Paul Newman saying Wednesday's the day

[The Snout]

Honestly who knows, but have a read.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,...563554,00.html


Has CART been sold?

Actor Paul Newman, co-owner of Newman/Haas Racing, said CART will have a major announcement Wednesday. Newman would not reveal any specifics, citing the sensitivity of discussing the possible sale of a publicly owned company.

Newman is rumored to become a minority partner in the company, which became public in 1998. Other interested investors might include Forsythe, former Trans-Am star Paul Gentilozzi and Carl Russo, owner of a two-car CART Toyota Atlantic Championship team based in Loveland.

Asked about his commitment to keep CART alive, Newman said: "It's furious. View that as the wise statement that I made on the Sunday before (the announcement)."

Tracy, who won from the pole Sunday, hopes the sale happens.

"The stock is down so low, it seems it would be better off with one guy running it," he said. "Anytime you get boards involved and group decisions, things become muddy and clouded. It needs to be private like NASCAR, the IRL and Formula One."

Said team owner/driver Adrian Fernandez: "It's a good idea to make it private, I think."

CART vice president Adam Saal would not confirm Wednesday's announcement. CART CEO Chris Pook did not attend the Mid-Ohio race and was unavailable for comment.

[gttouring]

let's hope Newman buys it, than every one can stuff it, if steve mcqueen were still around the two of them would be racing head to head in TA and with their teams in CART i am sure. This guy loves racing, he wouldn't let it fail

[Flatspot]

I'm with you GTT. Methanol salad dressing...Hmm

[Liz]

I will buy everything Paul Newman sells and contribute to all his charities if he proves to be the guiding light of this buyout.

This is a man who follows his star and pays no attention to the numbers on his birth certificate. I like that in a man.

Here's hoping ...

[Muzza]

The incertitudes about the future of Formula 1 (FOM versus GPWC) are hurting CART much more than most realize.

Ecclestone - like him or not (either as a businessman or a sportsman, I do not) - undoubtedly the most promising buyer (and, I insist, the only one to have debated the acquisition, transition and long term plans with Chris Pook and the CART management) is now caught in the whirlwind of Formula 1's own future. As such, CART became a very secondary concern to him. "Even time itself is against poor CART", would the conspiracy-theorist fan say.

[¡As-de-mim!]

This article intimates that the boys across the pond are about to patch things up.


A resolution over the F1 revenue dispute may come as early as October

Faure believes a resolution to the breakaway GPWC row is close at hand

Renault F1 Team chairman Patrick Faure has predicted an end to the dispute between the manufacturers and Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone over future distribution of F1's revenue to come within the next couple of months.

Five leading F1 manufacturers, Ferrari, DaimlerChrylser, Ford, Renault and BMW, which formed the Grand Prix World Championship last year, are threatening to create a breakaway series unless the teams are given a greater percentage of the revenue generated through F1.

"This is a complicated issue: we are currently in a phase of negotiation over the sport's future," said Faure. "The GPWC is in discussion with the banks who own 75% of Formula 1, and with Bernie Ecclestone's trust, which still possesses 25%.

"Our demands are that, in the future, a significantly greater portion of the revenues generated by F1 should be distributed to the teams: they are the people who create the show, and they need to receive more help.

"Our other request is that F1 should be managed like a normal company, with greater transparency. We are in the final phase of discussions on this matter, and I think we should find a solution towards the end of October."

[Jay]

I guess they've finally given up waiting for Bernie... now that that's done, let's get the show on the road!

Carl Russo involved? That's a new one... he's certainly not short on the green stuff... I a yellow cars would be in Cart next year then.

[macdaddy]

Wednesday, eh?

[Mantom]

Hmmmm....coming from Paul Newman says a lot. He usually doesn't say much or get into the rumour stuff you usually hear about.

[Liz]

Isn't it amazing that Bernie has to be kicked into giving a fair share of the money to the people who actually provide the entertainment (does he really think the Brinks trucks are going to follow him to his grave?) and to allow F1 to be "run like a normal company" ...

[¡As-de-mim!]

Gentilozzi met Forsythe, Forsythe met Kalkhoven and Kalkhoven met Gentilozzi, and before the weekend ended the not-yet- official group had a handshake deal with which to proceed.


http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content...._code=02924108

[gttouring]

i read Autoweek as well, and oh man- motorock-or motocrock seems too wishy, how is a concert on saturday going to get people in on sunday? they might show up for trans-am and stay later for the music, but surely not for sunday's ChampCars. Heres' hoping-so if they really want a push to pass button and want to be a super NorthAmerican/american/australian visiting open wheel series, instead of a 'push to pass' turbo button why don't they use a Nitrous set up which is easier to regulate the amount of "boost" you would have left in the bottle so it is finite? and you can even police the injector size so it is simply a 50 hp boost or something (would it then be NOScar? lol) no seriously why not? it would bring in a whole new bunch of people and even I owuld be keenly interested as CHampcars would be firmly placed between the fixed carburation and 'old-style' NASCAR regs, adn SuperTech of F1.

[Jay]

I think the concert thing is just part of the show... frankly, I'm not sure how that's a big deal, as there usually are concerts or a big event on Saturday night for most of the street races. Sometimes the acts are pretty big too..

[The Snout]

The Motorock thing just helps complete the weekend package. I think it's a good move to try and continue making the event just that, an event not a race for just 2 hours on Sunday.

[The Snout]

Hey, didn't know this. If we Aussies can't get a driver in might as well own the series I guess.

Kalkhoven, an Australian who built a fortune with start-ups in Silicon Valley

[¡As-de-mim!]

This is an announcement, the announcement you have been expecting has been postponed. According to the cut and paste king.

[Liz]

Where did you hear that? Not that it surprises me.

[Jay]

TSN's site....

http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/news_s...me=auto_racing

[¡As-de-mim!]

Originally posted by Liz
Where did you hear that? Not that it surprises me.

I read it on a couple of rumor, ehh, C^RT boards. A couple of points to ponder: If PN is talking to the media about dates, etc., then he is not involved in the buyout, as rumored on some rumor boards. The next several weeks are vital to CART's future since that's when teams are expected to confirm if they will race in the series. The teams' sponsors are getting antsy as well.

The top eight finishers in this past weekend's races are Champ car products. NASCAR P1 & P2; IRL P1, 2, & 3; and C^RT, of course.

[Liz]

Considering that it has taken us three days to arrange for someone to take a simple document across town to be notarized, I don't find a few days' delay to be any kind of big deal when legal matters are involved. The sheer number of people and pages involved, not to mention that these people and papers are all in different countries, militates against anything being done quickly.