Indy Car Division Will Increase

If you think this year is a mess in Indy car racing, with the elite drivers running May 26 at Brooklyn, Mich., while a lesser-known group is racing the traditional Indianapolis 500 at the same time, just wait until next year.

Engine regulations for 1997 announced by the Indy Racing League, of which the Indy 500 is the centerpiece, virtually assure that not only will two separate series be conducted for what the public has known as Indy cars, but that the cars will be considerably different.

For this year’s Indy 500--and the U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway--car specifications are similar enough that the same car can be raced at either an IRL or Championship Auto Racing Teams event with only minor modifications.

Not next year.

CART will retain its proven 2.65-liter turbocharged V-8 racing engines that have been used since 1969. IRL specifications call for a naturally aspirated, four-liter V-8 based on production passenger car engines. The IRL rule thus excludes the Ford Cosworth, Ilmor Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Toyota engines used in CART races, as well as the Menard Buicks that will help fill this month’s Indy 500 field.

The new IRL engines, which IRL says will cost only $75,000, will come from the Aurora V-8 by Oldsmobile, and the Infiniti Indy by Nissan.

Because the 1997 engines are larger and call for wider engine mounts and cars, new chassis makers will enter the Indy 500 picture. No longer will Lolas, Reynards, Penskes and Eagles race in IRL events.

Instead, there will be cars from Dallara of Italy and G Force of Great Britain. They will appear for the first time at the Indy 200 at Walt Disney World next Jan. 25. An American car builder, Riley & Scott, will build a car for the 1998 season.

Dallara has built championship Formula Three cars, and G Force has built components--but never a complete race car--for Formula One and touring car programs. Their cars are scheduled for testing in late summer.

The new rules, although drastically different, are expected to produce similar racing speeds, 200-225 mph, at Indianapolis.

Cost containment is the main reason given by Tony George, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and founder of the IRL, for the radical changes. The sticker price for a ’97 IRL car, minus engine, is $250,000, plus an additional $13,000 for extras such as the gearbox and fuel tank.

A 1996 Indy car chassis costs about $420,000, plus an additional $60,000 for an electronic package and other extras.

Engines are available only through lease programs and run about $140,000 each, with $34,000 for a rebuild after each 500 miles. Unlike IRL, in which engines will be owned by the teams, CART owners must return their engines to the manufacturers at the end of the season in rebuilt condition.

In an ironic turn, with the All-American IRL series turning to European chassis makers, the Swift Engineering Co. of San Clemente has contracted to build CART chassis designed by David Bruns for next season. The Swifts, which will be powered by Cosworth engines, will be campaigned by the Newman/Haas team, which this year includes Michael Andretti, winner of last Sunday’s race at Nazareth, Pa.

CART driver Hiro Matsushita is president and chairman of Swift Engineering.

Motor Racing Notes

STOCK CARS--NASCAR’s Winston Cup series makes its only appearance in California on Sunday when the big stock cars race in the Save Mart Supermarkets 300 on the 2.52-mile road course at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma. Series points leader Dale Earnhardt is defending champion in the 300-kilometer (187-mile) race. Trans-Am champion Tommy Kendall will replace Bill Elliott, who was injured in a crash Sunday at Talladega, Ala., in the McDonald’s Ford. A Featherlite Southwest Tour race will be held Saturday.

Winston Racing Series sportsman and Grand American modifieds will race Saturday night at Cajon Speedway. . . . Late models will also be at Kern County Raceway and Blythe Speedway on Saturday night.

RALLY--Hyundai driver Paul Choiniere will be seeking his fifth consecutive victory in the SCCA/Michelin Rim of the World PRO Rally today and Saturday, a 228-mile journey starting from the Ramada Inn in Palmdale at 7 p.m. today. The 12-stage rally will be held primarily in the Angeles National Forest, south of Palmdale. Featured will be two new factory-backed cars, a 900 turbo Saab for Sam Bryan of Kent, Wash., and a Toyota Supra for Ralph Kosmides of Newport Beach.

MOTOCROSS--The national outdoor season resumes this weekend with the Dirt Diggers’ 28th running of the Hangtown Nationals at the Prairie City recreational park near Sacramento. Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath, who lost last week in St. Louis for the first time in 14 races, is also the defending 250cc champion. After Hangtown, the AMA motocrossers will race an outdoor national May 11-12 at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino.

SPRINT CARS--Ventura Raceway’s cozy quarter-mile clay oval will play host to the Sprint Car Racing Assn.’s wingless machines Saturday night, as well as dwarf cars.

MIDGETS--U.S. Auto Club western regional midgets will make their debut at the new Perris Auto Speedway on Saturday night. Billy Boat, winner of 18 races last year, and Sleepy Tripp, the winningest driver in West Coast midget history, are entered.

MOTORCYCLES--Speedway riders will be asked to stretch out tonight in the Cirello/Legal Rights Defenders 25-lap race at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. The usual distance for speedway races is four laps. Brad Oxley is defending champion. . . . The fourth round of the American Trials Assn. championship is scheduled Sunday at the Corral Canyon recreation park, 40 miles east of San Diego, about five miles from the Buckman Springs exit off Interstate 8.

MISCELLANY--The Unlimited Hydroplane Thunder Tour will get under way this weekend with the Gila River Casino Unlimited Cup on Firebird Lake in Chandler, Ariz. Chip Hanauer, in Miss Budweiser, will try to close in on the late Bill Muncey’s record of 62 wins. Hanauer has 59. . . . Nick De Fazio, 12, of Orange, finished third in the Belgian Karting championships to qualify for the junior world championships July 12-14 in Belgium.