ASSEN, Netherlands — The 2007 Champ Car World Series has been reduced to 14 events with the cancellation of the season finale in Phoenix and confirmation that the series did not secure FIA approval to race in China this year.
Promoters for the inaugural Grand Prix Arizona, scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 2, announced Aug. 30 that the downtown Phoenix street race will not be held.
Dale Jensen and Brad Yonover, who also promoted a new street race in Las Vegas that was the Champ Car season opener, said that a lack of sponsorship and corporate support caused them to cancel the Phoenix event.
“After nearly two years of planning and preparation, we have sadly come to the conclusion that the event is no longer viable and therefore we are canceling the event for 2007,” Jensen stated.
“An event of this magnitude requires tremendous corporate support, and although we did establish some outstanding partnerships, there were simply not enough of them to create economic viability.”
The Phoenix race was troubled from the moment it was announced. Critics questioned why Champ Car would schedule a race in December, and the event faced stiff opposition from International Speedway Corporation, which stages two NASCAR races at Phoenix Int’l Raceway.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was also opposed to the race and forced Champ Car to prove to city officials that noise from the event would not impact a downtown 911 call center.
It marked the fifth time in the last three years that Champ Car has cancelled or indefinitely postponed a scheduled race.
The 2007 calendar originally featured 17 events, including a race in Denver that was dropped prior to the start of the season.
“The bottom line is the costs far exceeded the revenues for the event and therefore they didn’t see it as a viable economic reason to continue with the event,” said Champ Car President and CEO Steve Johnson. “It was as disappointing to us as it was to everybody, but those things sometimes happen in business.”
Johnson said the 2007 Champ Car season would be capped at 14 races and will end in Mexico City on Nov. 11. The only other race between now and then is in Surfers Paradise, Australia, on Oct. 22.
“We’re not replacing (Phoenix). We’re not throwing another event on at the last minute to end the season,” Johnson said. “It wouldn’t be properly done and we’re not going to go race just to race.”