Will there be a St. Pete race this year!?

[Dov]

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/02/12/So..._the_sta.shtml

Race stuck at the starting line

Tom Begley, by virtue of his lawsuit, is in a position to say whether St. Petersburg has a Grand Prix race this year - or maybe ever.

By CARRIE JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
Published February 12, 2004

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


ST. PETERSBURG - After spending more than a decade luring a Grand Prix race to downtown St. Petersburg, Tom Begley now holds the event's future in his hands.

Open Wheel Racing Series, the auto racing group organizing the May 16 event, said it won't move forward unless Begley drops a lawsuit and hands over rights to the race. Begley said he's not inclined to do that, especially since he doesn't think the race will succeed.

"I don't think 13 weeks is enough time to put on a successful event," Begley said Wednesday, sitting in the office of his Tampa lawyer, Jonathan Alpert. "And I haven't talked to anyone in the business community who I respect who does."

City officials view the situation differently and accuse Begley of holding the Grand Prix hostage.

"You have expressed that it is your dream (to have) a world class street racing event in and for the city and people of St. Petersburg," Rick Mussett, city administrator, wrote in a Feb. 6 letter to Begley. "We need your cooperation to make that dream a reality."

The city hosted its first major Grand Prix race in February 2003. The event drew thousands and gave the city an abundance of positive publicity.

But everything was thrown into turmoil late last year, after the race's promoter and organizer pulled out, leaving it in the hands of the financially unstable Championship Auto Racing Teams.

A few weeks later, Begley sued CART and the race's former promoter, Dover Motorsports, seeking recovery of losses in excess of $750,000. He claimed CART and its chief executive Chris Pook, once a Dover Motorsports employee, were unscrupulous in their procurement of the race rights from him and misled him regarding potential financial gains from the event.

Before Begley's case could be settled, CART filed for bankruptcy. A judge handed over the company's assets, including the St. Petersburg Grand Prix, to Open Wheel Racing in late January.

Then, earlier this month, officials from Open Wheel began meeting with the city to start planning for a race May 14, 15 and 16. But Paul Gentilozzi, a partner with Open Wheel, said they would not hold the event unless Begley dropped his lawsuit and his claim to the race rights.

Gentilozzi also said if there wasn't a race this year, it was highly unlikely a St. Petersburg race would take place in the future.

"It is extremely important to have continuity," Gentilozzi wrote in a Feb. 5 letter to city officials, "and after the successful 2003 race it is vitally important to follow up with a race in 2004."

Begley said he thinks the city should slow down and hold out for a better offer. There are other auto-racing corporations, such as the Indy Racing League, that could decide to stage an event in St. Petersburg.

Begley also questioned the wisdom of holding the race in May, a time when many retirees have headed back North and the weather is getting hotter.

"Can you imagine sitting on a grandstand in Albert Whitted Airport on May 16?" Begley said. "If there's no one sitting next to you, you can fry an egg it's so hot."

But Mussett said that's not a decision for Begley to make. Open Wheel Racing has expressed confidence it can put together a successful event, despite the time crunch.

"I think there's more risk in not doing an event," Mussett said. "You don't want to be dropped off the schedule."

City Council members were scheduled to vote on whether to move forward with a race within the next few weeks. Council Chairman James Bennett said he's not sure what to make of the situation now.

"I'm not sure we're going to be able to get this thing off the ground," Bennett said. "I'm just as confused as anybody."

If the city thinks a race can be organized by May, Bennett said he believes them. But he said Begley may have a point.

"Tom's been an avid supporter of this race for a long time," he said. "Ultimately it will be up to a judge to determine whether there is any merit to his claim."

[indycool]

Interesting...thanx for posting, Dov. The Begley attorneys did file brierfs with the court at the bankruptcy hearing but the St. Pete issue was low profile at the time. Begley sued Dover, CART cos. 1 and 2, OWRS and Pook personally and as a Dover employee and CART employee.

[racinthestreets]

Typical ploy by attorney's. Sue anyone that is even remotely associated that has a nicel in their pocket . It is surprising that he didn't iclude the team owners, teams, car drivers all the way down to the catering company employee that may have tip money in their pocket. Jurisprudence has become insanity!

[Snrub]

It seems to make sense to either do it in the fall or don't run it in 2004. Getting dropped from CART's schedule won't happen. If you're willing to pay enough money they'll go where ever you want. (and so they should)

[codename_47]

Perhaps we've just found a season finale then? :confused:

[KC]

I think that Mr. Begley may already be entertaining "a better offer from another racing series".

I lived in Orange Park, Florida for 7 years of my life and I can speak to the heat in May. Yes, it will be hot. Will it be as hot as any track in the midwest at any time during the summer? Absolutely not. In fact May would be better because the wet spring time would be pretty much over and the only threat of rain, discouraging only to the sponsors and fans, would the like-clockwork late afternoon showers that come every day. OWRS adn the City of St. Petersburg needs to seek a summary judgement on this issue and either abandon the event or get Mr. Begley out of the way.

[f1manoz]

St. Pete's was a great event last year so I hope it is not lost.

However, if he wants to play hard-ball, screw him. We'll take the race somewhere else.

[brightline]

My vote would be a seaon finale. May is insanely hot! close to 100 degrees with almost 100% humidity. Anyways, I got really bad sunburn at last years race in February WITH sunscreen because I sweat it off. The only redemming quality about being at that track in May is it is right on the water and the breeze is great although I almost lost my hat a few times.

[Dov]

ST. PETERSBURG - City officials held out hope Friday for a Grand Prix race in May, but said it appeared unlikely - jeopardizing the event's future after only a year.
The city had asked Tom Begley, the race's former general manager, to agree by Friday that he would drop his lawsuit against the event's former sanctioning body and its promoter so a successor group could run the race May 14-16.

But Begley's Tampa lawyer, Jonathan Alpert, faxed city attorneys a letter saying, ``We still do not have sufficient information to make an informed decision one way or the other.''

``It's sort of a no,'' City Attorney John Wolfe said. ``It's certainly not a yes.''

``If something would happen in the next few days, yes, the race could still move forward,'' he added. ``But it does not look likely from the correspondence we have received.''

Open Wheel Racing Series, which is organizing the May race, told the city that ``failure to run an event in 2004 would very likely preclude OWRS from staging events in the future,'' according to a Feb. 5 letter from Paul Gentilozzi, a principal in the group.

``It is extremely important to have [continuity] and after the successful 2003 race it is vitally important to follow through with a race for 2004.''

Last month, a bankruptcy judge awarded Open Wheel the assets of financially troubled Championship Auto Racing Teams, the race's former sanctioning body, and opening the door to possibly holding the event this year.

But earlier, Begley had filed a $750,000-plus lawsuit against CART and Dover Motorsports, the race's former promoter. He was the race's general manager until being replaced in June.

The city had asked Begley to drop his lawsuit and to give his consent to the assignment of CART's assets to OWRS.

But Alpert said numerous questions remain unanswered. Among them are whether there is enough time to properly plan for a May race and whether OWRS has made a long-term commitment to having a race in St. Petersburg.

``We just don't have the information to make an intelligent decision,'' he said. ``So the best thing to do is not make a decision.''

[f1manoz]

Begley has played himself into a corner. OWRS is not to blame for this mess, he and his attorneys are.

OWRS was committed to racing in St. Pete's in May, but Begley can take his ball and play with it all he wants now, plenty of other cities more than willing to host a ChampCar event.

[indycool]

F1manoz, OWRS claimed to be committed to racing in Las Vegas on May 16 until a short while ago. CART was committed to racing at St. Pete a week from today. No firm schedule exists. "Commitment" is a pretty loose term right now.