Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Falling revenue may force CART to sell

Wednesday, June 18, 2003 | 9:07 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) has hired an investment banking firm and is exploring the possibility of selling the company -- possibly to Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.

In a financial statement released Monday, the Indianapolis-based company said it has hired Bear Stearns & Co. "to assist us in exploring strategic alternatives that may be available to CART; including a possible sale of the company."

CART said in the release that revenues from sanctioning fees have dropped from $36.6 million in 2002 to between $25 million and $26 million this season. The number of races CART sanctions dropped from 17 to 13 in that same time frame.

CART also said it lost $3.1 million on the two races it has promoted this season, in England and Germany, and expects to lose between $4.8 million and $7.8 million this year on all its self-promoted races.

The sanctioning body concluded that it had the financial resources to operate through the end of 2004, but would need assistance to survive beyond next season.

"We expect that remaining cash reserves, cash flow from operations and available bank borrowings will be sufficient for capital expenditures and other cash needs during 2004," CART said, "but we also anticipate that by the end of the 2004 season our cash reserves will be fully depleted.

"Management is currently and will continue to seek alternate sources of financing to sustain the company through the 2005 season."

In addition to Ecclestone, CART team owner Craig Pollock told ESPN.com that he is interested in buying an interest in CART and said he would like to change the series' name and run all of its races on road courses and temporary street circuits.

Franchitti said that because he no longer has a shot at winning the championship this season, one of his goals will be to help teammate and IRL points leader Tony Kanaan win the title.

"My goals are to win as many races as possible and score as many points as possible," he said, "and do whatever I can to make sure Tony Kanaan ends up winning the championship."

Franchitti suffered a fractured vertebra in his lower back in a motorcycle accident in Scotland in late March.

"I was riding the thing and basically there was a mechanical failure which involved a lot of oil getting sprayed on the back tire," Franchitti said of the accident. "The best way to put it is the bike invited me to leave."

Bryan Herta replaced rookie driver Patrick Lemarie in the car last weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and drove the car to an 11th-place finish. Team co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven said the team would "continue pursuing a relationship" with Herta.

Papis has three CART Champ Car victories in 106 series starts and won the G.I. Joe's 200 at Portland International Raceway in 2001.