Champ Car employees hurt most by merger

A reader writes, Dear Auto Racing1, While the unification (I won't call it a merger) of open wheel racing is a great step forward for the sport, I'd hope that all involved don't forget about the nearly 50 people at the Champ Car headquarters, as well as the "weekend warriors", Safety Team and Pace Car Team that helped make Champ Car events the successes they were, who are now out of a job.

After weeks of no communication from the owners and the high amount of stress associated with that, the employees at the headquarters were unceremoniously given their walking papers on Friday afternoon. All received a basic compensation package and were shown the door. Even though Kevin Kalkhoven was in town that day, he couldn't be bothered to visit to thank the hard working and dedicated employees who tried to make his company a success. Not even a thank you for your efforts e-mail from him or any of the owners.

And to add insult to injury, the employees were also told that "the IRL has said they have no openings for you." An offer from Tony George to at least ask the former Champ Car employees to forward their resumes to the IRL would have gone a long way towards creating some good will in the situation. Instead we were all summarily left out in the cold. Guess it proves that hard work, dedication and sacrifice just mean very little to some people.

Signed,
An ex-Champ Car employee who hopes the ALMS or the NHRA is hiring