PPIR Closing Down???

I received this from the SCCA mailing list. I hope it is not true. We've lost 2nd Creek, and now PPIR? Pretty soon, there won't be anywhere to drive that is closer than Pueblo.


Possible big news! This is a rumor only, but FYI, I'm led to belief by usually reliable sources that on Wednesday or Thursday of this week it will be announced that the Bill France's International Speedway Corp. has bought the Colorado Springs PPIR for $18.3 million so they can shut it down.

ISC already had an option to buy the track through 2008. It is currently owned by Lehmann Brothers Holdings.

Let's hope that ISC doesn't do this. Rumors persist that the France company could possibly be positioning itself for anti-trust charges with the shutting down of PPIR and other various tracks around the country.

 

Not really surprising, as the folks that manage the track are not the same people who own the track.

 

They are closing it down October 31


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- International Speedway Corporation (Nasdaq: ISCA) (OTC Bulletin Board: ISCB) ("ISC") today announced that Rocky Mountain Speedway Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of ISC, has entered into an agreement to purchase the assets of Pikes Peak International Raceway ("Pikes Peak"). Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. ISC plans to petition NASCAR to realign the facility's NASCAR Busch Series event to Martinsville Speedway for 2006.

The transaction is expected to close within the next week, and is expected to have minimal impact on the Company's future earnings. The purchase price is fully supported by the appraised value of Pikes Peak's tangible assets, including land and certain fixed assets ISC intends to relocate to other facilities in its portfolio. These assets include grandstand seating and other structures that can be utilized for future speedway expansion projects.

"This purchase further strengthens our ability to capitalize on future growth opportunities, including internal expansion initiatives," commented John R. Saunders, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "In addition, assuming NASCAR approves our request for realignment, we believe we can successfully grow the Busch event over the long term at a quicker rate than in its current venue."

ISC will honor all of Pikes Peak's currently scheduled community uses and rentals through October 31, 2005. After that date, ISC expects to close the facility and begin to market the approximate 1,200-acre parcel for sale, with the requirement that the property not be used for motorsports-related events.

International Speedway Corporation is a leading promoter of motorsports activities in the United States, currently promoting more than 100 racing events annually as well as numerous other motorsports-related activities. The Company owns and/or operates 11 of the nation's major motorsports entertainment facilities, including Daytona International Speedway in Florida (home of the Daytona 500); Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama; Michigan International Speedway located outside Detroit; Richmond International Raceway in Virginia; California Speedway near Los Angeles; Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas; Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona; Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida; Martinsville Speedway in Virginia; Darlington Raceway in South Carolina; and Watkins Glen International in New York. Other motorsports entertainment facility ownership includes an indirect 37.5% interest in Raceway Associates, LLC, which owns and operates Chicagoland Speedway and Route 66 Raceway near Chicago, Illinois.

The Company also owns and operates MRN Radio, the nation's largest independent sports radio network; DAYTONA USA, the "Ultimate Motorsports Attraction" in Daytona Beach, Florida, the official attraction of NASCAR; and subsidiaries which provide catering services, food and beverage concessions, and produce and market motorsports-related merchandise under the trade name "Americrown." For more information, visit the Company's Web site at http://www.iscmotorsports.com .

 

So, what's left? Where are we going to track our cars from now on?

The only track that's close is Mead. It's fun, but the turn off of the "dragon slide" is a bit freaky (screw it up, and you're in the marsh) and the turn at the end of the main straight is also a bit scary (mess up, and you're into the concrete bridge pilings.)

I like driving at Mead, but those two corners are somewhat "high stakes" and therefore, I never am willing to drive them at more than 6/10ths.

Pueblo is awesome (best track in the state), but it's a bit of a drive to get there. The only times I've been there were for mid week "test and tune" days, and I was literally the only car on the track. I've not ever been to a sponsored track day at Pueblo, but it would be fun. I'd go there more often if folks had open track days scheduled. (Hint to Leslie)

Then, there's always the new Miller Motor Sports Park outside of Salt Lake City. A bit of a drive, but I'd be willing to make the trek once or twice a year.

I hope that the rumors of a new track near D.I.A. are true. Even if it does happen, however, it won't be for several years, I would think.

 

Here is an interesting opus from another forum on the politics and finances surrounding the various attempts to bring a motorsports facility to the Denver area:


Just my opinion, but I distrust Dover more due to their relationship with the Frances and TG. Nascrap and Earl run at all their speedways and that can bring to bear much, much influence over Dover. I actually think that most of the bad "under-current" that went on with LBGP prior to the BK proceedings was TG pulling Dover strings.

I'd agree that LBGP is at risk. CART seemed to be on track last year to start the ball rolling on acquiring certain street race events. Perhaps as a pre-emptive move. I hope they plan on taking over LBGP sooner than later. PG approved the Centrix deal and seemed pleased so I trust it's part of the bigger picture. I'd wager there's a comfortable multi-year contract there or some kind of other golden nugget for Champcar. Let's just hope it plays out well for the series.

I tend to agree. As I've said at length elsewhere here, I believe that it is much more difficult for the International Speedway Corporation to expand into the lucrative urban markets that remain outside its sphere of influence with the use of public monies as long as there exists a reasonable alternative (e.g. Champ Car) which doesn't tap into the people's trust fund and offers the benefit of delivering paying customers to the city's doorstep.

ISC has targeted three areas for expansion: 1) Meadowlands, NJ/New York City, 2) Denver, and 3) Portland/Seattle. These projects are what William C. France is spending his "retirement" doing.

Dover holds the key to Denver. Dover Motorsports Inc. was spun off from the parent Dover Downs Entertainment in 2002 with the specific intention of selling it to ISC. Only ISC's failure to get the Ferko case in Texas summarily dismissed prevented ISC from completing the acquisition. It was apparently felt that with a potential anti-trust case hanging over their heads, it was prudent to refrain from gobbling up the third largest U.S. speedway-owning corporation. But an out-of-court settlement in Ferko is in the works and DMI could be acquired by ISC in the near future.

Until very recently, DMI owned four speedways -- Dover International Speedway, Gateway International Raceway, Memphis Motorsports Park, Nashville Superspeedway -- and the rights to three street races: the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Grand Prix of Denver and the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

What is troubling is that four of the venues included on the IRL's recent road racing "wish list" in the IndyStar are Long Beach, Denver, Portland and St. Petersburg.

The IRL press has been uniformly derisive of CART's races in Denver and St. Petersburg, describing them as "boring street parades." So, if the IRL is resorting to adding road races to "spice up" its schedule, why add "losers" like Denver and St. Pete? Obviously, to accommodate the needs of ISC should the speedway giant succeed in swallowing DMI.

Even before that happens, though, ISC could exert its influence as a potential buyer to swing Long Beach and Denver over to the IRL. In return, the IRL might rid ISC of competition from Champ Car in the Portland market.

Roger Penske and/or ISC has been trying to build a super-speedway in metropolitan Denver since 1996. In 1999 a senior executive for ISC said that the chances of his company building a motorsports complex near Interstate 70 and E-470 in Aurora, CO, next to the new Denver International Airport, was "100 percent."

The primary stumbling blocks for the ISC project have been the opposition of nearby Pikes Peak International Raceway and the corporation's failure to secure a public/private partnership to finance the speedway complex. ISC overcame the first hurdle by entering into partnership with PPIR.

But, while ISC was sparring with the Pikes Peak owners, Dover stole a march on them by securing a 12-year contract with the city for the Grand Prix of Denver. Now, it will be virtually impossible for ISC to construct a super-speedway near the Mile High City without dislodging or buying out the Grand Prix.

Duel in Denver

It began back in April 1997, when a group out of Denver supposedly contacted Bill France, Jr. with the hopeful message that they'd be willing to build a swell new speedway if NASCAR could see its way clear to schedule a Winston Cup date there.

Two months later an unidentified group of investors announced in the Denver Post that they were going to approach country officials -- who one guesses are about as skittish as mule deer in those parts, hence the warning -- about a proposed "super speedway for racing cars" (as opposed to those for greyhounds one guesses) on about 320 acres of land near Front Range Airport.

The group was reported to have been looking at public and private land to the south and east of the airport since 1996. Helpfully, airport officials opined to no one in particular that the track could lure more business to the general aviation field. (The airport must have had Nostradamus on the payroll because, in 1997, who knew about flying crapwagons?)

As things developed, NASCAR team owner Richard Childress emerged as a front man for the investors. In August 1997, Penske Motorsports, Inc. (PMI), with its new minority (12%) partner ISC, announced that it was going to purchase approximately 640 acres in the Denver metropolitan area, about 15 miles from downtown near the new Denver International Airport.

Under the agreement, PMI gained access to the property to conduct customary due diligence (i.e. to see if the owner is the owner or just a friend of the cousin of the owner who happens to be the mayor sort of thing) and to engage in those pre-development activities (like greasing the local politicos) necessary to obtain approval for the construction and operation of a permanent motorsports complex. Obligingly, Childress apparently immediately abandoned his own track plans and hopped on board the PMI express (which kind of makes one wonder who his "unidentified" investors were? Florida retirees, perhaps?).

Lost in all the excitement was the fact that there was already in existence a brand-new speedway, the grandly named Pikes Peak International Raceway, only 75 miles south of Denver. Of course, that may have been the problem: from the beginning PPIR hasn't been able to attract either excitement and/or flies and making money from building "permanent motorsports complexes" doesn't necessarily have anything to do with mundane things like popularity or race attendance.

Anyway, three days after getting access and embarking on due diligence, pre-development activities, etc., etc., JournalNow reported that PMI had made a presentation to Denver officials for a new $110 million, 105,000-seat two-mile superspeedway adjoining the city's new airport complete with a 1999 Winston Cup race! Construction was to begin forthwith and be completed by the spring of 1999 (and the Donner Party be damned!). Brother, say what you will, but Roger sure doesn't let the grass grown under his feet.

Meanwhile, over at the spiffy new PPIR the white flag was hoisted o'er the ramparts. Richard Childress reported that he'd been approached by the Pikes Peak owners (David Gammel and C.C. Myers) about buying the speedway. One guesses that the deluded owners thought that Childress and his "Colorado business partners" were actually unrelated to the PMI deal. Needless to say Richard, who was already being quoted in the newspapers as saying that he thought July or August would be a wonderful month for the Cup race at Penske's new track, declined the offer.

Although not privy to the exact details, it would seem that the PMI deal was viewed in some corners of Colorado as being a bit too slick, a little too "in the bag," what with the Denver mayor already planning the color scheme for his soon-to-be-built sky box to complement the taxpayers' greenbacks, and one doesn't build a $40 million racetrack in Fountain, CO without having access to...well, at least $40 million...SO, loud questions about the PMI project started to be raised in public forums and lawyers starting showing up at community meetings anxious to look out for the rural folk's interests.

Suddenly, the Penske people could barely recall if they had ever considered a speedway project in Denver. The Denver Post reported that PMI only had an option to buy the land and "they have not put pencil to paper to see if it is a profitable situation." One guesses that in the world of high finance one does that sort of thing after the customary due diligence and pre-development activities and drawing up the plans for a $110 million, 105,000-seat two-mile super-speedway and securing a Winston Cup race.

Of course, there's usually a kernel of truth in even the most improbable story so maybe the pencil needed to be reset to paper to jot down all the new partners to see if the speedway was still a profitable situation?

In any event, two months later (October 1997) the Denver Post was delighted to report that PPIR was the recipient of a brand-new NASCAR Busch Series race for June 1998. Obviously buoyed by their good fortune, the PPIR owners surprised most everyone by purchasing Colorado National Speedway -- the only NASCAR Weekly Racing Series track in the entire region -- in February 1998.

As far as media reports about the proposed motorsports complex for Denver are concerned, throughout most of 1998 PMI acted like a groundhog who'd glimpsed its shadow. More than a year after the initial announcement of the project, Greg Penske was quoted as saying that PMI "remained interested in building a track in the Denver area." He reported that meetings were ongoing with Denver officials but no firm timetable was set.

One interesting development was that sometime during this period, Rocky Mountain Speedway Corp., a PMI subsidiary, inked a service agreement with PPIR to provide "management, advisory and consulting services" for the speedway. It was also rumored that Rocky Mountain obtained a right of first refusal should sale of the speedway be contemplated again.

No sooner had Greg Penske popped up on RPM2Nite with the report of renewed meetings in Denver about the super-speedway than the Federal Aviation Administration carpet bombed the Penske organization, raising its concerns about the proposed PMI race track putting crowds of 120,000 people under planes landing at Denver International Airport.

Apparently unable to satisfy federal authorities, in late March 1999 PMI reportedly walked away from its option for the 640 arcres of land near the airport. But top-level PMI executives said building the company's 110,000-seat track in metro Denver remained one of the company's top priorities and a new land agreement elsewhere would be sought.

Less than a month later, air cover for the embattled Penske group arrived in the form of Peter Coors, chief executive of Coors Brewing Co., and two members of the Colorado Rockies ownership group, Jerry McMorris and Charlie Monfort. They joined with PMI to propose building a duplicate of Penske's California Speedway on the original PMI-optioned land at Interstate 70 and E-470 near the airport.

Talk about fortuitous timing! Very soon thereafter PMI merged with ISC, who inherited the Denver motorsports complex project.

A month later, Lee Combs, ISC's Senior VP of Corporate Development and the man in charge of the organization's in-house design and construction subsidiary stated for the record that the chances of his company building a superspeedway on the former PMI property in Aurora, CO was "100 percent." It was the first time that an ISC or PMI executive had publicly stated that, barring a complete disaster, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series-hosted track would "definitely" be built.

The new superspeedway, however, would no longer be a California Speedway clone; but rather a 1.5-mile, 80,000 to 100,000-seat facility priced at more than $100 million. Two sources disclosed that ISC hoped to have the track on-line by the spring of 2001 for Colorado's inaugural Winston Cup race.

Not if the "Aurora" residents had anything to say about it. Out of the woodwork sprang the Concerned Residents Against Speedway Havoc (CRASH), who got an anti-speedway initiative placed on the November ballot. What with the short notice and with all the local politicos and newspapers on board, ISC probably figured it was a minor nuisance.

Imagine their surprise when the initiative passed, making it impossible for the city to subsidize racetrack infrastructure. Notice that did not prevent ISC from picking up the tab themselves; but that would set a bad precedent. Imagine their lack of surprise when they discovered that CRASH's founder and mouthpiece wasn't an Aurora resident and was bankrolled by the owner of PPIR.

Stating that it felt its "plate was full" with Kansas and Chicago tracks breaking ground and its Meadowlands feasibility study about to take place, ISC revealed that shortly after the passage of CRASH's ballot initiative it had not exercised its option to purchase the former PMI-optioned speedway property. It also joined the city in a lawsuit against the initiative's sponsor (spoil sports).

Amazingly, there was speculation in the Denver newspapers that the win at the ballot box could open the door for a Winston Cup event at PPIR and the 3-year-old Fountain, CO track had already begun expansion plans to accommodate the 100,000-plus displaced souls who would have attended ISC's motorsports complex 90 miles away. Perhaps that wasn't as odd as it seems as along with PMI's Denver speedway project, ISC had also acquired the Rocky Mountain Speedway Corporation from PMI and its contract to operate PPIR with an option to buy.

It's just a shot in the dark but one supposes that the owners of Pikes Peak International Raceway were hopeful that they'd finally get to sell the facility.


The Denver politicians, however, were apparently fearful that the locals had hurt ISC's feelings, so Aurora's mayor, Paul Tauer, formed a new organization, Support Making Auto Racing Tracks (SMART) to enlist the aid of some of Colorado's biggest auto-racing personalities to "educate" Aurora voters on the advantages of having annual NASCAR Winston Cup Series races in their backyard and to show Florida-based ISC that the majority of Colorado's racing community wanted its business (like they needed convincing). Also, one assumes, it hoped to educate the citizens about the dangers of carpetbaggers.

After waiting a month for the education to sink in, the Aurora City Council unanimously approved a ballot measure that could pave the way for building two new raceways (in case, one presumes, it was necessary to give one up in a "compromise"). Back was their old friend, the 110,000-seat oval super-speedway at locations near the intersection of Interstate 70 and E-470 and a relocated Bandimere Speedway (an existing NHRA dragstrip and 3/8-mile dirt oval). The only fly in the ointment was the poxy vote in the last election which prohibited the city from providing "direct or indirect subsidies" to any motor sports facility (i.e. what they were trying to do). Citizens? We don't need no stinkin' citizens!

In an apparent end run (or effort to cut themselves in on the action), the owners of tiny Bandimere Speedway presented plans before a public hearing to move across the Denver metro area to develop a massive 5,500-acre $500 million(!) motorsports complex to be called WorldPark and graciously extended an invitation to ISC to have their super-speedway become a "part" of the grand plan. Dare we say "beard?"

This time some real residents, actually quite a lot of them, showed up at a county planning commission hearing saying the race tracks had gotten off to a false start. Calling themselves Residents Opposed to the Aurora Racetrack (ROAR) and citing concerns about noise, traffic and disruption of their rural lifestyle, they vowed to fight an amendment to Arapahoe county's plan to allow the WorldPark development to continue through the planning process.

In August 2000, the Bandimere Speedway promoter unveiled the plans for WorldPark, the 5,500-acre motorsports complex in Arapahoe County, CO which called for an NHRA-sanctioned drag strip, a NASCAR Winston Cup Series-visited super-speedway, two short tracks (dirt and paved) and a Grand Prix road course for go-karts and quarter midgets. The press was told that the $500 million park could break ground as early as the next month.

Working more or less hand and glove, Aurora (city) and Arapahoe County officials apparently assumed that, once approved by the county approval process (which was pretty much a lock), the WorldPark complex would be annexed to the city and eventually would open there. Obligingly the Aurora city council had put a measure on the November ballot to rescind an earlier ban on building race tracks in the city.

Apparently willing to forgive and forget the Aurora voters for their earlier indiscretion, ISC President Jim France announced on October 26, 2000 that the corporation had reached an agreement with Denver-area developers to do a feasibility study on a plan to build a super-speedway somewhere in the city's suburbs (wonder where?).

Two weeks later, "Denver-area motorsports fans" suffered a crushing defeat (61% NO) at the Aurora polls, the would-be prime tenants of the WorldPark project. But John Bandimere, owner of Bandimere Speedway, and ISC spokesman David Talley said WorldPark could still be built by going through Arapahoe County procedures. A month later (December 2000), the WorldPark developer asked for an indefinite delay to any further hearings on the plan by the county. Apparently, $500 million of "private financing" isn't easy to come by.

In three years, ISC had tried to build a giant [partially public-financed] super-speedway at two Denver metropolitan locations. They were a follow-up to a similar Penske Motorsports Inc. attempt to build a Denver-area NASCAR track in Adams County beginning in 1996.

On August 11, 2001 ISC spokesman David Talley spoke to the Denver press. Despite losing political battles in Aurora and Arapahoe County, Talley told the reporters that a third time could be the charm.

"[A Denver super-speedway] is clearly on the back-burner right now, but Denver still interests us," he said. "We've opened the [public/private partnership] tracks in Chicago and Kansas (and were tentatively planning on building another massive track in the New Jersey Meadowlands), and that's pretty much what we're focused on right now. But we still want to be in Denver."

On September 11, 2001 terrorists attacked the Pentagon in Washington, DC and the World Trade Center twin-towers in New York City. One very minor casuality of the tragedy was that a joint venture between Donald Trump and ISC to build a super-speedway in New York as well as their long-standing speedway project in the Meadowlands was put on indefinite hold.

On December 3, 2001 CART and the Grand Prix of Denver (in partnership with the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach) announced a 12-year contract with the city of Denver to stage a street race around downtown and the Pepsi Center sports arena.

It would be CART's second foray into the city, having run street events in 1990 and 1991.

Three-time FedEx Championship Series champion Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Team Rahal, remarked:

"When CART raced in Denver in the early '90s, the event enjoyed incredible crowd support and open-wheel racing really captured the attention of the fans in what has become one of America's great sports towns. With the combination and talents of [well-respected promoter] Chris Pook and George Gillett behind this race, I think Denver will quickly establish itself as one of the top events on the CART schedule."

Officials projected over 100,000 attendees over the course of the three-day weekend with a direct economic impact of $30 million to Denver and the Rocky Mountain region and an indirect economic impact of $150 million.

On December 6, 2001 CART co-founder Roger Penske made his defection official and announced he was leaving the Champ Car series for the IRL.

On December 19, 2001 Chris Pook was elected President and CEO of CART.


A month before the return of the CART Grand Prix of Denver (September 2002), Pikes Peak International Raceway president Rob Johnson revealed that there were ongoing negotiations between PPIR and ISC for partial or exclusive ownership of the track. He suggested that a deal with ISC could bring a Winston Cup race to the facility.

On August 7, 2002 it was announced that ISC, through its Rocky Mountain Speedway Corp. subsidiary, had inked a three-year contract to provide subsidiary management, advisory and consulting services for PPIR. The agreement also gives ISC the right of first refusal should PPIR owners decide to sell their 1,200-acre complex. ISC's right of first refusal extends two years beyond the contract, which runs through 2005 (i.e. it extends to 2007).

The press release about the deal stated: "The consulting contract gives Speedway Corp. a chance to look more closely at the racing business in Colorado, where it has been investigating placing a track." Which fails to recognize that RMSC has had a nearly identical contract with PPIR since before ISC acquired the company in its merger with PMI in 1999. Circa 2002, ISC's arrangement with PPIR via RMSC was mentioned in the company's description on its website but for some reason was removed sometime in 2003. To the casual observer there is no overt connection between the two organizations except that the NASCAR Busch Series and NCTS Series both hold a race there.

As for CART's return to "The Mile High City," the St. Petersburg Times had the following to say:

Posted by Tom Zucco | Times Staff Writer | Feb. 23, 2003

In the case of Denver and Miami, two cities that hosted inaugural CART events last year, that homework came in handy.

The Shell Grand Prix of Denver, Aug. 30 to Sept. 1, cost the city little. But given Denver's history with auto racing, which is similar to St. Petersburg's, the city had no choice but to proceed carefully.

"Part of that goes back to the history of auto racing here," said Kevin Magner, an official from Denver's Public Works Department who planned much of the race. "We had a Grand Prix race in the '90s that went belly up after we put millions into it. So under no circumstances would we do that again. Basically, the Grand Prix took the financial risk.

"We just brought the streets up to city standards -- some concrete and asphalt work. It wasn't a big deal. Other than that, we didn't put anything into it."

Magner also said city officials were impressed by the leadership shown by CART and the race promoter. "They did a fantastic job here," he said. "They got done what they said they'd do, and it was a real pleasure working with them."

In the end, Magner said, "we did this for the (7 1/2 percent) sales taxes. We live on sales taxes here.

"What we saw here were a lot of people spending a lot of money. Our restaurants and hotels were full, and it seemed like everybody had a plastic bag with a race shirt or a mug.

"We have a 12-year contract with them, and we'd like to have them here all 12 years."

A note should be made that practically from the day it was announced, CART's Grand Prix of Denver has been subjected to a relentless, negative press assault -- most particularly by the home town Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post. But ISC media outlets throughout the country haven't missed any opportunity to dump on the Denver race either.

For an explanation, perhaps we can look to a remark by ISC's Lee Combs, made just before the 2002 Grand Prix of Denver: "We don't view Pikes Peak International Raceway as a Winston Cup facility, but we believe the current schedule of events provides a great opportunity to promote major motorsports entertainment in the area."

Seemingly, the Denver-area motorsports fans don't agree.

”Not looking good for a Cup race at Pikes Peak: There likely won't be a Cup race at Pikes Peak International Raceway near Colorado Springs in the near future. The [42,000-seat] facility barely was half-full for the Busch Series race last Saturday. Insiders have intimated that if a Cup race is held in Colorado, it would be at a track built closer to Denver's airport by International Speedway Corporation. (Sporting News)(7-28-2003)”

There is some question, given the lack of enthusiasm displayed by Colorado motorsports fans for the IRL and the NASCAR support series to date, if even a Winston Cup date would be profitable in a privately financed $110-500 million super-speedway near Denver's airport? Obviously, ISC is unwilling to find out. They've theoretically had at least three chances to forge ahead with the project through the back channels of the various counties' planning agencies (by-passing the need for voter approval in the cities) and each time they've withdrawn, only to return with another political campaign to try to obtain public financing.

After futzing around for 6 years, ISC now has a serious problem on its hands in the Denver area besides the residents: Champ Car. With ten more years to run on its contract for the Grand Prix, there's no pressing need by the citizens of Denver to finance a super-speedway and no rational way for their elected representatives to convince them otherwise.

That really only leaves ISC with three options: (1) eliminate the CART/Champ Car series (which it's been trying to do); (2) buy Dover Motorsports Inc. which controls the Denver contract (which it was ready and willing to do when the Ferko case in Texas caused everyone involved to take to the mattresses); or (3) use the promise of buying Dover to persuade it to transfer the Denver contract to another series, specifically the IndyCar series.

I think they may be trying to persuade Tony George to take Champ Car's place in two of their three top-priority areas: Portland and Denver. Especially if they can convince the idiot grandson to foot the bill for the misadventure on his own. Then, it will probably take him two to three years to completely fail and, by then, with their assistance OWRS will hopefully be gone. After that, it's business as usual.