RACING NEWS: 85,000 A DISAPPOINTING CROWD FOR U.S. 500?

          Officials of Sunday's CART U.S. 500 at MI Speedway
     estimated a crowd of just over 85,000, "well below what
     these Indy cars have drawn in the past -- and far from what
     the stock cars draw here," according to Joe Falls of the
     DETROIT NEWS.  Falls writes that among reasons for the lower
     than expected turnout were the CART/IRL feud, the hot
     weather, and the fact that "the sport may be overexposed in
     this part of the country. ... [W]hen you have so many races
     in the Midwest, it takes away some of the novelty" (DETROIT
     NEWS, 7/28).  Previewing the U.S. 500. Skip Myslenski of the
     CHICAGO TRIBUNE wrote that CART needs a "marquee event.  It
     has a series as competitive as any, but no event that takes
     a stranglehold on the imagination" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/27).
          IRL IN NASCAR COUNTRY: The VisionAire 500, the first
     IRL event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, drew 73,039 on
     Saturday night (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/27).