Champ Car maneuvers against Indy 500

UPDATE This rumor is downgraded to 'false.' Champ Car isn't going to keep any of its teams from competing at this year's Indianapolis 500 according to Tony Cotman, the new vice president of operations for Champ Car. "There's a rule that some people have interpreted to mean is there to keep our teams from running at Indy but it’s not true," said Cotman. "It's a testing rule and we have it to prevent somebody in the IRL from leasing one of our cars to test a driver on a road course because then that Champ Car team would gain information." "But are we going to stop our people from running Indy? No. Should we? No, I don't believe so. Are we helping the IRL? Probably but if there's a sponsor who might run Champ Car if they get to compete at Indy, that's good."

The paragraph that created the stir states:

No Champ Car entrant may use Champ Car chassis, equipment, personnel or team resources to perform testing of any type for any other racing team in any series, any manufacturer or other third party. The mandatory penalty for violation shall be the loss of all series points awarded during the then current season, exclusion from one Champ Car sanctioned Champ Car World Series event (the event to be determined by Champ Car) and a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000 U.S.). The decision by Champ Car as to whether any testing provision has been violated and the assessment of the prescribed penalty is not subject to protest.

Newman/Haas Racing, who captured the 2004 Champ Car title with Sebastien Bourdais, was the lone CC team to field a car at Indy in 2004 with Bruno Junqueira and appears to be the only operation considering it again this year. Junqueira, who captured the pole at Indy in 2002, finished fifth last May. SPEEDTV.com

02/12/05 Since the CART/IRL split and in recent years, the IRL has been having trouble filling the 33-car field for the Indy 500 and in recent years ratings and attendance have plummeted. CART teams have regularly gone over and cherry-picked the Indy 500, taking home the first-place Hulman George money on a number of occasions. In doing so they helped fill the 33-car Indy 500 field. Champ Car has put a stop to that. Their 2005 rule book, section 5.5.6. reads:

No Champ Car entrant may use Champ Car chassis, equipment, personnel or team resources to perform testing of any type for any other racing team in any series, any manufacturer or other third party. The mandatory penalty for violation shall be the loss of all series points awarded during the then current season, exclusion from one Champ Car sanctioned Champ Car World Series event (the event to be determined by Champ Car) and a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000 U.S.). The decision by Champ Car as to whether any testing provision has been violated and the assessment of the prescribed penalty is not subject to protest.

So unless a Champ Car team owner starts a separate IRL team just for the Indy 500, there will no longer be any Champ Car teams helping to fill the traditional 33-car field. To fill the field in 2005 Tony George will have to tap deeper into the family coffers or convince Honda and Toyota to pay teams to run additional cars to fill the field. Of course all of this would not be necessary had Tony George not created the IRL, split the sport and all but destroy it. Mark C.