Two months after the embarrassment of the United States Grand Prix, Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials apparently aren't quite ready to forgive -- or forget.
Speedway president Joie Chitwood made it clear after Sunday's NASCAR Allstate 400 at the Brickyard that he is still debating whether to bring the Formula One race back to Indianapolis for a seventh season.
"It's important to us because we've made a huge investment in the sport by building the road course and adding the buildings to Gasoline Alley," Chitwood said. "But we have to decide what's in the best interest of our fans, the speedway and the city."
Only six drivers competed in the F1 race on June 19 after seven teams pulled their cars off the track to protest safety concerns with Michelin tires. Those teams wanted to use fresh tires or have an extra chicane put in the 13th turn, but F1 officials opted to make no changes.
Chitwood acknowledged he has been discussing another race with F1 officials but declined to characterize the talks or offer a timeline for an announcement.
Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone contends there is still one more year on the current contract, although speedway officials would not confirm that.
The United States GP is the only American event on the top international racing circuit, and Ecclestone hopes it remains on the schedule into the next decade.
"We have a contract with them, so I don't see any problem," Ecclestone said on Monday. "From our point of view, we don't have a problem. Tony [George] and I are discussing another five years after that."
George lured F1 to Indy in 2000 and his family still owns the track. But George turned over the day-to-day track operations in December, and Chitwood is more concerned about 2006 than the five years after that.
What worries Chitwood is that the memories of this year's race will linger and depress turnout next year.
Ecclestone avoided placing blame on the F1 brass, the teams or the speedway for the debacle, instead criticizing Michelin, which is now offering refunds to fans.
"It would have been dangerous to run," Ecclestone said. "In hindsight, the more we looked at it the worse it was. Whatever the cure was, the side effects were worse."
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
RSS