BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDIANAPOLIS -- The world's most famous automobile race, the Indianapolis 500, feels better about itself this year. But it's still not what it once was.
Indy 500
What: 82nd Indianapolis 500
Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
When: May 24, noon
TV: Ch. 9, 2
1997 champ: Arie Luyendyk
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The Indianapolis Motor Speedway officially opened for practice Sunday, a week later than usual as another tradition died here. The Indy-car cold war between CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) and the IRL (Indy Racing League) drags on, which means a third straight watered-down Indy 500 on May 24.
The hallowed "Month of May," a religious rite in Indiana, will now feature just nine days of on-track preparations compared to the usual 17. The IRL says it is a cost-saving measure; critics say it's because the race can't hold fan attention for a month any more.
Tony George, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President, created the IRL as a lower-cost rival to the established CART series -- which formerly included the Indy 500.
"The league is coming into its own. We're right where we should be," George said. "We have a record number of (Indy 500) entries because our equipment is affordable."
Armchair fans still see George as the villain who ruined their race. CART loyalists say the IRL is second-rate drivers in second-rate cars.
"(Indy) is not a real race anymore," CART driver Michael Andretti said recently. "Really, the tradition and everything has been destroyed there."
But IRL defenders hail George for cutting costs and giving younger drivers an alternative to the elitist CART series.
From the IRL side, the cars have been made safer after seven men suffered major injuries last season; the number of Indy 500 entries are up from 64 last year (a 50-year low) to 75 this season; and sponsorship dollars are up more than 300 percent from last year.
The biggest IRL name is Arie Luyendyk, a two-time Indy 500 winner including 1997. The hottest young star is Tony Stewart, the '97 IRL season champ who also has a NASCAR contract with Joe Gibbs.
Other recognizable IRL names include Indy 500 vets Buddy Lazier ('96 champ), Scott Goodyear, Eddie Cheever and Lyn St. James, the second female Indy driver.
CART stars such as Andretti, Al Unser Jr., Bobby Rahal and Paul Tracy again will be absent.
Last year an Indianapolis Star columnist listed his 33-car dream field for the Indy 500. He wound up with 18 CART and 15 IRL drivers, showing that the talent is not all in CART.
George, 38, became Speedway president in 1989 and almost immediately sought a leading role in CART. Failing that, he ignited a war in 1994 by announcing plans to form a new oval racing league, the IRL. It made its debut in 1996, with George reserving 25 of the 33 spots in the Indy 500 for his IRL drivers.
CART teams balked, boycotted Indy, and never returned. While fans still hope for a reconciliation, none is on the horizon. George founded the IRL, he said, because of his concerns about spiraling costs and implementation of such practices as "lease engine" programs in CART.
"We have a basic engine that sells for $80,000," said Leo Mehl, executive director of the IRL. "We don't want a $2.2-million engine lease. We've got guys running a whole season on less money than that." The IRL wants to get the focus off the cars and back on the drivers. So-called "checkbook champions" are not allowed, the IRL says. The IRL still lags with sponsors, too, according to a company that tracks sponsorship of sporting events. IEG Inc., a Chicago company which conducted a sponsorship survey earlier this year, said that for 1998:
- The IRL, with a new title sponsor in Pep Boys auto parts, will draw more than $101 million from sponsors;
- CART will draw $419 million;
- NASCAR will draw $476 million.
For all the lost prestige, drivers still revere the Indy 500. "When I drive onto that track, I still get a tingle up my spine," Goodyear said.
Then there is Stewart, the '98 IRL points leader. He already drives in the NASCAR Busch Series and plans to jump to Winston Cup, but he has a clause in his contract stating he can run the Indy 500 in 1999 if he fails to win this year.
Rick Mears, a four-time Indy 500 winner who now is a consultant on Roger Penske's CART team, will be at the Brickyard this week -- but only to be inducted into the track's Hall of Fame on Friday. Pole day is Saturday.
"Everybody would like to be there, running together the way it used to be," Mears said. "But you keep your fingers crossed that everything will come back together at some point."
