Ansan Cancelled

Well it's happened again Ansan has been cancelled...er deferred to 2006. The announcement was made by yesterday by CCWS only 2 short days after they announced that they were continuing with plans for this October’s race. In the press release they quote several obstacles having to do with promotions and fees.

WickerBill Sez;

If you read the bits of the press conference it's obvious that CCWS hasn't a clue about how to deal with the Asian business community. This is a very surprising turn of events for me as I thought KK was on top of everything. Now I can't help but wonder how many other problems have festering sores! I'll bet that China has serious issues as well. Look for some negative development on that front!

Bourdais wins Vegas

Sebastien Bourdais held off teammate Servia to win the Las Vegas 400 last night. Sebastian now has a commanding point lead over Paul Tracy. Bordais punted him off the track as Tracy was attempting to slow for a pit stop.

Much controversy over the contact has erupted but Tony Cotman said their would not be any further action because Tracy failed to follow the rule for showing the field the intention of pitting by dropping two wheels below the white line on the backstretch.

WickerBill Sez;

I haven't read the rule but some are saying it is too vague as written. I saw Tracy well below the line with Bourdais following. It appeared that Bourdais realized that Tracy was about to pit and then went right to pass and hit Tracy. I suppose it all depends on how the rule of the backstrech line is interperted!

If Bourdais was below the line and not pitting shouldn't he be penalized as the drivers were told before the race?

Tortious Interference

Should CCWS become a party to a suit claiming Tortious Interference with the Montreal Grand Prix where it is suspected that the promoter and the IRL were cooking up a scheme to oust CCWS and replace it with an IRL NASCAR event in 2006 even though CCWS has a contract for 2006?

IMO there are many reasons to shy away from such a suit not the least of which is that according to Norman Legault there is no such agreement with the IRL and they plan to hold the CCWS event as contracted in 2006. I think that even if they could prove that there were some behind the scenes negotiations they would have almost no chance of proving Tortious Interference.

A suit of this kind might have a negative impact on the series in the press; the risk reward ratio may not be worth it.

Even if a judgment favorable to CCWS were found what do they win......a few dollars? CCWS should focus on the business of racing and when the series is once again strong enough the venues will come to them.

I believe that although this ploy by the IRL may have been seriously grounded the effort was exploratory in nature and they knew going in it wasn't likely to happen.

My advice to CCWS is to file this one in the dead file along with reunification and get on with business.

Champcar 06 Looking Good....Other League???

The 2006 season is looking pretty good for CCWS. The schedule is completed, the 07 chassis and engine specs are just around the corner, the 05 season is winding down without much controversy and the other series seems to be in a bit of a twit.

Over at the other league there's talk of Toyota buying out Ganassi and Pen$ke.....Just what Pen$ke needs, more money, so they can quit a year earlier. Red Bull is rumored to be dumping Cheever next year. I'm betting they come on as the Atlantics presenting sponsor. The other league's schedule has been shortened by 3 events to 14. Nation says it's to bring more focus to what they do..Ahem..Ok spin it any way you want I say it's about MONEY! They also say there isn't enough time to bring on another engine manufacturer for the 07 season - well then if not Honda will be out in 07.

So now Toyota and Honda are set to wipe yet out another racing series. Let's hope that OWR has learned it's lessons. I think KK understood that long ago!

Bring back Offenhauser.