Full Throttle

The Long Beach Grand Prix, the most successful street race in America, will remain a Champ Car World Series event in 2006 and beyond with the purchase of the assets of the Grand Prix from Dover Motorsports by two of the owners of Champ Car.

An announcement will be made today that the race has been bought by Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe¹.

The sale ended speculation as to whether Champ Car or Tony George’s Indy Racing League would conduct the race. The IRL ran its first street race last month in St. Petersburg, Fla., amid speculation that it would become the sanctioning body for the Long Beach race.

Champ Car, or its predecessor, Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), has sanctioned the race since it switched from Formula One in 1984.

The purchase is contingent on approval by the Long Beach City Council, which has five years left on its contract with the Grand Prix Assn. There is little likelihood that there will be problems with city officials.

1. More can be read at Fast Machines via Josh Katinger [back]