GI Joe's pondering Portland support.

Long-time race sponsor GI Joe's has refused to commit money to any Champ Car event at Portland International Raceway in 2004 until definite news of the series' future is received.

According to the local Portland Tribune newspaper, company boss Norm Daniels has said that he will not pledge money to this year's race, provisionally scheduled for 20 June, even though the event promoter needs to secure backing and new series owners OWRS will be looking for its sanctioning fee. To add to the confusion, the circuit is also being touted as a possible future IRL venue.

"Our position is that we will look at a CART sponsorship if and when there is a firm commitment to come to Portland, and if the new national sponsor [OWRS] is a compatible partner with GI Joe's," Daniels told the newspaper, "Otherwise we'll lose out, or not be part of something that may not happen anyway. Two times zero is still zero."

The matter could come to a head next week, when a US bankruptcy court judge reveals the outcome of a possible bidding war for former CART assets. OWRS has made the only known bid to acquire the assets, which entail contracts for races and machinery amongst other things, but the IRL is known to have taken a belated interest as it seeks to expand beyond its oval-only heartland in 2005.

The IRL has already expressed an interest in racing at PIR, and Portland race founders Mark Wigginton and Bob Ames have admitted to meeting League officials with a view to hearing their intentions for the future. Ames told the newspaper that the IRL could race in Portland 'in a heartbeat', as CART does not have a contract, only a handshake agreement, to run there.

"Beyond Long Beach, they're looking at natural road courses, and we have a challenging and safe natural road course, and we can deliver the Northwest part of the country," Wigginton explained.