FORT WORTH, Texas -- Eddie Gossage had his own concerns about the
possible high speeds during CART's inaugural race at Texas Motor Speedway. The
track's general manager said he had been assured by the open-wheel racing
association that everything was OK.
That was until Sunday, about two hours before the Firestone Firehawk 600 was
scheduled to begin.
CART postponed the race because of concerns about safety and the possibility
of unprecedented G-forces causing the drivers to pass out while driving 250
laps on the 1½-mile quad oval.
"The bottom line is CART should have known," Gossage said. "We questioned
speed in letters, we even offered some of our own suggestions."
Gossage said he received a letter April 21 from CART president Joe Heitlzer,
in response to questions raised by TMS officials, that said "CART is ready,
willing and able to run the race."
TMS had made some changes requested by CART and based on closed testing by
several teams. That included smoothing of the track in several areas and the
addition of a wall just inside pit lane.
Heitzler insisted Sunday that the postponement wasn't based on track safety.
During practice sessions Friday and Saturday, speeds reached as high as
236.9 mph on the track with 24-degree banking. That caused some drivers to
become dizzy or disoriented as they contented with G-forces above 5 -- almost
twice as high as normal.
Of the 25 drivers set to start the race, 21 reported having some symptoms
caused by the extreme G-forces. There wasn't enough time to make changes to
slow the cars down for a race.
Since agreeing last summer to bring its series to Texas Motor Speedway, CART
had never done open testing at the track. The maximum speed reported in private
testing by Kenny Brack in December was between 221-224 mph.
Kirk Russell, CART's chief steward, said the testing by Brack and others
gave no reason for concern. But the speeds were much faster this weekend, with
Brack earning the pole for the race with a qualifying run of 233.447 Saturday.
This was supposed to be the first of three CART races under the contract
signed last summer. Gossage said track officials would be considering their
options.
"We've spent millions of dollars and made changes to the race track and
things of that nature at CART's request and we had a contract to run a CART
race April 29, 2001," said Gossage, admitting a lawsuit was an option.
Heitzler said CART would attempt to reschedule the race, after making
determinations of how to make the venue safer for drivers.
While dealing with their own organizations, Heitzler and Gossage spoke only
briefly to each other Sunday. But they made plans to talk this week.
Gossage said it could be hard to clear a weekend date for CART for the rest of
2001. The Fort Worth facility is the only one in the country with every major
form of American automobile racing -- Winston Cup, Busch, NASCAR trucks, Indy
Racing League and American Le Mans -- and also is booked almost daily with
racing schools and other events.
Gossage said he wouldn't consider a CART race on the TMS road course used by
American Le Mans.
About 57,000 tickets had been sold for the CART race. Gossage said track
officials were still trying to determine how to distribute refunds.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
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