FONTANA, Calif.,
Feb. 3, 2003 – Confirmation of the continued growth and
development of the Indy Racing League, a focus on keeping a
level playing field for all competitors and an update
regarding the business aspects of the League were highlights
of the State of the Series Address, given Feb. 3 by IRL
President and CEO Tony George, Senior Vice President of Racing
Operations Brian Barnhart and Senior Vice President of
Business Affairs Ken Ungar.
George opened the speech, delivered on the opening day of the
annual Test in the West at California Speedway, with a short
retrospective on the recent developments within the IRL. Among
the highlights:
·The April 2001 announcement by Toyota to commit to the IRL
for the 2003 season.
·The June 2001 confirmation by General Motors that Chevrolet
would return to the Indianapolis 500 through participation in
the Indy Racing League.
·The August 2001 announcement regarding the formation of the
IRL Infiniti Pro Series.
·The September 2001 expansion of the IRL’s partnership with
ABC Sports and ESPN.
·The October 2001 extension by Firestone of its relationship
with the League.
·The May 2002 announcement that SAFER Barrier technology would
be in place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 86th
Indianapolis 500.
·The May 2002 announcement of Honda Motor Company’s plans to
enter IRL competition in 2003 and that the IRL and Twin Ring
Motegi entered into an agreement for the league to conduct its
first race outside of the United States.
Other key points highlighted by George were details of the new
IRL Leaders Circle Program and guidelines emphasizing improved
driver safety and quality car construction, as well as the
announcement in January 2003 that the League’s premier series
would be known as the IndyCar Series.
“All of these events would no be possible if it were not for
our drivers and teams offering some of the finest competition
in all of sports,” George said. “And for the 2003 season,
joining our already established field is a number of drivers
and/or teams that are making a transition to our brand of
racing.
“It is with a great deal of pride that I can state that never
before in the history of American racing have we had an
open-wheel, oval series with the celebrated drivers, the
established owners, the significant committed players from the
auto industry and all the groundwork which I have laid out
that the IndyCar Series will have in 2003.”
Looking back on previous seasons, George reflected on the
competitiveness of the series.
“When the league had its first race in January 1996,” George
said, “it was the realization of a vision to create a series
where competition is close, costs are controlled, the same
quality of equipment is available to all, and teams and
sponsors can afford to compete.
“Eight years later, we are realizing that vision.”
Barnhart focused on the IRL’s Racing Operations division and
its continued efforts to further the IRL’s initial objective
of maintaining cost control and a level playing field while
also continuing to offer the most competitive racing series in
the world today.
“We continue to have the ability to maintain cost controls
because the manufacturers have bought into our business
formula and participate under the terms of the league,”
Barnhart said. “Our agreement with the engine manufacturers in
2003 is nearly identical to our very first agreement with GM
and Nissan when the league was formed. We have not, and will
not, change this formula to attract manufacturers.”
Barnhart also stated his belief that the formula is working so
effectively that other forms of racing are implementing
similar plans.
“Our SAFER Barrier, a system to reduce the force of impact in
wall contacts, has been recognized by several engineering and
safety organizations. Said Barnhart. “ We are pleased that
other tracks are looking seriously at the SAFER Barrier to see
if it meets their needs.”
Ungar outlined the IRL’s efforts to further its business
growth.
“For the first time in our history, we have senior level
executives and support staff in marketing, licensing, sales,
promoter relations and public relations who are totally
focused on our league,” Ungar said.
Ungar cited various trends, including the longstanding
television ratings success of the Indianapolis 500, the upward
trend of the IRL’s television ratings over the past two
seasons and the platform to televise IRL broadcasts globally
via ESPN International.
“2003 will be a showcase for many of our partners, new and
existing alike,” Ungar said. “Toyota, Honda and GM plan
aggressive marketing campaigns featuring the IndyCar Series.
Firestone will also continue its strong support of the IndyCar
Series.
Ungar also stressed the League’s five business goals:
·Increase attendance.
·Improve television ratings.
·Improve the League image.
·Cultivate driver development.
·Increase engine manufacturer participation in the League.
“Our series is undergoing a renaissance,” Ungar said. “With
the drivers and teams, tracks, broadcast relationships and
sponsor support, there is no reason to believe that the sky is
the limit.”
Transcript
INDY RACING LEAGUE TEST IN THE WEST PRESS CONFERENCE
STATE OF THE SERIES, Tony George, Brian Barnhart, Ken Ungar
Feb. 3, 2003
MODERATOR: Good morning, welcome to today's press conference.
Let me introduce everyone up here on the podium. Immediately
or closest to me is Brian Barnhart, senior vice president,
racing operations for the IRL; Ken Ungar, senior vice
president, business operations for the Indy Racing League; and
the founder and CEO of the Indy Racing League, Tony George.
Tony.
TONY GEORGE: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Indy
Racing League's annual Test in the West. We appreciate the
hard work that California Speedway has done to put on this
event, and I would like to personally thank Bill Miller and
his staff.
The Indy Racing League was founded to build an oval racing
series around the heritage of the Indianapolis 500 and to
offer opportunity to those who want to compete at the highest
level of racing in the types of cars that have defined Indy
since its beginning.
Today is the unofficial kickoff to our season, and the 2003
schedule is one that all of us at the Indy Racing League are
looking anxiously forward to ever since Sam Hornish put an
exclamation point on last year's 2003 season with a thrilling
last-lap, last-second victory at Texas Motor Speedway. We
enter the 2003 season with unprecedented growth, momentum and
competition.
A game plan was put into place just two years ago, and with a
lot of hard work the results are that we're all here today
gathered eagerly awaiting the 2003 season.
Remember, it was just April of 2001 when Toyota made its IRL
commitment for the 2003 season. It was June 2001 when GM
confirmed that Chevrolet would return to Indy. In August of
2001, we announced the formation of the IRL Infiniti Pro
Series. And in September of 2001, we expanded our partnership
with ABC Sports and ESPN. In October 2001, Firestone extended
its relationship with the League, and laid the foundation for
what promised to be an exciting 2002.
Last January, we announced the details of our new IRL Leaders
Circle Program. In February of last year we released the
guidelines emphasizing improved driver safety and quality car
construction and the specifications that were distributed to
our chassis manufacturers. Also last February, ESPN
International was appointed the exclusive worldwide television
representative for the Indy Racing League and the Indianapolis
500. They subsequently delivered what is one of the best
international television distribution packages of any
American-based racing series.
Last May, the momentum continued with announcements regarding
our SAFER technology being installed at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway for the 86th running of the Indianapolis 500.
The Honda Motor Company announced plans to enter the IRL
competition in 2003, and the Indy Racing League and Twin Ring
Motegi entered into an agreement for the league to conduct its
first race outside of the United States.
To top it all off, earlier this year we announced that our
premier series of racing would be known as the IndyCar Series.
All of these events would not be possible if it were not for
our drivers and teams offering some of the finest competition
in all of sport. These teams have played an integral role in
building the IRL and everyone in the IRL appreciates their
professionalism.
Joining our already established field is a number of drivers
and teams that are making the transition to our brand of
racing. So it is with a great deal of pride that I can state
that never before in the history of American racing have we
had an open-wheel oval series with celebrated drivers,
established teams, significant committed players from the auto
industry, and all of the groundwork which I have just laid
out, that the IndyCar Series season will have in 2003.
When the League had its first race in January 1996, it was a
realization of a vision to create a series where competition
is close, costs are controlled, and the same quality of
equipment is available to all where the teams and sponsors can
afford to compete. Eight years later, we are realizing that
vision.
In 2002, the Indy Racing League recorded the closest finish
recorded in major racing history. We had nine different
winners in 15 races, including six first-time winners. Sarah
Fisher became the first woman to capture a pole position in
the history of major league racing at Kentucky Speedway.
Ken and Brian were given day-to-day responsibility for our
racing operations and business affairs, and last year they
worked tirelessly on behalf of the League. I owe each of them
a debt of gratitude for their leadership and would ask that
they each update you on their respective areas of competition
and business affairs. With that, I'll turn it over to Brian.
BRIAN BARNHART: Thank you, Tony. Day in and day out, the IRL
racing operations division strives to continue the IRL's
initial objective of maintaining cost controls and a level
playing field while offering one of the most - if not the most
– competitive racing series in the world today.
To give you an idea of how even more competitive the IndyCar
Series will be this year, let's take a look at some of the
drivers that will be participating this week at our open test
at California Speedway and at Phoenix. Fifteen of the drivers
in attendance have won an IRL or CART race. In total, the
drivers have combined for 147 race victories, seven
Indianapolis 500 championships, and 10 combined championship
titles.
Again, looking at the field of competitors in attendance this
week, we feel that we offer a diverse field of competitors
with over half of the drivers competing being born in the
United States.
All of our drivers live in the United States and, just like
the country itself, the drivers represent many cultures and
many walks of life. Since its beginning, the Indianapolis 500
has very much been an international event, and the IndyCar
Series mirrors that with the diversity of its drivers.
It is important to note with the addition of Honda and Toyota
joining Chevrolet, our competition will increase even more,
and each of these companies has made significant marketing
commitments to promote our sport, our teams and its drivers.
We continue to have the ability to maintain cost controls
because the manufacturers understand and acknowledge that our
business formula works, and they have chosen to participate
under the terms set by the League.
Our agreement with the engine manufacturers in 2003 is nearly
identical to our very first agreement with GM and Nissan when
the League was first formed. We have not, and we will not,
change this formula or our original philosophies and
principles in an effort to attract additional manufacturers.
Like 1997 and 2000, this season marks the first year of a
three-year program with engine and chassis manufacturers that
enables an owner to amortize his cost over three years and
further demonstrates our commitment to controlling costs for
our participants.
Our formula is working so effectively that other forms of
racing have caught on and implemented similar plans,
recognizing the importance of controlling costs.
The Indy Racing League continues to be a leader in safety
innovation, our SAFER Barrier, a system to reduce the force of
impact in wall contacts, has been recognized by several
engineering and safety organizations. The SAFER Barrier
remains in place today and stayed in place not only for the
Indianapolis 500 in May, but the Brickyard 400 in August, and
the United States Grand Prix in September, as well. We are
pleased that other tracks are looking seriously at the SAFER
Barrier to see if it meets their needs.
Our new cars provided by Dallara, Panoz G Force, and Falcon
Cars contain advances in driver protection, underscoring a
continuing effort and commitment by the League to reduce
driver risk.
In 2003, we have an improved gearbox designed and developed by
XTRAC and the chassis tubs themselves feature a side
anti-intrusion material two-and-a-half times stronger than
last year's model.
As the Indy Racing League Infiniti Pro Series begins its
second season, we're excited about another great season of
growth and thrilling competition. As the League's official
development series, the Infiniti Pro Series serves as an
essential training ground and stepping stone for drivers,
teams and sponsors en route to the pinnacle of open-wheel
oval-track racing in America: the IRL IndyCar Series.
In 2003, the Infiniti Pro Series will expand to 11 races, with
a 12th date tentatively scheduled to be added. There are a
host of new drivers and teams coming to the Infiniti Pro
Series in 2003, joining an ultra-competitive field of future
IndyCar Series stars.
The inaugural Infiniti Pro Series champion, A.J. Foyt IV, will
graduate to the IndyCar Series in 2003, confirming that the
Infiniti Pro Series is the ideal training ground for the IRL's
premier open-wheel series.
It is my pleasure and honor to announce today that four-time
Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears has been hired by the Indy
Racing League as a driver, coach and consultant for the
Infiniti Pro Series. So please join me in welcoming Rick to
his new role. (Applause.)
We appreciate your contributions, Rick, and look forward to a
great season. Thank you very much.
Thank everyone for your time. Now it's my pleasure to
introduce the senior vice president of business affairs for
the Indy Racing League, Ken Ungar.
KEN UNGAR: Thanks, Brian.
On the business side of our sport, we have for the first time
in our history senior level executives and support staff in
marketing, licensing, sales, promoter relations and public
relations who are totally focused on the League. It's now a
sport demanding 110 percent of our focus and energies.
For the first time in anyone's memory, our sport has attracted
enthusiastic Fortune 500 global partners, the likes of General
Motors, Toyota, Honda, the Walt Disney Company, ABC, ESPN,
Firestone, Phillip Morris, Bombardier and Delphi.
To understand the potential impact that these partners will
have on our sport, it's important to note that these companies
alone represent nearly $500 billion in annual revenues, and
they're partners with deep roots with us. For instance, ABC
Sports' coverage of the Indianapolis 500 dates back to 1965 –
the longest broadcast sports relationship in history –
together with ESPN offers comprehensive coverage of the Indy
Racing League IndyCar Series and the greatest spectacle in
racing, the Indianapolis 500 race.
The League's broadcast relationship with ABC/ESPN is
solidified through 2007. With the help of our friends and
partners at ABC/ESPN, we are proud of our network division
ratings and the improvements we've seen. The Indianapolis 500
has long been a rating success on the Memorial Day weekend
each year, averaging a 6.2 rating in the last decade. The
League's ratings for the remainder of its schedule continue to
climb. The 2002 season showed a 17-percent increase on ABC and
a 31-percent increase on ESPN compared to 2001.
Heading into the 2003 campaign, partners ABC/ESPN have
committed even more hours of coverage, and more promotion
across all of its platforms. The actual race broadcast will
offer even more technology for fans.
Indy Racing League broadcasts are made available globally via
ESPN International to more than 300 million homes in 198
countries. As our broadcasts are seen worldwide, 2003 will be
a showcase for many of our partners new and existing alike.
Toyota, Honda and GM plan aggressive marketing campaigns
featuring the IndyCar Series. Firestone will continue its
strong support of the IndyCar Series, including market
expansion of its successful Firestone Firehawk Indy 500
consumer tire.
Having strong committed partners would not benefit the sport
without the foundation of a business plan to guide us to
success. Just as Tony's vision has been consistent and
reliable, our business plan has also been solid. Everyone who
works for the League knows our five business goals:
To increase attendance;
To improve the television ratings;
To improve our League image;
To cultivate driver development;
And to increase engine manufacturer participation in our
sport.
You will note that in today's remarks by Tony, Brian and me,
we touch on every one of these five goals. However, none is
more important than the goal of increasing attendance at our
races. Working closely with our Indy Racing League family of
racetracks has been a key part of the League's success to
date. Our marketing, sales and public relations teams
coordinate each aspect of our business plans with each of our
promoter partners to gain maximum impact. As the League has
grown, we have enhanced sales, marketing and public relations
efforts and promise they will be as aggressive as ever.
Because of the hard work of our promoter partners and the
League staff, attendance grew by 9 percent from 2001 to 2002,
with some of our tracks experiencing significant growth, yet
we understand we have far to go before we realize the
tremendous potential of the IndyCar Series. That is why in
2003 you'll see more resources to increase attendance through
grassroots marketing initiatives like our Indy Racing League
Fan Experience. The Fan Experience is five attractions
traveling the U.S. as a road show for 36 weeks, marketing our
brand to American sports fans in every market we compete. This
interactive fan racing program will introduce the entire
family to the excitement of Indy Racing, help spark a
big-event atmosphere at all of our tracks, help make our
drivers stars and, most importantly, sell tickets to race
events.
For the first time in League history, we have a dedicated
sales team, which will cover the entire country, attracting
partners that will activate their involvement with the League.
The success of sports leagues relies as much on sponsor
activation to spread the word as any other form of marketing,
promotion or PR.
The sales team will also be rolling out Indy Racing League
connections, a new business-to-business development effort to
bring League and team sponsors together to share ideas and
help them develop new working relationships together.
Our public relations team has been expanded from five to seven
professionals, and two primary goals identified are to enhance
coverage of our drivers within the sports pages across the
country, and we've identified non-traditional media like
lifestyle, business and entertainment outlets to tell our
story.
Our series is undergoing a renaissance. With the drivers and
teams, tracks, broadcast relationships, and sponsor support,
there is no reason to believe that the sky is the limit.
On behalf of Tony, Brian and myself, I would again like to
thank you for joining us today.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Ken.
At this point we'd like to open up for some questions.
Q. Tony, you talked about having all your ducks in a row now.
You have Toyota, you have manufacturers, you have television
packages, you have a 16-race schedule, including international
races. Can you talk about the pressure now that you face to
get your message to the people, how attendance must increase,
how ratings must increase here in the next year to two years?
GEORGE: Well, it's pressure that I think is self-imposed. I
think we've continued to show steady growth and focus on that
outcome. But this year we've stepped it up, as Ken mentioned,
on just about every front.
I think certainly there's been a lot of attention focused on
the League this year. It's incumbent upon us to respond with
the appropriate level of professionalism, which we've spent
the better part of two years, the start of our second year,
really trying to set up an organizational structure that is
properly staffed to meet those needs.
As Ken so aptly put it, it's going to take working with all of
our partners and all the constituents to achieve that.
Q. Brian, could you speak to car counts both for the IndyCar
Series and for the Pro Series as you see it now and also to
the Indy 500?
BARNHART: I certainly think, especially with regards to the
Indianapolis 500, we're going to be looking at a combination
of car drivers in the low- to mid-40s participating, and
shooting for the 33 spots, which is fairly consistent with
numbers we've seen the last several years.
With regards to the IndyCar Series and the Infiniti Pro
Series, probably the IndyCar Series isn't going to achieve
what we hoped, and probably we're looking at in October, which
I don't think is really something unusual. This is the first
year of our chassis and engine combination, the first of a
three-year run, where I mentioned entrants are able to
amortize the cost. As that involves a significant capitol
investment and outflow in the first year, especially where we
were last September and October with the existing teams and
the ones that expressed interest and participating in the
League, in coming to the League, we were really looking at 28
to 30.
With various factors involved, I don't think we're going to
achieve that number, which is again consistent with what I
think happened in '97 and 2000, but also consistent with what
happened in the second and third years of those programs. As
the equipment becomes more available and is also cheaper in
the years two and three of the program, I think the car number
will go up.
I don't think we'll vary a whole lot on the IndyCar Series. I
think we'll probably have 24, 25 cars, which is pretty
consistent with what we had last year.
The Infiniti Pro Series, Roger Bailey has done a great job and
is attracting more attention. It is a viable option for any
entrant who hasn't been able to acquire the funding to run on
the IndyCar Series level. It's a great training ground, as we
talked about. I think right now Roger is indicating he should
have between 22 and 24 competitors in the Infiniti Pro Series.
Q. In previous press conferences at this time of the year you
talked about the next year's schedule. Anything you can update
us about 2004?
UNGAR: I didn't know we were talking about next year's
schedule this soon. The hallmarks of the Indy Racing League
are growth, growth and growth. The 2004 schedule will in a way
be a great challenge for us because we've always been very
careful to manage our growth. We've done what we feel is in
the best interest of the series, the competitors, teams, our
promoter partners, our sponsors. It's always a complicated
formula in terms of how we grow our schedule. We've been
fortunate to be able to grow our schedule since 1996.
2004 will be yet another challenge, as the series gets
stronger, finding the right combination of races in terms of
number, in terms of geography. We'll be looking very closely
at our history, looking closely at our performance this year,
and looking for opportunities for all those partners that I
mentioned before, what makes the best schedule.
That process has begun, obviously, and later this summer we'll
be talking more about it.
Q. I caught the words like "renaissance" and "growth," but how
are you addressing the real issue of getting open-wheel racing
onto the radar screen? In reality, it's NASCAR that's
dominating. Have you got a grand plan to increase visibility
to where it used to be?
GEORGE: Well, we continue to evaluate our business plan for
the next three to five years. We feel like we've made
significant progress in growing the Indy Racing League. I
think it's good for all motorsports when we can show positive
signs, especially in challenging times, of growth.
I don't think we sit down in daily or weekly meetings
discussing how we can wrestle attention away from others. I
think we try to focus on ways that we can bring attention to
our series, and we've done that in a very – I think – diligent
way.
We've continually worked at bringing new sponsors and
manufacturers and teams and drivers into our series, tried to
present an opportunity that allows them to compete at the
highest form of open-wheel racing in the United States. I
think we'll continue to try to do that, just focus on building
the Indy Racing League and just let the rest of it hopefully
take care of itself.
Q. You were here last year real early in the year with a late
schedule, now you're going to September. Is the September date
more optimal for the series than being here early in the year?
UNGAR: We think that September poses a great opportunity for
us. In terms of looking at our overall schedule, where the
best place is for this race, we agreed with Bill Miller and
his staff that we'd like to build and create some date equity
in the September date.
If you remember, last year's event came together with only
three
months' notice. We've had a real chance to dig in with the
track staff, create an integrated marketing/public relations
promotional plan to really get the word out in the Southern
California market about this event.
We think that adding tools in everyone's tool belt like the
Indy Racing League Fan Experience, where we can take
grassroots marketing initiatives here in Southern California,
leave them in market, really spread the word among fans about
how great our brand of racing is, we'll really have a leg up.
Also the interesting thing about this year for us will be as
we have just, off the top of my head, three significant
partners of the League, either team sponsors or League
sponsors who were not with us last year, in Toyota, Honda and
Pioneer, for example, who have U.S. bases of operations here
in Southern California. They're committed also to helping us
get the word out and seeing that this event is very
successful.
We love racing here. You saw the race last year. There could
not be a better racing product to take anywhere. So we think
we have a phenomenal on-track product to show fans here. Now
the question is, we've demonstrated that the product is great;
getting the word out is the next step. We're confident with
Bill Miller and his staff, we'll be successful.
Q. How important is it to have the great names like Rick
Mears, Andretti, Foyt, Unser to have higher profiles?
BARNHART: I think it's very important from every aspect you
can think about. As I mentioned, we're very honored to have
Rick join our staff this year and have him dedicated solely to
the Infiniti Pro Series. There's a number of reasons for that.
I mean, Rick, I believe he retired from racing in '92, is the
most current of our driver coaches. These guys in the Infiniti
Pro Series can relate to him. As they were growing up, Rick
was their hero when they were racing. That applies to Sam
Hornish. I know Sam, obviously in the IndyCar Series, his hero
in racing was Rick. These guys, as they are stepping in the
Infiniti Pro Series, can now talk to and relate to somebody
that they watched race.
We also have the luxury, obviously, of having another
four-time winner with Al Unser Sr. And three-time winner with
Johnny Rutherford that will help the Infiniti Pro Series and
IndyCar (Series) drivers when they need it. When you look at
that level of experience and knowledge that we have mentoring
people in our series, it doesn't get any better than that.
Then on the competition side itself, I mean, Friday evening we
attended the function at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when
Andretti Green unveiled their cars participating in the
series. What a wonderful occasion. There were four
magnificently prepared, fully sponsored, beautiful race cars.
When you have the names likes Andretti and Franchitti and
Kanaan joining your series, those are names people recognize,
they're icons of the sport. It continues to raise the
credibility and competition level of what we've been doing.
What we've been able to do on track has been outstanding the
last two or three years. As I mentioned, it's just going to
get better. You have Fernandez Racing bringing a car, you have
Kenny Brack rejoining the series with Bobby Rahal, the '86
Indy 500 winner, you have Mo Nunn, Chip Ganassi running
another car. Those aren't cars that are just going to run;
those are cars that are going to compete to win. You're going
to literally look at a situation when we open the race season
at Homestead, 20 of the cars on the grid can win that race
that day, and it wouldn't surprise anybody.
From aspects of learning and teaching the people involved, we
have the great coaches in place to do it, we have the most
recognizable names, teams and drivers in the sport, as well.
That's how we're going to raise the awareness of what we do.
Once people get to the racetrack and watch our product on the
track, that will sell itself, as well.
Q. Where are we with a European race? Then road courses, you
have so many drivers and teams now who have road course
expertise, it seems a waste of that skill not to at least
showcase it somewhere along the line.
GEORGE: We currently don't have any dialogue with any European
venues. I don't really have much to report there.
With regard to road racing, I think it's something we'll look
at and evaluate as opportunities may present themselves. A lot
of people ask me specifically about venues that as I know them
today are part of another schedule, traditional dates,
whatever. I tend to not encourage dialogue where it doesn't
seem appropriate.
I have been approached about some potentially new
opportunities that aren't developed fully enough to consider
them a near-term prospect. We'll continue to evaluate it and
maybe in the three- to five-year business planning cycle,
we'll start looking at that more closely, again, as
opportunities present themselves.
Having said that, wearing a different hat at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway, we have a pretty significant interest in
Formula One, looking at trying to develop road racing,
particularly interest in Formula One, in the immediate future.
I'm always thinking about that, looking at ways that we can
help build on the existing base of Formula One fan interest.
The Indy Racing League has predominantly been an oval racing
series. I expect that will be the case for the next few years.
Q. Last year when we sat here, I believe that Brian said there
was absolutely no interest in road racing. I think you said it
was strictly oval. Has it changed any? It sounds like maybe
you're considering it. Has it changed?
UNGAR: I think the business model changes. I think you also as
a responsible organization need to be able to respond and
react to the business world as situations present themselves.
I think just what Tony said, the Indy Racing League is an
all-oval series and is going to stay that way at least in the
immediate future. As business models and business
opportunities present themselves, a responsible organization
will take a look at them.
Q. What do you expect to have at the Indy Japan 300 in April?
This is the first time to have an Indy car race abroad, right?
UNGAR: We're very excited about the Indy Japan 300 race coming
up. We've done a lot of great preparation with our partner,
the Twin Ring Motegi, to prepare for this race -- everything
from preparations for an Indy week of promotions where drivers
and League officials will be engaged in various promotional
activities throughout Japan to help bring attention to the
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, to actually preparing for
the race itself.
We're very confident that, because the Twin Ring Motegi is one
of the finest racetracks, one of the finest ovals in the
world, we're very confident with our cars and the competition
that we have, it will be an excellent and very exciting race
for Japanese race fans.
MODERATOR: I think at this point we can break up. Brian, Ken
and Tony can be available for some one-on-one questions. Thank
you.
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