California race postponed

[Happy29]

The last race of the Cart season at California Speedway has been "postponed indefinitely" because of the forest fires raging in the area.

The track's president Bill Miller announced the decision on Tuesday, despite an earlier statement by Cart claiming that the race would go ahead.

"Our decision was based on the safety of the community," said Miller of the postponement of Sunday's race.

The Cart organisation is expected to respond with a statement on Wednesday.

However, Miller said he had been unable to agree the decision with the sport's organising body.

A number of drivers expressed concerns after witnessing the effects of the fires themselves.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, winner of last Sunday's race in Australia, said he would fully understand a decision to postpone the race.

"The biggest concern is for the people going through all this. Racing comes second," he said.

The fires, which stretch across an area from the Mexican city of Ensenada to the Los Angeles suburbs, have claimed 18 lives so far and destroyed 2,000 homes.

Sunday's race would not have had an impact on the drivers' championship, which has already been won by Canadian Paul Tracy.

 

[Parkfan]

CART won't reschedule race


October 30, 2003


The final race of the CART season was canceled Wednesday because of the wildfires in and around San Bernardino County in California.

The race was scheduled for Sunday at California Speedway, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. Track officials said Tuesday night the King Taco 500 had been postponed, but Championship Auto Racing Teams released a statement from its Indianapolis headquarters on Wednesday saying the race would not be run.

CART president and CEO Chris Pook said the sanctioning organization had looked at several options for running the race at a later date. Those included moving it to Monday or Tuesday at Phoenix International Raceway -- owned by International Speedway Corp., California Speedway's parent company -- or running it sometime next week at the Fontana track.

The only other cancellation in CART's 25-year history was on April 29, 2001, at Texas Motor Speedway when drivers complained of dizziness after practicing on the high speed oval.