When IRL founder Tony George went to WISH-TV to publicly refute/deny his remarks, as quoted over the weekend in the
Indianapolis Star, it was as stunning a refutal of merger talks as I've heard in the past few years, and it got me to thinking, What is going in the Indianapolis these days?
On the face of it, his refutal sounds as though it if he was saying, "any conversations I had with the Star's reporters(Curt Cavin and Steve Balaard) were off-the-record and not subject to official quoting, etc." If so, then what Messrs. Cavin and Ballard did by running the story in question was not only premature but unethical....very unethical, especially in regards to Cavin, who regularly speaks frankly with IRL officials, both on and off-duty. If this is the reason, then they have stepped into a major ethical minefield, maybe not to the degree that befall the
New York Times w/Jayson Blair,
USA Today w/Jack Kelley, or
The New Republic w/Stephen Glass, but it is close.
Where there other options Mr. George could've taken? Of course; he could have denied the article's veracity, as his counterpart, ChampCar series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven did following a
Toronto Sun article of a similar nature last year. He could've asked for, and probably gotten, from the Star a chance to write an op/ed piece, giving his side of the Cavin/Ballard story. Yet.....he chose to go to a TV station to give his retraction/refutal; essentially "blowing off" the Star and forcing them into a very unenviable position.....if the Star retracts the story, it makes Cavin and Ballard out to be liars. If the Star doesn't, then it leaves the paper open to possible legal retribution by the IRL or by IMS.
Assuming that Messrs. Cavin and Ballard are upstanding members of the Fourth Estate, why then would Tony George go on television and retract whatever he said in their article? It is common knowledge that both Cavin and Ballard, respected auto racing writers, both support seeing a merger btwn. ChampCar and the IRL; thus, it would not make sense for them to outright "lie" about such an article as they wrote over the weekend. Also, it is interesting that Kalkhoven hasn't retracted anything he is attributed to have said in the Cavin/Ballard piece. Indeed, independent sources, such as the
Montreal Gazette's David Stubbs, have confirmed to multiple outlets that Kalkhoven's opinion of the necessity of a merger hasn't changed(for the record.....Stubbs did an interview w/Kalkhoven in the Gazette back in Dec. 03', and it jibes with Kalkhoven's statements in the Cavin/Ballard piece.)
It thus stands to reason that any fabrication of the story came then from an IRL source(maybe George.....maybe not.....
) Most auto racing analysts/experts have concluded that, if there is an obstacle to any IRL/CCWS merger, that the obstacle is ownership. Conventional wisdom says that, in both series, but especially in the IRL, that there are factions opposed to
any merger and that they will do just about anything to scuttle such a merger, even if it means putting words into the mouths of certain individuals.....like Mr. George.
It is no secret that there are a few diehards in the IRL paddock(A.J. Foyt, Jr., Jon Barnes) who do not want a merger, while most of the big names(Roger Penske, Bobby Rahal, Chip Ganassi, etc.) want a merger. (note that the first group were original IRL owners, while the second group are the newer owners.....
). Imagine what their opposition would be like should, for instance, ChampCar opens their schedule and gives their teams a shot at the Brickyard? Some of those owners might face the prospect of seeing their drivers(Giaffone, Medieros, Gregoire, etc.) bumped from the field and replaced by Allmendinger, Legge, Tagliani, et al.
Another party that, secretly, could be opposed to a merger is Honda. Yes, you read that correctly....Honda, or to be more precise, Honda Performance Development(HPD). Now, to be fair to HPD, it is known that HPD boss Robert Clarke supports a merger....yet, HPD has publicly lobbied that, should a merger occur, that its' normally-aspirated engine be used rather than the Ford-Cosworth turbo. If that's true, then why in the heck would Clarke make two very public visits to the ChampCar paddock, in Las Vegas back in Sept. 2005, and Portland just a week or so ago? What was his purpose in going there, especially Portland? I mean, he goes there the 18th......the Star breaks their story the 25th, and George disavows it the 27th?
It personally is rather interesting to note that Mr. Kalkhoven has been silent the whole time, while Mr. George has been publicly disavowing his remarks.........are there some strings being pulled here, and, if so, why?
Which leads me to a more troubling point.......what does the future hold?? It is a known fact that, within the next 4-6 weeks, ChampCar will release its' 2007 schedule, their Panoz DP01 chassis will debut and that, independent of any merger, that there series will continue. In addition, reports are that the ChampCar series is talking to several teams about joining them in 2007(rumor has it that the leading candidate is Polestar Racing, as well as Sierra Sierra Mtrspts....) Fiscially, ChampCar is at or near their break-even point, pre-set via. the 2004 bankruptcy hearing. There is also talk of new sponsors and new promoters to help the series with specific events, particulary Milwaukee and Road America. Are there roadblocks ahead? Certainly; political problems threaten to scuttle Portland and San Jose, for instance; there's also the ongoing debate over whether there will be a street race in Phoenix, as well. In essence, Messrs. Kalkhoven and Forsythe know they have a product that can grow and prosper
independent of the Indy Racing League, thus allowing them to act in their best interests regardless of what happens elsewhere?
Now, would the future be better if there was a merger? Of course; both sides have said so. But, in that same Gazette article, Kalkhoven added, "Sometimes things aren't in our control." It is therefore my belief that there is possibly an internal war going on within the Indy Racing League between the old guard owners(Foyt, Barnes, et. al), the series officials(George, Barnhart, etc.), the new guard owners(Penske, Rahal, et. al) and Honda over the direction the series should take.....should we merge with ChampCar, should we not, and so forth? I honestly believe that in retracting what he supposedly said to Cavin and Ballard, Tony George has set forth such a war, one which could have frankly, disasterous consequences for American open-wheel racing. I sincerely hope, for all AOWR fans, that this is NOT the case.
That's my say.........what's yours?