CART boss says Nazareth could gain reprieve
CART CEO Joe Heitzler says that the lame-duck Nazareth Speedway event could remain on the 2002 Champ car schedule.

The Pennsylvania track was told in a letter last November that CART did not want to extend its contract. CART has raced at Nazareth since 1987.
"Nazareth is not dead for 2002," Heitzler said. "We are going to sit down and look at all the ways we can make this race bigger and better than it is. New York and Philadelphia are significantly large markets, and we have challenged the local government to get the economic data together."
The meetings are set to take place after CART returns from its race in Japan scheduled for May 19.
Nazareth Speedway general manager Craig Rust was cautiously optimistic that his track's tenure with CART could continue.
"There is a lot of emotion and we want the race back," Rust told the Allentown Morning Call newspaper. "But we have a letter that says we do not have a CART race for 2002. I don't want to get everyone's hopes up. There's a lot of positive talk and that's great. But CART might come back and ask for a sanctioning fee that we can't afford. We need more than words to make this happen."
Bobby Rahal was serving as the interim CEO of CART when the termination letter was sent to Nazareth Speedway.
"CART is out of the business of calling people and saying we are not coming somewhere," Heitzler said. "I wouldn't call the decision unfair, but it was handled unprofessionally."
Sunday's race crowd was estimated at 25,000, filling slightly more than half of Nazareth¹s 44,000 permanent seats.

Race Dixon takes shock win at Nazareth
Mansell to open Rockingham aboard Champ Car

Latest news
Ranking Lewis Hamilton's 10 F1 seasons with Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton’s decade at Mercedes has been one of remarkable success not seen before in Formula 1.
Dennis singles out Jaguar as Porsche's biggest Formula E threat
Jake Dennis says Porsche cannot let off its development of its Gen3 Formula E powertrain, and singled out Jaguar as a threat to the German manufacturer in the coming rounds.
Verstappen buoyed by new handling characteristics of 2023 F1 tyres
Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen is hopeful the new Pirelli tyres will help further dial out the inherent understeer of the current generation of cars.
Pastrana adds NASCAR Truck Series race to Daytona programme
Travis Pastrana has added the season-opening NASCAR Truck Series race to his appearance at Daytona International Speedway this month.
The 2022 Autosport Awards winner using Esports as a launchpad
A trail blazed in Esports has inspired a revamp of the annual prize that aims to discover the best young engineering talent. Autosport met Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future winner Michael Preston
The plug in and play stand-ins who got their timing just right
Nyck de Vries’s Italian GP exploits weren’t the first post-eleventh-hour call-up in motorsport history, and won’t be the last either. Here are some offbeat tales from the past
Porsche’s hopeful Le Mans future meets its illustrious past
Rising sportscar star Adam Smalley had to pinch himself when offered the chance to drive the car that won the world’s most famous enduro in 1987
Why romanticism isn't the key factor in Lola’s racing return
The iconic Lola name is being relaunched after it was taken over by new ownership. Part of that reboot is a planned return to racing, though the exact details of this are still to be finalised - though its new owner does have a desire to bring the brand back to the Le Mans 24 Hours. But romanticism doesn't appear to be the driving force behind this renewed project...
Rating the best drivers of the century so far
Autosport's Top 50 feature has been a staple of the magazine for the past two decades since its first appearance in 2002. Here are the drivers that have featured most prevalently during that time
The best motorsport moments of 2021
Motorsport produced one of its greatest years of all-time in 2021 despite a backdrop of ongoing COVID-19 challenges and an ever-changing racing landscape. Through the non-stop action Autosport has collected the finest moments from the past 12 months to highlight the incredible drama and joy motorsport generates
The racing comeback artists who resurrected long-dormant careers
Making it in motorsport can be tough, and sometimes drivers move elsewhere before their best chance arrives. Here are some of those who made it back
The hidden racing gem attracting ex-F1 heroes
It’s rarely mentioned when it comes to assessing the best national contests, but the Brazilian Stock Car series that reaches its climax this weekend has an ever-growing appeal. Its expanding roster of ex-Formula 1 names has helped to draw in new fans, but it's the closeness of competition that keeps them watching
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.