Izod IndyCar Series execs met with Baltimore city officials Monday to "discuss the future of the company planning the city's Grand Prix -- and whether the leader of the group should depart," according to Julie Scharper of the Baltimore SUN. Downforce Racing LLC has been "thrown into tumult" as company Partner Dale Dillon has "clashed with two local business partners." The event is less than five months away, and the group has "yet to launch a marketing campaign or sell tickets." IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard acknowledged "questions about Dillon's future role in leading the race, and said Monday he would know 'by the end of this week' whether Dillon would remain with Downforce Racing." Bernard: "Dale is a friend of IndyCar. If he doesn't have the time and the focus to do this, he's going to be a friend and tell us he doesn't." Since the contract was signed in February, Downforce has "failed to meet a series of benchmarks stipulated in its contract with the city" -- including a sanctioning agreement with IndyCar, a deal with the Maryland Stadium Authority and an agreement with the city over a ticket escrow account. Those benchmarks "are all more than a month overdue." Bernard said that he "still believed the race would happen, despite the lack of time." Bernard: "I know of at least two big sponsors that are willing to come to the table." IndyCar "hopes to match Downforce with a sponsor that could pay a portion of the hefty sanctioning fee that must be paid to the racing series" (Baltimore SUN, 4/17).
TIME TO MOVE ON? A Baltimore SUN editorial states it is "time for the city officials to give up on the notion of holding another IndyCar race in Baltimore this year." Dillon was "supposed to make the 2012 version not only well run but also financially solvent." This may be as "good an indication as any that the 2012 race isn't going to work out." It is "tempting to give Downforce Racing more time to get its act together," but the terms of Baltimore's contract with Downforce "make the city more dependent than before on the success of the race." The Baltimore Grand Prix "was an exciting idea." But the "positive feelings about the city" were "not enough to justify taking what looks like an increasingly risky bet on the prospect that Downforce Racing, even with IndyCar's help, can pull together an event that succeeds financially" (Baltimore SUN, 4/18).
