BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

INDIANAPOLIS - The first thing you notice is the significantly louder engines. The second is the concern in some drivers' eyes, wondering if the all-new Indy Racing League motors are inviting disaster at the 81st Indianapolis 500 on May 25.

Fans arriving at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year are struck by the NASCAR-like thunder of the engines, audible even while driving with windows closed on Georgetown Road nearby. Earplugs have rarely sold so well at Speedway gift shops.

Gone is the familiar high-pitched whine of turbocharged engines used at Indy for nearly 25 years, replaced by IRL-mandated, normally aspirated, production-based engines built by Oldsmobile Aurora and Nissan Infiniti. Significant changes were made to the chassis to make the cars safer - and slower by about 20 mph. By slowing the cars, Speedway President Tony George also hopes to make the competition closer.

But will it be safer? Several cars have blown multiple engines here this month, and some wonder if chaos will ensue on race day. Roberto Guerrero, a 12-year Indy veteran and former pole sitter, said it is no surprise that the new engines are unreliable.

"Unfortunately for the IRL, any new race engine takes two or three years to develop," he said. "If you remember, Honda didn't make the show their first year here. The difference is, with other series, two to three other engine companies were strong, so nobody notices.

"Every single one of these engines is brand new and creates a problem."

Indy rookie Billy Roe, still trying to make the field this weekend, said he will cross his fingers should he make it.

"I'm sure there will be problems in the race, but hopefully it won't be catastrophic problems," Roe said.

Buzz Calkins, 1996 IRL season co-champion, said the predictions of doom are a bit much. He said the 1997 engines can last 500 miles. "I'm sure there will be guys that can push it as far as they can push it, but it's not gonna be the sort of thing where one guy's left at the end, which some people seem to want to predict," Calkins said. "Everybody's in the same boat."

The most notable problem is that the Aurora and Infiniti engines are in short supply. Because of that, several teams with extra engines have been unwilling to part with them, leading some to wonder how the field will even reach the full 33 this weekend. As of last weekend, 23 drivers were in the provisional field.

Because of the new equipment, there were only 64 entries for the race - the smallest since the 1946 Indy 500, which was the first race following a four-year shutdown during World War II. And, according to the U.S. Auto Club, there were only 55 actual cars that made it to the Speedway this month.

In an effort to help teams preserve the new equipment, the Speedway has extended its mandatory daily "lunch break" to two hours. Mike Groff, a three-year Indy 500 veteran and 1997 IRL points leader, has been among the lucky this month. No blown engines.

"Knock on wood, but the engine we qualified with had over 400 miles on it," he said. "That's not an ideal scenario going into qualifying, but it says something about how the engines can last." During last year's Indy 500, Arie Luyendyk set a qualifying record of 236.986 mph in a year-old Reynard with a turbocharged Ford engine. This year, Luyendyk won the pole with an average speed of 218.263 in his Treadway Racing G Force-Aurora.

"Somebody had to stop the runaway train," Groff said. "I know we're down on power, and some people say slowing the cars down is regressing. But I see it as progress."

Luyendyk is not sure.

"With these new cars that have less downforce, the cars don't feel as planted through the turns," he said. "The old cars made you feel you just had more grip through the turns. They just gave you more confidence. . . . This car is quite difficult to set up and get to handle well."

The drivers do like the fact that the new engines have leveled the playing field. Luyendyk has been the fastest all month, but jackrabbits rarely win here.

"I think teams are smart enough to run (engines) where they should last, or where they think they can get away with running them," Calkins said. "I'm sure there will be problems out there, but there always are. But I don't think it'll be as bad as everyone's expecting."

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SULLIVAN COLUMN May 11, 1997