FOURTEEN AND COUNTING.(Competition)

The off-and-on Champ Car race in St. Petersburg, Florida, is off again, with finality. New series owner Open Wheel Racing Series had hoped to gain rights to the race and move it from its original February date to mid-May.

"Unfortunately, individuals unrelated to Champ Car kept that from happening,'' said series president Dick Eidswick.

Unrelated individuals means, precisely, Tom Begley, who has owned rights to a street race in St. Petersburg since 1991 and was general manager of the inaugural CART race there last season. In December, Begley sued CART and Dover Motorsports claiming he was owed $750,000 for the 2003 race.

OWRS, which acquired CART's assets through a bankruptcy sale, would not proceed with the race unless Begley settled the suit and turned over rights. City officials, including mayor Rick Baker, had urged Begley to do so, but so far Begley has chosen not to.

"It's unfortunate that St. Petersburg will not be included this year in the Champ Car World Series despite repeated attempts by OWRS to make the race happen,'' Baker said in a statement.

Begley has told local newspapers that he thinks the May date is a recipe for failure because it leaves insufficient time to prepare, and because hot, muggy weather will keep people from attending. Both Baker and Champ Car officials expressed desire to hold the race in 2005, but that seems unlikely unless the dispute is resolved by Begley or a court of law.

Either way, negotiations again kept Champ Car from releasing a 2004 schedule. As it stands, there are 14 confirmed races (the fewest since 1983), including the anticipated race in Seoul, South Korea (AW, March 1).