Feb. 12 newsstand: CC bankrupt & Walker on his way

This rumor started popping around the Internet last night, but Robin Miller had it this morning ... the Champ Car World Series may be filing bankruptcy.

Of course, that might be the reason why all of this merger stuff is happening so rapidly (at such a late date before the season starts). It also could be the easiest way for CC to get out of some race contracts, or allow the IRL to negotiate new deals with the races it is going to keep.

Steve Johnson, who begins to sound like Joe Isuzu after a while, plays the ignorant game, "I have not been informed and we have been hearing the bankruptcy rumor for 18 months." According to Robin, some CC employees have been told to stop working on 2008 projects.

PM UPDATE: Walker says CC done, making "preparations" to join IRL
An AP story says Derrick Walker has said CC has "run its last race" and he is planning to field an IRL team.
Says our DW: "It has all the makings of the end of Champ Car. How it's going to be done, I don't know. But I think Champ Car is going to shut down."
Walker also drops this bombshell: "The only thing I know for sure is that about a month ago there were several teams that had never been paid prize money. Whether that was resolved, I don't know."
And, he pretty much admits he's switching to the IRL: "We are working toward that 100 percent until someone can show me that Champ Car is really going. That's part of my frustration. My truck was on its way to the Sebring test and I turned it around and brought it back because we had not had anyone in Champ Car tell me what was going on. So we put it all in the corner, left it alone and put our energy in IRL 101."

PM UPDATE from Oreo: As talks continue, CC bankruptcy may be in store
John Oreovicz adds to a lot of the stuff from earlier reports, and looks back on the potential fallout from the 2004 bankruptcy, had Judge Otte ruled the other way, and says lawsuits would be in store this time, too.
*-Says "insiders believe Champ Car is considering an emergency liquidation" to pave the path for unification.
*-Also mentions the Toronto GP CEO says he expects that race to be on a merged series schedule, which makes this virtually the only report that says so.

An update on the talks
Cavin filed an update of his flash story from last night on TG's visit to Japan, with lots of stuff from Robert Clarke.
It appears Honda has accepted one of TG's offers regarding moving the Motegi race to accommodate Long Beach, the most notable sticking point in the way of unification.

Meanwhile ...
CC is pushing on, naming Indy 500 vet Johnny Unser as race director of the Atlantic series.

Individual market perspectives
Portland International Raceway is one track that will likely be left out in the unification (not that it wasn't almost left out last year anyway). This, BTW, is the track where one of the CC principals basically said he could understand why fans would be somewhere else to attempt to explain away poor attendance.
One thing that is key, from PIR: "We have an agreement in principle, but no signed contract."

PM UPDATE: Canadian race promoters are taking a wait-and-see approach
*-Forsythe (Tracy) and PKV (Tagliani) are "expected to continue even if there is not a merger"
*-The bankruptcy rumor is reiterated, with Speed TV getting the credit on the source.
Quote from Mont-Tremblant spokesperson Normand Prieur: "We're waiting for a clear signal on what's going to happen. We have a contract with Champ Car and we have a date for the race. We are not commenting on what's being written." (Mont-Tremblant is scheduled for June 29, the same weekend as Richmond).

Commentaries
Yahoo NASCAR writer Bob Margolis calls for peace in the open-wheel war
He keeps asking "why isn't this happening?," while it seems to be happening.

Speed's David Phillips cries a river for those who will be hurt by the impending disappearance of Champ Car
Given Phillips' history as a CART apologist, something tells me this column wouldn't be written if it were the IRL's suppliers and distributors that were hurting.

The IRL even gets some Left Coast student journalists involved, like this one from the University of Oregon

IRL driver news
We hadn't heard from RLR in a while, but Ryan Hunter-Reay recently tested the No. 17 car at Phoenix alongside Hideki Mutoh. RHR turned 150 laps.

Haven't seen enough of Danica? Get the SI swimsuit issue