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It may take a longer term solution to neutralize Tony George. The only bargaining chip that TG has is the race and the guaranteed TV contract. It does not matter who is running there right now, it is still one of the most famous races in the world. Despite the perception among CART fans, its name is still as important as LeMans and Daytona.
The IRL will remain on network TV, something that CART must do just to survive. For all the great things that Speedvision has done, it is still basically a premium/pay-per-view channel that is not available in all markets. ABC is available to everyone and to 75% of America on terrestrial antenna for free. It doesn't matter if Sky or TSN runs it live in primetime, if it does not get seen in the US it will not draw sponsors and it will eventually go away. Those are the hard facts of it.
No matter how much we hope and pray and how many alliances are made with Ecclestone or Mercedes or VAG, CART must sell in the US and to do that it must be on TV that everyone has. If that means that half of the season is ovals and part of it includes that one 500 mile race then it must be done. Oval racing is a tradition in CART/Champ Car racing as much as methanol and the lack of fenders are. Otherwise CART will end up right next to Trans Am, on at 3AM on monday mornings in a one hour format and seen only as a specialized form of racing followed by just a few fans. Does anyone want to see CART reduced to being as visible as Formula Ford? Just to hold up a finger to oval racing?
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