Olympics: Five Olympic rings, all shaped like an oval

Five Olympic rings, all shaped like an oval

An auto race in Dallas as part of the 2012 Games? Eddie Gossage of Texas Motor Speedway has support for the idea.

By KEVIN KELLY

Mark Martin does not have a favorite Olympic sport because he doesn't watch the Olympics.

Judging from the television ratings for the Sydney Games, the Winston Cup veteran is not alone.

But it isn't the overly dramatic feature stories or the tape delays Martin cites as reasons for tuning out.

"They don't have any cars racing," he said. "So I really don't have any interest in watching."

Team handball, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and badminton have become Olympic sports in recent years.

As a charter member of the Dallas 2012 Olympic Committee, Eddie Gossage would like to add auto racing to that list. Dallas is one of eight metropolitan areas bidding to be the American representative to compete against other countries for the right to host the 2012 Games. Tampa Bay is another. The Texas Motor Speedway general manager's plans are to make motorsports one of two demonstration sports should the International Olympic Committee choose Dallas as host of the 2012 Games.

"We discussed using Texas Motor Speedway as a venue site for several Olympic sports during the Summer Games, but we all felt it would be best used as a motor racing facility," Gossage said.

"The notion that an international auto race would likely draw the largest crowd since the Olympic Games were founded in ancient Greece was thrilling for everyone involved with Dallas 2012. ... To have a venue this large could be a big boost."

In an effort to gauge interest, Gossage mailed 400 questionnaires to drivers, teams and just about anybody of importance in the auto racing community.

He received 200 responses, most in favor of the idea.

Gossage can thumb through a file of returned letters and find names like Al Unser Jr., Johnny Rutherford, Eddie Cheever, Felix Sabates and Jeff Gordon.

Gordon, a three-time Winston Cup champion who will be 41 in 2012, wrote a four-page response.

"It was very detailed and ended with him saying if this happened that he wanted to be a part of it," Gossage said.

Others feel the same about a possible race field consisting of drivers like Gordon, Michael Schumacher, Michael Andretti, Juan Montoya, Dale Earnhardt and Mika Hakkinen.

"There are great racers from all over the world," said John Andretti, who drives a car owned by Richard Petty in the Winston Cup series. "Look at everyone in Formula One. Look at the Indy guys. There are some pretty great Americans, too, in all forms of racing.

"Put them all together -- man, that would be pretty awesome."

The idea of an Olympic auto race raises several questions that may take the better part of 12 years to answer.

What kind of cars would be allowed?

NASCAR-style cars with fenders or open-wheel cars like the ones Indy Racing, CART and Formula One use?

The logical answer would be to copy the International Race of Champions format where drivers from several top racing series compete in the same type of car, prepared identically by an independent crew.

"You could have cars under the same rules, whether they were stock cars or Indy cars or sports cars or whatever," Winston Cup driver Michael Waltrip said. "But do you make it like a 400-meter run or like a marathon?

"Maybe the greatest drag racers would do 100-meter dashes and the Indy and Formula One guys the 400-meter stuff and the stock car guys could do the marathons -- the 500-milers."

Will the race take place on the 1.5-mile banked oval or road course in the infield at Texas Motor Speedway?

Formula One drivers compete solely on road circuits while Indy Racing events take place only on ovals. CART and NASCAR race on both ovals and road courses.

And would women be allowed to drive?

Sarah Fisher is one of the most talented drivers in Indy Racing competition as is Shawna Robinson in ARCA.

"I don't think they would do that in the Olympics," Robinson said. "That would be a first for them, and that would mean a lot for the gold-medal winner. You would be the best driver in the world -- not just the best male driver or the best female driver."

Gossage realizes the questions will keep him busy, but he believes answering them and making his idea a reality is worth the effort.

"This may not be possible, but it would be a great legacy to bring auto racing to the Olympics," he said. "To be able to offer racing as an Olympic sport would be great."