January 28

For a champ car fan, this day will always be special. On this day a few years back, the comeback began and continues to grow with each passing year. Soon, arguably the greatest comeback in sports history will occur. Sometime in the next two years this “war” will be over and ChampCar will have won, against all odds. Oh sure, there might be some sort of “reunification” type deal. Both sides will want to save a little face and “happily” unite. Both sides will be political and polite, complementing each other’s assets. But, deep down, everybody will be aware that, in the end, the wisest choice was the ChampCar alternative. Everybody within the business, every fan on either sides will know that Tony caved in, that he could no longer compete with the better business model that the three amigos have. Despite Tony having the grand daddy of them all, he won’t be able to continue with that alone. I suspect the dramatic changes will come from teams coming back to ChampCar. Naturally, this won’t happen in 2006 because it’s the last year with the old chassis and there are just not that many cars available anyway. But in 2007, when the series is “reborn” and launched into the next generation of racing, then you will see a couple of prominent teams come back. George will find himself with very little options but to “unify”, if only to save face. ChampCar is smart enough to know the significance of the Indy 500, therefore will always be polite and curt to Mr. Tony George, as long as he’s still running the place.

Before the decade is over, this “war” should be over and with only one prominent open-wheel series in America, ChampCar will have plenty of opportunities to establish themselves as the best form of racing anywhere.

Yes, January 28, 2004, a judge decreed the rights to the three amigos and no sooner did they get the assets, they went right to work. Of course, Honda, Toyota and the IRL had other plans, luring Rahal and Fernandez at the last second. But even that blatant cheapshot couldn’t stop the beating heart of ChampCar. January 28 is when it all began, again for Champ Car.

January 28 is also my birthday. Yes, what a truly special day this is! :)