Q&A: Chris Pook and Don Panoz - Pt.2.

Less than a week to go before the inaugural Grand Prix Americas, and the respective 'heads of state' for the CART FedEx Championship and American Le Mans Series got together to answer questions about the Miami event, their race series, the threat from opposition and a lot more besides...

Q:
If I may get out of these subjects a little bit, I wanted to ask Don - who I didn't see in Three Rivers [Trois Rivieres] when he brought the Le Mans Series - what the impact of that was, and whether he foresees anything special for next year, or the coming years? With Chris, we're still interested in knowing where we stand right now in the series in the CART for next year. Has anything new showed up? Any new teams? Can you give me a resume on that?

Don Panoz:
First, I thought Three Rivers was a great experience. I was really surprised. I don't know whether you said you didn't see me, but I can assure you I was there - and there were fabulous restaurants, great fans, a real entertainment type atmosphere. Our race teams all commented that it was - with the surrounding environment and the entertainment and the restaurants and stuff - just like being back at Le Mans and, in fact, in some of the cases even better, particularly about being able to get around and being able to enjoy the atmosphere of the city.

So, we're planning on coming back there. That's no secret, and I will look forward to it. Three Rivers is a city track - and, by the way, the space under those bridges is narrower than the narrowest spot than we have in Miami - and we seemed to cope with that all right. So I think that bodes well for us. It was just a great show. I really enjoyed it.

Chris Pook:
I would just comment that I assume you are referring to CART's efforts in Canada in your question....

Q:
Not in Canada, Chris, but generally speaking. I won't be in Miami, but [Patrick] Carpentier is about to sign today, or he's already signed from what I am being told, and I just wanted to see what you are relying on for next year? Have you got any new teams that come in, or old teams that have left?

CP:
I am not going make announcements on behalf of my teams as to who their drivers are and what they are doing, but I can just tell you that we're on target again for 18, possibly 21, cars. We have two new teams coming here to Miami to discuss with us about joining our series. We have a team in the past that missed this year that will be coming back next year with two cars. And we have three one-car teams - the three that are in the series this year who I can tell you will be returning - well, at least two of the three will be returning with two-car teams as against one-car teams. So things are moving pretty rapidly. The last 24 hours has been a lot more movement and progress, and we got an interesting array of drivers who want to be in our series.

I think what is really important to us now is that there is a recognition taking place that the CART Series can produce drivers for Formula One, and the reminder of the [Juan Pablo] Montoya and [Jacques] Villeneuve experiences, the products that have come out of our series is resonating at home. Obviously, this is underlined by [Cristiano] da Matta and the high level of interest in him in Formula One as we speak. That's ringing the bells throughout the Formula 3000 series, the Formula Three series and various Formula Three series in Europe, and there's a fairly interesting array of drivers and managers and backers who are appearing here this weekend.

Q:
You spoke earlier of certain opposition from other sources in Miami and we know who they are. That group is opposing CART in particular and, in some sense, ALMS. Do you two have to unite in order to fight off that opposition?

CP:
I don't think we have to unite, but we seem to have a common foe here who, with regular occurrence, seems to be beating on us, and it's a little disappointing. I am simply disappointed down here in Miami because, you know, the city of Miami wouldn't be doing this race if they didn't feel there was a need to use automobile racing to create some economic impact for their downtown area.

I think what is very disappointing to me is that, in the past, when we started Long Beach, there was opposition from Riverside and a little bit of opposition from Ontario and we reached out to both of them, and we established a working relationship, albeit tenuously in the first year, but whereby we worked together and we promoted their races and they promoted our races. Suddenly, they found that they had a whole new load of fans that were going to their racetracks because 80 per cent of the Long Beach folks had never been to a motor race before. And it turned into a successful relationship.

I picked up the phone here about three months ago to Jim France and said to him 'let's work together as a team here, let's not fight'. You know, let us promote Homestead here and work together, because the two of us working together, the two venues working together, can help. Certainly, we can help Homestead and I think that Homestead can help here a little bit. But that offer was rejected and it's unfortunate, but the opposition continues and it is disappointing because this is a free and open marketplace. At least, I believed America was a free and open marketplace, where one had the right to compete where one wanted to. And I am not sure that an exclusive franchise for motor racing has been granted to Homestead. And, if it has been granted, by whom was it granted?

So, this is all very disappointing because, at end of the day, if we in motor sports all work together as a team, we're going to be much more efficient and much more effective. But it is what it is. We have got our business to run at Championship Auto Racing Teams. Mr Panoz has got his teams to run at American Le Mans Series. And, while I don't want to speak for him, I suspect that his philosophy is the same as ours - we're going to get on and run our business and run it the way we want to run it and by 'we' that's to say 'we' CART and 'we' ALMS and, when we work together as we are this weekend, we arrive at the same mutual policy together of how we've got to operate this event. So the 'we' becomes the two of us, and we're not going to allow other folks to dictate to us as to how we run our lives.

DP:
I just ditto everything that Chris said. I'd like to add that it's amazing to me that the guise of objections from that camp was on the basis that it was doing a great harm to Homestead and people in racing. Now, I am sure you guys in the media know that the people and the demographics that go to these two venues are quite different. Point number one.

Point number two is that a lot of the people who will be coming to this race in Miami are not the ones who go down to Homestead. The real victim in this is the city of Miami, which was a great supporter of Homestead. I just feel it's completely unjust that those people keep pursuing this line of attack. Although, I must say I am pleasantly surprised that, from the figures that we see, the fans are ignoring that and are coming to the race. But the fact is that I think Miami is an unwilling victim in this and I think that the people are being very short-sighted.

Q:
What kind of crowds are you projecting for this weekend?

DP:
Chris is the keeper of the tickets....

CP:
I think that, if we can put in 35 to 40,000 folks next Sunday and move them in efficiently and give them a good show, and we do a similar number on Saturday, move them in efficiently and if ALMS gives them a good show, then we get them home efficiently and effectively, and work through all the operational challenges that a first year event has, I think we both will be very, very happy. The important thing is that, as I said before, we deliver a quality product - deliver a quality product to city of Miami and we need to go out and deliver a quality product to our fans. That includes getting in and out, having fun, good food, good entertainment, good camaraderie and good racing.

Q:
I guess most of the questions on my mind have been pretty well travelled there, but you speak of the yield that the event will provide, particularly to the city of Miami and I wondered if the two of you could maybe comment on the fact that at least to the 99 per cent of the American racing fans who don't live in South Florida, and who are in the rest of the country watching television, will have a pretty well wall-to-wall opportunity to see, you know, ALMS and CART cars on television over the weekend. What you think that does beyond just the media market of Miami?

DP:
Well, from my point of view, the first city race - outside of Adelaide, Australia - we had in the American Le Mans Series was Washington DC, and certainly it turned out to be a really good show and had a great television presence and it helped our series tremendously. I would hope that the same will result from the Miami race.

CP:
That's the same answer I would give, I think, to this situation. You are right there for wall-to-wall racing in Miami on Saturday and Sunday which is very, very positive. But I think what we're both trying to do is to build television ratings and, if we can show the rest of the country that we have on Saturday 35 to 40,000 folks and Sunday 35 to 40,000 folks that are sitting here in the sunshine of Southern Florida watching a street event, having a great time, I think that bodes well for other venues. It bodes well for the folks up in the mid-Atlantic region that will be going out to Washington DC again to see Don's cars race there next year. It will bode well for our fans who are sitting up in Tampa and St Pete, some of whom will be here taking a look, but some will be watching on television, and they will be able to see what they can expect next February in that market area.

So the game plan here is to build attendance at the city events and then eventually the television ratings will come along. It's a game plan that, quite candidly, the NFL adopted 30 something years ago, and it has worked out very well. I suspect that both ALMS and ourselves are conducting a little plagiarism in following that same game plan.

Q:
Both of you have, in one way or another, been associated with a fellow who I call the Godfather of motor sports in South Florida - Ralph Sanchez. Although he's not directly involved in this event this weekend, and as we all know has had some health issues over the last couple of years, I just wonder from both of your standpoints, what you can say about Ralph and what he has done for motor sports in South Florida - and, indeed, what he continues to do?

CP:
He is motor sports in South Florida. Neither of our series would be here if it wasn't for Ralph. Homestead would not be where it is if it wasn't for Ralph. He was the pioneer in the marketplace here. And, you know, while he's not directly involved, Ralph Sanchez is all over this place - and so he should be. He deserves every bit of credit in my book for what goes on in South Florida, and motor racing, in general, owes a lot to Ralph Sanchez. We intend to salute him here this weekend and he deserves it. No-one deserves it more richly in my opinion than he does.

DP:
I would echo that. If it wasn't for Ralph Sanchez, no-one would ever have known how great the Miami races can be. He, as Chris said, was the pioneer, and he set a standard, and it is that nostalgia of those races that the fans remember. It's what we're going to try and bring back in Ralph's honour.

Q:
Mr Pook, what is holding CART back from signing final documents by 60 per cent of Raceworks? And what kind of investment is CART doing on this three-day event, if you could quantify?

CP:
I am not going to discuss investments with all due respect - and it's not to avoid your question. We're a public company and there's a certain discipline and methodology we have for disclosing our expenditures and how we spend our money, so forgive me for that.

To answer the first question... As soon as all the matters are resolved with regard to the long-term agreement or semi-long-term agreement between the city of Miami and Raceworks, then it calls for us to execute those documents. And that's being worked through as we speak so, hopefully, very shortly we'll be able to sign that agreement.

Q:
I am glad to see that there's a tribute to Ralph Sanchez. Of course, there's the new variable of NASCAR, and I don't want to beat a dead horse there, but I guess time will tell if ticket sales of one event are affected by the other. Should this marriage work, will we see a different event date next year, perhaps something closer to the original date this year of April?

CP:
We are in an October date mode again next year. Part of the agreement that Championship Auto Racing Teams has with Dover Downs on the Tampa St Pete event is very similar agreement that exists between Long Beach and Fontana, where there is a time and distance clause in the contract that prohibits us from coming in here into the April marketplace.

The second part of that is that I am not sure that downtown Miami needs economic impact in the timeframe from January through 15 May, 1 May, because this is the boom season for this city from Central America, Caribbean, Latin America and, of course, from the United States and Canada. The time of the year where it does need or can use - I have mis-stated the word need - where it can use economic impact is the early autumn. That's why I think one of the reasons we are here, and one of the reasons why you see such huge support from all the hotels and the restaurants and the hospitality industry in this city.

Q:
Following up on one of Don's previous comments, I guess you are saying the reason why you don't expect ticket sales from one event to affect the other is because of demographics. Am I correct?

DP:
Well, I think that when you put together these two shows you are covering a wide spectrum of the fans, a broader spectrum than we, ALMS cover, and I think it's probably the same for CART. I think, as we build this over the coming years, there's a good prospect that you can see some of the biggest crowds that you have ever had at racing in Miami. The ones that Ralph created were fantastic, and I am just looking at where we can put them all! I think that the fans will enjoy it, and I think both fans will enjoy the other type of racing - at least I hope they will. I just see it as a positive and a good opportunity. Of course, the facts could prove us wrong, and the facts will speak for themselves, but I think it's a great opportunity and we need to do it.

Q:
One of the things that I wanted to touch on was to go back to a comment that you made earlier regarding television. At this point in history in the CART FedEx Championship Series, is it almost as important - if not more important - to have seats on the couches watching the race on television for the ratings as it is to have bums in the seats in the grandstand?

CP:
Well, yeah, the overall answer is yes. But it is a chicken or egg answer; isn't it? Which comes first? Attendance at events by history builds television ratings in marketplaces, so our objective this weekend is to remind the South Florida market of what fun these events are and how tremendous it is to have people excited and cheering in the grandstands, really enjoying the event and seeing it on television. And then, when the next event comes up on television, which I believe for Don is Road Atlanta, they will tune in and watch that. When our next event comes up, which will be Australia, they see it on television and they tune in to watch that. That starts to build our television ratings, because it gets another major market engaged in the process of watching a television set.

So that's really where we at CART come from. We want to build a marketplace and the South Florida market, the Miami ADI, is a very, very important television ADI. And, if we can build the viewers up in this market, that will move the needle on our ratings.

Q:
I am looking at this from the point of the history of the CART FedEx Championship Series and also the history of the American Le Mans Series. At this point in time, it's almost as though both of you are almost reinventing yourselves. Is that a fair assessment?

DP:
From my part, we're still creating our series - we're the new kids on the block. 1999 was our first full season, and we're learning a lot and have gotten into a lot of new venues - a lot of them were the first time this year. But I don't think it's so much reinventing ourselves - we are finding out how good we could be.

Q:
What about sportscar racing from your side, in general.

DP:
I think we're recreating it. Everybody tells me, as I wasn't around or wasn't in the sport at the time the great days of IMSA and the Camel Lights et cetera, about all the great racing there was, including in Miami. But I think we have managed to retrieve a lot of those loyal fans and have given them something to watch, and they are seeing good racing and good competition, and that's what they want to spend their money for.

CP:
I don't think we are recreating ourselves here either. CART is what it is. I think that what I am, as the CEO of CART, endeavouring to do, is to reposition our management, philosophy and our outlook toward doing business with host venues such as Miami, with potential partners such as American Le Mans Series and the overall way that CART conducts itself, its day-to-day business.

Q:
I am a little confused by the numbers here. There's been a lot of discussion about the different demographic audiences or demographics of the audiences for the two series; yet you are only projecting 35 or 40,000 people on Sunday, which is not a bad crowd for either series, but I wish somebody could address why you are not getting twice as many and how the promoter is supposed to make out paying two sanctioning fees with one crowd?

CP:
Since we're on the hook here with the promoter, I will explain that at the same time the discussion we had in Denver and the discussion we'll have in Tampa St Pete. The most important thing we have to do here is to manage the number of people we have in attendance, and make sure that we manage them well, in the sense that they get in and out effectively. Ensure that they don't have parking problems, don't have ingress and egress problems, that they don't have standing in line at bathroom problems, and concession standing in line problems, and that the food service through the hospitality goes extremely smoothly.

I come from a school where you live and die by the stand of the product you present the first time out. We intend to limit the number of people we have here. This is not a one-year shot in the dark - it is a long-term project here. And, like any other business, it will take at least three years to build and get up on its feet, and we'll take the steady growth approach, but it will be a steady but firm and solid approach and we'll do things properly. We have little interest in jamming volumes of people in and having a mess on our hands.

Q:
40,000 doesn't represent the demand?

CP:
I don't believe 40,000 represents the demand. We won't be able to answer that question until Sunday or Saturday, but we said the same thing at Denver - when we first started Denver and Dover - that we were going to limit Denver to 45 to 50,000 people on Sunday, and they successfully did that and they ran a very successful weekend. Now we intend to do the same thing here.

Q:
There was an article in the Miami Herald this week about ISC [International Speedway Corporation] - our favourite people - planning to try for an eleventh hour injunction to prevent the race from happening. God forbid, but can you tell me where we are on that, what CART and ALMS intend to do to fight that effort if it's still in play?

CP:
Having been in the street racing business for 30 years, I understand the business of injunctions being brought at the last minute. I am sure that, if they intend to do it, they have got three or four days to do it in. Having known about this event for the length of time that they have known about it, and the amount of opposition they have presented on the way down to the event, I would have a hard time really understanding why they would wait until the last 72 hours to ask for this injunction.

Q:
Next year's schedule for Don is not out, I know, but CART's is out. Does ALMS have in mind certain events for next year that possibly could be combined events?

DP:
As far as I am concerned, that's a work-in-progress and it will be part of our discussions after this race, as we'll be looking to see where it makes sense. We have a schedule pretty well inked in for next year, and we'll be announcing it at Petit Le Mans the week after the Miami race. But I think Chris and I both are business people, and we're going to look at what makes sense for both of us and for our respective series and, if there's an opportunity, I can assure you we'll chew it over like a good piece of fat and see what we can squeeze out of it.

MC:
We'd like to thank both Don Panoz and Chris Pook for taking time out of their busy schedules to spend a few minutes with us this afternoon. Thank you very much, gentlemen. We look forward to a great event this weekend at the Grand Prix Americas in Miami.