The Indy Racing League, the four-year-old creation of Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George, unveiled its 2000 schedule this week. It showed pole day for the Indianapolis 500 will be May 20 and race day May 28.
Championship Auto Racing Teams, the IRL’s bitter rival and absent from Indy for the last four Mays, has not yet unveiled its 2000 schedule officially. But it is expected that, after a race May 13 in Japan, its teams will be free until they run again June 4 at the Milwaukee Mile. Clearly there is a window for them to run again in one of auto racing’s great spectacles and that is just what IRL Executive Director Leo Mehl expects to happen.
“We will have a number of CART teams running at the Speedway for the year 2000,” he said. “I think it’s a very positive thing. I think for sure we’re going to have 10 or 12 (CART) cars at the Speedway. I’m pleased that they’re willing to come here. We’ll see what happens after that.”
The aftermath: Bobby Rahal, Chip Ganassi, Roger Penske and Carl Haas are among the CART owners who have talked openly of wanting to return to the Speedway, but none has responded publicly to Mehl’s prediction. The reason? CART President and CEO Andrew Craig still is talking to Honda, Toyota, Ford and Mercedes, the manufacturers who churn out the turbocharged engines used on his series.
Each of them has a lease with one or more of CART’s teams, who–if they return to Indy–would be obliged to use the normally aspirated engines produced for the IRL by General Motors and Nissan. So Craig must get permission from the four manufacturers before his teams can start making any real plans for a return to the 500.
Hold on: Those engine manufacturers are expected eventually to give permission, but don’t be misled by this thaw in the CART-IRL relationship. Peace is not at hand. Those two series will continue to go their separate ways. And open-wheel racing is likely to continue to suffer because of that.
Yes, peace talks did go on between the two sides all through the summer and, as late as September, there still was a glimmer of hope that they would find common ground and merge into one. But then those talks fell apart, at least for now.
Also on the schedule: When the plans for the Chicago Motor Speedway at Sportsman’s Park were announced, the only race guaranteed was on the CART schedule. But even then its officials cast covetous eyes toward NASCAR and talked privately of having a race from one of its three successful series.
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Their only realistic chance, they admitted, was grabbing off a date on the Craftsman Truck schedule and they did just that for Aug. 27, 2000, that series’ first appearance in this area.
Reaching out: Last July CART announced its sponsorship of an African-American driver development program, and last week the three drivers selected for it completed test sessions that will give them reference points when they approach sponsors and teams that might boost their careers.
Then before Sunday’s Marlboro 500 at the California Speedway, CART announced that it was establishing a women’s driver development program as well. Its partner in this endeavor is Lyn St. James, the Indy 500 veteran who earlier this year co-founded the Women’s Global GT Series.
Moving on: As Jeff Gordon rose to prominence on the Winston Cup series, he was not the only member of his team who was glorified. Ray Evernham, his crew chief, was exalted as well. The Rainbow Warriors, his crew of seven, also received credit for boosting Gordon to his 49 career victories.
Now in the wake of Evernham’s exit to Dodge, five other Gordon crew members are joining current points leader Dale Jarrett and Robert Yates Racing. All five are specialists who only service cars during race-day pit stops. To get them was a chance Yates couldn’t afford to pass up.
“This opportunity was presented to us earlier this year, and after much thought between myself, (crew chief) Todd (Parrott) and Dale, we elected to take advantage of it,” Yates said in a statement. “This sport has been driven to the point where every situation tends to get more specialized.”
Quickly noted: With three races left, including Sunday’s Dura Lube 500 in Phoenix, Jarrett holds a 246-point lead in the Winston Cup title chase and looks certain to grab off the first championship of his career.
“They probably aren’t figuring out their seating arrangements for the New York (awards) banquet right now, but I think it would be safe to go ahead and get the chairs out,” fellow driver Jeremy Mayfield says of that possibility.
And finally: “Things happen at speed.” That is one statement Greg Moore made last week. Then, referring to the cast on his broken right hand, he also said: “It doesn’t feel too bad. Besides, you have to play hurt.” That was the kind of bravado that suffused the 24-year-old Canadian, who died Sunday after crashing horrifically during the Marlboro 500. His death and the subsequent death of CART team owner Walter Payton cast an awful pall over that group’s Monday awards banquet, where driver Scott Pruett, speaking of Moore, uttered words that could have included Payton as well.
“We understand in our head, but not in our heart,” he said of the possibility of death. “When something like this happens, it rips a piece out of you. We are all kindred souls. It’s difficult to understand. I don’t think we will ever understand.”