IndyCar announced it will not return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next year, saying considerable testing is needed with the new car before it can return to the track. The track hosted the '11 Izod IndyCar Series finale, in which driver Dan Wheldon was killed during a 15-car wreck. The '12 schedule will be released in the coming weeks, and the season will begin March 25 with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (IndyCar). The AP's Jenna Fryer reports the series' "future at the track depends in part on what it learns from the investigation" into Wheldon's death. The '12 schedule will not be released until IndyCar "determines if the series can continue racing on high-banked ovals." SMI Chair & CEO Bruton Smith "was adamant he wanted IndyCar to honor the three-year lease deal it has" with the track, but IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard "had been reluctant to return to the speedway." Smith said that SMI "agreed to a buyout of 2012, and the final season of the contract will be reviewed later." Bernard: "We're not guaranteeing we'll be back, but we'll test there, and we'll see what we can learn." Fryer notes attention now "turns to Texas Motor Speedway," a high-banked oval that is "one of the series' most popular venues and has hosted IndyCar every year since 1997." However, no sanctioning agreement "was in place before Wheldon's accident, and Bernard has been hesitant to complete a deal until the investigation is complete" (AP, 12/9).
BALTIMORE STILL SHOWING SUPPORT: In Baltimore, Luke Broadwater in a front-page piece reports IndyCar officials and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Thursday said that they are "still committed to holding another Grand Prix, even though the company that runs the event is millions of dollars past due on its bills and is weighing a takeover proposal from a local financier." Rawlings-Blake said that the race "can be successful under leadership with better business acumen." She said, "They need a new management team." An investment firm headed by former Goldman Sachs and Constellation Energy exec Felix Dawson "is proposing to assume leadership of Baltimore Racing Development." Outgoing IndyCar Commercial Division President Terry Angstadt said that the series "would be 'happy' to transfer licensing rights for the event to a new firm." Broadwater notes IndyCar is charging BRD $2.2M "to license the race annually." Once the deal is approved, Dawson would become BRD's new CFO. Wilkes Lane Capital, his investment firm, would put up to $3.3M in BRD, and would "eventually own 58 percent of the company's shares." Dillon Racing "would be in charge of race operations, promotion and logistics" (Baltimore SUN, 12/9).
FISHER ADDS INVESTOR: Hartman Oil Owner Wink Hartman "is the new co-owner of Sarah Fisher's IndyCar team," and it has been renamed Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing. Hartman in '09 "bought the team a new car so Fisher ... would have a backup if something went wrong." Fisher said that Hartman's "financial involvement is key to the 17-person staff" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 12/8).
