DETROIT — The following statement was issued by Andrew Craig, president and chief executive officer of Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc., regarding the use of the brand name, "IndyCar" and commenting on the press release headlined "George Pleased with IRL-CART Settlement," issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, December 17:

"We feel the release presented Tuesday by the Speedway is an incomplete description of the agreement with regard to the 'IndyCar' brand name. Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc., will cease using the brand name 'IndyCar' but, contrary to the implications raised by Mr. George's comments, a condition of the agreement is that the Speedway and the Indy Racing League cannot use 'IndyCar' as their brand name until at least Dec. 31, 2002.

"Secondly, while the brand name 'IndyCar' may not be used by CART, the agreement specifically acknowledges that 'Indy car,' and its variants, have evolved into descriptive terms for high-performance, single-seat, American, open-wheel racing. Use of 'Indy car' and its variants to describe our type of racing, our drivers and our cars will continue under the agreement.

"Our intention is to put the litigation firmly in the past and to concentrate on the continued expansion of our championship which, on a worldwide basis, has greater popularity and appeal than any other racing series in the United States. Therefore, like the Speedway, we are extremely pleased that this litigation has come to an end with an agreement between the parties.

"We hope that it will not be necessary to make any further comments or clarifications regarding the settlement."

Source: CART News Service