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Doc, there is still value in CART for Michael being the top American, as long as someone will write the big check and CART survives, he will be there. TG gets a lot of heat for his reported backing of Al and others, it would be interesting know how much funding came from CART sources to keep Michael, Vasser, Herta and other Americans in CART, and who paid for it.
CART's biggest obstacle against survival is the TV contract and what the ratings will do to the value of their sponsorships. Toyota has already stepped up with funding to take their sponsored Long Beach effort off Speedwhatever and move it to FOX. Pook is almost finished "fire fighting," my guess is that TV is next on the agenda! Pook will prevail, and CART will survive, with less then half the available the available money they are running on this year!
Pook emphasized that the switch to IRL-style equipment isn't to facilitate a merger. Rather, he said, the groups will continue to serve different clients. He called the IRL "more of a stars-and-stripes sport" geared to "the Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge" crowd. He said CART helps companies with multi-national goals and reaches fans who buy "Toyotas and Hondas, import cars."
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