ChampCar World Series 2004 From Court Documents

[SurfaceUnits]

These are the latest counts from that unnamed forum.

The Schedule:

April 18 Long Beach
May 16 St Pete
May 23 Monterrey, Mexico
June 5 Milwaukee Mile
June 20 Portland
July 3 Cleveland
July 11 Toronto
July 25 Vancouver
August 8 Road America
August 15 Denver
August 29 Montreal
September 12 Laguna Seca
October 17 Seoul, South Korea
October 24 Surfer's Paradise
November 1 Mexico City
November 7 Las Vegas
16 Races

Letters of intent:
Conquest 2 cars, Coyne 2 cars, Fittipaldi Racing 2 cars, Herdez 2 cars, Newman-Haas 2 cars, PKR 2 cars, Player's-Forsythe 2 cars, Rocketsports 2 cars, RuSport 1 car, Walker 2 cars. Neither Fernandez or Rahal are listed on court documents.

19 cars + 1 each from Rahal/Fernandez

[Liz]

Where did you find the court documents?

[SurfaceUnits]

Try this:
http://www.myehud.com/cartbk/docs/99.pdf

[Testure]

With handy links here: http://www.myehud.com/cartbk

[Mags]

Some doubts

George expressed some doubt that CART could be saved.

"I don't see they have much of a chance of being successful in the environment we're all working in right now,' he said.

Analyst Dennis McAlpine agreed.

"What do they have to offer? This is a series that can't put together drivers, teams or cars anybody has heard of.'

CART's only owner/driver welcomed the news, but like many around the industry, was hoping the two sides would eventually merge.

"For the short term, I'm happy,' said Adrian Fernandez, who has entries in both CART and the IRL. "I wouldn't have been able to drive a full season if CART didn't continue. ... In the long term, we need one series.'

Fernandez and most of the other CART teams have progressed under the assumption that there would be a 2004 CART season. OWRS says it has commitments for 18 cars, including two from actor Paul Newman's team, Newman/Haas Racing.

"Carl (Haas) and Paul have been supportive of OWRS' proposal from the beginning,' said Brian Lisles, general manager of Newman/Haas Racing. "We are far ahead in our plans for the 2004 season in testing. We are looking forward to (Long Beach).'

Ticket sales for the Grand Prix have taken a hit with the uncertainty surrounding CART, Michaelian said. About 200,000 fans attend the race annually and it brings in an estimated $39 million to the local economy, making it the city's biggest event.

"I would hope this decision is met with an uptick in terms of (ticket) sales,' he said. "People have been reluctant to commit. Many didn't know the status of the event. This eliminates a lot of confusion and now we can get on with selling the event.'

[f1manoz]

So many teams intending to put cars on the grid. Perhaps everyone was just waiting for the court case to finish. Expect a thousand and one announcements now!!!

[Testure]

Reading the letters of intent (in that 99.pdf) is sorta funny, there's a striking similarity to them all The next few weeks should be a blast, lots of announcements are due. Just who are sponsoring Forsythe?

[Snrub]

As for the doubts, CART's finally starting to fix the name recognition problem. RHR has a win under his belt and it sounds like a good ride for next year. He should be close to the front and probably win some in 2004. There's some name recognition for you. (in progress) Hornish is the only really 'name' guy in the IRL. (excluding Fisher) His name was built in the IRL. CART will have AJ next year as well. A rookie sensation periodically doing battle with his badboy mentor of sorts is a good story. Andretti and Unser were the names of CART. (Michael and Jr. I'm refering to) Their names were built in CART too. From a talent perspective CART's lineup is looking pretty good for 2004.

[Mags]

Originally posted by Testure
Reading the letters of intent (in that 99.pdf) is sorta funny, there's a striking similarity to them all The next few weeks should be a blast, lots of announcements are due. Just who are sponsoring Forsythe?

It's going to blow you away! But don't be suprised if it's an OLD friend.

[Snrub]

Do you have an NDA Mags or are you trying to torture us?

[Mags]

Originally posted by Snrub
Do you have an NDA Mags or are you trying to torture us?

NO, but I was told OTR, that it WILL indeed be Players in the states, and be whited out in Canada (think like F1).

And those letter of intent today sure reinforced that for me.

[suzmac]

Originally posted by Mags
NO, but I was told OTR, that it WILL indeed be Players in the states, and be whited out in Canada (think like F1).

And those letter of intent today sure reinforced that for me.

That would be awesome!! I love that color scheme and it would make sense for them to do that...after all it's not like you can buy Player's cigarettes in the States anyway!!

Sue

P.S. I won't have to make a new pair of "Patrick Jeans" if it stays that way!!

[Snrub]

When do the anti-tobacco laws that drove Winston away from Nascar come into effect in the US? Why did Players not run their livery for the last couple of races of 2003?

[suzmac]

Originally posted by Snrub
When do the anti-tobacco laws that drove Winston away from Nascar come into effect in the US? Why did Players not run their livery for the last couple of races of 2003?

There hasn't been cigarette ads on TV or radio for a long time now in the States. I would imagine with the start of the Nascar season next month that it would be in effect already.

That's what I wanted to know? Players could have run with their logos for the last three but I like the alternative!! My name was on the left side of Patrick's car right near where he sits! In other words he had to climb over my name everytime he got into his car...what a lucky girl I am!!!

[SurfaceUnits]

Macdaddy: We got into talking politics last year. Wasn't pretty. That's why it's specifically mentioned in the HotTopic that I've already encouraged you to read.

[macdaddy]

From Snrub:
Why did Players not run their livery for the last couple of races of 2003?

I remember an email to Molson last year. They said that Danny Sullivan's "Molson" car was sponsored by Molson-USA. Canadian laws really had no effect.

Players is Imperial Tobacco, which is British American Tobacco. Therefore I'm sure there's got to be a Players-USA. Even if there wasn't, they'd be apt to set one up just to defend their Canadian championship driver, in a country where the ChampCars are popular.

Just speculating...

[f1manoz]

Didn't Players have to pull out around September last year, that's why there name wasn't on the car. I think that's why I read at one time...

[corkholio]

Player's couldn't run their livery starting in October last year (I think) because that's when the Canadian law went into effect in which one of the provisions prohibited Canadian tobacco companies from sponsoring motor racing.

In anycase they can't even put "Player's" on the cars in the US since the trademark is owned Philip Morris.

The 4 cars from Conquest and Walker seem rather iffy at this point because those LOI don't actually answer the most important question: who will be funding them?

[Liz]

That was only in Canada -- the laws here are draconian.

As for the LOI looking similar, I have a big book of legal forms on my desk and I guarantee you all legal documents look pretty much the same.

[SurfaceUnits]

I will have to pass by the Forsythe headquarters more often to keep tabs on any change in signage.

[SurfaceUnits]

2004 Champ Car World Series (formerly CART) schedule
CART released a tentative 2004 Champ Car World Series schedule in December and hopes to have a final version ready in the next two weeks. Here's an update on the schedule as it currently stands:

Confirmed events
• April 18: Grand Prix of Long Beach (Calif.).
• May 23: Monterrey (Mexico) Grand Prix at Fundidora Park.
• June 5: The Milwaukee Mile.
• July 3: Cleveland Grand Prix at Burke Lakefront Airport. Conflicts for the lighting company likely to force move from a night race to the following afternoon (July 4).
• July 11: Molson Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place.
• July 25: Molson Indy Vancouver at Concord Pacific Place.
• Aug. 8: Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wis. One-year deal negotiated with OWRS Wednesday night after bankruptcy court ruling.
• Aug. 15: Grand Prix of Denver.
• Aug. 29: Molson Indy Montreal at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
• Sept. 12: Grand Prix of Monterey (Calif.) at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. One-year deal negotiated with OWRS Wednesday night after bankruptcy court ruling.
• Oct. 24: Indy 300 on the Gold Coast at Surfer's Paradise, Queensland, Australia.

Unconfirmed events
• May 16: Las Vegas. Venue and date unconfirmed but likely to be somewhere on the final schedule.
• June 20: Portland (Ore.) International Raceway. Promoter in place but details remain to be worked out with the city.

TBA
• Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Fla.). New date has been negotiated but details not yet finalized.
• Grand Prix of Miami at Bayfront Park. Not part of OWRS purchase agreement.
• Mexico City. Sanctioning agreement in place but no date set.
• Seoul, South Korea. Sanctioning agreement in place but no date set.
• California Speedway at Fontana. Not part of OWRS purchase agreement. Sanctioning fees for 2003 and 2004 in dispute between CART and International Speedway Corp.
Compiled by Steve Ballard / The Star