MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : Possible Indy Car Power Struggle Gaining Speed

What is most important to drivers, owners, sponsors and racing fans--the Indianapolis 500 or the other 15 or 16 so-called Indy car races such as Long Beach, Milwaukee and Vancouver?

That seems to be the gist of an impending struggle for control of the sport between Tony George, whose family owns and operates Indianapolis Motor Speedway and controls the Indy 500, and the franchise owners of teams that compete on the Indy car circuit, notably Roger Penske, Carl Haas and Pat Patrick.

George and his Indy Racing League have announced a four-race oval-track series for next season with Indianapolis as its centerpiece. Other races are scheduled in to-be-built facilities at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and Las Vegas and the existing mile oval at Phoenix International Raceway.

For a time, it appeared that George and Andrew Craig, president and CEO of Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (CART), might reach an agreement, but bruised egos now seem to have taken over.

George wants a return to an era where oval racing--what the Indianapolis 500 is all about--is the heart of American open-wheel, open-cockpit racing. The Indy car franchise owners have gradually shifted the sport’s emphasis from ovals to street and road circuits.

This year’s 17-race schedule has only six oval races, including Sunday’s Indy 500, which has never been under CART’s control. When CART owners successfully broke away from U.S. Auto Club control in 1979, Indianapolis remained behind. It is part of the PPG Cup championship season only at the insistence of the sport’s signature sponsor, PPG Industries.

George, a part-time racer, insists he has nothing against the influx of foreign drivers in Indy cars, but he does deplore the fact that young American drivers are not advancing through the midget and sprint car ranks as A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and the Unsers did.

In this year’s 500, there are 14 American drivers and 19 foreigners, although one is a naturalized citizen. The six rookies are all foreign-born.

“I think the product of Indy car racing is being compromised because of all the road racing,” George said. “Oval racing is the heart of the American sport. Look at all the tiny ovals around the country where there is Saturday night racing. It’s where our sport’s roots lie.”

Many Indy car drivers and owners are outspoken in their opposition to the expansion of oval racing.

“Personally, I would say no to having more ovals,” Michael Andretti said. “They are the most dangerous, the most frightening races we have now. Speeds are so high you have to hold your breath all the way around tracks like Phoenix. I would rather see less than more ovals.

“It would be terrible not to run Indy, but if [team owner] Carl Haas says we’re not running it next year, I won’t run. I’m under contract to Newman-Haas and I’ll go where they say. I can’t believe it could happen, but who knows.”

Al Unser Jr. agrees.

“Indy is our crown jewel,” he said. “I drive race cars so that I can run the Indy 500, but I’ll go whatever direction Roger Penske says to go. CART has built our series into something USAC was never able to do, and now the USAC people want it back. It doesn’t make sense.”

Other teams, such as Foyt’s and John Menard’s, which has the Indy 500 polesitter in Scott Brayton, welcome the IRL.

Although some Indy car owners indicate they may not run at Indianapolis if it is an IRL race, George insists that none will be refused an entry.

“All of the teams here will be invited,” George said. “There is no plan to keep anyone out, despite things you may have heard from the other side.”

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Notes

STOCK CARS--Saugus Speedway will feature NASCAR super late models, mini stocks, street stocks and a destruction derby Saturday night. . . . The Community First Bank 100, a Featherlite Southwest Tour event, will take place Saturday night at Bakersfield’s Mesa Marin Raceway. . . . Street stocks and IMCA modifieds are scheduled for Friday night at Ventura Raceway.

SPRINT CARS--Former Southland favorite Dean Thompson will end a 9 1/2-year retirement Saturday night to drive Bubby Jones’ new Drake-Shaver in the Sprint Car Racing Assn.’s annual Salute to Indy at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix. Favorites are Arizonans Ron Shuman, Lealand McSpadden, Eric Wilkins and J.J. Yeley. . . . IMCA sprinters, dwarf cars and micro midgets share billing Saturday night at Ventura Raceway.

DRAG RACING--The Dick Cepek Baja Truck Drags will be held Monday on a 100-yard dirt dragstrip at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino.