This past July, it appeared that the future was getting brighter for the Edmonton Indy. Octane Racing Group, the promoters of Formula One’s Canadian Grand Prix, agreed to take over promotional duties for the race from Northlands in a three-year deal that would see the City of Edmonton pay Octane $5.5 million over the span.
But now, the event will be going under. According to multiple reports, the City of Edmonton asked Octane to create a new track layout that would feature the east runway of the City Center Airport (the event has been run using the airport’s west runway).
Octane was open to the idea, but as IndyCar commercial division president Terry Angstadt said to the Edmonton Journal’s Dan Barnes, the city apparently wasn’t willing to put up money for additional costs — which included improvements to the proposed course:
“That would mean we would need to shift away from the runway we race on now to the other location,” said Angstadt. “I was told our promoters, who I have tremendous respect for, had the new track laid out and estimated the improvements required. I think it was maybe in the $2 million to $3 million range and for the size and scope of an event like this one, nobody expected any push back. But our promoter got a call and was told it was voted out.”
CBC News in Canada got confirmation from Edmonton chief financial officer Lorna Rosen that the race will be cancelled for 2011 — and it may never return to the city. An official announcement is set for tomorrow.
More to come then, I’m sure. Meanwhile, it may be time to start taking bets on who’s getting the IZOD IndyCar Series’ second Canadian stop. Vancouver? Calgary? Montreal (hey, Octane is based there)?
