MONTREAL (CP) - Champ Car's fifth year at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve could be a race for survival.
Amid reports the Aug. 25-27 Champ Car Grand Prix of Montreal may be bumped off the track by a NASCAR Busch Series event next year, organizers are hoping for a big turnout to prove it deserves to stay in Montreal.
City Hall is to decide whether to grant exclusive rights to promote races at the municipally owned venue to Normand Legault, promoter of the hugely successful Canadian Grand Prix Formula One race.
Legault is reported to be close to a deal with NASCAR to bring one of its second-tier events, the Busch Series, to Montreal in 2007, with an eye to hosting a top-tier Nextel Cup event in the future.
Since only two race weekends per year can be held at the track near to downtown, that could leave the Champ Cars out in the cold.
Kevin Kalkhoven, one of three team owners who bought Champ Car out of bankruptcy in 2003, said Wednesday he hopes the series' strong Canadian content will convince officials to keep the race.
"We have Canadians in the Atlantic and Champ Car races, and we have French-Canadian drivers in both," Kalkhoven said at a news conference to promote the race. "We would sincerely hope that the mayor would take that into account when he makes his decision.
"With the long history we've had with Canada and French-Canadian drivers. We let our record stand."
Kalkhoven said he had no meeting planned with city officials but would be welcome a chat with mayor Gerald Tremblay.
Drivers Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que., and Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond, Que., both want their home race to remain among the three annual events in Canada, along with Toronto and Edmonton.
"If the Busch Series comes here and we lost that race, it would be bad for us," said 20-year-old Ranger, one of the series' top young talents who is fourth in driver standings this season. "It's fun to race here."
Tagliani said Champ Cars have produced a string of Canadian drivers, including former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve and Champ Car veteran Paul Tracy of Toronto, so the fans "have a reason to support us.
"I hope because of that we'll be able to race here for years to come."
Promoter Alan Labrosse has reconfigured the main grandstands, moving one 75 feet closer to the track, to make them more fan-friendly.
And he has a deal to sell 3,000 seats across from pit row through Wal-Mart stores, with $27 from each ticket going to charity.
Champ Car gave promotional rights to the Montreal race this year to Labrosse, the agent of Ranger and other drivers, when it became clear Legault, the former promoter, had lost interest in it.
When Legault brought the Champ Cars to Montreal in 2002, it drew more than 170,000 fans for the three days of racing, although part of that came from fans' curiosity on how the bigger but less sophisticated cars would do on an F1 track.
Attendance dwindled to only 93,000 last year. More than 300,000 watch the F1 race each year.
There were suspicions that Legault deliberately let the Champ Car race slide so that he could court NASCAR, which has become as trendy in Quebec as it has in the rest of North America in recent years despite its lack of Quebec drivers.
Kalkhoven said Labrosse was given a five-year contract to promote the race, but its contract with the city to use the track expires after this year's event.
Kalkhoven said he would not dismiss any alternatives, although holding a Busch Series and a Champ Car race together on the same weekend would be logistically difficult.
The race could also be moved to downtown streets, as it is done in Miami, Denver, and partly in Toronto. Or it could go to a smaller track like that in Mont-Tremblant, Que.
Kalkhoven said other Canadian cities had also inquired about hosting a race, but his first choice would be to remain at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, which has the cachet of being an F1 track in a city full of avid motor racing fans.
"Of course, we would consider racing on another track, but we've raced here for five years and we'd like to carry on doing that," said Kalkhoven. "Montreal has a special place in our hearts."
Labrosse said there was no animosity between himself and Legault and refused to speculate on the future of the race.
"Right now, my priority is to make this year's event a success," he said. "What lies in the future is not in my control."
Tagliani said a plus for Champ Car is that it appears to have stabilized since nearly going under three years ago, although it remains far from the profile it enjoyed a decade ago.
Open-wheel racing in general has been hit hard since the 1996 split between Champ Car, which run mostly road races, and the Indy Racing League, which runs mostly on ovals.
Kalkhoven met with IRL boss Tony George at the Indianapolis 500 last week and again on Tuesday in a bid to heal the rift. Both hope to unify the two series and win back fans and sponsors.