Meanwhile, IRL founder and owner Tony George, two key IRL officials and Honda Performance Development president Robert Clarke traveled to Japan Saturday to meet with top Honda executives. The IRL wants Honda, which owns Twin Ring Motegi and supplies the IRL with engines, to move its April 19 race to accommodate Champ Car’s premier race, the Long Beach Grand Prix, which is scheduled for the same weekend and can’t be moved.
“As long as Honda won’t move Motegi, there won’t be a merger,” Kalkhoven told the Associated Press. “It’s a major hurdle, but it’s not the only one. There are significant advantages in merging but there are also
significant advantages in not doing it. But at the moment there are no discussions until they move Motegi.”
Meanwhile, top team owners in the IRL declined to comment on the possibility that the two series might become one. Officials at Andretti Green Racing, Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing all declined to comment. Those who did talk about the situation were cautiously optimistic.
“Two things happen in Indianapolis every spring: the grass turns from brown to green, and there are talks of an open-wheel merger,” said John Barnes, co-owner of Panther Racing. “I’ll get excited about this when I hear the news from Tony George.”
