Loss of Olds not expected to affect IRL

Dick Brinster

Thursday, Dec. 14, 2000 | 10:29 a.m.

The Indy Racing League is not concerned about finding a replacement for the Oldsmobile engine that has powered the last four Indianapolis 500 winners, despite General Motors' decision to phase out the brand.

"We're very confident that GM's involvement is going to continue," IRL spokesman Ron Green said Wednesday. "They've expressed the same confidence in the future of the league, and they want to be involved."

GM said Tuesday it would eliminate the Oldsmobile line but is introducing the 2002 Bravada sport utility vehicle, so Olds will be around at least through then.

The timetable for racing is expected to parallel that, says Rick Vogelin, spokesman for Oldsmobile's IRL effort.

"Oldsmobile is committed to the IRL through 2001," he said. "That's not to say that it would not be extended if there was a valid reason to do so."

The Aurora has been the overwhelming choice among about two dozen teams. For a time, only Eddie Cheever, who won the 1998 Indy 500 with Oldsmobile Aurora power, drove a Nissan Infiniti, and only Cheever's team and that of Robbie Buhl plan to use Infinitis in 2001.

Green doesn't expect a mass defection to the Infiniti engine, the only other powerplant used in the IRL. Both the Auroras and Infinitis came into the IRL in 1997, when the circuit abandoned the turbocharged engines it used in its inaugural season.

"I don't expect the announcement by General Motors would influence many of the teams," Green said. "I think any departure from GM to Infiniti would be for performance reasons."

Cheever has been Infiniti's point man since 1999 and has the brand's only IRL victory, to 39 for the Aurora. He won last June in Fountain, Colo.

That has got the attention of GM racing executives, who sound like anything but ready to abandon the competition.

"We've held down the amount of development because, frankly, our competition really hasn't had its act together until last year," said Joe Negri, GM's Motorsports program director for the IRL. "But we know Nissan is coming with a new engine next year and we are prepared to step things up."

Rick Long, whose company builds engines for eight IRL teams, including 2000 champion Buddy Lazier, told The Indianapolis Star that he sees GM's commitment to IRL as long term.

"I think the engine will simply be badged under another name," Long said.

Vogelin isn't certain how that would work out, although he isn't surprised by GM's continuing interest in the IRL. Chevrolet and Pontiac are GM's mainstays in NASCAR, and Cadillac recently returned to sports car racing.

"There are other divisions that have ongoing programs," he said. "It's certainly not out of the question that one of those brands would pick up the IRL."