Kalkhoven 10, George 1

UPDATE #2 Another reader adds, Dear AutoRacing1.com, The Las Vegas visiting Mr. Clarke did on behalf of Honda surely was not as much to secure an arrangement with Mr. Kalkhoven and whoever else as much as it was a testing/sounding out Champ Car and a warning to Mr. George regarding the contract they were then undoubtedly in the process of negotiating. This speculation is strengthened by Autoracing1.com reports that CC officials were at the end of the day puzzled by their conversation with Mr. Clarke, i.e., what was it he really wanted, which if correct means the HPD head was not showing his hand. Mr. Kalkhoven's automatic suggestion of a private meeting at a hotel would have been the appropriate setting if there was only a sincere effort at sounding out differences to be bridged in reunification negotiations. Therefore, Mr. Clarke's desire to have instead a public setting would only serve to make CC people suspicious as well as surprised and all the more prone to negotiate only from their established business plans.

That was what Mr. Clarke first and foremost wanted to establish for himself: whether CC owners were indeed as committed as they publicly professed and whether, even so, there could be an immediate future for Honda in CC; and by doing this in the very public manner he did, Mr. George was also being warned his seemingly firm position in negotiations, whatever it might have been, was unacceptable. Thus even if CC's responses were not what Mr. Clarke in the best of all possible worlds wanted—and this he must have know from the several earlier discussions of which he surely was well briefed he would not realize—he by even being in the Las Vegas paddock HPD was warning Mr. George his wants or objections to what Honda put on the table were not going to control bargaining. After all, if they were acceptable or at least the negotiations proceeding smoothly and progressively, Mr. Clarke would not have been at Las Vegas and certainly would not be emphasizing his presence.

The questions asked by Autoracing1 as to the agreement between IRL and Honda are very pointed and relevant but unfortunately will only emerge in time, something IRL and Tony George right now even more desperately need than CC and its owners. Nevertheless, there are enough pieces to suggest the better headline is, "Open Wheel Racing: Kalkhoven 10, Clarke 1, George 0.5. E. Rasmussen Holm 10/16/05 A reader writes, Unfortunately, it’s now Kalkhoven 10, George 1 as getting Honda to stay through 2009 is quite a coup, thus delaying reunification another two or three years as the IRL was going to be gone after 2007 without Honda. Glenn Tanner, Palos Verdes Estates, CA

10/15/05 Kevin Kalkhoven continues to beat Tony George at every turn. It's now something like Kalkhoven 10, George 0.

In securing the Toronto race, Kalkhoven eliminated any possibility that the IRL (which had similar designs) could ever replace Champ Car at Canada's most important Indy-car race, just as he did by purchasing the Long Beach Grand Prix race in California. All of the above is nothing but bad news for Tony George.

But that last one has really got to hurt. George and others in the IRL, notably Michael Andretti and Bobby Rahal, have wanted to race in Toronto so badly that they could taste it.

In fact, Andretti was so sure a deal was in the works that he told Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey at last spring's IRL St. Petersburg street race that the league would be coming to Toronto before long. [Editor's Note: He also said the IRL would be in Long Beach too.]

Now, unless Andretti, et al, fold up their tents in the middle of the night and sneak off to join Champ Car, that ain't gonna happen. Toronto Star