One Last Waltz; CART turns its back on the past, and looks into an uncertain future.(CART leaves Michigan International Speedway)(Brief Article)

After 22 years and 33 races, CART has said goodbye to Michigan International Speedway. For decades owned by CART co-founder Roger Penske before he recently merged all his track operations with the France family's International Speedway Corp., the two-mile oval was one of the cornerstones in CART's development. The identities of CART and MIS seemed perpetually intertwined: Stories have it that the series was actually formed at a hotel nearby, and in CART's formative years, several races per year were held there. And on Memorial Day weekend in 1996, more than 100,000 CART fans gathered at MIS for the U.S. 500 to thumb their noses at the rival Indy Racing League and the Indy 500.

Although the crowds have been mediocre in recent years, the track features the best oval racing in CART. But it appears this CART race at Michigan was the last. Open-wheel racing will continue at MIS, but in the ultimate irony, it will be IRL-sanctioned. How did this stunning reversal occur? That depends entirely upon whom you ask.

Several weeks ago, CART CEO Joe Heitzler addressed the controversial loss of the MIS date. ``I assure you we have exhausted every option that we had available to us,'' Heitzler said, even including renting the track. Heitzler also related CART's quest for new venues in China and Malaysia, and street races in Washington, D.C. and Miami.

But Heitzler's depiction of the CART-ISC negotiations sufficiently exercised MIS president Brett Shelton that he called a press conference to give his version. First, according to Shelton, the meetings suffered from Heitzler's failure to articulate CART's business plan, especially its commitment to oval tracks. Next, the talks ended with a consensus that ``it was a good time for both sides to step back,'' asserted Shelton. ``The picture painted that CART was on its knees begging, and we were in the corner with our backs turned and our fingers in our ears, that can't be more inaccurate,'' Shelton said. As for Heitzler's claim he had offered to rent the track, Shelton said, ``Absolutely not. Never. Never.''

Then Heitzler went on the offensive. Members of the ...