Details on 2006 Schedule

[Snrub]

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/18816/

So it sounds like Philadelphia and Houston will be added to the 2006 schedule. This sounds like great news to me. We're seeing a slow expansion of new US venues. Both are large cities and hopefully CC can find a receptive audience there. I think the series is being smarter than in the past in that they're trying to be more gradual in their growth

Does anyone know why CART stopped going to Houston after 2001?

Thoughts?

[Kicking-back]

CART stopped going to Houston because the local authorities found the bill for repairing the roads in the area the race was had become too high.

The new race would be in a different part of the city.

Looking forward to it.

[Raglanparade]

Because in 2001 at Houston there it was stinking hot, and there was many many track indicents that ended up with only 5-6 cars finishing ? from memory.

Where in Philadelphia are they racing ? I can see the Bruce Springsteen soundtrack for the weekend already.

[mabs_nsx]

April 9 -- Long Beach
May 13 -- Houston (Saturday night race)
May 21 - Monterrey, Mexico
June 4 -- Milwaukee
June 18 -- Portland
June 25 -- Cleveland
July 2 -- Philadelphia (Sunday night race)
July 9 -- Toronto
July 23 -- Edmonton
July 30 -- San Jose
Aug. 13 -- Denver
Aug. 27 -- Montreal
Sept. 23 -- Las Vegas
Oct. 8 -- Beijing, China
Oct. 15 -- Ansan, Korea
Oct. 22 -- Surfer's Paradise, Australia
Nov. 5 -- Mexico City

Round 1-Round 2 (4 weeks)
Round 12-Round 13 (4 weeks)

[Omega99]

The last four races are outside the US. I think that's a big mistake, personally. And forget about the night races already. They're neat but expensive, and it gets cold at night. Also, people can't go to a race Sunday night and drive home if they live out of town and make it for Monday morning work... whatever.

It's great that they continue to expand in the US and in regions of the US that they aren't in already. Hopefully the gaps are worked out when the final schedule is released.

[Snrub]

Yeah what's the deal with the new races being night races? Agreed that Sunday night is an odd thing to do. It cost the series a lot of money to try out Cleveland and Milwaukee and it didn't seem to add any extra fans. As for the cold factor, I'd imagine Houston mid may is warm enough and obviously July 2nd would be warm enough in Philly.

I'll agree that the gaps aren't optimal, but at least they've improved the situation.

[mabs_nsx]

There should be 2 weeks between every race. If there were this is how the race calendar would look:
April 9 -- Long Beach
April 23 -- Houston (Saturday night race)
May 7 - Monterrey, Mexico
May 21 - Milwaukee (Saturday Race)
Jun 4 - Portland
Jun 18 - Cleveland
Jul 2 - Philadelphia (Sunday night race)
Jul 16 - Toronto
Jul 30 - Edmonton
Aug 13 - San Jose
Aug 27 - Denver
Sep 10 - Montreal
Sep 23 - Las Vegas (Saturday Race)
Oct 8 - Beijing, China
Oct 22 - Surfer's Paradise, Australia
Nov 5 - Ansan, Korea
Nov 19 - Mexico City

[Amar7605]

My question is where the heck did Philadelphia come from all-of-a-sudden? I mean, if it happens then that's great, but I sure didn't see this one coming.

And if the race is on Sunday night, it won't be a problem. If the race is on July 2, then that will actually be a 4-day weekend because July 4 is Independence Day for the US, and that means that July 3 and 4 will be holidays.

Plus, on the East Coast in the summer it's pretty humid. And the heat still radiates at night. So it doesn't get cold at night. Actually, just coming back from New York this week I can say that the summer nights in the East are pretty comfortable!

And with Houston, wasn't part of the problem also with the new Reliant Stadium being built nearby?

Either way, this is great to see Champ Car expanding with some US races!

[Hazza]

Houston, Miami...

Not...Homestead, Miami instead? *crosses fingers*

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by mabs_nsx

There should be 2 weeks between every race. If there were this is how the race calendar would look:
April 9 -- Long Beach
April 23 -- Houston (Saturday night race)
May 7 - Monterrey, Mexico
May 21 - Milwaukee (Saturday Race)
Jun 4 - Portland
Jun 18 - Cleveland
Jul 2 - Philadelphia (Sunday night race)
Jul 16 - Toronto
Jul 30 - Edmonton
Aug 13 - San Jose
Aug 27 - Denver
Sep 10 - Montreal
Sep 23 - Las Vegas (Saturday Race)
Oct 8 - Beijing, China
Oct 22 - Surfer's Paradise, Australia
Nov 5 - Ansan, Korea
Nov 19 - Mexico City

Some parts of this scenario that I like...a lot...

1. Monterrey could be tied in with the many festivities surrounding "Cinco de Mayo"...that would be extremely smart...if you're going for a Festival atmosphere at your races, why not do Monterrey as close to Cinco de Mayo as possible???

2. If they run the race near the area surrounding the Art Museum in Philly...on or as close to Independence Day as possible, that makes great sense as well...can't think of a better city to race in than Philly on or near July 4th....and closing out an event with a huge fireworks show is a natural....should be a major home run for CCWS....

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

They still need to sort out the stupidly long gap between the first and second races.

[Tenoch]

Cinco de Mayo gets more of a draw in the united States than in Mexico. The celebration level is about an American Flag day, not that much.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by mabs_nsx

April 9 -- Long Beach
May 13 -- Houston (Saturday night race)
May 21 - Monterrey, Mexico
June 4 -- Milwaukee
June 18 -- Portland
June 25 -- Cleveland
July 2 -- Philadelphia (Sunday night race)
July 9 -- Toronto
July 23 -- Edmonton
July 30 -- San Jose
Aug. 13 -- Denver
Aug. 27 -- Montreal
Sept. 23 -- Las Vegas
Oct. 8 -- Beijing, China
Oct. 15 -- Ansan, Korea
Oct. 22 -- Surfer's Paradise, Australia
Nov. 5 -- Mexico City

Round 1-Round 2 (4 weeks)
Round 12-Round 13 (4 weeks)

Is this the official schedule that they have released???

[mabs_nsx]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

Is this the official schedule that they have released???

No, the the official schedule will be announced later today.

[Tenoch]

They just announced the schedule on CCWS.com and there's no Philadelphia only addition is Houston. But the Las Vegas date is tentative my guess is that they if they cant get a decent crowd this year they are going to the streets.

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/N...le.asp?ID=9523

[Kicking-back]

One wonders, then, mabs_nsx, why you passed off your fantasy schedule as the real thing - and totally invented a Phildelphia "night race".

[GBoehm]

Don't blame him thats what SPEED said to.

[2112]

official schedule

April 9 Long Beach, California
May 13 Houston, Texas (Sat. Night)
May 21 Monterrey, Mexico
June 4 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
June 18 Portland, Oregon
June 25 Cleveland, Ohio
July 9 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
July 23 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
July 30 San Jose, California
Aug. 13 Denver, Colorado
Aug. 27 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sept. 23 Las Vegas, Nevada*
Oct. 15 Ansan, Korea
Oct. 22 Surfers Paradise, Australia
Nov. 5 Mexico City, Mexico

Vegas still to be negotiated

[Kicking-back]

So, has China fallen through?

[MexMotor]

"Our intent is to put out a schedule that our teams, sponsors and fans can trust, and we will hold to our policy of not announcing an event until we are certain that we have a deal in place that works for all our partners," said Executive Vice-President of Development, Governmental Affairs and Planning Joe Chrnelich. "

They say they're not going to announce any other race until everything its in place.
Thats the case with China and Philadelphia, they're still negotiating those races.

[mabs_nsx]

What a crap Race Calendar. No wonder why Champcars is so unpopular!

2006 Changes
15 Races (Only 1 extra race)
Round 1-Round 2 (5 weeks)
Round 11-Round 12 (5 weeks)
Round 12- Round 13 (3 weeks)
No China

[Liz]

China will be added when it is fixed in place; and KK said that Philadelphia had come to HIM asking for a race! I would have thought that would be a good indication that things are looking up.

I'm going to reserve my room in Edmonton right away; I want one of those "theme rooms". Anybody want to share it with me? They hold four ...

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

One wonders, then, mabs_nsx, why you passed off your fantasy schedule as the real thing - and totally invented a Phildelphia "night race".

It is not 'invented'. Paul Newman was in Philadelphia, along with others, meeting openly with the city.

Word in the paddock today is that it is almost a done deal.

[Kicking-back]

I know that, mountainstar - all I was saying is that mabs posted a schedule to make us think it was the official calendar when it wasn't.


I am aware that the Philadelphia race is very likely to happen, the only point is it's not on the published calendar at this stage

[Liz]

Q: By having two events in May are you discouraging your teams from entering the Indianapolis 500?

DICK EIDSWICK: I think we're making our decisions independent of other series. We're doing what we think is best for Champ Car and for our teams, our sponsors, drivers.

KEVIN KALKHOVEN: Good thing he didn't allow me to answer that question (laughter).

I found this little exchange to be interesting -- clearly it's the Elephant in the Parlour that we are all politely ignoring. What do you think KK would have said if he'd been the one who answered that question?