TMS' Gossage statement on possible unification

FORT WORTH, Texas (February 8, 2008): The following is a statement from Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage regarding the reports of a possible open-wheel unification between the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series and Champ Car World Series for the 2008 season. Texas Motor Speedway plays host annually to the Bombardier Learjet 550k IndyCar Series event in June and routinely attracts the largest race crowds in the series outside of the Indianapolis 500.

"Reports that open-wheel racing is close to unification is the best thing to happen to the sport since Rick Mears, Mario Andretti, Al Unser Jr. and Danny Sullivan were battling each other in front of huge crowds 20 years ago. I hope this deal can be wrapped up and we can all focus on stabilizing the schedule, teams and sponsors, and ramp up the promotion. This has the potential to be the biggest, most important motorsports story of the year because it is so important to the fans. From a promoter's perspective, it will provide our fans with a larger field that could lead to even more exciting races and drama, an opportunity for future stars to emerge for the fans to root for and embrace, and, most importantly, reunite all open-wheel fans and give them one series to follow."

-credit: texasmotorspeedway.com.