IMG signed a three-year deal with the IRL "after
failing to reach a contract extension with CART" for the
Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland, according to Amy
Rosewater of the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. IMG Motorsports
President Bud Stanner, on switching racing series: "The
facts are we have a perception to overcome. We know the
fans are concerned, especially the hard-core fans."
Rosewater notes that according to IMG, CART wanted a three-
year contract with a "sanctioning fee" starting at $1.965M,
while the fees for an IRL event are "about" $1M (Cleveland
PLAIN DEALER, 6/30). In Akron, Jason Butler writes that
Cleveland Mayor Michael White "announced a partnership"
between the city and IMG that "will keep some form of
racing" in the city for five more years. Stanner said that
the last written offer CART gave to IMG was $1.6M, but terms
of the IMG/IRL partnership "are considerably less on an
annual basis" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 6/30). CART signed a
three-year extension with the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in
Lexington, about 60 miles north of Columbus (AP, 6/30).
Sunday's Medic Drug race drew a 1.8 ESPN rating and was seen
in an estimated 1.34 million homes (PLAIN DEALER, 6/30).
INSIDE TRACK: ESPN's Jon Beekhuis, on CART not
returning to Cleveland: "I've been told that the
negotiations were within a couple hundred thousand dollars
of each other and they expected to have a deal. Then at the
last minute, IMG comes back to CART and says, 'Now, we will
only pay $300,000.' CART ... [has] a responsibility to the
stockholders, and they felt as though their hands were tied
-- they couldn't accept a deal" ("RPM 2Night," ESPN, 6/29).
