LEXINGTON, Ohio -- More than 2,700 fans signed petitions Sunday asking CART officials to keep the Champ Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio on next year's schedule.

Julie Weaver, of Columbus, said she and a few other fans decided to circulate the petitions because of speculation that CART might not be coming back to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next year if the series continues.

CART officials have said they don't have enough money to run a full series next year and are interested in selling the publicly traded company. Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and a group of CART team owners are said to be among those interested in buying the series and taking it private.

CART's president, Chris Pook, has questioned the viability of having CART events at Cleveland in July and Mid-Ohio in August.

He also has said the future of the series appears to be in urban street races rather than events on permanent road courses in rural areas, such as Mid-Ohio and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

"We know the rumors, and the situation isn't sounding good. At best, it appears to be 50-50," said Weaver, who said she's been attending races at Mid-Ohio for nearly 20 years.

"A bunch of us got together and said 'Let's give this thing a shot and show CART how we feel.' We're not going to give up without fighting to keep the races here, where they've been successful since the 1980s."

Michelle Trueman Gajoch, the track's president, said no decision has been made on whether CART will return to Mid-Ohio.

"I can assure you, based on conversations with CART officials this weekend, it is as frustrating for them right now as it is for us that there has been no ultimate decision made. or even the criteria developed which will lead to that decision," she said.

Mid-Ohio spokesman Reece White said negotiations between Trueman Gajoch and Pook for next year's race would begin Monday. Pook was not at the track this weekend.

The track does not give out attendance figures, but it's estimated that 65,000 to 70,000 people attend the race each year. White said the crowd appeared to be as big as it's been in the past several years.

Angry Forsythe
Player's-Forsythe Racing owner Gerald Forsythe, whose drivers finished in the top two spots, had some harsh words for the Canadian government immediately after the race,

Restrictions on tobacco advertising in Canada which take effect Oct. 1 mean Player's no longer can sponsor the team. Forsythe says it will go out of existence as a result.

"I can't wait for the next election so the politicians can be voted out," he said. "Player's has represented Canada extremely well for many years and it's unfortunate they can no longer sponsor a race team."

Officials of the Canadian Grand Prix said last week that event would not take place next year. Forsythe said he expects the same thing to happen to the CART race in Montreal because of the tobacco ad rules. This year's Montreal CART race takes place in two weeks.

Bad day for Bruno
Bruno Junqueira, the points leader going into the race, lost two laps after being bumped by Oriol Servia on the 13th lap and never recovered.

He finished 13th, but only the first 12 drivers get points. That allowed Paul Tracy to take a 20-point lead over Junqueira, who is second.

"Servia just hit me," Junqueira said. "He wasn't even side by side and then he hit my rear tire. It is very frustrating and it was also too early in the race for him to try that. We were just hoping to salvage some points from other cars dropping out, but we didn't get any."

Not surprisingly, Servia had a slightly different view of the situation.

"You need to take advantage of any opportunity, especially at Mid-Ohio," he said. "Bruno had a bad exit in Turn 1 and I had a good run on him. He was sitting on the right, playing a little bit, and then when I was committed, he closed the door on me."