Media stories killed merger talks again
George is hoping to encourage officials at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit to move the April 19 race to another weekend in order to include the Long Beach (Calif.) Grand Prix in the IRL's 2008 schedule.
The Long Beach race, which has been held annually by the Champ Car World Series since 1984, has a contract with the city to stage a race that weekend.
If Motegi officials agree to move their race, the dominoes to a reconciliation could fall quickly. IRL officials are in discussions with other tracks on its schedule about adjusting their dates to accommodate a handful of Champ Car events.
Both sanctioning bodies are based in Indianapolis, but the IRL would be the leader of a unified series.
But George, who will be accompanied on the Japan trip by IRL presidents Terry Angstadt and Brian Barnhart, said today that he doesn't want to get too optimistic that a deal could be reached.
"Because it seems that every time we've been close, some new obstacle seems to get in the way," he said.
Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven stressed that no offer has been made from either series and, therefore, no deal has been agreed to, as has been reported on the Internet.
"I sent Tony a text (message) last night to find out what is going on," he said.
George said he would like to accommodate the Champ Car events that make sense, both from a calendar and a financial standpoint. But he compared this situation to discussions that occurred in 2002 when the assets of Champ Car's parent company (CART) went to bankruptcy court.
"That was in January, and it was too late in the year to make all these (schedule) changes," he said. "You just can't go changing all the dates around when you have contracts."
International Speedway Corp., which owns several tracks that host races on the IRL's schedule, recently refused a request to move the April 27 race at Kansas Speedway in order for the Japan race to take that date.
The latest round of talks began last fall when Champ Car officials met with George about making the switch to the IRL. George offered to assist Champ Car's teams in acquiring cars and engines if they could prove viability to operate them.
Kalkhoven wants everyone not involved in the discussions to get out of the way.
"Once again, as has happened previously in the past four years, somebody has leaked a story to the press, and the press has turned it into a tornado," he said. "Now it has everyone running around in a circle. It's almost malicious, and it disappoints and infuriates me.
"We were very close to a deal a couple of years ago and everything got leaked. Then instead of the key people working it out, everybody gets involved in the discussion.
"If people are trying to help unification, silence is the best thing." Indy Star