Just think what was going on at this time last year? Signs of Tony George entering a last minute bid to purchase Champ Car. No teams announcing drivers. Testing was absent. Basically there wasn't even a silly season going on, rather a silly series! Either you were a believer or not, but still no matter who you were at this time last year, you didn't know whether or not there would be a series to watch.

Look at what has been accomplished since then:

-OWRS purchases assets of CART, beats Tony George directly in court.

-OWRS finds car additions at the last minute to field 18 cars on the grid.

-Attendance at the events either stayed the same or even increased.

-Sebastien Bourdais dominated last years champion Paul Tracy en-route to winning his first Champ Car championship.

-Cristiano daMatta made it public regarding his intentions to come back to the series.

-Denver Grand Prix was a huge success with one of the best races of the season.

-Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe purchase Cosworth and solidify future and increase product potential.

-Champ Car announces new races in South Korea, San Jose and Edmonton

-Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe purchase Pi Research, again further solidifying their mark in the motorsports industry.

-Justin Wilson and AJ Allmendinger team up at RuSPORT to form a 1-2 rookie punch.

This is just the stuff that I remembered! Think about it, how many bankrupt companies could come out of the doldrums to build such a solid resume in a single year? It's nearly unheard of, so much so that the media has gotten wind of this and are actually writing positive stories about Champ Car.

So now what does Champ Car have to do for the 05 season? First, let's get the cable TV package announced. We got NBC and CBS which is good, and will allow the teams to give a little breathing room for their sponsors, but its very difficult for a team to hunt down sponsors without a television package behind them. Rumors are that CNBC and SPEED Channel are the final options. CNBC is said to hinge upon the NBC arrangement and SPEED is said to hinge upon promotion of the races.

Do not jump into international waters, blindfolded. Talks of going to Argentina...great. But does Argentina even know of Champ Car? All we have going for us is Gaston Mazzacanne...that's it! If we are going to do a South America round, make it worth the trip. You are going to need promotion like the Surfers Events, with fans like the Mexican events, with the ambiance of Long Beach. Who are the big media outlets down there? How many Champ Car fans are Argentinean? Build that base first. Please do not just throw the event on the calendar because it's an exotic place to race. Germany and Brands Hatch are perfect examples.

Do not let the Cristiano da Matta hoopla from Mexico City be worth nothing. That created such a huge buzz around the series and now it seems to be dying down as Newman-Haas is said to not want a 3rd car. Do it anyways! The PR victory that it would bring to the media will pay back in 3-fold. This is where NASCAR would have already done it. NASCAR would have snatched him up, started promoting him, started testing him and grooming him for the series. Rather, Champ Car is waiting. Before you know it, the time is going to run out and miss the huge opportunity that has presented itself.

Bring the storylines to the forefront. Wilson vs. Allmendinger has to be the main story. This is going to be a team on fireworks the entire season. Maybe even create an artificial battle of words between them. Something! This is what creates TV ratings. This is what creates personalities. Start making T-shirts of AJ vs Justin. This should be the #1 promotional campaign heading into the 05 season.

Then of course we have Sebastien vs. Junqueira. Both drivers speak their mind, and please let them on a public basis. If they say something, it needs to be printed. We can turn Bruno into Champ Car's Tony Stewart. Again, create some T-shirts. There is no denying the fact that Bruno whines...a lot! OK, so run with it.

There are storylines out their, that can not be overlooked for ཁ.

The 05 season is bound to be one of the best seasons in recent memory. We are going to have 6-7 legit drivers that have a realistic chance at winning the championship.

The formula for success: Controversy + Excitement = Interest. Interest + Media = TV Ratings.