Lowe's Motor Speedway (LMS) President Humpy Wheeler
"denied" an AP report yesterday that SMI has decided not to
"bring the IRL back" to Charlotte, according to Foon Rhee of
the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Wheeler, who "wants the IRL to make
some safety and other changes": "We want to wait and see how
we do in Texas." The IRL will hold a race in Fort Worth,
TX, on October 17 (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 9/29). The AP's Joe
Macenka cited sources as saying that SMI "had been leaning
in recent weeks against renewing" its three-year contract to
hold IRL races at LMS. The Charlotte race was one of five
"SMI-controlled races" on the IRL's 11-event schedule in '99
(AP, 9/28). Meanwhile, in Indianapolis, Bill Koenig reports
that developers of a $100M "yet to be named" track "under
construction" near Joliet (IL), including the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway, said that the IRL "can succeed" there.
Raceway Associates President Dale Coyne, whose company owns
the Joliet complex: "I think it's a perfect market for the
IRL." In other news, IRL Founder Tony George said that the
league's "most pressing near-term issue" is its 2000 race
schedule. George: "We're probably three-quarters of the way
there. It could be anywhere from eight to 13 [races] for
2000" (STAR-NEWS, 9/29). On "RPM 2Night," Marlo Klain
reported that in 2001, the Joliet track is "expected" to
host a Winston Cup, BGN Series, Craftsman Truck and IRL
race, and the IRL event "may be a tougher sell" than the
rest, as, excluding Indianapolis, the IRL "has had
difficulty packing the stands in other markets." NASCAR CEO
Bill France said, "We're working up our marketing plans and
so forth for this area. But you've got to remember that [a]
tremendous amount of people that go to the Indianapolis 500
are from this general area up here" (ESPN2, 9/28).
