IRL to move Kansas race date

If Kansas Speedway president Jeff Boerger gets his wish, the IndyCar Series' yearly visit to his track will move from summer to spring. Boerger and Indy Racing League officials announced they are in discussions to move the 2007 event to late April.

"We understand our fans come first," Boerger said. "The heat has become somewhat of an issue. We believe we managed the heat very well, but again, our fans come first. From the surveys we've conducted with our season-ticket holders, we believe a cooler date will be very beneficial for us.

"We're very optimistic that the end of April date will work. It also puts us before the Indy 500 and we believe that will position Kansas Speedway in more value with our fans and help the Indy Racing League generate for excitement for its Indianapolis 500."

IRL President and COO Brian Barnhart said the league is receptive to a spring date, but noted there are many pieces to the puzzle that have to be considered before confirming the move.

"We think we have some options that could work for us at the end of April," he said. "We're excited about that as a potential for moving forward in 2007. It would be great to have Kansas as a platform leading into the Indianapolis 500, especially next year with 2007 being our initial season running 100 percent ethanol. We'd have to shuffle some events around from a league standpoint, but we're also conscious of what Jeff's needs are here at the race track.

"It's important to make sure we have support events that can continue to run with us as well. We've always had great doubleheader weekends with the truck series, and ARCA ran with us last night as well. We need to make sure all those puzzle pieces can fit and find a date that can accommodate everyone."