Smaller Field...

[Dov]

http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/news_s...me=auto_racing

IRL opens season with smaller field

Associated Press

2/11/2004
There shouldn't be many traffic jams on the track when the Indy Racing League opens the season.

Only 18 drivers have secured deals for the race Feb. 29 in Homestead, Fla., despite all the strides made in the open-wheel series since its founding in 1996.

Among those who probably will be sitting on the sideline, at least for the first race: two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. and Sarah Fisher.

``It's a very tight sponsorship market with lots of competition,'' said Fred Nation, the right-hand man to IRL president Tony George. ``We've got several teams close to final deals. Some will get there. Some won't.''

Last year, every IRL race had at least 21 cars. At Homestead, where Nation is hopeful that at least one more car will complete a sponsorship deal, there probably won't be more than 19.

He blames a still-recovering economy and the tight sponsorship market, which has been felt all the way to the Daytona 500 in the more-popular NASCAR Nextel Cup series. Only 45 cars attempted to qualify for Sunday's race - eight fewer than a year ago.

``Everybody's wanting more this year as far as cars,'' Nation said. ``I know Daytona is a little lower than usual.''

While the economy has shown definite signs of being on the upswing, including corporate earnings and Wall Street performance, the results haven't fully trickled down to the IRL.

``That's what we're hearing from our car owners,'' Nation said. ``It has not improved to the extent that they hoped it would.''

That's not all.

``There's increased competition for motorsports as well as all sports,'' Nation said. ``More people are vying for the same or a very slowly growing pot of dollars. It's tight.''

Car owner Derrick Walker, who has fielded entries in both the IRL and the renamed Champ Car series, is still trying to work out a deal to race somewhere in 2004.

``Wherever we can raise money, I'll go race,'' Walker said Wednesday.

In a perfect world, the IRL would like to have 10 to 12 well-financed teams and around 24 regular drivers. But Nation pointed out that the series is much more competitive and well-run than it was in the formative years - even if the fields were larger then.

As an older open-wheel series, CART, spiraled into bankruptcy, IRL lured away top organizations such as Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing and more prominent drivers, including Helio Castroneves and defending champion Scott Dixon.

``Yes, we're down a few cars,'' Nation said. ``But the teams we have are pretty solid. Some are more solid than others, but our core is well-sponsored, well-run, competitive teams.''

Unser raced last season for Tom Kelley, who cut back to a one-car operation for 2004. Even though Little Al is coming off a solid year - sixth in the points, a victory at Texas Motor Speedway - he's still scrambling to find a ride. So is Fisher, the only woman in the series last year.

``These are people we need,'' Nation said. ``These are people the fans like to see racing.''

Then again, it must be noted that Unser is 41, has battled alcohol problems and was seriously hurt in a snowmobile accident during the off-season. Fisher, while popular with the fans, has never been very successful on the track.

Fisher and several other drivers have lined up one-race deals for the Indy 500, which traditionally has a 33-car field. The IRL is hopeful that some of those cars will find the money to make it to other tracks.

Nation isn't worried about having enough cars to fill out the field at Indianapolis.

``There's no great concern over it,'' he said. ``It's a little too early to tell right now, but we have a number of existing teams that told us they will add entries for Indy. There are several one-off deals we are aware of. So we expect to have a full field for Indy.''

As Walker pointed out, there should be at least 36 open-wheel racers this year. The problem is: They're divided between two rival series.

Champ Cars, which picked up the remains of CART, plans a 15-race season with at least 18 cars, including defending CART champion Paul Tracy of Toronto.

For now, there's no sign of a reconciliation, which most believe is vital to rebuilding open-wheel racing to the popularity it once enjoyed.

``If we had one series, we would have about 36 cars,'' Walker said. ``Thirty-six cars trying to get into any given race. That would be what we see in NASCAR. That would be a hell of a show. The Indy 500 would be what it used to be.

``That's the dilemma we have. We have two series. It needs to be one.''

[BootsOntheSide]

I'm not sure there would be 36 entries in a united series. A lot of sponsors would look at it and realise that their chances of geting major publicity would be reduced, even if a combined series got more and better TV and press coverage.

Both championships have struggled for entries in recent years. The IRL lost far more teams than it gaiend last year, and only PK and possibly FDR would've entered CART last year were it not for Pookfare. Seeing teams like Mo Nunn onyl able to run one car, and Walker struggling to hit the track at all, is a sad state of affairs.

Economic factors are partly responsible, but overall the divided nature of the championships is the bigegst factor. NASCAR may have lsot out partly due to its crazy points system changes, as well as more big teams pushing the costs up - which has also affected the IRL badly.

[marcus]

money talks simple as that , while I do agree the split and political infighting has harmed both series I personally think that it is purely a money problem.

Corporate companies dont want to part with their cash so easilly anymore and to run one of these teams costs bucket loads of money these days.

Its a sad state of affairs thats for sure and they do have to do something to prevent the sport from making itself extinct because of spiraling costs.

remember it costs a heck of alot of money firstly to buy the cars , test the cars and run them let alone to pay for the trucks that get them to the tracks , the drivers salaries , the team mebers salaries , even the cleaner back at the shop has to get paid , and then you even need a cook to prepare all the food for the team , its just bundles and bundles of cash.

I dont know what they can do to cut costs maybe a testing ban , maybe cheaper and longer engine life by same components , heck maybe everyone has to bring their own cut lunch from home to the tracks but I do agree something has to be done to stop the sport dying , in all forms of it not just IRL or CART .
as they say money talks and bull**** walks.

[rustyfan]

That article isn't entirely correct; there have been 19 full-time cars confirmed for some time now, it's just that Greg Ray wasn't able to attend the testing at Homestead because he was busy elsewhere.

Also, wasn't there new chassis' introduced to the IndyCar series not too long ago? I'd say when more used chassis' become available on the market and the change to 3.0 litre engines have stabilized itself (in the sense that the engine manufacturers have been able to make more engines) I think the numbers will rise somewhat again.

[kingfloopy]

The economy is having a negative effect on all racing series. The NASCAR Nextel Cup series is 5 entries short for the second race of the season. The economy will pick up and we will see a lot more sponsors becoming involved, but it could be a while before that happens. So until then a lot of good drivers will be left out in the cold. The sad thing will be if the field at Indy is short, because I don't think that has ever happened before.

J.D.

[dirtfan]

1947?

[marcus]

and 1947 means ?????

[BootsOntheSide]

I think 1947 was the last time the Indy 500 fell short of 33 entries, perhaps because of after-effects of the war.

The new chassis was introduced last year, so there should be plenty of second-hand cars on the market. The change to 3 litre engines shouldn't have a big effect - there are already around 30 of the current engines (which become illegal after the 500), and running a 3 litre engine in the early races would at least allow a new team to learn the ropes, get some practice, and pick up points through reliability.

[mountainstar]

I think the whole deal with chassis and engines are excuses for the low field. Fact is, if you look at the tv and spectator numbers from last year, there are only so many cars that can find sponsor support. You are not going to be able to field 25-30 with numbers as they are.

[kingfloopy]

Will the IRL offer money for sponsorless teams to show up like NASCAR does?

J.D.

[jhansen]

I don't know Rustyfan, 18 or 19 cars, no difference to me. The fields are small. The article has merrit in that sense. Fortunately for us as fans the races are ultra-competitive. However, until they can regularly reach the mid-20's on a regular basis then I'm not going to get too excited in terms of car counts. With that said, I still love the races as they are. The racing has been awesome and breathtaking at times. Roll on Homestead!

[climb]

If even Nascar have problems, well who could be rid of them?

Apart from F3 Euroseries, any other series in the world is facing more or less hard times.
IRL is bound to be in the same situation

[911gt1]

Originally posted by kingfloopy
Will the IRL offer money for sponsorless teams to show up like NASCAR does?

J.D.

The IRL will do what it takes to maintain 18 cars at all the races except Indy, just like OWRS will in their series. At Indy they'll do the same to make 33.

[climb]

Encouraging news!
It seems like Patrick will join the series; and Becks has bought one update kit for 2004; adding PDM and Kelley expanding to two cars, IRL should reach 20 cars for most races.