CART Schedules Race to Go Against Indy 500

Officials of Championship Auto Racing Teams, frustrated at being offered an opportunity to fill only eight of the 33 starting positions in the Indianapolis 500, Monday announced a Memorial Day weekend event that will buck the world’s biggest motor race.

The U.S. 500, as the new race was named, will be run at Michigan International Speedway, which is owned by CART co-founder Roger Penske. It will be on Sunday, May 26, the same day as the Indy 500 less than 300 miles away, which will be conducted by the fledgling Indy Racing League.

“We are going to stage an event for our fans that will feature the biggest stars of our sport running on the fastest track on the Indy car circuit in a format open to anyone quick enough to qualify,” said Andrew Craig, president and CEO of CART.

CART made its decision after Tony George, founder of the IRL, announced that 25 starters in the Indy 500 would be reserved for teams that competed in two earlier races, in Orlando, Fla., and Phoenix. Neither race is available to CART teams because of conflicting dates, leaving only eight berths open to non-IRL drivers.

Most CART teams announced earlier that such a limitation amounted to a lockout and that they would not participate. This included such high-profile drivers as Al Unser Jr., Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Paul Tracy, Emerson Fittipaldi and Robby Gordon.

“It’s unfortunate that we have been locked out of Indy, but we owe it to our fans and sponsors to put on a world-class event and that’s what we intend to do,” Craig said.

Qualifying for the U.S. 500 will also be on the first weekend of qualifying at Indianapolis, May 11-12.

No purse or TV rights were announced, but Craig said they would be revealed in early January.

In the event that major sponsors insist that they be represented at Indianapolis, CART reportedly left open an opportunity for a team to run one driver at Indy and another at Michigan.