The signs are all there source: Iain Shankland Owner of the IRL series, Tony George has committed himself to the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series for 2006. Eddie Cheever Jr., one the IRL's founding teams has also committed himself as a driver, and at least one other car, driven by Christian Fittipaldi for the season. Chevrolet (rebadged Ford Cosworth engines) and Toyota have abandoned the IRL, leaving Honda as the sole engine supplier. Panther Racing is just about in the same position as the Dodo bird. They're trying to sell what's left of the team and many of the staff are already out of work. Most, if not all teams have cut back on the number of cars they plan to run in '06. Just this week 2 more nails in the coffin: Adrian Fenandez' team is to join the Grand Am Series and Patrick Carpentier - driver for Cheever's IRL team, mentioned on Radio-Canada that he has no idea where he'll be next season. He doesn't have a ride for 2006 yet and hasn't ruled out a return to Champ Car. That tells me he's not driving in the IRL for Cheever in 06. Cheever kicked his teammate Alex Barron to the curb at the end of the 05 season. If it looks like a dodo and squawks like a dodo.... There was a rumor floating around that Andretti Green is going to run 7 - yes 7 cars in 2006. Somehow I don't think that's ever going to happen. I suppose that would be one way to guarantee you'd win the championship. Re-unification. That ugly word just keeps popping up. Sounds more like desperation coming from the IRL people to me. I can't see that there's going to be much left to unite! I spoke to Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven in Toronto and asked him if any IRL teams had approached him about returning to Champ Car. "Several have made serious inquiries" he told me. "It won't happen for 2006, but in 2007 there will be teams joining us when the new car is available. It doesn't make sense for 2006 when we've got a new package for 2007."
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