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Oriol "suitcase" Servia behind the wheel
of a Forsythe Panoz DP01 in 2007. Photo by Marshall Pruett. (Image source:
racer.com)
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Believe it's been said more than once. The best way
to hide something is by placing I-T in plain sight...
I will NOT try recounting the whole sorrid,
sorted and epically SAD affair known to us Open Wheel Racing 40-somethings with
Computers - a long forgotten nod to John Barnes
motivational skills; Ja Volt! We have ways of making Fans outta You;
YIKES!
Err, regressing past Mr. Barnes eloquence;
Hmm? Where'd he go, eh? Uhm, the issue I was referring to will forever
indelibly be known to my generation of Open Wheel Racing Devotees Simply as THE
SPLIT!
As I had to
say for the first time ever, when sitting down to scribble some more of
this story a freakishly L-O-N-G 5yrs ago
- I thought to myself what an EXTREME WASTE of time that was! Which today seems
even more STUPID!
CCWS-IRL
Reunification Timeline
- January 31, 2004) Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerald Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi’s OWRS concern successfully win Federal Court bid to acquire CART assets to revamp into Champ Car World Series. (CCWS)
- November 15, 2004) Kalkhoven & Forsythe purchase Cosworth Engineering from Ford.
- Feb 14, 2008) CCWS Board of Directors authorizes Bankruptcy.
- Feb 22, 2008) Unification consummated between CCWS & IRL in Memorandum Of Understanding.
- March 6, 2008) CCWS Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filed in Court.
- June 3, 2008) CCWS Bankruptcy completed.
- October 31, 2008) Kalkhoven & Forsythe sell Champ Car Atlantics series to Atlanta entrepreneur Ben Jonston.
- November 18, 2008) Kalkhoven & Forsythe reacquire their own 93 CCWS Cosworth XFE Turbo-lumps – preventing Johnston’s acquisition of said powerplants for his proposed Green Prix USA series...
And although I somewhat vaguely yearn for
those Glory Days 'O Yesteryear, when we
were A-L-L one big fat family under the
CART Umbrella, a la the early 1990's, in the sense that IndyCar was still
Larger-than-Life. (And 'RASSCAR!)
This yearning simply revolves around having
Indy Car return to Thy Pacific Northwest, albeit, even if IndyCar came back,
now after soon to be nine years absence; Chirp-Chirp; Bueller? I just cannot
see how IndyCar will ever rise to such heights once again ever!
Alas, when I began preparing this for the
other 100th running; Err Centennial 'Wayback in Twenty-eleven, as obviously
time flies when you're a S-L-O-W typer; Hooah!
Uhm, I
was fascinated then by Randy Bernard’s claim of having lost 15-20
million fans; Aye Karumba! As 'Ol Randy "the CandyMann" Bernard was
the last (and only) IndyCar executive willing to recognize The Split, interact
with the Fans and try bold & daring ideas; but I digress...
Yet I do vaguely recall whisperings of
another rival Champ Car-style Single Seater series being formed after the
vaunted reunification of Open Wheel Racing. But A-L-L I seem to truly remember
now is that toothy looking grin plastered upon Kevin Kalkhoven’s mug! (Hence his forever being interred "Smiley Face
here at No Fenders!_
Yet, having lived ‘N participated in The Split, originally a feverish
Champ Car supporter due to Portland International Raceway being my Home-track,
we'd already told the IRL, and more notably 'Ol 'TG (Tony George) where to
stick I-T when they'd sniffed around obtaining the Portland race contract
previously, which in hindsight wasn't such a great move for the Pacific
Northwest!
Yet as the years rolled by, I just became
more 'N more worn down by the decade-plus of In-fighting and was happy to move
on to a single entity and thus, never-ever paid any Attenzione 'Wayback towards
this long forgotten scuttlebutt, especially since it'd never even reached thy
Green flag...
As all I could seemingly dig up 'Wayback then
- five years ago now; YIKES! Was that Ben Johnston owned two Panoz DP01's and
reputedly bought further discarded Reynard/Panoz chassis for his hoped for
rival Green Prix racing series, whilst the only link I could
find for I-T is quite dated. (And as Marshall Pruett recently penned, it's quite
Spartan to say the least...)
As just who was this Ben Johnston, what about
this proposed rival Open Wheel Racing series and where did the missing Indy
Cars and Cosworth lumps go? As inquiring
Minds wanna Know, right? As I'll hopefully get to the bottom of this in Thy
riveting conclusion, which starts now!
Although if you're
an ardent devotee 'O Marshall Pruett of Racer magazine acclaim, then you
inevitably already know the answer...
What's that famous line Thy legendous' PT
Barnum once Quipped: "There's a Sucker Born every Minute!" Which for
Mwah seems to somewhat sum up the aspirations of the for Mwah, Mystery Man of Atlanta,
GA residence.
Apparently a one Mr. Ben Johnston of Atlanta,
a proclaimed media advertising mogul decided to spread his empire further, for
which it appears that Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe were
only too happy to oblige. As it seems that this was just one more step in the
lengthy process of truly unifying Open Wheel Racing in the good 'Ol US of A.
Thus, after today's IndyCar series had
completed its first unified season, we know that Kalkhoven
and Forsythe sold
their former Champ Car Feeder Series, now renamed simply Formula Atlantic to
Mr. Johnston, most appropriately on Halloween!
Interestingly, a week previously, it was
divulged in Savanna that Mr. Johnston was in talks to host the inaugural Green
Prix USA race weekend on Hutchinson Island, Georgia over the forthcoming 2009 St
Patrick's Day weekend.
As
Hutchinson Island had previously held the short-lived Dixie Crystals Grand Prix
'Wayback in 1997, which featured what was then the first incarnation of Indy
Lights, and was won by an aspiring Brasilian racer named Helio Castroneves.
Yet
the event held upon the island's two-mile road course was "One 'N
Done" due to financial difficulty, i.e.; the event's organizer having
filed for Bankruptcy immediately following the race!
Also
according to the story's author Adam Van Brenner, Johnston had purchased 23
various Champ Cars, i.e.; Panoz and Reynard's for his Green Prix series and planned 10-12 races
beginning on March 15, 2009 in "Eco-friendly" powered vehicles supported
by a local company named Panoz. While presumably the Formula Atlantics purchase
was intended to be a support series, a la CART/Champ Car and the IRL series
formats.
Now
in further hindsight there seems more than one Fly in this Ointment; Err
Waiter, there's A Fly; Oh Never Mind! As I'm quite uncertain how he'd have
gotten teams and drivers ready for his ultimately Stillborn race situated in
under five months time. Yet obviously the largest sticking point was the fact
that like Champ Car previously, Mr. Johnston didn't have an engine supplier. Or
even worse yet, NO STINKIN' ENGINES!
Ironically,
according to longtime IndyCar reporter John Oreovicz, upon Champ Car World
Series LLC filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on March 6, 2008, its largest Creditor
was engine supplier Cosworth, claiming a debt of $1.825 million while
naturally, the majority owners of CCWS, i.e. the renown Smiley Face Kalkhoven
and
Cosworth cohort Wimpey! (Gerald Forsythe) had signed a NO Compete clause during
the Mergification of the two warring factions.
Also,
just by co-inky-dense? A holding company named Aquarium Holdings LLC, who
controls some motor race called the Long Beach Grand Prix was assured the
continuation of its race provided Kalkhoven
& Forsythe
successfully
completed the holding of what ultimately became Champ Car's very final race on
the streets of Long Beach, California whilst the media was Uh-wash in Danica
Mania for having just won the Motegi Oval race; BARF! Whilst Kalkhoven
& Forsythe
would
be paid a further $2m apiece(?) upon completion.
Where
things get murky understandably, as obviously the "Powers-to-Be;" Err
Power Brokers, most notably some entity called Hulman & Co. certainly
didn't wish to see another Split occur, or delusion of its current
Mergified product still then in its
infancy.
Thus,
somehow, reputedly, the Bankruptcy proceedings to presumably disperse 93
Cosworth XFE 2.65-litre V-8 turbocharged 'lumps and corresponding ECU hardware
to Mr. Johnston for a song, somehow saw the proceedings moved ahead of the
perceived courtroom meeting time leaving Green Prix USA without any engines for
its chassis...
Hence,
subsequently, the March 15, 2009 Green Prix USA Savanna race was cancelled,
which effectively killed the proposed racing series, which ultimate plans
called for an all-electric propelled series which sounds eerily similar to
today's Formula E championship abroad - who've just competed Yuhs guessed I-T!
Ditto Long Beach.
Meanwhile,
The Champ Car Atlantic Series presented by Cooper Tires - and Breathe!
Continued on in Twenty-oh-Seven for the first two races under Kalkhoven
& Forsythe's leadership
before the remainder of the season was run under the IMSA banner before being
sold to Johnston just weeks after the season finale, having just concluded its
35th Anniversary!
The
new Atlantic Championship then ran one more season under IMSA sanction when
John Edwards, the racer, not the Politician; Hooah! Won the title.
Unfortunately, next the once mighty Feeder
Series sadly placed itself on hold just two weeks prior to the '09 season
opener, effectively eliminating the Mazda Road To Indy's last serious
competitor, which now like Indy Cars features a single entity for aspiring
youngsters to progress up the ladder of single seaters ultimately to someplace
at 16th & Georgetown in Indianapolis.
But
what about those missing Panoz DP01 Champ Cars Y'all might be pondering, if
you're still with me, eh? For which Marshall Pruett of Racer magazine fame
solved for us "Justin-time" for Santa Claus's arrival last December.
As
Pruett divulges that Buddy Campbell sent him a host of pictures revealing
several dusty Panoz DP01's and Reynard's in a warehouse, after Mr. Johnston's
ex-wife, in divorce proceedings had had Tow Trucks dispatched to said warehouse
to impound said "missing" racecars which now reportedly will go up
for auction sometime soon, if these proceedings haven't occurred already?
As Marshall
laments in his story, if only he'd asked the right people. As KVSH Racing
co-owner Jimmy Vasser knew where they were, along with the fact that Gerry
Forsythe's got some 80+ Cosworth XFE's sitting in a warehouse of his own...
