IndyCar, Champ Car unification talks put off for now

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Don't expect America's two rival open-wheel series to unify anytime soon.

Tony George, founder and CEO of the Indianapolis Racing League and it's IndyCar Series, said Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway that talks with Kevin Kalkhoven, co-owner of the Champ Car World Series, have been put on the postponed for now.

Open-wheel fans, most of whom would love to see the two series running together as one, were excited a year ago when both George and Kalkhoven let it be known that they had formed a friendship and opened talks that could possibly lead to unification.

The excitement died down quickly, though, as the talks cooled.

"That was 12 months ago," George said before the start of the season-opening XM Satellite Radio Indy 300. "Kevin and I had been talking for four to six weeks, I'd say, prior to that. The reasons for being optimistic were we had had some good social interaction and we'd been kind of talking around some of the bigger issues.

"I felt those talks were going well, but we were not anywhere near ready to announce a plan for unification.

"As time went on," George added, "that whole thing changed and we've tried to stay in contact and see each other socially on occasion and have a professional relationship. As of last fall, we've kind of agreed that we don't have a lot to talk about in terms of unification and didn't likely have anything imminent that was going to change that in the next couple of years, but that we'd stay in touch. And, to a certain extent, we've done that."

George also said he and his top executives are thinking about adding a couple of non-points overseas races in the fall sometime in the future.

"I think there's a case to be made if the right opportunities come, if it's good for the sponsors, if it's good for the teams, if it's good for IndyCar racing in general to do a couple of offshore races," he said.

"We could do a couple of races in the mid-September to end of November time frame. We're just looking for the right way to package it. It's conceptually something that I've given consideration to, but nothing has been set in stone."

The IRL schedule for 2007 includes 17 races and George said the championship is unlikely to add more than a race or two in the next few years, although he noted there are numerous opportunities popping up.