MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : CART Fires First Shot at IRL

Any hope that the fledgling Indy Racing League and Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc., could coexist vanished with the announcement by CART that it had scheduled races on dates already selected by the IRL.

The IRL, Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George’s all-oval Indy car racing series that will make its debut in January, scheduled a race Aug. 18 at the New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon. But the 15-race CART schedule includes a race that day on the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

A new CART race, in Rio de Janeiro, is without a date, although it might be scheduled for March 24, the day of an IRL race at Phoenix.

“One thing we promised when we were planning our schedule was that we would not create any conflict with Indy car dates,” said Jack Long, IRL executive director. “It’s disappointing.”

The five-race IRL season is scheduled to open Jan. 27 on a 1.1-mile oval under construction at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

George had hoped Indy car regulars such as Al Unser Jr., Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Paul Tracy and Emerson Fittipaldi would drive in IRL and PPG Indy Car World Series events. However, most franchise owners in the older series have said they would not run IRL events other than the Indianapolis 500.

The 1996 CART schedule includes five races on ovals, five on permanent road courses and five on temporary street circuits.

“The growth of our series is the mix of races,” said Carl Haas, co-owner with Paul Newman of cars driven by Andretti and Tracy. “There is no chance we will go to any IRL race except Indianapolis. Absolutely not.”

Haas’ position is one aspect of Indy car racing George is trying to counteract. Haas is the U.S. distributor of Lola cars, the most popular make among Indy cars; a member of the Indy Car board of directors, operator of the Milwaukee Mile track where Indy cars race and a car owner.

“It seems to me to be a conflict of interest where the car owner, track operator, car dealer and rules maker is one and the same fellow,” George said.

Not on the Indy car schedule was a race for Roger Penske’s proposed California Speedway in Fontana. The opening of the yet-to-be-built two-mile oval has apparently been advanced to 1997.

Although George and Long say they have tacit promises from some Indy car teams to race at Orlando, only A.J. Foyt has officially declared his intentions.

Car owner John Menard, who had Scott Brayton on the pole and Arie Luyendyk on the front row for the Indy 500, has said his team will run in all IRL races. The Menard cars, powered by engines derived from Buick stock blocks, do not race at other Indy car events.

The PPG Cup championship, which since 1983 has been a combination of the U.S. Auto Club-sanctioned Indy 500 and 15 other CART-sanctioned Indy car races, will not include Indianapolis next year, according to a CART announcement.

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Motor Racing Notes

STOCK CARS--The Winston Racing Series returns to Saugus Speedway on Saturday night with a program of super late models, pure stocks and mini-stocks. . . . Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield will play host to the fifth race of the Winston West series Saturday night. Favored on the half-mile banked oval will be points leader Doug George of Atwater, Calif., and Butch Gilliland of Anaheim. . . . Modifieds and street stocks will race Saturday night at Sunrise Valley Raceway in Adelanto.

MIDGETS--Billy Boat and Hank Butcher will continue to vie for leadership among U.S. Auto Club western regional drivers Saturday night at Ventura Raceway. Boat’s victory two weeks ago at Cajon Speedway moved him past the veteran Butcher. Also on the program will be three-quarter midgets and California dwarf cars.

SPRINT CARS--Ron Shuman, after recovering from head injuries sustained in a crash two weeks ago in Bakersfield, will return to the Sprint Car Racing Assn. fold Saturday night for a feature race at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix.

JET SKIS--The Budweiser Jet Sports Tour will be in Santa Barbara this weekend for the Westcoast Performance Nationals off Leadbetter Beach. Featured will be Chris Fischetti of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., who moved into the points lead in the pro runabout 785cc class with a victory last week in San Diego. Fischetti also won the pro sport class. Also in the pro roundabout 785 will be Minoru Kanamori, the world champion from Japan.

SPEEDWAY BIKES--Starting next week, there will be two Friday night programs--one at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa and the other at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino. Glen Helen promoter Jim Fishback, a former rider, said, “We haven’t been able to draw the crowd necessary to turn a profit on Wednesday nights, and I believe there are enough riders available to present our races on the same night as Costa Mesa Speedway.” . . . None of the four American riders made it through the Overseas Final last week in the 1996 World Grand Prix Challenge. In this year’s Grand Prix series, which has replaced the one-day world championship format, Sam Ermolenko is sixth, Greg Hancock 11th and Billy Hamill 15th going into the second round Saturday in Austria. The fourth American, Josh Larsen, is still sidelined because of a back injury.

MOTOCROSS--Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath failed to add to his winning record last week in Las Vegas when a power outage dimmed the Sam Boyd Stadium and McGrath, Mike Kiedrowski and Doug Henry declined to ride for safety reasons. Jeff Emig of Riverside scored his first stadium victory before a record 25,329.