IRL & CART, Can't We All Just Get Along?

ESPN reported last week that CART will change their current engine formula for the 2004 season. Word is that the formula will call for a 3.5 liter (or smaller) normally aspirated engine. Gone will be the turbocharged engines that have been the formula since CART's inception in 1979. But what will this mean for the current engine builders in CART? Is this a sign or an olive branch if you will to Tony George and the IRL? After all, the IRL engine specs call for a normally aspirated 3.5-liter engine with a 10,700-rpm limiter. So where does that leave the possible reunification of Indy Car racing?

The first step seems to have been made last year by CART team owners Chip Gannasi and Derek Walker. Walker fielded a team for driver Sarah Fisher, while Gannasi brought eventual winner Juan Montoya and Jimmy Vasser to the Speedway for the 500. This year, driver Michael Andretti and car owner and the most prolific winning owner in 500 history Roger Penske joined Gannasi and Walker back at Indy. Penske in fact ran his drivers in the IRL event at Phoenix. So obviously there is interest in being in Indianapolis for the 500. 1999 winner Kenny Brack is hoping to be here next May. But are the CART owners cherry picking their IRL races? No one could blame them at this point. The Indianapolis 500 is the biggest single one day sporting event in the world. IT has the biggest purse of any auto race. Add to that the fact that Montoya dominated the field in 2000 and that CART drivers finished 1-2-3 this year and one might get the idea they are here only because of the money and that they “know” they will win. I hate it, but it seems apparent that the CART drivers are simply better than the IRL drivers.

One major sticking point is the ownership of each league. Tony George who happens to own the track everyone wants to compete at-the Indianapolis Motor Speedway owns the IRL. It's his bread and butter and by looking at the crowds at the other races, his only real source of income for the IRL. CART on the other hand is a publicly traded company. How they resolve this issue is beyond me at this point. People usually gloss over this point, but it will have to be addressed before any reunification. And rest assured, Tony George is not willing to share the money with the public or a bunch of whiny car owners.

Next is the issue of the races themselves. CART stages races on temporary street circuits, permanent road courses and ovals on 5 continents. The IRL runs solely on ovals in the United States. CART has drivers from all over the world, although there does seem to be a disproportionate number of Brazilians in the series. With a couple of exceptions, the IRL drivers are Americans. What does that mean? Well oval track racing is a uniquely American phenomenon. The foreign drivers seem to gravitate more to road course racing. I'm not going to tell you one is better than another from a driver's standpoint. I can imagine they both have plusses and minuses. But the stars of CART are there because of the heavy emphasis on the road courses. CART, I'm sure, is unwilling to run it's brightest stars off just to reunite with IRL and run strictly ovals. For there to be a merge, CART needs to drop races at Cleveland, Vancouver, Toronto, Mid-Ohio, Houston and Road America. IRL needs to embrace tracks like Long Beach and Laguna Seca and an effort should be made to get back to Watkins Glen. As far as the races in other countries, they should only be staged if they are going to be cost effective to run. With the number of drivers from Brazil, it makes sense to work out the differences with the promoter and keep that race afloat. Drop Australia, Mexico and stay out of Europe. Japan with Honda and Toyota building engines seems viable. IRL needs to give up Atlanta and Richmond, VA. Neither race draws a crowd. Both tracks are in the heart of NASCAR country and Indy Car racing has never done well in the south and it never will. This is a big country with a lot of wonderful tracks. It's time to just let NASCAR have the south with the possible exception of Homestead.

Now it's probably naïve to think CART would sacrifice so much, just to merge with the IRL. Especially since all they have to do is buy or lease equipment to run at Indy. One interesting alternative comes from the nutcases at Formula One. King Bernie caused quite a stir a couple of months ago when he sold part ownership of the circuit to a television company. Needless to say, the manufacturers were less than pleased as they felt they had not been given the equal opportunity to buy into the franchise. Eccelstone in his usual lack of tact blamed the manufacturers for not coming to him earlier about buying in. They knew it was never offered and that once again the king had shown them he was all-powerful. This time though the manufacturers starting talking of forming a rival Formula One series. Talk of this rival league persists today, although is has cooled somewhat. The reason I bring this up is that if such a league were to get off the ground, it stands to reason that true road course racers from CART such as Dario Franchitti, Max Papis, Gil DeFerran and even 2001 Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves would be natural choices to run the series. Plus, a series like that would essentially negate any need for CART in it's current configuration.

For now and at least until 2004, it seems things will remain fairly static for CART and the IRL. But Toyota has already decided to go IRL racing starting with the 2003 season. They will join Chevrolet and Infiniti. What they decide to do after that remains to be seen. They could be the glue that gels the warring factions together. The Indy 500 remains rock solid, but both the IRL and CART series championships have had little meaning since the split.