CART Rumors Abound - Going Private?

Indianopolis IN August 12, 2003; The AP reported that it appears it will be business as usual for Championship Auto Racing Teams for at least a while longer.

Teams were making plans for the next race, Aug. 24 in Montreal, and the CART offices in Indianapolis were quiet Tuesday despite a published report of an imminent buyout of the beleaguered Champ Car series.

ESPN.com said earlier Tuesday that CART team owners Gerry Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi, Paul Newman and Kevin Kalkhoven are "expected to buy CART's remaining public shares and take it private within the next few days."

CART spokesman Adam Saal said he had no comment on any possible move to buy the public company and take it private.

"As we have stated in our financial guidance issued in June and a further update last month, the company has committed to exploring strategic alternatives and additional sources of financing," he said. "Further statements would be inappropriate."

None of the four team owners mentioned could be reached for comment Tuesday, but Gentilozzi told The Associated Press in a recent interview: "We're not talking, and we shouldn't. I read all the papers and there isn't anybody who is quoted in there that knows a thing about what is going on."

Gentilozzi, a two-time Trans-Am driving champion and longtime team owner, said he is looking at the possibility of buying the sedan series and pairing it with CART in the future to add to the racing entertainment value of both series.

"I'm trying hard to make the right plan in Trans-Am," Gentilozzi said. "It's very close to my heart. I love the series and the cars and I'm trying to make it fit and work for Paul Gentilozzi with Trans-Am and CART.

"All of the fans in CART racing, all of them, love Trans-Am, and I get angry sometimes at shortsighted promoters who don't get it."

Gentilozzi said any future version of CART "needs Champ Cars, a support feeder open-wheel series, Trans-Am and a production Toyota-celebrity import kind of series that you can do special events with. That in my mind is what fans want to see and all of the exit polling that we've done has told us that."

Asked if there was a deadline for getting a buyout done, Gentilozzi said, "If it's going to happen, it will happen in its own time."