The split in Indy car racing between CART and the IRL
remained in the news with stories on HBO's "Real Sports" and
ESPN's "SportsCenter." The feud has resulted in the top IndyCar
drivers opting to race in the U.S. 500 in MI rather than the Indy
500 on Memorial Day. CART team owner/actor Paul Newman on Indy:
"Where is all that tradition gonna go? Who gets screwed? The
fan gets screwed." HBO's James Brown said even the major
sponsors of the Indy 500 have tried to resolve the issue, and he
reported a confidential letter was sent to both IRL President
Tony George and CART President Andrew Craig "signed by the CEOs
of each company, asking the two parties to find some way to
resolve their differences." Craig, on the incentive for
reconciliation: "If we're successful, then perhaps it's time to
recognize that the sport does not need to revolve around the Indy
500. But frankly, it's an important event in which we'd like to
see it keep its stature. But we're not the ones who have
undermined it" (HBO, 5/20). ESPN's "Cover Story" reviewed the
battle lines drawn by the IRL and CART. CART driver Paul Tracy:
"It's not a fight between the drivers and the track owners. It's
the car owners and the promoters with Tony George." IRL team
owner A.J. Foyt: "Big Roger Penske. Where in the hell was Roger
Penske made? Right here at this goddamn race track [Indy]. He
damn sure didn't make this place like A.J. Foyt did or whoever.
I'm sick and tired of hearing the crap" ("SportsCenter," ESPN,
5/20). A front-page piece in today's L.A. TIMES notes the
"spectacle of competing races has left many fans angry and
dispirited. And the dispute threatens to undermine corporate
support and stunt the sport's growth" (Donald Nauss, L.A. TIMES,
5/21).
