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Investor says CART/IRL merger is key

Carl Russo, who confirmed at the weekend that he is one of the four investors who formed the Open Wheel Racing Series company in a bid to buy the outstanding share stock in financially troubled Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc, has indicated that it would seek a future merger with the rival Indy Racing League. "In the long term, there should be just one series," he said. "What might make that happen, I don't know."



Russo, the owner of Toyota Atlantic team RuSPORT in Denver, CO, said: "There is a filing with the SEC and I am one of the four parties making an offer for CART, looking to take it private, and trying to improve the business model and keep the fans. In the short term, we [will] continue to improve the business model. We [will] continue to work with each of the events.

"In the longer term, everyone I talk to wants to run here [Denver] and run the ovals and run at Indy. Everyone I talk to in the IRL wants to run ovals and road races. It's very clear that virtually everyone I have interacted with wants to see it become one series.

"The first thing we have to do is not disenfranchise the fans by letting it die. Instead we need to invest in it and keep these fans, grow the fan base, and see if we can bring the two back together."

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