Back Home Again in Indiana

I like CART auto racing. I really do. But I like to watch the IRL cars too. For one, they're normally aspirated V-8s, and they rumble rather than whine. The IRL has also given guys like Jason Leffler, Tony Stewart and Billy Boat - guys that charged up through the ranks of midgets and sprint cars, the classic front-engine open-wheel American racers - a chance to run on the big ovals.

I was glad to see CART open up their schedule to allow teams a chance to return to Indianapolis and run the 500. CART even took the extra step of scheduling the postponed Bosch Sparkplug Gran Prix on Saturday to keep Sunday of Memorial Day weekend open. CART CEO Andrew Craig may be Scots, but he apparently listens to the Yankee owners in CART.

The Indy 500 is The Great American Race.

Of course, since the current CART series champion - Team Target-Chip Ganassi - was to The Team from the senior series at Indy, you wouldn't expect otherwise. If the best of CART is going to represent the series among the IRL upstarts at Indy, you want to make sure they get there on time and well rested. None of this Indy-NASCAR, iron man Stewart-Gordon-Andretti stuff for the wine and cheese crowd.

Ganassi reportedly invested $3 million of Target's money to field a 2-car effort, saddling up his regular drivers Juan Montoya and Jimmy Vasser. Target wanted the representation, and they got it - in the winner's circle.

In fact, both drivers did Target and Ganassi proud. Both qualified near the front of the grid, with Montoya nearly taking the pole in spite of being an Indy rookie. Then Montoya ran away with the race, leading a majority of the laps after pole-sitter Greg Ray clipped the wall.

The one sour note was Ganassi's choice to split the strategy on his team cars, setting up Vasser for a fueling pattern that would have allowed him to go the distance had there been late race cautions. Unfortunately there weren't, and Vasser had to pit for fuel as the race wound down, forcing his team to settle for 7th rather than a probable 2nd.

Regardless, the gloating started yesterday as soon as the checkered flag fell. Credit goes to Chip Ganassi, who was remarkably gracious and upbeat, and to CART, but the pundits and hangers-on, and the wannabes crowed raucously. The Internet auto racing discussion groups buzzed with "I told you so's," as CART fans attempted to bask in the reflected glory.

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