CART's return to Indy revives the spectacle

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By DARRELL FRY

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 29, 2001

They were back at the Brickyard, just like old times. They weren't all there, but there were enough CART drivers and owners at the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday to make your mind drift back to the way it used to be. To the good old days when the Indy 500 truly was the greatest spectacle in racing.

Michael Andretti was back. So was Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi. And for the first time in a long time, the Indy 500 started to feel like the Indy 500 again.

It's about time, wouldn't you say?

The whole IRL-CART feud was silly from the beginning. The IRL founders essentially thought running a CART team was getting too expensive and didn't include enough oval events, so they started their own series. That would have been fine except the IRL initially limited the Indy 500 field to only a handful of CART teams.

The IRL finally did away with that ridiculous restriction, but CART teams have been slow to return to the race. Ganassi broke ranks and entered a team last season. Penske and Andretti's team owner, Barry Green, showed up this year. For a day, anyway, the Indy racing world seemed almost as it should.

For years, names like Penske and Andretti defined the Indy 500. They were the Indy 500, along with the Foyts and the Unsers. Having the race without them is like having the All-Star Game without Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Pedro Martinez, Ken Griffey, Mark McGwire and Mike Piazza. You can call the event whatever you like, but it's the athletes that make it special.

Frankly, until this year, the Indy 500 had pretty much been a joke since the IRL-CART split in 1996. The IRL has tried to push names like Sam Hornish Jr. and Billy Boat on us, but nobody's really buying it. Sorry, America is never going to get excited about Scott Sharp no matter how many Indy 500 poles he wins.

A race with the tradition and prestige of the Indy 500 deserves the best of the best. It needs to have the biggest names competing for the biggest prize.

And, contrary to what IRL folks want to believe, the best and the biggest are CART drivers. Sunday's race pretty much proved that.

There were only six CART regulars in the 33-car field, and they swept the top five finishing spots. No IRL driver finished on the lead lap. Heck, even NASCAR's Tony Stewart, who finished sixth, outran all the IRL entries.

"I hope that this helps us get back together," said Penske, whose team of Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran finished 1-2. "We need to have one open-wheel series with guys like Helio and Gil and Tony Stewart and (Juan) Montoya and everybody else we can think about running here. That way we can take open-wheel car racing in this country where it needs to be. Right now, I think we need to move it up a little bit."

For starters, the IRL could be more welcoming to CART teams. And the CART teams need to put pride and ego aside and join Penske and Ganassi at the Brickyard. Especially drivers such as Paul Tracy and owners such as Bobby Rahal.

"Last year when Ganassi came here it said to the other guys, "Okay, I think we have to go back there.' It always takes one team or one person to take a step a certain way," veteran driver Arie Luyendyk said. "It's only good for the sport."

The Indy 500 has fallen far enough as it is. The return of Penske, Andretti and Ganassi brought a much needed dose of interest, not to mention credibility. Winning the Indy 500 meant something Sunday. Maybe not as much as it used to, but it meant more than it has in years.

It was a spectacle again. Maybe, someday, it again will be the greatest.

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