DECEMBER 4, 2003

The end for CART?

Championship Auto Racing Teams announced yesterday that Open Wheel Racing Series had informed it that the pending merger could be off because there will not be enough teams in the series next year. This is one of the conditions that must be met before the planned shareholder meeting on December 19. CART's board of directors is now evaluating available alternatives to the merger, including the possibility of ceasing operations, winding up the company' and liquidating its remaining assets. OWRS has made a new proposal to begin an alternative transaction under which CART would go into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and OWRS would purchase assets. As part of that proposal OWRS would continue to run the Champ Car series in 2004.

The announcement may simply be a warning to shareholders who are planning to cause trouble at the forthcoming meeting but whatever the case, it drags the reputation of CART further down and makes it less likely that there will be sufficient teams left to race next year.