Will Open Wheel steal some of NASCAR’s thunder?

UPDATE A reader asks, Dear AutoRacing1.com, I stumbled upon this rumor from back in March and found it interesting that below you predicted way back on March 13th that an announcement of an IRL/Champ Car merger would be made at Indy during the Month of May. Is this really true? How could you know this? Trish Monroe, Indianapolis

Dear Trish, Our sources with connections deep inside the Hulman George family circle indicated to us back then that the deal was agreed to in principle and it was just a matter of working out some of the finer details. If true we gathered that in two months time (May) would be the perfect time to do it. Each day they wait, they fall a little further behind NASCAR. They need to merge soon while the Speedway can still use some of its power over potential sponsors.

In fact, they should do it on Friday, Carburetion Day, just before the weekend Indy 500. By then the mass of international media has arrived in town for the 500 and it would be the perfect time to make a big splash and ensure it received worldwide coverage. I guess we'll just have to wait and see now won't we? Mark C.

03/13/06 A reader asks, Dear AutoRacing1.com, With your news bit about NASCAR's latest TV ratings falling, and the suggestion they may have peaked, will KK and TG definitely pair up and slip through the hole left by the oval cartel and rise to power? We know they can, and they must, but will they? Rich McGuigan

Dear Rich, Yes we expect there will be a merger announced in May at Indy with Champ Car folded into the IRL and the best of both series brought together. Whether they will form a new company or just continue the IndyCar name remains to be seen, but it makes no sense not to use the IndyCar name because CART had its best years under that name. It is a worldwide branded name, unlike Champ Car, which has struggled to gain widespread name recognition. Together they may indeed begin to steal some of NASCAR's thunder. Mark C.