Did you notice how excited Chris Pook was about his upcoming announcements?!

[LateBraker]

It was the second day of qualifying and Derek Daly was interviewing Pook. He said that he can't announce anything now, but that at the next race there are going to be some BIG announcements about the future of CART, and some even BIGGER ones at the season finale! He was grinning from ear to ear!! I can't wait to hear what he has to say!!!!

[Lee Janotta]

Heh.... I just hope the things that make him happy will make us happy, too.

I mean, let's be honest, Chris seems to have the skills needed to keep the series afloat... But we've yet to see whether his vision really agrees with what most of us would like to see.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

[Liz]

I just hope that people have not built up their expectations too high so they will be negative and cranky if he doesn't announce that everything in the garden is lovely and all problems are now solved.

I hope there are good things in store for us next year. I am tired of doom and gloom.

[Tailwind]

As far as up coming announcements, there are three things that come to my mind that we don’t have clear answers on.

1) Who will be the title sponsor for 2003?
2) What new teams are coming on board for next year?
3) What changes are being made to the 2003 race schedule?

There are other questions I would like answered as I'm sure everyone else does to. Time will tell.

[Flatspot]

I suspect some answers will come this week, some in Mexico but most likely the big announcements will come at the awards banquet and associated press conference on Nov. 21 & 22.

What better place to rub the really good stuff in the face of those who've left than when you have them in the same room as a captive audience?

[The Snout]

Chris Pook is just getting his ducks lined up before he or anyone makes any announcements. I would like to get some clarification on the Chicago round next year and the 2nd euro venue however. Also there was talk of Cleveland being a night race on Cart.com a while back and that came from Pook as well.

[f1manoz]

From all the reports I've read, everyone will be happy with 18-22 cars, 20 being perfect. I can see no hassle in securing a series sponsor, and many drivers and teams have indicated their approval of the new format in 2003.

The big question is money, how much is there and who can get it.

I'm probably not the only person with a lot of faith in Pook. Keep the faith people. He will deliver.

[Mal]

Is there any hope that the 2nd venue in Europe could fill the vacant slot at Spa! Lets hope that was what Bernie and Chris have been discussing and why Bernie has booted Spa of the F1 calender. Can you imagine the CART cars through Eau Rouge. The corner would return to greatness and CART cars would not be flat out as F1 cars now are.

[Liz]

Can you see Mr. and Mrs. Ashley Judd sitting in a hotel in Kansas watching the Champ Cars whoop around the track at Spa? That would be worth seeing, that would.

And if the gag orders are off by the Awards Banquet, I look forward to hearing some trenchant quotes from PT.

[Lee Janotta]

Burke Lakefront at night? Oooooo! I _love_ that idea!!!

[Jordi]

Keeping the faith, people... Pook is being allowed to do the job, and hopefully those announcements will be BIG...

[LateBraker]

I would LOVE to see Michael Andretti, Dario and Kanaan's faces while they were in IRL watching CART fly through Eau Rouge...PRICELESS!!

[DMC]

CART at Spa would be a dream come true but what would Player's have to say? Is there any races that the cars run without tobacco liveries? I know they do in the USA, Mexico, Canada and Australia but what about in England?

[Liz]

They can run with Indeck livery in Spa if necessary. But Players isn't sold in Europe, so it may not be an issue for them.

[macdaddy]

After next season, it will become a moot point anyway.

[greg.n]

Bernie says Spa is not on the cards for CART next year, but if he isn't having any ownership of CART how would he know? What would be wrong with a tie-up between the Belgians and Pook? Bernie knows alot more and is deeper in the CART porridge then he is admiting. Pook ios looking more and more like the cat that got the cream!

[Liz]

Bernie has not said he's not having ANY ownership in CART, just that he's not going to have a CONTROLLING INTEREST.

Good point about tobacco becoming moot in 2004. The Champ Cars won't be ready to race at Spa next year anyway with all the changes being made to the physical plant; give the guys a year to get used to it and more teams a chance to get up to speed, and take a year to promote the daylights out of the race. (Also hold some serious practices in the rain.)

Spa wasn't built in a day.

[Liz]

I just received this:

Fontana, Calif. (October 31, 2002) - A host of potential sponsors for future Championship Auto Racing Teams endeavors got a first-hand look at what they can expect from an investment in the series at Thursday's B2B Forum Presented by Bear Stearns.

Attendees heard from Ford Racing Technology Sponsor Relations Manager Tom Elliman, Continental Group of Companies President Henry Rischitelli, General Manager of California Speedway Bill Miller and CART Vice-President of Marketing Steve Fusek during the meeting, which included individual presentations as well as a group forum.



Rischitelli, who represents Visteon in its involvement in the series, told potential sponsors of all the ways that Visteon benefits from sponsoring the #20 Visteon/Patrick Racing Toyota/Reynard/Bridgestone of Oriol Servia. He told of how Visteon used CART as a technology platform and as a way to bring along fresh engineers, and also told the crowd that if they want to blanket North America through motorosports - CART is the way to go.



"CART owns Mexico and Canada and no other racing series comes close to capturing the attention of the region like CART does when it races there," Rischitelli said. "If your company strategy includes those two areas of North America, CART is the only series that you need."



Elliman instructed the attendees on the benefits of joining the CART Sponsor Council, which meets five times per season to assess the problems facing sponsors in the series. The Sponsor Council can also request meetings with the CART Board of Directors to address concerns, and allows companies both large and small to get together and share ideas.



After the meeting, the potential sponsors were treated to pace car rides around the two-mile California Speedway oval and were all invited to sit in on the Sponsor Council meeting on Friday.

[DMC]

Amazing! As far as I know this is rather unprecedented in any sport, a sponsor trying to attract other, possibly rival, companies to sponsor a sport.

[Liz]

And I like the idea of a Sponsors Council so you can keep track of how happy the sponsors are and what you can do to help them get the best value for their money.

[macdaddy]

Sponsors such as Visteon have a vested interest in the future of the series, and it is wonderful to see that such a forum has taken place. What surpirses me is the presentation made by Bill Miller, as the ISC does not have such an interest.

[Jay]

It's a tough time to look for sponsors for anything...

Anyone wanna sponsor a solar car?!?!

[Jordi]

Man, I love Visteon! They are Oriol's team sponsors, and they encourage other sponsors... great!

[enemy-ace]

I was watching Sportsnet (a sports channel here in Canada) and they said that CART would be announcing a race at Sepang in Malaysia. Also the announcer said that a Malaysian driver would be joining the series. Although he didn't name the driver one could only assume it is Yoong.
Possibly this could be what got Pook excited.

[macdaddy]

Quite likely, a race in Sepang is fantastic news, but I'm expecting more...