KK: '2005 schedule out in September'

[Jim Wilke]

At this rate, OWRS will purportedly have next year's schedule out before this year's schedule is done:

"It's our intention to have a 2005 schedule out by September which will continue to expand internationally and, hopefully, add some interesting new things in the United States," Kalkhoven told ESPN. "In that respect, we are well ahead of where we normally would be. It's pretty solid, but we have a few more things to nail down.

Oh, and we're keeping the same old cars and engines:

Kalkhoven added that the series plans to retain its current chassis and engine format until at least 2006. "We're going to keep the same package for 2005 because the teams need to know that the equipment they have will still be good," Kalkhoven said. "We're exploring some options for '06, but I don't want to stir up any speculation by talking about something that isn't finalized.”

Coyne will be happy; his cars have chassis numbers carved in Roman numerals.

Speed.com

[Chitownfan]

"It's our intention "

"hopefully"

"but we have a few more things to nail down."

"We're exploring some options for '06, but I don't want to stir up any speculation by talking about something that isn't finalized.”


S.O.S.

[Vasserfan]

Go ahead and spread your doom and gloom. Champ Cars are still alive and things are looking up for them. They have run two good races, with 2 good crowds.

And great consistancy Jim. In one thread you complain about the TBA schedule for this year and in this one you compalin that they plan to announce 2005 before this season is over.

[Chitownfan]

They have run two good races,

You're kidding right???

[Vasserfan]

Originally posted by Chitownfan
You're kidding right???

Nope, I enjoyed both, especially this weekend's. Did you even watch them?

[Jim Wilke]

Originally posted by Vasserfan
Go ahead and spread your doom and gloom. Champ Cars are still alive and things are looking up for them. They have run two good races, with 2 good crowds.

And great consistancy Jim. In one thread you complain about the TBA schedule for this year and in this one you compalin that they plan to announce 2005 before this season is over.

I just think it is a bit amusing that they apparently have many of the details worked out for next year when this year isn't done yet. If it were me, I'd do one thing at a time, not put the CART before the horse. But that's me.

OTOH, they have been changing things a lot lately. I haven't heard much about MotoRock! for example and they have quietly said they are going to self-promote the races in Portland, Cleveland and Denver after promising they were out of the promotion business. Gotta roll with the flow.

And a tidbit: I was in Vegas this past weekend, stayed at THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay, the new tower to the west of the original. I had a corner room on the north side and a great view of the vacant land where there is rumored to be a race course under consideration. Not a chance. Traffic considerations aside, there isn't enough pavement there to put on a decent bicycle race. The Strip is packed every night so there is no way that gets shut down, either. There are a couple of defunct casinos/shopping malls about 4 miles south of the Strip but the pavement there is rough and dirty. My guess is the Vegas street race is dead. Real dead.

[Vasserfan]

Originally posted by Jim Wilke
My guess is the Vegas street race is dead. Real dead.

Hmmm, kind of like the IRL sponsorship. (Sorry, couldn't resist)

And didn't you predict No Champ Cars this year too?


As for Vegas Street race, I would personally rather see LVMS one day on the Champ Car schedule, but we will see.

[indycool]

All the wild speculation about '05 OWRS venues and Kalkhoven talking about 20 or so in the works is just throwing it up in the air and seeing where it lands, building a bunch of things into people's minds that probably aren't going to happen.

In their international quest so far, OWRS has lost in Durban, South Africa. Argentina and Brazil are Fittipaldi deals and you can't ignore past practice on Fittipaldi deals. Where's his well-touted race team?

And Jim's point is well-taken. Where's a final '04 schedule before we start talking about '05. IMO, OWRS will do far less globetrotting in '05 than people expect.

[Jim Wilke]

And didn't you predict No Champ Cars this year too?

No, absolutely not. KK and GF didn't buy CART to fold up a few months later. My thinking is that they are trying to put up as big a front as possible so that they can strike a deal and sell the series to Tony George for a profit, a chunk of the IRL or both.

They are playing a giant game of chicken. We'll see who blinks first but at some point, OWRS will have to fold. They are not profitable now and won't be for several years, if ever; they will last as along as Kevin keeps writing checks or until Tony caves in.

[Jim Wilke]

In their international quest so far, OWRS has lost in Durban, South Africa.

The Korea race looks very shaky as well. No action at all to prepare a race course, no promotion or advertising, no work by the organization, nothing at all. Well, they do have a logo and a Korean language website.

In a few weeks, that race will be quietly postponed until next year. 'Not enough time to do it right, we don't want to disappoint the good Korean people by putting on a disorganized show. We'll really be ready next year with a HUGE event, the kind we're known for all over the world.'

[Vasserfan]

Originally posted by Jim Wilke
No, absolutely not. KK and GF didn't buy CART to fold up a few months later. My thinking is that they are trying to put up as big a front as possible so that they can strike a deal and sell the series to Tony George for a profit, a chunk of the IRL or both.

They are playing a giant game of chicken. We'll see who blinks first but at some point, OWRS will have to fold. They are not profitable now and won't be for several years, if ever; they will last as along as Kevin keeps writing checks or until Tony caves in.

I honestly did not recall your predictions on that note. But if you will remember. OWRS has said many times that they would not make a profit this year or next and that they we in it for the long haul. (I suspect a certain other open wheel series was not profitable its first years and had to survive to a great extent on someones check book.

[Chitownfan]

Did you even watch them?

Yes. I love racing. I watch everything. I guess perception is reality.

[Vasserfan]

Originally posted by Chitownfan
Yes. I love racing. I watch everything. I guess perception is reality.

I try to watch as much as possible. I like ovals, love road racing and all other kinds. Some prefer IRL other Champ Car and many, NASCAR. Oh well.

[indycool]

Vasserfan, you're right, they have said they wouldn't make a profit for two or three years. How many million will they be in the hole at that point? Their loss projections show a profit in the third year. Will that happen? Will whatever happens be encouraging or discouraging financially for them? They're going to lose money on Portland, Denver and Cleveland. They hadn't planned for that originally. They hadn't planned to pay for teams originally. They've paid now. So, time will tell as the financial burden either reduces or advances, but one thing is certain for sure: It's not going to be what they thought it would be.

[Jim Wilke]

They are also losing more than they expected on TV, sponsorship is running behind projections and they will lose money on TBA 1 and TBA 2 if they are held. The biggest worry, though, has to be next year. Several of the teams are hanging by a thread and may not make it all the way through this year without a lot more help and next year will be even worse. On the race side, I would expect to see them lose Road America, Laguna, Long Beach and possible Milwaukee as well as cutting the 3 self-promo'ed races adrift. Where are they going to find promoters who will pay fees? They need 2 for the TBAs, 4 for the races I've listed as well as hanging on to shaky deals in Korea and Montreal.

I don't see it.

[FordXFE]

Boy, is this rich!!!!

Let me get this straight. Tony George has years to plan the split and IRL. He has the biggest race in the world. He has enourmous cash flow from the BY400. In the third season of 1998 he manages to have 11 total races on the schedule at 10 tracks.

OWRS gets half a year to put a schedule together and put a plan in place to run the series. I believe that what they have pulled off to this point has been amazing.

I think their performance in a short period of time points out what can get accomplished when you have the right people in charge of things - something the car owners knew well in 1991.

[simracer]

I just hope that they have more than one oval race on next year's schedule.

As it stands, the Milwaukee race will probably be the only ChampCar race that I watch this year.

[jjjanos]

Originally posted by FordXFE
Boy, is this rich!!!!

Let me get this straight. Tony George has years to plan the split and IRL. He has the biggest race in the world. He has enourmous cash flow from the BY400. In the third season of 1998 he manages to have 11 total races on the schedule at 10 tracks.

OWRS gets half a year to put a schedule together and put a plan in place to run the series. I believe that what they have pulled off to this point has been amazing.

I think their performance in a short period of time points out what can get accomplished when you have the right people in charge of things - something the car owners knew well in 1991.

Is your indignation over criticism for the failure to yet produce a 2004 schedule or the criticism regarding the 2005 schedule?

2004 was a gimme and should have been announced within days of winning the court decision. The contracts were in place and OWRS had plenty of time to discuss the what-if's with tracks prior to the ruling. Their (OWRS) failure to produce a schedule in a timely manner indicates incompetence, not brilliance.

[guido]

Jim is right, the new new IRL sponsor (TBA) is going to buy the series from the 3 Amigos. Its all in the plans.

[1204]

OWRS are playing a big game of chicken? So say's Wilke.OWRS are FOOL'S.They just don't know what Indy mean's.When Tony turns Indianapolis into a ghost town.(happening quicker than I thought)he will move to Florida and retire.No chicken there.

[FordXFE]

Originally posted by jjjanos
2004 was a gimme and should have been announced within days of winning the court decision. The contracts were in place and OWRS had plenty of time to discuss the what-if's with tracks prior to the ruling.

Gimme?

Tony had years to plan the 1996/1997 season and he could only must a handful of races.

Gimme? Totally out of touch with reality. You are right, the tracks they added to the immediate schedule were a gimme. Everything else was a lot of work. Some events were a "gimme" if you want to lose 2 million dollars on it.

The TBA are business growth models, that may not work, but won't lose them money.

Nothing is a gimme.

[nascarnation]

I'll give them credit for one thing, they're getting plenty of use from those chassis & motors.

They should get Valvoline "Max-Life" as a sponsor........

[Railbird]

I love it when the revisionist try to to say "no, I never said they wouldn't have a season"


I'm sure they are now happy that TG got his fanny handed to him in a court of law.

The spare cash came in very handy last week.

[jjjanos]

Originally posted by FordXFE
Gimme?

Tony had years to plan the 1996/1997 season and he could only must a handful of races.

Tony did have race contracts handed to him. OWRS didn't need to build a schedule for a completely new series. OWRS had one handed to them for a proven product.

Gimme? Totally out of touch with reality. You are right, the tracks they added to the immediate schedule were a gimme. Everything else was a lot of work. Some events were a "gimme" if you want to lose 2 million dollars on it.

Of the races on the OWRS schedule, the only two that were not announced or under contract prior to the hearing are the TBA races. Korea had already been announced and the rest of them were already under contract. Must have taken a huge amount of hardwork to dial the phone and remind those tracks that they were under contract.

The TBA are business growth models, that may not work, but won't lose them money.

As of this time, the TBA's don't exist.

[tbyars]

I give them all the credit for looking at 2005 this far in advance. NASCAR just announced their 2005 schedule, so all the series should be hard at work on 2005.

I do wish, however, that the OWRS guys would resolve 2004 before they go stirring things up about 2005. That's a credibility issue for me. To me, it seems like KK would have been much better off saying "sure we've looked at 2005, but we have some more pressing 2004 issues to attend to first." By touting the 2005 schedule before that has been done, it seems to me like he's putting the cart before the horse. If the two TBAs are dead issues, then tell the fans and get on with 2005.

[AlJRFAN]

High Tech

[dreamracer]

Man there are some bitter beer faces around here.

[guido]

You are correct, just the thought of a 05 season seems to bring out the worst in "race" fans. A term I use sparingly. Probably should be event fans.

[Jim Wilke]

Originally posted by Railbird
I love it when the revisionist try to to say "no, I never said they wouldn't have a season"

Please post a quote where I said anything of the kind.

[ErwinRommel]

Originally posted by Jim Wilke
Please post a quote where I said anything of the kind.

YOU'RE LYING AGAIN JIM!


After a quick peruse, I can upon these gems from you in the first thread I checked (CART merger off):

Even if OWRS pulls off the swindle and buys the contracts and the rest of CART's assets, they still will not have enough cars and every day that this chicanery goes on makes it even less likely.

CART is dead, OWRS is dead. Just like the Berlin Wall fell quietly, it's over. There will be a few involuntary jerks from the corpse but you can call the coroner.

They are doomed to the same failure as CART itself. It's over.