Sale progresses despite claim

Mike Hile, the attorney representing California Speedway, later identified the group as 88 Corp, which is a subsidiary of US circuit giant International Speedway Corporation, but would not disclose his client's intentions. ISC is a publicly-traded concern that is controlled by the France family that runs NASCAR.

CART attorney James Carr referred to this news as a "red herring", and argued that "if the sale is not put in place, you'll not have a racing series here to preserve".

Judge Frank Otte agreed with the need to progress the sale, and overruled objections aimed at slowing the process of the buy-out. Judge Otte set January 28 as the date for the sales hearing, the next phase towards completion of the proposed deal by prospective new owners Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi and Kevin Kalkhoven of Open Wheel Racing Series.

At that hearing, the Elkhart Lake and California Speedway venues can state their cases against CART. Elkhart Lake does not want its contract with CART to be transferred to the new owners, while California Speedway has a $2.5million claim against CART for the return of its sanctioning fee for the 2003 season finale, which was cancelled due to nearby forest fires.