Michael & Al Jr. at Texas???

[Tim Northcutt]

The IRL's official website just posted a story that the track owner at Texas Motor Spedway has offered to pay a $100,000 fee to Michael Andretti and Al Unser Jr. that their teams would slpit between them if both (and it has to be both) of them race at Texas in 2 weeks.

Let's see if it happens!!!

[luke]

Yes I read about this as well, it would be nice to see them race still, maybe they are past their best? Maybe we are just relying on their names? Maybe they can pull out something special? I hope it happens.

[Tim Northcutt]

Maybe Gossage wants to sell some more tickets....

[Hazard]

Won't happen. That's not a lot of money...well, it is if it turned up in my account but you know what I mean.

[Knowlesy]

Whatever next, a full time return?

I can't see it happening...

[luke]

Yeah, no better time to end their careers once and for all at Indy, Texas? Yes the money, but Texas don't compare to Indy as clear as it maybe.

[BootsOntheSide]

Ask me on Sunday evening whether this would be a good thing. Neither of them were amazingly fast in qualifying, so perhaps their time has passed. It doesn't say much for the IRL that a promoter feels he could sell $100,000 worth of extra tickets by having 2 drivers who haven't raced regularly of late.

[luke]

Show's the desperation of open wheel racing today, not that I'm complaining as I want to see them two race still.

[Tim Northcutt]

Today's Indy Star reports that both Michael and Al Jr. have declined to accept this offer...

They won't be racing at Texas...doesn't surprise me...

[rustyfan]

This is what the teams said:

"Had we been given a few months to work on this, we may have been able to make it work," said Kevin Savoree, part of the ownership team at Andretti Green Racing. "We must be in a position to win every race we enter and their just isn't sufficient time to prepare and plan. Our key resource -- our staff -- is flat out preparing AGR's four full-time entries for a stretch of back-to-back-to-back races."

"We're a one-car team and we simply are not in a position to prepare a car for Al to run in Texas," said Robbie Buhl, a team owner of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. "We can't afford to take anything away from the preparation we have committed to support our regular driver, Buddy Lazier. We talked with some additional sponsors, but we simply could not put things in place to run Al at Texas properly."

[Michael Edick]

if YOU were Al, and was mired in the back of the pack for most of the day in an uncompetitive car, would you want to do that all over again?

I have always been a fan of Al, but it was very uncomfortable to see him at Indy...I think he was being used, only to draw more ticket sales...