Phoenix and the IRL headed for divorce

UPDATE Phoenix is the latest in a long line of events that the IRL managed to usurp from CART/Champ Car that have since failed, which has to run chills down the spine of the City Council in Long Beach to think what might become of their great race should Dover award it to the IRL instead of Champ Car. 04/27/05 This weeks National Speed Sport News has an article about the unhappiness that has developed between Phoenix International Raceway (ISC) and the IRL. Key excerpts in the article by Bruce Martin – After drawing as few as 8,500 fans for the Indy Racing League race at Phoenix Int'l Raceway in March, there was speculation it might have been the final Indy car race held at the one-mile oval. PIR officials, however, said they expect the IRL to be back, but "it's the last time we'll have them here in March," said a track source. March has become a busy time of year in the Phoenix area with college Spring Break, Major League Baseball Spring Training, a professional golf tournament and a free air show held at Luke Air Force Base all held on the same weekend as the IRL race.

There was also open animosity between PIR officials and several members of the IRL marketing department, including one member who was dismissed of her duties last week by the series. An IRL spokesman said that dismissal was not related to the poor Phoenix weekend but rather failure to meet performance standards.

PIR and its parent company, the International Speedway Corporation, were also livid over the public language used by the band "Velvet Revolver" in the post-race concert that was held at the track. PIR has offered the IRL an August date where it could run a Saturday night race, but it seems unlikely the series would accept that because of its already jammed schedule that time of the year.

IRL officials have said they weren't pleased with the level of effort PIR officials gave to the Indy car race and said the track was more interested in promoting the NASCAR Nextel Cup race which was held this weekend in front of a sold-out crowd of over 100,000. PIR officials criticized the IRL for a variety of promotional issues.

"While we have not had date specific discussions with Phoenix for 2006, we expect to have such discussions in the near future," said Fred Nation, the executive vice president of communications for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation — the parent company of the Indy Racing League. "We are just beginning planning of our 2006 schedule. Neither PIR nor the IRL was pleased with the results this year and we have an open mind about next year." [Editor's Note: Sure sounds like these two are headed for a mutual divorce. An August date is not tenable for the IRL and ISC knows it. It's their way of politely saying we really don't want you anymore. With just 8,500 in attendance they're both better off shaking hands and walking away.]