BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDIANAPOLIS -- The odds of Jerry Carroll landing an Indy Racing League date for his proposed Northern Kentucky superspeedway are not good, IRL President and CEO Tony George said.
George thinks his Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500 and located just 100 miles west of Cincinnati, is too close to the Queen City. He met with Carroll at Indianapolis three weeks ago, and told the Turfway Park owner the same thing.
"We feel like we share the same market with Cincinnati, and that's not a market that we're focused in on right now," George, speaking this week at the inaugural IRL media tour here, told The Enquirer. "Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but as we sit here today, I'd say probably not."
George's league, now officially the "Pep Boys Indy Racing League" has only 11 races scheduled this year. George said the series hopes to grow to 16-18 races per season, but said Cincinnati does not offer what the IRL wants.
"We tend to be focusing on markets that either don't have open-wheel racing or major-league racing right now," George said. "And we're also looking at destination places, places that have other activities for sponsors and fans to attract their interest."
"Destination places" -- a euphemism for larger or more glamorous locations -- already part of the IRL include Orlando, Fla., Las Vegas, and Phoenix. New additions to the league this year include Atlanta and Fort Worth.
Carroll, whose proposed 1 1/2-mile oval would fit into the IRL's oval circuit, remains undaunted. A NASCAR Winston Cup event, the most popular racing series in America, remains his ultimate goal. He would also like a NASCAR Busch race and an IRL or CART race, and already has a NASCAR Craftsman Truck race in the bag.
"Until we break ground, it's sometimes hard to even get the time of day with people," Carroll said. "Tony George was impressed with the (five-man) investment team we've put together, but he also asked us, "Are you guys going to break ground?' If he doesn't want to come, we'll just go after CART."
Carroll has not met with CART officials, but CART spokesman Mike Zizzo said the series would look at Cincinnati because, "It's a good market."
Carroll plans a groundbreaking in late July or early August on the track, which would be located in Gallatin County, Ky., about 35 miles southwest of Cincinnati.
