IRL’s George Remains Intent on Upsetting the CART

Hopes that Championship Auto Racing Teams and the Indy Racing League, the country’s feuding open-wheel racing organizations, were about to reach unification in 2001 or 2002 apparently have been dashed by Tony George, who opened the schism when he formed the IRL four years ago.

Not long after CART Chairman and Chief Executive Andrew Craig had visited George’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway offices, and George had returned the visit during CART’s inaugural race at the new Chicago track, George unilaterally announced, “The Indy Racing League will not be merging or otherwise unifying with CART.”

Insiders seemed surprised by George’s attitude, particularly in light of the downward spiral of the IRL, which lost its date with Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., was rejected by the city of Cleveland in favor of CART, and has had shrinking attendance at many of its races.

But as one manufacturer’s representative said, “George has the 2,000-pound gorilla on his side.”

That would be the Indianapolis 500, which drivers, owners and sponsors from CART have missed dearly since the split in 1996.

Although George threw cold water on a possible compromise--the organizations use different types of cars--he did say that CART drivers and teams would be welcome to race in the 500, under his rules.

“Once again, I reiterate that CART teams are welcome to compete in any Indy Racing League event, including the Indianapolis 500, under the same rules that apply to everybody,” he said.

That would mean buying or leasing a car with IRL specifications, which several CART teams have indicated they plan to do next year.

CART is expected to make it easier for its teams to compete at Indy by moving its night-before-the-500 race at Gateway Raceway near St. Louis to another date.

“The time representatives of the two series have spent during the last year talking with each other has not been in vain,” George continued. “We share many of the same values and many of the same goals. The representatives of CART have been forthcoming and positive in their attitude.

“The significant differences in our philosophies cannot be solved quickly. Answers to these may come over time, but in the meantime, at least for the next several years, both series need to be going about their business.”

The most difficult philosophical obstacle apparently is that the IRL is a private company, owned by George’s family, and CART is publicly owned.

Craig, who has often been abrasive in his comments regarding the IRL, issued a statement that sounded rather conciliatory:

“CART initiated contact with Tony George and with representatives of the IRL last March and has led the process since then in an attempt to unify the sport for the benefit of the fans.

“We regard this as time well-spent.”

He wasted little time, however, in moving forward. Contracts with two of his premier road races, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Texaco-Havoline 200 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., were extended into the next century. Long Beach’s contract runs through 2005.

And next week, Craig is traveling to Germany to check on a possible race at the Lausitzring, a new oval track near Berlin, hoping to expand CART’s foreign involvement, which already includes races in Australia, Brazil, Japan and Canada.

For what it’s worth, the day after George’s announcement, CART’s stock dropped 3 1/2 points to 26.88.

Paul Tracy, who won the CART race in Houston last Sunday, said of the negotiations in an interview with the Indianapolis Star, “It’s like the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip. [George is] like Lucy, you know, holding the football and telling Charlie Brown, us, to go ahead and kick it. Then she pulls it away and he lands on his face.”

Not surprisingly, IRL teams welcomed George’s statement.

Fred Treadway, who owned Arie Luyendyk’s winning car in the 1997 Indy 500, put it bluntly, saying, “They can buy the same equipment at the same place I did if they want to run with us, and I’m getting tired of them saying that are better than we are when they don’t have the [guts] to come over and find out.”

To fill the vacancy left by losing Charlotte, the IRL has scheduled a race Aug. 27 at the to-be-constructed Kentucky Speedway, near Cincinnati. A 1.5-mile tri-oval, it will seat 65,000. The IRL will also debut another new Chicago oval, owned jointly by George and Bill France’s International Speedway Corp., in 2002.

NO HAWAIIAN HOLIDAY

The Hawaiian Super Prix, announced as having the richest purse in motor racing history, may be canceled as early as today.

The road race scheduled Nov. 14 on Oahu, for CART drivers only, was to have had a $100-million purse, $5 million going to the winner.

Plans began to unravel when a pay-TV plan failed to materialize, and co-founder Dick Rutherford, unable to land a title sponsor, was relieved of his chairman’s duties.

SPEEDWAY MOTORCYCLES

Former world champion Billy Hamill of Monrovia has won one U.S. Speedway championship this year, the American Motorcyclist Assn.’s version, at Auburn, Calif., on Sept. 3.

Another one, the Coors Light U.S. Speedway Nationals, will be contested Saturday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, sanctioned by International Speedway Inc.

“Ours is the 31st in a row and we consider it the true national championship,” said Brad Oxley, whose family runs the Costa Mesa track. “About half of that time, we were the AMA-sanctioned event, but now that we have separate events, we believe ours is the one that riders most want to win.”

Oxley, the 1987 national champion, is also the 1999 track champion at Costa Mesa.

Bart Bast is defending champion, but the 20-rider entry includes four other former winners--Mike Faria, Bobby Schwartz, Chris Manchester and Oxley. Charlie Venegas, who finished second to Hamill at Auburn, is also entered.

There are no British League riders, such as Hamill and former world champion Greg Hancock, entered this year because of a conflict in scheduling with the World Team Cup.

SOUTHWEST TOUR

NASCAR’s Featherlite Southwest Tour returns to Irwindale Speedway for the NAPA 100 on Saturday night, with Kurt Busch of Las Vegas looking for a fifth win to pad his series lead. In two tour races at Irwindale, Busch has finished third and 18th, but he has won a Legends race at the track.

Busch, 21, leads Kenny Shepherd of Merced, 2,256-2,025.

“This is unbelievable,” Busch said. “After the Los Angeles street race [in which Busch finished 25th], we had a big discussion. There were five races left and we were going to survive the five. It must have paid off. We’ve won two straight since then.”

The final races are Oct. 16 at Mesa Marin in Bakersfield and Nov. 5 at Phoenix.

LAST LAPS

Rip Williams, out of Sprint Car Racing Assn. championship contention after a two-week suspension for rough driving, continues to be dominant at Perris Auto Speedway. Williams, with seven of his 12 victories at Perris, will go for No. 8 Saturday night on the half-mile dirt oval.

When all the bashing and smashing was over at the California State Demolition Derby last Sunday night in Pomona, Mike Doyle Jr. of Fairfax was the last one left. Mike Klementich of Fontana was second. . . . Cajon Speedway in El Cajon will end its season Saturday night with the Coors 100 for NASCAR late model sportsman cars.

Graves Yamaha of Van Nuys won the WERA 24 Hours West race at Willow Springs Raceway, but two red-flag incidents kept the team from breaking the record of 2,215 miles set in 1996 by Team Suzuki Endurance. The winners completed 867 laps, 2,167 1/2 miles. Arc Light Suzuki of Lafayette, Calif., was second.

This Week’s Races

WINSTON CUP, NAPA Autocare 500

* When: Today, first-round qualifying (ESPN2, noon); Saturday, second-round qualifying, 8:15 a.m.; Sunday, race (ESPN, 10 a.m.)

* Where: Martinsville Speedway (oval, .526 miles, 12-degree banking in turns), Martinsville, Va.

* Race distance: 500 laps, 263 miles.

* Last year: Ricky Rudd beat Jeff Gordon by .533 seconds. Mark Martin finished third.

* Next race: UAW-GM Quality 500, Oct. 10, Concord, N.C.

NHRA, Advance Auto Parts Nationals

* When: Today, first-round qualifying, 11 a.m.; Saturday, second-round qualifying, 9 a.m.; Sunday, final eliminations, 8 a.m. (finals, Fox Sports West, 2 p.m.)

* Where: Heartland Park, Topeka, Kan.

* Last year: Cory McClenathan won the top-fuel division at the rain-delayed event, and Warren Johnson raced to his eighth pro-stock victory of the season to win his fourth series championship. Ron Capps won the funny-car division.

* Next race: Pennzoil Nationals, Oct. 7-10, Memphis, Tenn.