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BIG MISTAKE

Champ has better drivers who regularly jump to F1 and F1 drivers who jump to Champ. Champ also has a superior feeder system of young drivers in the Atlantic series.Champ has better circuits and road courses with Long Beach being the crown jewel of road courses. The latest DP01 chasis is the latest and best designed chasis in open wheel racing.

Tony George has an ego, old drivers and ovals.

I can’t agree that Long Beach is the “crown jewel of road circuits,” but maybe we’re using different terminology. To me a road circuit is a dedicated race track that isn’t in an oval, tri-oval, or rectangular (Indy) configuration, e.g., Road Atlanta, Mid-Ohio, Monza. I would call Long Beach a street circuit - closed-off public roads, like in Vancouver, Toronto, and Monte Carlo. And the ovals are the ovals - virtually all of the Indy circuits, except maybe one or two they’ve recently added.

CCWS was having to pay ESPN, etc., to carry their races. ESPN wasn't paying Champ, Champ was paying ESPN. That is not a sustainable business model.

I understand where you are coming from - Champ did a lot of things right, but unfortunately, money walks....and with Bridgestone and Ford dropping sponsorship last year, it was only a matter of time.

Well it's not Tony George who has the ego now, it's the Champ Car owners:

ESPN

Officials from the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series confirmed Friday morning that negotiations have recently taken place geared toward folding elements of the Champ Car World Series into the IRL IndyCar Series.

But the ongoing saga of American open-wheel-racing unification took another turn shortly after lunch when Champ Car issued a statement claiming that those talks have stalled.

"Unfortunately, leaks and media reports about a possible unification of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League [IRL] have significantly hampered discussions," said series co-principals Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven. "Over the past three years, we have fielded and offered several proposals regarding unification of the two premier U.S.-based open-wheel racing series, but we have been unable to reach an acceptable solution. Discussions currently are at a standstill, and we therefore are proceeding with plans to continue as Champ Car."

I like Tony George about as much as I like the France family, but when you have Paul Newman willing to set aside his differences with George and saying it's the best news he's heard in a long time, you need to work it out, and you need to do it quick, because you could be a year or two away from somebody like Newman leaving to go to IRL.