solely aimed at the 2009 year. No ands, ifs, or buts. A message of strength needs to be sent and it better be damned clear too.

Otherwise, the IRL will simply sit and wait this one out. And victory will be theirs by benign neglect.

The ball, whether Jerry, et al, realize it or not, is actually in Champ Car's court. Let's see what they do with it. Name Withheld by Request