CART in Court????

[Mags]

Originally posted by jjspierx
Actually, Mags, it was before, I just checked

I'll kick my source's behind. Perhaps he's a closet IRL fan??

[Liz]

It's been in the Lord's hands all along.

[Omega99]

Who needs $5 US when you've got people like indycool, Mags, Liz, jjspierx, Foglehund, racerkeke, etc. Keep the info coming guys!

[MLM]

If I've learned anything as I "matured" (haha...that may be the biggest laugh ),is that life is so transient. People come, people go. You lose friends, you make friends. You live, you die.
(Gad, I'm rewriting the beginning of "A Tale of Two Cities"..."It was the best of times. It was the worst of times..... )
BUT, life does go on....and so do these darn procedings
Racing does make a rather interesting metaphor of life, don't you think?

[EBTM]

Is there a time when the two parties should come forward with their final bid?

[Liz]

Yes, racing does have an interesting parallel with life in general ... and the most unpleasant people I've ever met think that both are "all about money."

The people who are the most fun are the ones who are in it for the thrill of competition.

But I wish this particular race would end soon.

[jjspierx]

Originally posted by EBTM
Is there a time when the two parties should come forward with their final bid?

No there isn't a set time like that or anything, however from what I understand, OWRS gets to make the final bid.

[Liz]

Do you feel as if you are on "The Price is Right"? I do.

[EBTM]

Thanks jjspierx.

I feel like a student waiting for the test grades to be posted on the window of the teacher's office... knowing that the teacher is inside and printing the list...

[indycool]

jjs, that "final bid" scenario was floated around for a long time and finally was decided to be false.

It's amazing how many forums are so jammed up you can't get on 'em now. Of the forums and other sources I have who have people there, I can only to get to one now -- Champweb -- and its last report was quite awhile ago that the creditor committee chairman was on the witness stand testifying. He testified that he hadn't seen a TV contract or contracts with teams from OWRS. OWRS attorneys argued that it couldn't have those things yet because it doesn't own anything. Sounds like the real rough stuff has started...the proof of performance issue.

[indycool]

Gold Coast promoter just testified, saying race would lose an economic impact of $40-50m. It's just been ruled that South Korea is a non-issue because it isn't an asset of CART, that it's an OWRS deal.

[Ac.]

CW is reporting that all of the creditors are being asked to take the stand, one after another, to testify. The latest reports from indycool have the details.

Apparently TG has taken off his winter clothing and is seated again.

[Liz]

Local impact is estimated at $27 million just for the GTA. And where we have been hit by SARS, West Nile, and Code Orange, I can well imagine the impact would be even worse. Montreal that has probably already lost their F1 race will be in even worse straits if OWRS doesn't prevail.

[jjspierx]

Originally posted by indycool
jjs, that "final bid" scenario was floated around for a long time and finally was decided to be false.

It was actually Robin Miller last night on Wind Tunnel who stated the final bid thing, although you may be right, and he may be wrong, I don't know.

Sounds like this thing might not be over with today as speculated earlier. I imagine the guy in charge of the Molson events(Singleton I think is his last name) will probably also take the stand, and basically say the same thing as the Gold Coast promoter guy.

[indycool]

I've lost contact with all the forums and people I know who have somebody in the courthouse except for Champweb....Don Sklenka charged a few bucks for covering but he's doing a fine job for everyone....might consider giving him a kind word or a buck or two tomorrow. Read a report that one forum is down, two are so slow you can't possibly get on, and record numbers of onliners are being set by everyone today.

[indycool]

Okay, Champweb apparently had the IRL deal slightly wrong. Confirmed on IRL bid: $13.5 million. One Mexico, one Canada, Long Beach and two others for three years.

[GTRMagic]

Proves that there is a following for the sport out there doesnt it?

I tend to agree with Liz, the final part of this deal sounds very much like the Price is Right... except they are playing with people's lives and careers... which intensifies it no end.

Imagine being a race driver, or a crewman, or a team owner, a sponsor, and not knowing whether the investment in assets, in people, in technology... are going to be able to be used this year because there is no way of knowing if there is a series or not.

Perhaps the CART teams could go run Euroboss and win in a canter?

[Tim Northcutt]

Maybe he went out to call the rest of the Hulman family to tell them it is time tap into the Hulman Trust fund....

Doesn't sound like this is going to be a "bargain basement price" purchase by either side....

Personally, I think it'll go a lot higher than $14 million....a lot higher....

[Bizzo5000]

That's still not bad for a whole racing series.

[Mags]

Just got this info from the SPEED boards, and needless to say, I like this a lot:

DF word from Spicoli is the promoters are doing a GREAT JOB testifying for OWRS and against the notion of the IRL coming in and Otte is NOT HAPPY with TG's lawyers. So far, good news. OWRS still has the best offer and par for TG's 10 year record in an attempt to save/fix/improve something he's ****ing off the people who matter most in the process.

[Ac.]

Originally posted by indycool
I've lost contact with all the forums and people I know who have somebody in the courthouse except for Champweb....Don Sklenka charged a few bucks for covering but he's doing a fine job for everyone....might consider giving him a kind word or a buck or two tomorrow.

Good idea.

Read a report that one forum is down, two are so slow you can't possibly get on, and record numbers of onliners are being set by everyone today.

CW has reported that their server has been down twice. Hardware upgrades have been made to try to keep pace with the traffic.

[Andy H]

Bizzo - you could look it at another way (the pessimistic one) paying $14 million for a business that lost a consderable amount of $ (sorry I don't know the exact figure) last yeat may not seem like a good deal to some accountants out there.......

Here's another thought, and just stirring it so nobody flame me please, if the Gold Coast, Toronto etc will lose so much money perhaps these guys should have made a bid?

[jjspierx]

I don't understand what you mean Andy? Why would two non-US companies that promote races try to buy an American race series? They don't make the kind of money to do that anyways. And it wouldn't make them anymore money, its basically known and accepted that whoever ends up with CART if they try to continue running it, will lose many millions of dollars over next few years.

[Andy H]

Allow me to attempt to clarify my ramblings

All I'm saying is just because those races make a lot of money for the local area doesn't mean you necessarily have a viable business in CART or one that is worth someone continuing

If those races stand to make so much cash perhaps they should do more to help OWRS?

[sgw2]

Andy,

The numbers are inflated. And largely BS. If they are making that sort of money then CART coudl charge them $10M each for a race, and they wouldn't have gone bankrupt.

My guess is the judge realizes that, and simply wants to get this testimony done with. So he'll cut down the lawyers, so he can be done with it.

He may take a similar view with OWRS performance questions.

In each case he'll make the winning side submit to some binding items he'll add in his decision. For OWRS it may be court oversight of funding. For IRL it'll be holding the races as promised.

BTW, the "two other" races for the IRL will probably be Milwaukee and Fontana - where they already hold races.