DECEMBER 13, 2001

CART could change name in marketing review

CART, America's "most advanced form of auto racing" could be given a name change as part of a marketing review by the open-wheel series brand.

In a keynote address at the Motor SportBusiness Conference, CART senior vice president marketing Richard Henley, said the brand name was under review and that the company would conduct a research program over the next year to see how fans would respond.

Henley said that CART's strategy is to focus on building " a stronghold in North America" where he admitted the organization was "nowhere near where it needed to be from a brand awareness point of view."

Meanwhile, on the vexed question of CART's relationship with IRL, Henley gave no sign that a reconciliation was in the offing.

"These decisions are not my decisions. It will be decided by the board of CART and Tony George of IRL. In the short term, we probably will not meet somewhere in the middle. IRL's strength is in the mid-west with American drivers. We're more metropolitan. I hope we can both be successful."

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