Series Keep Merger Discussions Fresh

Talks continue toward reunifying the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series, but a merger is still by no means guaranteed, IRL chief Tony George said Friday.

Two days before the IRL’s crown jewel, the Indianapolis 500, George said, “We’ve had a couple of more meetings,” in recent weeks, referring to himself and Champ Car principal Kevin Kalkhoven.

Champ Car is the other major open-wheel series, which includes the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The sides confirmed earlier this year that they were negotiating.

“We really didn’t move the meter much, but everything is still positive and I believe moving forward,” said George, whose family also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

He declined to provide a timetable on the negotiations.

“There are still a lot of details that need to be discussed on a number of issues, so that in and of itself would lead me to believe it’s not going to happen quickly,” George said. “But you never know.”

George formed the IRL a decade ago to protect the interests of his track and reinvigorate oval-track racing; Champ Car, then known as CART, pursued more road races. The popularity and financial health of both series have suffered.

Al Unser Jr., who has driven in both series, said it would be “nothing but a plus for them to get together.

“I think everybody knows that, and hopefully they can work their differences out.”

Earlier this month, team owner Chip Ganassi, who left CART for the IRL several years ago, said “something has got to be done” to bring the two series back together for open-wheel racing to keep attracting fans and sponsorship money.

“Let’s face it, both of the open-wheel series are on the gurney and I wouldn’t even say they’re in the emergency room anymore,” he said. “They’re kind of out in the hall, next to the emergency room, because a lot of the doctors don’t even care.”

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Wade Cunningham edged Jay Howard to win the Freedom 100 here Friday in the IRL’s Indy Pro Series developmental division.

Howard passed Cunningham for the lead with two laps left in the 40-lap race over the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but Cunningham reclaimed the lead on the final lap to win by less than a second. His average speed was 184.679 mph.

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The pit crew for Helio Castroneves of Marlboro Team Penske won the Checkers/Rally’s Pit Stop Challenge after defeating the crew of Tony Kanaan of Andretti Green Racing.

The competition’s winner has gone on to win the Indianapolis 500 five times, most recently in 2004 with the team of Buddy Rice of Rahal Letterman Racing.

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California drivers in this year’s 500 include Bryan Herta of Valencia, Townsend Bell of San Luis Obispo, Torrance native P.J. Jones, son of racing great Parnelli Jones; Jaques Lazier of Alta Loma, and Roger Yasukawa of Los Angeles, who got into the race at the last minute.

The Playa Del Racing team, which was formed in Playa del Rey in 2001 by Gary Sallee, Susan Schafer and others, tapped Yasukawa to drive after co-owner Jon Herb was unable to get their car up to competitive speed.

Yasukawa, 28, a three-time Indy 500 starter, then qualified the car at 218.793 mph and will start 28th on the 33-car grid.

Playa Del Racing’s other driver is Lazier, 35, who will start 24th after qualifying at 221.151 mph.

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Starting lineup

The starting grid for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 (r-rookie; field average: 222.688 mph):

*--* Pos. No. Driver Chassis MPH ROW 1 1. (6) Sam Hornish Jr. Dallara 228.985 2. (3) Helio Castroneves Dallara 228.008 3. (10) Dan Wheldon Dallara 227.338 ROW 2 4. (9) Scott Dixon Dallara 226.921 5. (11) Tony Kanaan Dallara 226.776 6. (4) Vitor Meira Dallara 226.156 ROW 3 7. (55) Kosuke Matsuura Dallara 225.503 8. (8) Scott Sharp Dallara 225.321 9. (26) r-Marco Andretti Dallara 224.918 ROW 4 10. (16) Danica Patrick Panoz 224.674 11. (2) Tomas Scheckter Dallara 224.659 12. (20) Ed Carpenter Dallara 224.548 ROW 5 13. (1) Michael Andretti Dallara 224.508 14. (15) Buddy Rice Panoz 224.393 15. (90) r-Townsend Bell Dallara 224.374 ROW 6 16. (7) Bryan Herta Dallara 224.179 17. (27) Dario Franchitti Dallara 223.345 18. (52) Max Papis Dallara 222.058 ROW 7 19. (51) Eddie Cheever Dallara 222.028 20. (91) r-P.J. Chesson Dallara 221.576 21. (14) Felipe Giaffone Dallara 221.542 ROW 8 22. (92) Jeff Bucknum Dallara 221.461 23. (41) Larry Foyt Dallara 221.332 24. (21) Jaques Lazier Panoz , 221.151 ROW 9 25 (5) Buddy Lazier Dallara 220.922 26 (17) Jeff Simmons Panoz 220.347 27 (31) Al Unser Jr. Dallara 219.388 ROW 10 28. (12) Roger Yasukawa Panoz 218.793 29. (88) Airton Dare Panoz 218.170 30. (97) Stephan Gregoire Panoz 217.428 ROW 11 31. (61) r-Arie Luyendyk Jr. Panoz 216.352 32. (98) PJ Jones Panoz 215.816 33. (18) r-Thiago Medeiros Panoz 215.729

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