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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Champ Car’s merger with IRL moves closer

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

A deal that would unify America’s two open-wheel racing series under the IRL umbrella entered the final stages Thursday.

Talks have centered on a proposal in which some teams from the Champ Car World Series would blend into the Indy Racing League. The unification would become one series under the banner of the IRL’s IndyCar Series, Champ Car spokesman David Higdon said.

“We’re closer than we’ve ever been,” Higdon said. “Many of us remain hopeful that it will be completed today and we will be talking about a unified open wheel series tomorrow.”

IRL spokesman Fred Nation said there are “four issues they will try to hammer out by the end of the night.” He did not identify the issues, but one of them – and perhaps the biggest – is believed to be a conflict between the IRL’s race at Honda-owned Motegi in Japan and Champ Car’s most important event, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The race in Japan is scheduled April 19, the day before the Long Beach event. IRL founder Tony George and former Honda racing executive Robert Clarke flew to Japan last week in an effort to resolve the conflict, but no resolution has been announced.

Before George and Clarke flew to Japan, Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven told the Associated Press that Motegi was a deal-breaker.

“As long as Honda won’t move Motegi, there won’t be a merger,” Kalkhoven said on Feb. 8.

Shortly after that Kalkhoven issued a statement saying Champ Car’s 2008 schedule would go on as planned. But, despite that statement, talks have continued and progress has been made.