IRL Prepares for Texas

In other IRL news, it looks like this year's Indianapolis 500 champion, Juan Montoya, will not be defending his title next season. Rumors abound that Montoya, who at one time tested for the Williams Motorsports will make the move to the Formula One circuit next season. Since his boyhood in Columbia, he has dreamed of driving Formula One and it looks like he'll get his chance. Since coming to the United States, Montoya has won the CART Championship and the Indianapolis 500, and it's the opinion of this writer that he sees no more challenge in American motorsports. If this is the case, his only American appearance will be for the 2001 United States Grand Prix.

Even if Montoya moves on to the Formula One circuit, his win at Indy may open the doors for more CART teams to field entries next year. In fact, the team that originally began the split between CART and the IRL is looking seriously at returning to the "500". Roger Penske plans to do testing in an IRL car owned by Treadway Racing later this year and decide soon if he will enter a car for the 2001, Indy 500. He has said that he feels CART should leave the qualifying weekend and race weekend open on the CART schedule, so that teams who want to compete at Indy will have the opportunity. The schedule was originally open this year, but the Saturday before the "500", a rescheduled CART race had to be run. Another CART owner, Newman/Haas is also considering a return to Indy. Some people feel that one of the major reasons they are looking at returning is that the major sponsor of their team, K-Mart, can't stand to have their chief competitor, Target, in the winner's circle at the most famous race in the world and them left on the outside, looking in. Whether this is true or not, a Newman/Hass entry would certainly be welcomed by the fans of open-wheeled racing around the world.

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