Many cities, including LV, interested in IRL race

Dick Brinster

Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001 | 9:33 a.m.

Although the defection of Roger Penske from the Championship Auto Racing Teams series has brought considerable publicity to the Indy Racing League, officials of the circuit figure they already were on the fast track to success.

Next year, they have a 15-race schedule, the most since formation of the league and three times as many as they staged in the inaugural season of 1996.

Ken Ungar, the IRL's vice president for business affairs, says he has received calls from several tracks interested in adding the open-wheel series to their programs.

New venues on the 2002 schedule are in Fontana, Calif.; Nazareth, Pa., and Brooklyn, Mich. -- the latter two longtime former CART tracks.

The 2002 schedule's geographical mix -- with a race on the West Coast for the first time and a return to the Northeast -- will provide value to sponsors, achieve merit for the competitors and grab the attention of the fans, Ungar said.

"At this stage of our growth, 15 races is a very good schedule," he said. "We don't see any additional races being added to the schedule unless any existing races fall off."

That had been a problem for the IRL, which lost only Atlanta Motor Speedway from its 2001 venues.

Now, the IRL, which stages the Indianapolis 500, would like to add the second of America's two great tracks -- Daytona International Speedway -- to its wish list.

Brian Barnhart, the IRL's vice president for competition, considers stock car racing's most hallowed facility a prime opportunity for the future.

"If the opportunity is there, we could go down and put on a good, safe race," he said. "But that's a few years down the road.

"The thing I like about our rule package is there is not an oval we can't run on."

He said Las Vegas Motor Speedway officials have expressed a desire to bring Indy Racing back to that 1 1/2-mile oval. Indy Racing events took place in Las Vegas from 1996-99.

The Milwaukee Mile, long an Indy-car racing haven, also is a possibility down the road, Ungar said. He said IRL founder Tony George's long-term plan could add a street- or road-course event at a marquee venue, similar to the annual NASCAR Winston Cup road races at Watkins Glen and Sears Point.

"The growth of the league has been exactly what Tony was looking for," Ungar said.

But a downward turn in the economy affecting all phases of auto racing is a concern. Ungar said the IRL will do everything it can to support the teams.

"I have every expectation we will have full fields," he said.

What the IRL has to worry less about these days is the quality of those fields. With former champions Buddy Lazier, Scott Sharp and Greg Ray, 1998 Indy 500 champ Eddie Cheever and 22-year-old Sam Hornish Jr. back to defend his title, the lineup was beginning to look quite formidable.

Now, with Penske bringing over two-time CART champion Gil de Ferran and 2001 Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves, it should be even more imposing.

The opposition is glad to have Penske aboard.

"I think it means a lot to the league," John Menard said. "As a car owner, I welcome the chance to compete against him."

So does Hornish, who last season became the youngest champion in big-time American auto racing history.

"It's going to step up the level of competition a little bit," he said. "They definitely have the resources to go out there and have winning cars."

Brian Hilderbrand is on vacation. His motor sports column will resume on Jan. 4.