INDIANAPOLIS — The Indy Racing League might bid on the assets of CART, throwing a proposed sale of the bankrupt, open-wheel-racing series into question.
IRL spokesman Fred Nation confirmed Monday night that representatives of the series began examining CART's equipment and contracts last Friday, but the IRL will not decide for several days yet whether to bid on any of the assets. A bankruptcy judge has set Jan. 23 as the deadline for bids.
CART has an agreement to sell all of its assets, including equipment and sponsorship contracts, to Open Wheel Racing Series LLC for $1.6 million in cash. Because the proposed sale also calls for Open Wheel to assume some liabilities, including 2003 prize money owed to teams, the total purchase price would be about $3 million.
If bids other than Open Wheel's emerge, it could force an auction of CART assets on Jan. 28.
Some of CART's physical assets, such as scoring and safety equipment and trailers, are similar if not identical to those used by the IRL, so it was "only natural" the IRL would be interested in possibly bidding on those assets, Nation said.
CART and IRL signed a confidentiality agreement Thursday allowing the latter to inspect the bankrupt series' assets, Nation said.
Asked if the IRL might make a bid that would bring the CART series into the IRL organization, Nation said it was too early to tell.
"Until we know what the situation is with the assets, and what exactly is contained in the assets, and what strings are attached to the assets, we cannot say what we will bid on, if anything at all," Nation said.
U.S. District Judge Frank J. Otte approved a CART bankruptcy plan that set the Jan. 23 deadline for bids on the series' assets. CART had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month as part of the sales agreement with Open Wheel, which like CART and the IRL is based in Indianapolis.
If any alternative bids for CART's assets emerge, they could be considered during an auction Jan. 28. Without any qualifying bids, Otte could approve the sale to Open Wheel that day.
CART and Open Wheel Racing agreed to sale terms before the bankruptcy filing in hopes of making a quick Chapter 11 exit in advance of the 2004 racing season. Open Wheel's principal owners — Gerald Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven and Paul Gentilozzi — said Dec. 17 that they could quickly bring the series out of bankruptcy and run a 2004 season with at least 15 races and at least 18 cars.