Long Beach Notes

TG not buying LBGP;

TG is not likely to buy the LBGP, anyone with an ounce of business sense knows that 25M is too much to pay for the LBGP so it is easy to discount that rumor, at least for that price. And although I also agree that the IRL has a shot at the LBGP because Champcar “bailed” on the St. Petersburg event it cannot be forgotten that these two series are businesses. I remind everyone that it is doubtful that even the claimed 70,000 IRL weekend attendance at St. Petersburg was enough to break even. Dover and Champcar lost money at St. Petersburg as well. Champcar’s decision to bail was likely heavily influenced by that loss. Again these are businesses; if one survives it will be because it makes money.

What if Champcar looses the prix;

What does it really mean if Champcar looses the GP. Well, it is no doubt a huge blow to the CCWS coffer. The GP is second only to the Indy 500 in revenue for an open wheel event in North America….hmmm no wonder TG wants it. There will be a big negative trickle down effect in all aspects of the series. Can that be made up on the streets of LA? I doubt it. Should they loose it, I doubt that CCWS could hold another event before the 2006 LBGP. I think their back up plan might be Las Vegas! Anyway if they continue to draw the crowds as they have in Mexico and Canada as I suspect they will, they will make money. And if they loose the LBGP in the process so be it. I won’t like it but it is what it is.

Where’s the mission statement?

CCWS still doesn’t have a mission statement; perhaps if they did we could better understand how they intend to run their business.

Television……?

What will it take to get decent television coverage in the future? CCWS certainly needs some help in this area. As I sat there at the beginning of the race my cell rang. It was my wife calling to ask if I had given her the correct information for recording it because the channel she was watching had football on it. Unbelievable!