Competition.(Briefs)

A bid from ISC?

CART's proposed sale to Open Wheel Racing Series took an intriguing twist when attorneys for the Road America and California Speedway racetracks appeared as interested third parties at a court hearing to review the plan.

Federal bankruptcy judge Frank J. Otte did not dismiss either track's claim outright, but he ignored the claims, at least for now. Road America claims its race contract with CART can't be transferred to the new owners (AW, Dec. 29, 2003), while California Speedway is trying to recover the $2.5 million sanction fee it paid CART for the scheduled 2003 season finale. That race was canceled under contentious circumstances due to nearby wildfires.

Otte dismissed objections from both tracks to the proposed sale, though both might be able to make their cases at a hearing scheduled for Jan. 30. California Speedway previously filed suit in a California state court to reclaim the fee, but the case was dismissed when the court decided it was not the proper jurisdiction. CART contends the cancellation was the track's decision, and claims it is owed damages for the Speedway's decision to drop it from its 2004 schedule.

Yet during his appearance before Otte, the attorney for California Speedway said he is also representing a group potentially interested in making a bid to buy CART. Lawyer Mike Hile later identified the group as 88 Corp., which happens to be a subsidiary of International Speedway Corp., which owns the track in Fontana. ISC is a publicly traded company controlled by the France family.

CART attorney James Carr told Otte Hile's claim was "a red herring,'' and noted that if a sale was not completed soon, "you'll not have a racing series here to preserve.'' The judge apparently agreed, because he dismissed the racetracks' objections and set Jan. 23 as a deadline to submit legitimate alternative bids to buy CART's assets.

So now what?