COMMENTARY : Mickey Mouse Operation? : Only 15 of 25 Drivers in First Indy Racing League Event This Weekend Have Driven in an Indy Car Race

Indy Racing League officials like to call Saturday’s series inaugural, the Indy 200 at Walt Disney World, the first day of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.

If this is the face of the Indy 500, it is badly in need of plastic surgery before May 26.

In the first battle of the war between IRL and Championship Auto Racing Teams, the establishment in Indy car racing for the last 15 years, only 25 drivers were on the newly constructed one-mile track inside the grounds of the Magic Kingdom for Thursday’s opening day of practice. Of that number, only 15 had driven in an Indy car race. And only three--Arie Luyendyk, Roberto Guerrero and John Paul Jr.--had won one.

The boycott by CART forces, incensed at IRL founder Tony George’s regulation that 25 of the 33 starting positions in the Indy 500--George owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway--will be reserved for drivers in IRL races, has held the line. Not one of CART’s franchise holding teams is here.

So, instead of Al Unser Jr., Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal and the CART regulars who normally run at the Brickyard, the names here at the Mickyard are Buzz Calkins, Stan Wattles, Johnny O’Connell, Stephan Gregoire and two 50-plus wannabes, Bill Tempero and Jim Buick.

Who are these guys?

Two, Richie Hearn and Tony Stewart, are among America’s brightest young talents. Each would have been ready for an Indy car ride even had there been no outbreak of hostilities.

Hearn, 25, a graduate of Pasadena High who now lives in Canyon Country, was the fastest Thursday. Driving a 1995 Reynard with Ford Cosworth power for the Della Penna Motorsports team, Hearn lapped a mile at 181.827 mph.

Last year, in Formula Atlantic, he won three races and the series championship--almost the same path taken by Indy 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve before he arrived at Indianapolis two years ago and finished second in his rookie year.

“I expected to run well, after all the laps we’ve done testing, but I didn’t expect to be the quickest guy on the block,” Hearn said. “I think a lot of the reason is because I’ve been with the same team for a couple of years and we know what each other wants.

“Barry Green put together a great team with a small budget, and that’s what John [team owner Della Penna] and I would like to do.”

Green is the team owner who guided Villeneuve to the Indy car championship after several years in the Atlantic series.

Hearn’s car was bought from the Arciero-Wells team after it was driven last year by Hiro Matsushita in the CART series.

“One of the problems all of us in the IRL have is that we’re driving older cars and we have to be careful because if we crash, spare parts are hard to come by,” Hearn said. “All the manufacturers are busy making parts for the 1996 models.”

The chassis rules are a major difference in the two series. CART is running 1996 models, and IRL is limited to ’95 and older equipment.

Stewart, 24, is the driver George had in mind when he said the IRL would be an opportunity for young midget and sprint car drivers to get to Indianapolis, instead of the growing number of foreign drivers attracted to the CART schedule because it is heavy on road racing.

Stewart became the first U.S. Auto Club triple champion last year when he won the midget, sprint car and Silver Crown dirt track national championships. His feat was reminiscent of NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, who was lured to stock cars after winning several USAC open-wheel series championships.

“Jeff Gordon wanted to drive an Indy car, but when there weren’t any rides available, he went to NASCAR,” said Jack Long, IRL executive director. “We didn’t want to lose Tony Stewart like we lost Gordon.”

That still may happen, though. Stewart is running the IRL series as sort of a second thought. His main thrust this year will be driving a stock car for Harry Rainier’s Busch Grand National team.

Stewart, a late arrival at Disney World as a third driver in John Menard’s stable of Buick-powered cars, was sixth fastest at 176.246 mph, which was faster than his two more experienced teammates, Scott Brayton, 175.764, and Eddie Cheever, 173.796. Brayton was the pole sitter for last year’s Indy 500.

Most of the others do not have such impressive credentials.

Calkins, 24, is a University of Colorado graduate who has driven the Indy Lights series for three seasons with only modest success. Thursday, his lap of 178.421 was fourth fastest.

Wattles, 35, overcame dyslexia and earned a college degree in passive solar research before racing intermittently in Formula Atlantic and Sports Car Club of America regional races.

Michele Alboreto, 39, is a rookie in his first Indy car race, but a veteran of Formula One who twice won the Detroit Grand Prix.

“At my age, to still be a rookie is a good feeling,” he said.

Qualifying for Saturday’s $1-million race is scheduled today, and one of the organizer’s chief worries is over the disparity in speed. There was nearly a 30-mph difference from Hearn to Tempero’s 152.207. Tempero, 52, has not driven in an Indy car race since 1983, but has kept busy promoting and driving in his own American Indycar Series at venues such as Willow Springs in Rosamond, Calif.; Monterrey, Mexico; and Halifax, Canada.

And Tempero was not the slowest. That dubious honor went to Rick DeLorto, who could coax only 107.223 mph from his ’92 Lola Buick. However, if his speed does not substantially improve today, he will sit out Saturday’s race.

“I’ll admit it, we’re disappointed we didn’t get some of the teams from CART to come with us,” Long said.

Not surprisingly, CART does not call it a boycott.

“It’s a lockout, not a boycott,” said Andrew Craig, who came from Britain to take over management of CART two years ago. “It is not free and open competition, to be invited to fill only eight places, to come to Indy and spend thousands of dollars to run for eight positions and then find cars slower than yours on the grid. That doesn’t make sense.”

CART’s answer was to schedule another race, the U.S. 500, opposite the Indy 500, at Michigan International Raceway. It will start two hours later than the Indianapolis 500, giving TV fans an opportunity to watch some of each. Indy will be on ABC, the U.S. 500 on ESPN.

But does that make sense?

What racing fans will get are two watered-down races, one largely filled with little-known drivers racing dubious equipment before 400,000 spectators in what is called “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” and the other with well-known drivers competing in top equipment before maybe 20,000 spectators.

Not a pretty picture for Indy car racing fans any way they look at it.