Just as the Toronto Grand Prix became a casualty of the final battle before the IRL/CCWS reunion, the home town boy may sit out the 08 season as well. TSN has reported that long time Champ Car team owner Gerald Forsythe has decided to call it a day for the format. Forsythe Racing Inc will apparently continue with their involvement with the Formula Atlantic series, ensuring that fellow Canuck James Hinchcliffe will keep his ride.

Whether Forsythe was fed up with the flip flopping, or not happy with the final terms of the reunification is not clear. Nor is it clear as to how the remaining 4 years of driver Paul Tracy’s 5 year contract will be dealt with.

Perhaps PT would like to come up to Mosport and run in the Arrive & Drive series!

During this morning’s British Grand Prix, American driver Scott Speed made yet another bone headed play and caused on track havoc. Giant ego aside, pretty soon they are going to start comparing this guy to a long line of Japanese drivers who have been nothing but rolling pylons who happen to zig when they should zag.

Speed is a big boy and I’m sure his ego can stand to take a few bruises, but can the American racing reputation stand to take any more hits? Let’s face it, there hasn’t been an American driver in F1 since Michael Andretti’s hopeless attempt a bunch of years ago. Many excuses have been made for Michael’s pathetic attempt, and many (perhaps most) of them were valid. He is a family man who controls a large business empire and he chose to commute to the F1 circus so he could be closer to his family. It’s a no brainer that he didn’t have the time or the absolute focus he would have needed to succeed in Formula One.

European drivers are groomed for racing from the time that they are able to walk.The racing at every level is intense and the drivers are hungry. The races of the lower levels border on violence when compared to the on track action of the ladder series in the States, where political correctness extends on to the track. Over there, if you are in the way you are punted. here, if you punt someone you are moved to the back of the pack.

That’s not to say that the American racing world doesn’t have some great feeder series. Star Mazda. Formula BMW. Formula Atlantic. Infiniti Pro. They are all great series, but where does each one lead? Do they breed the best drivers, or is the talent pool diluted by the number of series and the fact that the best young driver’s are rushed to the top to fill empty grids. Perhaps they would be better served to spend 2 full seasons in a well populated lesser formulae, rather than a half assed attempt at champ car in a two year old car, just to improve the show.

I’m not sure what the answer is, but at the rate he’s going, Scott Speed is going to make a laughing stock of American racers on the world stage.