IndyCar Series To Return To Fontana in 2012.......

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IndyCar Series To Return To Fontana in 2012.......

Post by mlittle » Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:21 am

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----Gillian Zucker’s first year as president of Auto Club Speedway in 2004 was memorable because she was able to introduce herself to each IRL fan prior to that September race. OK, she didn’t really do that, but during a call today, we joked that she could have since it was arguably one of the smallest gatherings in major motorsports history.

“I thought it was sad but that was during The Split and that’s behind us,” she said Tuesday after confirming that INDYCAR was returning to the two-mile oval at Fontana, Calif. in 2012.

“I think Indy car racing is on its way back and those cars are made for this track. They put on a great show and we’re excited to be part of it again.”

Zucker, who also promoted the early IRL races at Kansas and Chicagoland that played to big crowds, approached INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard almost a year ago.

“I wanted to bring Indy car back and I’ve been chasing Randy. I went to Sonoma last year and gave him a presentation of why I knew it could be successful,” she continued. “I had the Governor of California call him, the State Tourism Committee, the sports commission plus local and state politicians

“I also leaned heavily on Auto Club and called Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi as well. And I heard from fans every day about bringing back Indy cars.”

Of course she still had to sell it to her bosses at International Speedway Corporation. CART’s first couple of California 500s in 1997-98 were well attended before dropping way off and all three IRL shows played to only friends and family.

“I did a Pro forma because we’re not going to have a race that’s a financial loser,” said Zucker. “I called all our suite customers and asked them if we had an open-wheel race would they be interested and 85 percent said they would. That’s huge.
“And after getting that response, a lot of them wondered if it could be a night race, so that’s what it’s going to be. After looking at everything, it came down to whether it was red or black and it came out black.”

The plan is for September or October because August is still way too hot and Indy cars will be part of the season ticket package with the March NASCAR weekend but it’s not mandatory like some previous ISC mandates.

“You don’t have to buy the Indy car race but you can and it was important to get this announced because our season ticket renewals go out in a few days,” she said.

While Zucker professes her love for open-wheel racing, Bernard had distanced the series from running on ISC tracks (none this season) because of the lack of cooperation and promotion.

That wouldn’t seem to be the case with the track formerly known as California Speedway. The IZOD IndyCar series was already being promoted on the track’s voicemail Tuesday and Zucker sees synergy from new and old Indy car sponsors alike.

“A lot of people and companies are excited about this announcement and working with Randy, his staff and IZOD has been a pleasure,” said Zucker. “Having IndyCar here makes sense and there’s no better track to watch Indy cars.”

Tickets for the event go on sale to the public on Sept. 12. The IZOD IndyCar Series will announce its full 2012 schedule at a later date.
Last edited by mlittle on Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by mlittle » Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:26 am

Past Winners at Auto Club Speedway
--Mark Blundell(1): 1997
--Jimmy Vasser(2): 1998, 2002/a
--Adrian Fernandez(2): 1999, 2004
--Christian Fittipaldi(1): 2000
--Cristiano Da Matta(1): 2001
--Sam Hornish, Jr.(2): 2002/b, 2003
--Dario Franchitti(1): 2005
note--races were held from 1997-2002 under CART sanction(a) and 2002-2005 under then-IRL sanction(b)
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance. :)
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere.... :shock:

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