Filed under: Motorsports, Earnings/Financials
Champ Car files for bankruptcy
The fallout from the Indy Car/Champ Car merger has begun to rear its ugly head. First, superpower team Forsythe Racing announced its departure from the scene. and now Champ Car has officially filed for bankruptcy. The disruption of the scheduled 2008 Champ Car season leaves contracts broken and bills to pay, but no event revenue to balance the budget. Bankruptcy court papers reveal that the dying series has a multitude of creditors knocking on its door. One of these is engine supplier Cosworth, which is seeking payment of $1.825 million. The compounded liabilities must add up to quite a hefty sum if the series is still in the negative even after the IRL's purchase of Champ Car's major assets. As part of the deal, Tony George is shoveling out $6 million for mobile support facilities along with a total of $4 million for the promotion and production of the 2008 Long Beach Grand Prix. Once the filing passes through court, the final edition of the contract between Indy Car and Champ Car can be inked.[Source: AutoWeek]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John P. 9:19AM (3/08/2008)
Always liked Champ Car, I wish it was the IRL going belly up instead.
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ehisforadam 9:31AM (3/08/2008)
Unfortunately, as much as I loved Champ Car more, Tony George and the IRL have the Brick Yard 400, Indy 500 and F1 now a MotoGP race that are great sources of income to prop up a racing series.
Natural Selection 9:41AM (3/08/2008)
@ehisforadam:
F1 is back at Indy? Wow, I must have been hiding under a rock.
Chocolate 10:00AM (3/08/2008)
@Natural Selection
Wow, I must have been hiding under a rock.
What's worse, not being 100% up to speed on motor news or being a jackass?
Alan 12:05PM (3/08/2008)
The funny part is that Tony George has supposedly been working on F1 returning in 2009.
Duh! Didn't you know that Natural Selection?
http://blog.ibj.com/thescore/?p=74
Natural Selection 12:17PM (3/08/2008)
@ Alan:
Many wonderful people have dreamed of many wonderful things...that never came to fruition.
Duh! They are just talking. No deal has, is or was signed. Didn't you read your own article Alan?
Alan 12:25PM (3/08/2008)
@Natural Selection
"supposedly" and "working on" in my comment FTW.
But yes otherwise you have mastered the internets we all bow before you.
ehisforadam 3:36PM (3/08/2008)
My point was that in the past years of the USGP, TG had the money from it to prop up his own personal league. You people are kinda sad, but I guess I should have made that more clear.
Natural Selection 11:33AM (3/08/2008)
@ Chocolate:
I want to be the first to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to police the comment section of Autoblog. Its about time someone stepped up!
I am also sorry you didn't 'get' the quip I made. I'll explain it for you...
*Autoblog is a auto industry blog for auto enthusiasts.
*The article was about a form of open wheel auto racing.
*The commenter obviously reads Autoblog for racing news.
*The commenter made a comment which states that he follows racing to some degree.
*Autoblog has had several articles on F1.
*Autoblog has covered the USGP and the fact that F1 would not be running at Indy any longer.
I was not attacking ehisforadam. I assumed he made a simple mistake, so I left a little quip in response.
For some reason you thought it was in the best interest of society to attack my comment and resort to name calling. FYI, 'smartass' would have been more fitting.
Adios jotito mio!
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why not the LS2LS7? 11:57AM (3/08/2008)
Get a room, you two!
pmiddle5 12:38PM (3/08/2008)
Well this is gonna leave a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth's reguarding open wheel racing in America...No bueno =(
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Dustin 1:56PM (3/08/2008)
Didn't Champ Car already file bankruptcy just a few years ago? It seems as though they weren't very financially sound to begin with... no use blaming it on IRL.
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pgh 3:47PM (3/08/2008)
No use blaming it on the IRL? It has everything to do with the IRL. Before the IRL, we had a healthy native open-wheel series with great drivers and teams. A series, I might add, that had its genesis in the revolt of the teams that were tired of the George family and the way they wanted the whole pie instead of the largest piece.
Well, now Tony George has gotten his way. It's too bad that we fans have gotten the short end of the stick as the IRL is now nothing but an under-developed spec-car series whose only redeeming characteristic is that they have a few road and street races.
It's particularly disturbing that the Indy 500, that race where inventive car designers could run truly ground-breaking designs has become a spec race. It's hard to imagine the likes of Andy Granatelli's turbine cars or the various diesel-powered cars of yore ever returning to Indy so long as the marketeers are in charge of modern racing. That's a damned shame. I don't know how any self-respecting car fanatic can stand this sort of crap.
Brendan 6:17PM (3/08/2008)
No self-respecting fan CAN stand the crap, that's why both series are floundering.
redcars 9:23PM (3/08/2008)
Tony George ruined open wheel racing in the US. CART was at its pinnacle in the 90's and was gaining respect and viewership. George set the sport back 20 years.
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