Columnist Ron Kantowski: Champ Car Series back on its feet, er, wheels

Friday, Sept. 23, 2005 | 9:51 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

For a series that was left for roadkill in the winter of 2003, the Champ Car World Series has rebounded better than Paul Silas following a missed free throw.

In fact, I've gotta go back to Harry Truman over Tom Dewey in the 1948 presidential election for a better example of overcoming long odds.

A couple of years ago, with most of its top teams and drivers having defected to the rival Indy Racing League, Champ Car, under its previous guise of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), declared bankruptcy. Indianapolis Motor Speedway chief Tony George was first in line to purchase the assets of the foundering company -- i.e., CART's popular street races in Long Beach, Calif., Canada and Mexico -- and discard the rest, as if it were a faulty pop-off valve.

Instead, a federal judge ruled in favor of Open Wheel Racing Series principals Gerry Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi and Kevin Kalkhoven, who completed the purchase of CART, Inc., in February of 2004. While the series still has more issues than comedian Richard Lewis, it certainly has managed to stave off the Grim Reaper.

In fact, on the eve of Saturday's Hurricane Relief 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, there is evidence to suggest the winds of change may even be blowing in Champ Car's direction. While TV ratings continue to be miniscule and small 18-car fields have become the norm, attendance at Champ Car races has skyrocketed, thanks mostly to the series' Doobie Brothers approach of reinventing itself.

Champ Car is literally takin' it to the streets. Instead of relying on hardcore race fans to travel to remote circuits on the outskirts of town, it has brought its races to the heart of downtown, where they have been well received by a new group of race fans.

Well, that might be too strong a description. Perhaps race party-goers is more like it. Champ Car has discovered that fast cars, women in halter tops and beer at reasonable prices will put a lot of rear ends in the bleachers, regardless of who is driving.

In a conference call this week, incoming Champ Car president Steve Johnson said new street races in Edmonton, San Jose, Calif., and one coming up in Ansan, South Korea, have helped Champ Car boost its attendance to around 150,000 per three-day weekend. Next year, Champ Car is hoping to add a race in Philadelphia, another huge market.

The model has been so successful that Johnson has taken to calling what Champ Car does a "festival" instead of a race.

"You've been to the races," he said. "When you go to Denver, it's a different fan, a different fan base. The youths are there, the kids are there. It's a diverse group you see. Those are the Champ Car fans of tomorrow."

But today, the series is more than willing to accept the admission fee of their parents. Not that Champ Car doesn't appeal to racing purists who appreciate the nuances of running on circuits where the cars must turn left and right.

"We still have the loyal Champ Car fans that are out there as well," Johnson said. "So we've really got a couple of different markets we're going after."

Whereas the IRL has tried to and succeeded in duplicating NASCAR in racing almost entirely on ovals and adopting rules that promote close racing and tight finishes, much of America doesn't seem to be buying. Last week, the IRL dropped races in two major markets (Southern California and Phoenix) and one minor one (Colorado Springs), essentially because attendance is down.

Champ Car, meanwhile, seems to be doing everything it can to distance itself from NASCAR. Saturday's race at LVMS is one of only two it holds on ovals and the series has gone to diverse locales in Canada, Mexico, Australia and South Korea to cultivate new fans -- er, festival goers.

The IRL and others may be surprised to learn there are race fans who don't get their jollies by watching guys bang wheels and throw helmets at each other.

"The close finish has become desired thanks to the overwhelming success of NASCAR's manufactured (finishes)," wrote a fan named Brian Jackson in an e-mail. "But this is really just race-o-tainment -- pro wrestling on wheels.

"It has little to do with traditional racing where racecar design and development plays an equally important role."

Personally, I'd rather watch a couple of taxis race around downtown than purebred racecars, which really belong on purpose-built road circuits such as Spa in Belgium or Monza in Italy or, closer to home, Road America near Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin.

But when survival is the goal, you do what you have to do.

"I think the product is good," said Las Vegas resident Paul Tracy, who, with all due respect to reigning champion Sebastien Bourdais, remains the closest thing Champ Car has to a household name. "I think their focus is really good. And right now, I think they've got the best leadership they've ever had. I think CART spent too much time spinning its wheels in getting back together (with the IRL).

"It's obvious that the IRL's copying of the NASCAR schedule and formula with open-wheel cars doesn't work. When you drop a race in L.A., one of the biggest markets in the United States, that kind of says something."

What Champ Car is trying to say is that it's different. It's a message that, based on last year's LVMS crowd, which mostly came to watch the pickup trucks run around in circles, might not catch on here.

But if they ever move this race -- er, festival -- downtown, the street vendors at the Fremont Street Experience may finally be able to stop twiddling their thumbs.