Ganassi again...

[hdolan]

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/N...le.asp?ID=9838

It doesn't make good business sense to do it next year….07 would be more likely."

Chip Ganassi

According to Gordon Kirby when Ganassi was asked if he is going back to champ car…perhaps Gordon is misinformed…

[Turn13]

I think Chip goes where he can swing a good deal. As of now and through 2006, that includes the IRL and not CC.

If ratings and attendance continue to improve for the IRL as they did this year, that status may continue as well.

[ptistheboss]

KK has answered the "checkbook" issue nicely.

"Things like Long Beach and Cosworth are investments and assets that are profitable and return money," he said. "They're not only strategic assets to the series, they're also good business decisions. I would probably buy Cosworth even if I wasn't in motor racing because it's a hell of a good business. Cosworth is a worldwide brand that's never really been exploited. We'll be marketing tuner kits for Ford, Mazda, Mitsubishi and others and we've just announced a new Cosworth motor oil as well. Cosworth is a brand that has significant legs."

Buying Cosworth was a coup.

[Roninho]

I think Chip goes where he can swing a good deal. As of now and through 2006, that includes the IRL and not CC.

If ratings and attendance continue to improve for the IRL as they did this year, that status may continue as well.

If the irl manages to attract another manufacturer to join Honda, the first thing that manufacturer is going to do is sign a couple of topteams with big $. Ganassi will more than likely be one of the candidates for that money, and as a result Ganassi would stay. If there will be more than 1 manufacturer and ganassi will not be one of the supported teams he would probably not want to be in irl and cc would be an option.

If there will be no other manufacturer to join Honda in the IRL, Honda will more than likely not support any teams and i feel costs to compete would drop to the level cc´s cost currently are. With the same costs to compete, why would anyone prefer cc above irl (apart from not wanting to be a in oval-series), since the IRL has indy and way more exposure.

So the only way imo ganassi could end up in cc, would be when:
a) Ganassi expands to cc and stays in irl and nascar. Could happen, but imo unlikely.
b) The IRL signs another manufacturer, costs to compete will be high and ganassi won´t get any manufacturer support, imo unlikely.
c) Honda is the only manufacturer, but would still support some teams with mega-bucks and not support ganassi. Imo unlikely.
or
d) Champcar-kk-forsythe pays big bucks to get ganassi. Imo unlikely.

So i don´t see it happening.

[numrounofan]

well....Kirby did break the story on Red Bull being the title sponsor for Atlantics.......

[jonovision_man]

Isn't this the first confirmation we've had that he's actually considering it?

jono

[Tara]

Ganassi was at Mexico and he met with old friends. He was asked questions by reporters. He said no not in 2006, maybe 2007. Is that really concidering it? Its an easy answer, it doesn't hurt anyone's feelings and it burns no bridges. (if KK and company wanted to pay him or a sponsor wanted a CC team, Chip could always say yes). But I don't see any serious intentions here.

[jonovision_man]

Ganassi was at Mexico and he met with old friends. He was asked questions by reporters. He said no not in 2006, maybe 2007. Is that really concidering it? Its an easy answer, it doesn't hurt anyone's feelings and it burns no bridges. (if KK and company wanted to pay him or a sponsor wanted a CC team, Chip could always say yes). But I don't see any serious intentions here.

Hardly a flat denial either, though.

[ZOOOM]

The comment I found most telling was Kalkoven's when He said that the most necessary thing to do was to buy the assets so He could control them.

Isn't that what TG did when He started the IRL????
His biggest frustration was that he had a tremendous product (Indy) and didn't have control over his raw materials (assets).
Maybe KK learned something from Tony........
ZOOOM

[jonovision_man]

The comment I found most telling was Kalkoven's when He said that the most necessary thing to do was to buy the assets so He could control them.

Isn't that what TG did when He started the IRL????
His biggest frustration was that he had a tremendous product (Indy) and didn't have control over his raw materials (assets).
Maybe KK learned something from Tony........
ZOOOM

What asset did TG buy?

jono

[downtowndeco]

I can't believe you guys are so easy. What is KK going to say? He's trying to convince potential sponsors that CC is on solid footing and the investments/purchases he's had to make we're because we wanted to & he's such a great businessman, not because he had to.

Left out of this cheery story is how the CC crash landed the last three races of the season. A zero share, a cancellation, most likely another zero share (although not verified) and a drop of 70,000+ in attendance at one of their key races.

Oh yeah. If I'm Chip or Target I just can't wait to get signed up....

[stretch51]

There's a wierd Target angle here - i think most of the $ comes from the Energizer or Gillette, or whatever is on his sidepods - but Target gets front billing because you can buy those things at Target...I'm kinda hazy on that ....

[akh]

I think the '06 vs '07 thing makes perfect sense. With CC having already announced the new specs for '07, anyone entering the '06 campaign would have to make an investment in equipment which will be good for one season only. Chip may have some old show cars lying around, but does he have any of the updates, Cosworth conversions, etc.? It makes much better business sense to enter in '07 when everyone is on equal footing...IMO

[jonovision_man]

I can't believe you guys are so easy. What is KK going to say?

Chip said it, not KK.

[downtowndeco]

Chip said it, not KK.

Sorry, I should have clarified. I was talking about this quote;


KK has answered the "checkbook" issue nicely.

"Things like Long Beach and Cosworth are investments and assets that are profitable and return money," he said. "They're not only strategic assets to the series, they're also good business decisions. I would probably buy Cosworth even if I wasn't in motor racing because it's a hell of a good business. Cosworth is a worldwide brand that's never really been exploited. We'll be marketing tuner kits for Ford, Mazda, Mitsubishi and others and we've just announced a new Cosworth motor oil as well. Cosworth is a brand that has significant legs."