Positive words out of Denver

[Tailwind]

Future bright for Grand Prix of Denver

The partnership of Centrix Financial, Champ Car has given the racing event a solid foundation.

By Mike Chambers
Denver Post Staff Writer





Elkhart Lake, Wis. - For better or worse, the Grand Prix of Denver primarily is a marriage between Centrix Financial and the Champ Car World Series.

Though the race is in its third year, the event's co-owners are still in their honeymoon and looking forward to a bright future.

A year ago, neither party could say that the Pepsi Center-hosted and city-approved event was on solid ground. What has changed?

Publicly owned CART, the event's former sanctioning body, went bankrupt and no longer controls the Champ Car moniker. Three car owners now fund the circuit on a payroll sliced from 88 employees at the beginning of last season to 47. Last year, stockholders and board members were calling the shots on the advice of former high-paid CEO Chris Pook.


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"They have a plan, and it's a good one," veteran Champ Car driver Jimmy Vasser said of series co-owners Paul Gentilozzi, Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven. "I believe in those guys a lot. I know we went through some rocky times, but I think Champ Car's tough days are behind them."

Title sponsor Centrix Financial increased its involvement as co-owner, giving the race much needed local ownership. The Denver-based company's interest stems from local promotion, which former owner Dover Motorsports might have taken lightly.

"We owe the people of Denver an apology for the races we've put on in the past .... the way it was marketed," said Gentilozzi, who fields the cars driven by Alex Tagliani and Guy Smith. "But I don't think we'll have to apologize after this year.

"Having Centrix involved really helps us a lot. They can touch the right people to get support. The thing was mismanaged (in the past). Now it's going in a positive direction."

The Grand Prix of Long Beach has been Champ Car's premier street race since 1984. But indirectly, the Dover- owned event almost put the Grand Prix of Denver in its grave.

A year ago in Denver, Gentilozzi, Forsythe and Kalkhoven formed the only group that was interesting in purchasing CART. Ultimately, their bid changed from an outright purchase to allow CART to go through bankruptcy proceedings and buy the assets that they wanted.

An 11th-hour bid by the rival Indy Racing League to obtain some of those assets, including just one race - Long Beach - was the first dagger in Denver's heart. But an Indianapolis bankruptcy judge, by ruling that Gentilozzi and company offered a brighter future for CART's creditors, removed that dagger in January.

However, the Denver race still was far from safe, because Dover had no intention of producing a third race. Centrix stepped up with an offer to buy it from Dover, then ultimately settled on a 50-50 partnership with Champ Car. Terms were not disclosed.

"You couldn't ask for a better partner than Centrix for Denver," Champ Car president Richard Eidswick said. "Denver is an important market to be in, and we're pretty pleased to be where we are."

But make no mistake, there would be no Champ Car without Gentilozzi, Forsythe and Kalkhoven.

"You have to give these guys credit," Grand Prix of Denver general manager John Frew said of the series saviors. "They stepped up to the plate and made this series complete. They promised 18 cars and put their money up to make this happen. If they had their druthers, they would own the cars, not the series. But all of us are thrilled that they did this, otherwise we wouldn't be here."

IRL vice president Fred Nation said his organization doesn't believe in Denver street racing or Champ Car's ownership group. He said the conflict of interest in the paddock is dangerous business.

But Eidswick, who replaced Pook before bankruptcy proceedings began in December, said he'd rather work for racers than boardroom types.

"It's very healthy having three guys who know a lot about racing help restore the series to where it was," said Eid- swick, co-founder of a strategic planning and corporate marketing company in Ann Arbor, Mich. "It completely overshadows any possible conflict of interest because they're working so hard to make sure this series succeeds.

"I get things done, but I often go to the owners for help, because things cost money. But they don't encroach on my authority at all. Sometimes, we don't agree, but that's human. It's a very good relationship."

Meanwhile, some may think Centrix has a conflict of interest, too. It is primary sponsor for Vitor Meira's IRL car, owned by Rahal Letterman Racing.

Centrix CEO Bob Sutton said that's no different from Rahal Letterman fielding two cars in the Toyota Atlantic Championship, Champ Car's developmental series.

"We're committed to this (Denver) race, and that's not going to change," he said.

Sutton added that if Champ Car dies, it wouldn't necessarily be the end of the Grand Prix of Denver.

"We've made alternate plans," he said, refusing to confirm or deny conversations with the IRL, the only other elite-level circuit that might consider Denver. "Obviously, it's not going to happen this year, and Champ Car, as I understand it, will be announcing its 2005 schedule within the next few weeks. So it's really kind of a moot point."

[Kicking-back]

Well, that's essentially a warmed-over press release giving PR for Centrix.

There isn't really anything new there.

[Flatspot]

Having attended the previous events and leaving in the morning for this year's, I will reserve judgement and post my findings later. This year's trek started out rough but both the promotor and Champ Car responded well to my complaint so maybe there is some truth in the article.

[Liz]

Encouraging language! Stamp it out immediately! Champ Cars is DEAD! Quickly, find a reason to make this into something BAD!

[macdaddy]

What's with the rant?

[Mags]

I think we are all a tad frustrated by negativity. Instead of KB realising that this is a piece run by a local paper to promote an event to a public, largly un-aware of what we as fans know all about, the first thing he did was go all negative. I think this was put up to show, "see? a nice positive local paper article!" We knew there woudln't be any great revelations here.

[Kicking-back]

I wasn't being negative, I was stating a fact.

You chose to interpret as negative.

People seem so thin-skinned when discussing Champ Car at times.