Still hope for Road America!?

[Dov]

Nabbed from CW:

A visit to Road America......
Meeting with Road America’s president was very informative. First off, he states that the track does want Champ Car on the schedule. Although the nature of the press release may lead us to think otherwise, it boils down to business issues. PG wants R/A to honor C^RT’s contract, R/A would like to see a new contract with the new series owners. PG and GB have been in contact and are aware of each others situations. The lines of communication are there. It is very unfortunate that the two sides can’t find common ground for our sake, Every day that passes will result in smaller attendance should the race be held. Same thing happened last year.

The subject of fan reaction is kind of touchy. GB knows the value of the paying fan base, that didn’t make his decision any easier. Publishing and circulating an event scheduled with a TBA listed is not the way he wanted to proceed. Road America is a relatively small operation and must act in the best interest of the company. If he thinks that letting the series go is best (for whatever reasons) for the track, that’s what will happen. My hunch is that there will be a compromise and a race.

I walked away from our meeting with a much better picture of why the all the fuss. That said, it still stinks…..for everybody including the track. Many have said that this could have been avoided with at simple phone call, it’s deeper than that. There is a bright side though. After the court bull is done, PG could call GB and have this thing put back together in a few minutes. Both of these guys have what the other wants. Champ Car needs Road America , it’s the best road course around. Road America wants/needs an event that can be profitable and keep it on the map hosting top shelf international motor sport. Both of those guys need to bend a little and get it done.

EARL to R/A and rumors of negotiations are bul**hit, that was made quite clear to me. My take on the deal is simple, R/A would rather have no race at all than take a loss again (with current C^RT contract). Crapwagons are not set for road courses yet. I’m told that they lack sufficient gearbox development and the new engine formula isn’t optimized for turning right. A new contract from OWRS more to the liking of R/A would most certainly change GB’s tune. There’s already a Champ Car fan base to continue. Some damage has been done for sure. I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet. My spin detector was pretty quite through the whole meeting. If what George told me are all facts, there’s still hope.

I’m not defending the track’s actions, just passing on items of interest. Both sides have legitimate gripes and the fans suffer for that. Don’t expect any closure on this deal until after the OWRS deal is done. I’ll add more to the discussion as we go on.

[codename_47]

Calling Mario Andretti!

Seriously, it's nice that the door hasn't completely slammed shut on Elkhart Lake, I just hope they can resolve their differences...

[power&glory]

Dov, I really appreciate you posting this- it's good to here some of what's really happening. Good to hear facts. But I'm just sort of confused: who's GB? what's CW? It's says nabbed from CW; is it you that were at the meeting? I mean are you writing this in first person or did someone else and then the last part is you? I'm just sort of confused, like, "what is this?"

[Dov]

Originally posted by power&glory
Dov, I really appreciate you posting this- it's good to here some of what's really happening. Good to hear facts. But I'm just sort of confused: who's GB? what's CW? It's says nabbed from CW; is it you that were at the meeting? I mean are you writing this in first person or did someone else and then the last part is you? I'm just sort of confused, like, "what is this?"

Hi P&G, GB (George Bruggenthies) is the president of Elkhart Lake (Road America) and CW is the Crapwagon website....we are really not supposed to say that word around here anymore, but I hope Macdaddy will let it go because this is important news. Some guy from Crapwagon wrote this, his username is 'Road-America' (no joking). He was the one who met with Mr. Bruggenthies. I just copied it and pasted it on our site to share the news with other ChampCar fans.

Here are a few posts from Road-America from last week:

I did catch up with George Bruggenthies today as hoped. We talked a bit about Champ Car and the track in the short time available. We made plans to meet later this week and talk shop. I'm looking forward to it.

What we did discuss was very basic and general racing stuff. Not enough time to go into any real details. He values our opinions enough to invite me to meet and discuss the subject. I see that as a big positive. Whether or not I can make a difference remains to be seen, I'm going to give it my best shot. I'm sure there's alot more to the story than meets the eye, this is an opportunity not to pass up.

[Dov]

Here is RA's first post when he talks about a possible encounter with GB......tried to post it in my last thread, but I made a mistake and then I ran out of time

I see on the schedule at work that George Bruggentheis is going to be in our building Wednesday. There is a very high possibility of me having words with him. I can't do anything silly that could hurt my employment (he's a customer of ours), but this is a chance that I probably wont get again any time soon. I would like to be prepared with a very professional well planned crappy presentation for him. I have one "No Tony George" circle sticky left and could include that in my presentation. No gaurantees, my timing has to be spot on, but I'll give it my best shot.

[CART_4ever]

My sympathy goes to all the Road America fans if it doesn't get on the schedule. We lost Mid-Ohio here, and it is devastating to us and this little town. I think it is the second-best road course to Road America. The fans seemed to be there every year, but we were told the rural area made it not a desirable spot for the new future "plan". Money is the main problem with the "TBA" events, otherwise they wouldn't be an issue. I can't imagine a schedule without the two best road courses.

[macdaddy]

Great reading, Dov, and thanks for posting it for us!

"I hope Macdaddy will let it go..."
Does everybody around here view me as an ogre these days?
I certainly hope not - it's not what I'm trying to do.

[macdaddy]

...Besides, although tolerance of nicknames is low, we've never editted the term "Crapwagon". It likely appears in Mirriam/Webster by now!

[power&glory]

Thanks Dov, I get it now
They'll get it worked out, no worries
That's really cool how a fan can get that close and get inside like that, but sad that that's the only way the truth can get out, rather than through the spin spin media. Whatever