INDIANAPOLIS — Derrick Walker’s emotions went from disappointment that bordered on “horrific” to a tremendous sense of relief that the long, bitter, 13-year war between rival series IndyCar and Champ Car had finally come to an end.
For a few hours on Friday, it appeared this would be another cruel tease to the IndyCar loyalist who had looked forward to the day when there would be one open-wheel series in America, not two going in opposite directions.
When news filtered out that Champ Car principal Kevin Kalkhoven had left Indianapolis Friday morning without a deal, some began to panic that the latest effort to unite IndyCar racing would fail. But what few realized was Indy Racing League CEO Tony George had jetted off to Chicago to get the final signature needed on the agreement from Champ Car co-owner Gerry Forsythe.
When George’s plane landed in Indianapolis at 3:30 p.m., the war was over.
 “When we all came in and found out there was a possibility this wouldn’t come together, it was horrific and almost a twinge of embarrassment,” said Walker, who has a two-car Champ Car team that will now join IndyCar. “How could we be doing this? It is one of the best opportunities we have to bring this together to build this back up again and put some life back into it. That was the future.
“To come in and think people have flown out of town without saying it’s a done deal would have been disappointing.”
Those fears were quickly turned to celebration for Walker, when he found out what was really going on in a most peculiar way.
“The bad news came first, that all the employees at Champ Car had been fired and let go,” Walker said. “That was the first indication that we had that the deal was done. That was the first inkling we had that the good news had happened that the bad news that everybody at Champ Car that stuck with it was let go. It could have been in a better way but as long as it works, that’s what is the most important.”
Walker is a former bus mechanic from Edinburgh, Scotland, who came to the United States in the 1970s to become part of big-time IndyCar racing. He was a key player at Penske Racing before branching out to form his own team in the 1980s.
Some of the top drivers in IndyCar racing, including Teo Fabi, Robby Gordon and Gil de Ferran to name a few, have driven for Walker Racing.
But when the old CART Series boycotted the Indianapolis 500 in 1996, Walker was one of two CART team owners that competed in both the rival US 500 and the Indy 500 on the same day. He would also bring Gordon to the IRL Las Vegas race in 1996 and later have drivers in both CART and the IRL in 1999 and 2000.
Ever the pragmatist, Walker was one of the first CART/Champ Car owners who said a solution needed to be made with George and the IRL.
“I would say if I had to do it again, I’d do it again and hopefully do it better,” Walker said. “What we have always tried to be is a small business. I’m not political. I like the Champ Car product, I actually preferred the Champ Car product to the IRL product, car-wise and competition-wise but it’s not about that; it’s about running it as a business. When the series split and there were two options, we were pretty much in the middle. That was to say if we had the money we would run in one or both of those series.
“We were put in the middle of this range war so we went to both events that day (Indy and MIS in 1996). It was about saving the sponsorships that we had. We didn’t save the sponsor in the long run because both series screwed it all up by their dogmatic approach to trying to have two separate series and we lost that sponsor. Hopefully, it will come back if they see the value. We had to see what we could do as a business. It’s about what drives our business. Where do the sponsors want us to be?
“Without them, I can want all I want without it really happening. Hopefully, people didn’t put us in a box to be just Champ Car guys rather than IRL guys.”
That is why the dramatic turn of events on Friday was tremendous news.
“It’s mixed with a good dose of relief that it finally got done,” Walker said. “As we’ve been saying the last few days, it’s back to the future. I think the positive energy for this series will be almost immediate.
“The first time we all show up in one group, the difference to the IndyCar Series will be immediate. The hype will all be quite visible.”
Walker believes to generate nationwide interest the series will need to take it one race at a time.
“The Indy 500 will have a buzz like we haven’t seen in some time,” Walker said. “Every race will be ramping up. The announcement today the reaction is pretty favorable. It’s going to get momentum from this point on.”
Walker recalls the dissatisfaction that bred the two series in the late 1970s, which continued through an uneasy alliance with the Indianapolis 500 and ultimately with the creation of the Indy Racing League when it began competition in 1995.
“We shouldn’t forget the lessons of the past,” Walker said. “I was with Penske when it started and saw it unfold. Remember the reasons why it imploded, why it blew up, why it separated. Yes, there was a plane crash but it was heading for its own plane crash. It was heading for a breakup. There was dissatisfaction in the leadership, the way the sport was going, what it was doing, the distribution of money, the sporting rules that bred the two series. It split and we were fighting ever since.
 “We have unity, which is positive. Let’s not forget the past and the lessons we’ve learned. Now, how do we create a better series? How do we not leave any of the participants and keep them all in the game and get them to buy into the New World Order?
“History tells us if we don’t do that, it will all blow up. That comes to mind when it was USAC and split and came to CART.”
For now, this “New World Order” exists in IndyCar racing and it’s time to heal old wounds and finally move forward.