Who did the indy racing league reunite with to form a united group?”
It happened last year: We had just reported that an agreement to reunite the estranged U.S. open wheel racing series of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series was all but inked, and now it is officially official. The two sides have issues a press release revealing the IRL founder and CEO Tony George, who occasioned the split in the first place, and the owners of Champ Car have officially signed a deal to bring the two series together again. We reported already on all of the logistical hurdles that had to be jumped, not the least of which is combining the season schedules of both series. It appears that all of the wrinkles have been ironed out, and both sides will be presenting the nitty gritty details in a press conference that’s just listed as “forthcoming”. Will the joined series be a force once again in motorsports? F1 is considered the pinnacle of racing on a global scale, and NASCAR is the WWE of car racing with legions of fans, while even the Le Mans Series, particular
http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=10557 Done deal George, series owners sign unification agreement By Dave Lewandowski Friday, February 22, 2008 Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George and owners of the Champ Car World Series have completed an agreement in principle that will unify major American open-wheel racing for 2008. Gerald Forsythe, co-owner of Champ Car, signed an agreement in principle Feb. 22 in Chicago, joining his partner, Kevin Kalkhoven. George signed the agreement Feb. 21. A news conference regarding unification and ancillary questions will be held at 12:30 p.m. (ET) Feb. 27. It will be shown live on indycar.com, ESPN News and SPEED. “I’m happy for open-wheel racing, its fans, sponsors and teams,” George said. . . .
15 months ago, the Indy Racing League and Champion Car World Series reunited under the umbrella of the IRL. The merger guaranteed — for the first time since 1996 — that two open-wheel racing series would not be fighting for fans, TV ratings and sponsorship dollars. The Indy Racing League broke away from CART, the predecessor to the Champion Car World Series, in 1996. About the same time, interest in NASCAR exploded, to the detriment of open-wheel racing. Whether the Indy Racing League will ever regain its position atop the motor sports pecking order is uncertain, but the reunion gives it a chance to compete on a more level playing field with NASCAR.
