His name is synonymous with Southern California, making him a perfect fit to get the state of California's largest spectator event under way.

The goal is to be the toughest ticket in town.

When we look at events, we look at them in two ways. There are certain track rental opportunities that have better (profit) margins than others ... so we'll look at those. We also look at things that will bring notoriety to the track. Anything that can brand the speedway is something that's of interest to us. That plays a role when we're deciding who gets preference on certain days.

This tragedy in the Gulf Coast states is unfathomable. We are confident we can raise money through this effort to assist in some small way. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone during this tragedy.

I am also thankful for the efforts of the local firefighters who are willing to give of their time for this, and for the Muscular Dystrophy Association that understands the need to come to the aid of our fellow Americans at this difficult time. I'm also thankful to our legions of race fans who are coming together to raise money for the relief effort.

What we're saying is it's too close to call. There were a handful of tickets left, and we're trying to figure out where they were, if they were singles. Obviously, the computations, we want to make sure we're accurate. There were a handful of seats here and there.

Certainly in Miami, it's completely changed the show. If that's what the fans are telling us that they need to see ... we always hoped to have some of the spectacle that brings so many people to the track.

We had a goal that we were working for and we met it.

Obviously, we are big fans of open-wheel racing. The door is open for IRL to have conversations with us with regard to coming back to California Speedway. But, in my mind, it's a business decision. We need to see what the sponsorship situation is going to be.