IRL and CART Draw Battle Lines

By SHAV GLICK

May 25, 2001 12 AM PT

INDIANAPOLIS —

Nothing is being said in public to disturb the goodwill surrounding the Indianapolis 500, but there seems to be an underlying current of the race being an “Us vs. Them” affair, us being the Indy Racing League, host of the event, and them being CART, America’s rival open-wheel racing organization.

IRL people remember when Michael Andretti referred to the 500 as “just another race.” And when Andretti changed his tune somewhat in announcing that he would race here this year, he continued to nettle IRL drivers by saying he was disappointed he wasn’t in last year’s race “to keep Juan Montoya honest,” intimating that the IRL drivers were not capable.

“Ask him why he didn’t keep Montoya honest in all those CART races Montoya won,” snapped one IRL mechanic.

Andretti is one of six CART drivers in the race, joining Penske Racing’s Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves, and Chip Ganassi’s trio of Jimmy Vasser, Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian.

“There are no two better teams in CART than Penske and Ganassi, and look who’s on the front row, two IRL guys,” said 1998 winner Eddie Cheever. Scott Sharp and Greg Ray, both former IRL champions, qualified first and second for Sunday’s 500.

Al Unser Jr., who remained with CART until last year when he switched over to the IRL, said the rivalry exists more with the car owners than the drivers.

“Most of the guys in both series know who’s good and who’s not, and that goes for both sides,” said Unser, a two-time Indy winner. “Higher up, among the owners, though, I think there’s still a lot of animosity.”

Pole-sitter Sharp continued to be the fastest driver on the grounds at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Scott’s speed of 223.678 mph in Kelley Racing’s Dallara was the fastest Thursday as the field of 33 took their final laps before Sunday’s race. Scott ran only 19 laps during the two-hour practice.

“We wanted to confirm the race-starting setup was strong right out of the box,” Sharp said. “The car was real strong, and we just didn’t need to stay out and run any longer.”

Close behind were the two national champions, CART’s de Ferran, 222.757 in a Penske Dallara, and IRL’s Buddy Lazier, 222.392 in Ron Hemelgarn’s Dallara.

Thirty-four drivers, the starting field plus first alternate Shigeaki Hattori, put in a combined 833 laps without an incident.

Sharp and his Kelley Racing crew also won the Coors Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge, earning $42,500 for defeating Unser and the Galles Racing crew in Thursday’s final round.

The Kelley crew needed only 9.20 seconds to change all four tires and make a simulated fuel hose connection to the fuel tank for a minimum of five seconds. In earlier rounds, Sharp’s team sidelined Penske Racing’s Castroneves, A.J. Foyt’s Eliseo Salazar and Hemelgarn Racing’s Lazier.

“Right now, we’re on a roll,” said Robert Perez, Sharp’s chief mechanic. “Sunday is the big prize, though. That’s what we’re here for.”

Richie Hearn, a veteran of two Indy 500s who has driven in both CART and IRL events, has been named by car owner Ganassi to fill in for Tony Stewart if there is a delay that would prevent Stewart from completing the 500 in time to make the start of the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C.

Hearn finished third behind Lazier and Davy Jones in the 1996 Indy 500, driving for Della Penna Motorsports. His only major event win was the inaugural race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the final IRL event of 1996.

Rookie Ryan Newman, 23, won the pole for the Coca-Cola 600 with a lap of 185.217 mph around Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Friends and family of Dick Simon toasted him Tuesday night for his 40th anniversary in racing. The only downer was that for only the second time in 32 years at Indianapolis he did not have a car in the 500 as either driver, engineer or owner. His No. 1 driver, Stephan Gregoire, switched to another team after failing to find sufficient speed in Simon’s car and made the race. Simon’s other driver, Roberto Guerrero, was bumped from the field after qualifying with a slow speed.

Did that dampen the enthusiasm of the perpetually optimistic Dana Point boat dealer? Not at all.

“We came here with one objective in mind--to get our driver and our team in the 500,” Simon said. “He’s in. That’s what it’s all about. That he’s with a different team is not the point. Stephan will be in the 500, which is what we promised him.”

Gregoire got in by driving Jeff Ward’s backup car for Heritage Motorsports, a new team headed by Jim Rathmann Jr. and John Mecom III.

“On Sunday, I had something to prove, to myself, to Dick Simon, to Heritage Motorsports and to the IRL family,” Gregoire said. “I had to show everyone that I could find the speed to make the race.”

Ward’s car will be easy to spot. It will be pink and silver, with a caricature of singer Steven Tyler of the rock band Aerosmith called the “Screaming Demon.”

Tyler will sing the national anthem before the 500.

Don’t kick the TV set, thinking something is wrong when watching Roger Penske’s two cars Sunday. They will be in their familiar red and white colors, but missing will be “Marlboro” on their sides.

A late interpretation by the state attorneys general regarding use of the cigarette brand name ruled that it violated the Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, which limits participating manufacturers to one brand name annually. Use of the name Marlboro is legal as long as Penske cars run in CART, but not in an Indy Racing League event.

At an IRL race Phoenix last March, the Penske cars were designated as Penske Auto Center Specials.

The Southland Scene

Perris Auto Speedway will host a Sprint Car Racing Assn. doubleheader with a 50-lap Salute to Indy main event Saturday night, followed by a 30-lap feature on Sunday night. Both programs will start an hour earlier than usual, at 6 p.m.

Cory Kruseman, driving Harlan Willis’ Ventura-based wingless sprinter, has won five of the 10 SCRA events this season and holds a commanding lead over three-time champion Richard Griffin, 761-596. Griffin has won three features. Kruseman, 30, keeps in racing trim running a dirt track driving school at Ventura Raceway.

Irwindale Speedway, as its tribute to the Indy 500, will hold main events in five divisions--super late model, super stock, modified 4s, speed trucks and legends cars. The super late models will run 75 laps.

Sean Woodside, former NASCAR Winston West champion from Saugus, holds a precarious four-point super late model lead over Charley Utts of Camarillo, 244-240. Tied for third are two Escondido drivers, Nathan Wulff and Brent Reynolds.

When the 33rd Tecate SCORE Baja 500 off-road race gets underway next Saturday, driving his Ford F-150 Trophy Truck will be Robby Gordon, only six days after starting on the front row in the Indianapolis 500. Gordon, a three-time winner in the full-size production truck class, will start third in Ensenada--the same starting position he has at Indy. Drawing the first starting spot was Brian Collins, a southern Nevada developer who drives a Chevy C1500. The first motorcycle rider off the starting line in Ensenada will be two-time Baja 500 winner Johnny Campbell of San Clemente, on a factory-sponsored Honda. Tim Staab of San Diego will share the ride with Campbell. The legendary race will feature 23 classes, starting at 6 a.m.

The Charlotte Scene

While Tony Stewart gets most of the attention because of his Sunday doubleheader, former Winston Cup champions Dale Jarrett and Jeff Gordon are the main characters in a tense championship battle. Gordon trails Jarrett by only 14 points and is coming off a win in last week’s non-points Winston all-star race.

“Charlotte has been an amazing place for us,” Gordon said. “Winning the Winston was a great momentum boost for the whole team. We were pretty frustrated after wrecking on the first lap because of rain, but the crew never gave up and we ended up winning with our backup car.”

Said Jarrett: “The last few weeks haven’t been exactly what we wanted, but we’re ahead and that’s where we want to be. I think we’ve got a great championship race going on. There are eight or 10 that are certainly still in it.

“The way we’re turning engines now, 600 miles is a long, long time so the drivers are going to have to be smart. Not to say that the first 300 or 400 miles of that race is gonna be boring, but you can’t win it in those first 300 or 400. You can lose it by not being very smart, however.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

This Week’s Races

INDY RACING LEAGUE

Indianapolis 500

When: Sunday, race (Channel 7, 9 a.m.).

Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (rectangular oval, 2.5 miles, 9-degree banking in turns).

Race distance: 500 miles, 200 laps.

2000 champion: Juan Montoya.

Next race: Casino Magic 500, June 9, Fort Worth.

On the Net: https://indyracingleague.com

WINSTON CUP

Coca-Cola 600