Michigan, IRL Unable To Solve Differences Over Date

Firestone Indy 400 Could Be Running For Final Time At Michigan Int'l Speedway

This Sunday's Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan Int'l Speedway (MIS) will, "for now," be the last IRL race at the track after 40 years of open-wheel racing, according to Angelique Chengelis of the DETROIT NEWS. MIS President Roger Curtis, who signed a one-year deal with the IRL to move the race's date to the first weekend in August "so that the league could accommodate Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on the schedule two weeks ago," said, "I'm very emotional about it and very upset. I hate what they've done for the fans that are here. ... They called and said, 'We need you to move,' instead of telling Mid-Ohio, 'Hey, you can't have that date. That's Michigan's.'" Curtis said that moving the race to August this year put MIS "in a difficult spot in terms of selling tickets and marketing" because of its NASCAR Nextel Cup race on August 19 and the IRL Detroit Belle Island Grand Prix on September 2. Chengelis notes the Belle Island race is returning for the first time since '01 "because of Roger Penske's involvement." Curtis: "They had the long-term agreement with Belle Isle in their back pocket. ... They had this market and they didn't need two races here." But IRL Commercial President Terry Angstadt, who noted that MIS "has been challenged in recent years by poor attendance," said, "We had a number of conversations to find a resolution. ... We were not able to give them an alternative date that worked for them" (DETROIT NEWS, 8/3).