By Mary Bignotti Mendez

North American open-wheel grids are lacking entries while their support series are bursting at the seams.
So far this season, the Champ Car World Series has only 17 cars competing in its first three events. The Indy Racing League’s Indy Car Series started with 20 cars at its Homestead opener and barely filled its 33-car field at Indy. So, why is there so much interest in their respective support series?
One could argue it’s all about money, but there’s a lot more to it. Reach back a decade or two when car owners had money from lots of sponsors and could hire the best drivers. As technology advanced and sponsors became scarce, the cost of competing forced some teams into signing paying drivers instead of those most talented. Champ Car and IndyCar teams spend $3-5 million for a one-car effort, but competing in the Champ Car Atlantic Series or the Indy Pro Series can cost less than $1 million.
“Champ Car and Indy cars are too expensive,” said Roger Bailey, executive director of the Indy Pro Series. “Once the capital expenses are out of the way and the equipment is paid for, you can run the Pro Series for $500,000 to $650,000 for our 16-race season. Starting from scratch where you have to buy your cars, you are looking at $1.2-$1.4 million. Between a little bit of family money from businesses or trust funds, along with sponsor money, they can find $400,000-$500,000. What they can’t find is $4-$5 million. Every thing else is the same. We travel to the same venues and stay in the same hotels.”
The Pro Series doubled its grids to 25 this year, offering a modest championship fund combined with significantly higher purses, $275,000 per race (up to $380,000 for doubleheader weekends) split by the top 18 drivers, for a season total of $3.7 million. Costs for the Dallara chassis is $135,000, with a leased-engine package of $45,000, and another $58,000 for engine rebuilds during the 16-race season. 
“The Pro Series is a very good training ground for drivers that want to learn and prepare themselves properly for Indy car racing,” explained second-year Pro Series owner Eddie Cheever. “It’s a steppingstone to the Indy 500. With the whole slew of new teams and drivers this year, I think it's going to be the best open-wheel schooled drivers in the States. It’s highly probable that a good percentage of the teams competing in the Indy Pro Series will operate at a profit because there’s such a great prize fund.”
In contrast, the Atlantic grids have swelled to 30 cars, vying for the champion’s $2 million bonus (toward a Champ Car ride), in spite of the investment in the 2006 Swift chassis ($79,000, plus a $74,000 engine-owned package, including rebuilds). The modest purse is $100,000 per race, totaling $1.2 million for 12 events, with an additional $500,000 championship fund split by teams earning points.
Support series allow drivers to assess if they have what it takes and hone their race craft. But it is also a means of developing team personnel and cultivating.
“The Atlantic series is a good frame for developing mechanics and sponsors,” said Steve Dickson of Rahal Letterman Racing, who managed Danica Patrick’s development. “Argent Mortgage is a case study of how sponsorship in racing should work. Argent started with an investment of $750,000. Once they realized the value and became more involved by inviting their mortgage brokers to races, they wanted to move up with Danica.” 
Since 1974, Champ Car’s Atlantic Series has a long history of graduating championship drivers, including Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Jacques Villeneuve, Paul Tracy and Dan Wheldon. The much younger Pro Series, which started in 2002, has produced A.J. Foyt IV, Ed Carpenter and Marco Andretti. Young drivers with F-1 aspirations usually train in Europe. But some choose the Atlantics with an eye on Champ Car, or the Pro Series to race at the Indy 500.
“It is actually very expensive for a driver to move up,” said Wheldon, who won both the 2005 Indy 500 and IndyCar championship. “Not every Pro Series champion has been able to move up. A lot of it is timing. It is very difficult for a car owner to take a risk on someone they aren’t sure about.”
Another incentive for Pro Series owners is five extra IndyCar test days. The Pro driver spends half of each testing day in the IndyCar. Andretti Green Racing benefits from the extra test days while having another team, AFS, operate its Pro Series entries. However, Target Chip Ganassi believes in keeping their Pro Series operation in house.
“The Pro Series gives Target Chip Ganassi Racing a platform to develop drivers going towards Indianapolis," said Mike Hull, managing director. “We’ve done our first bonus test day with Chris Festa at Milwaukee and he’s done a great job for us. The human resource is absolutely paramount and essential to our future as a racing organization. We hired new people and at the same time moved people to our Pro Series program. It’s an excellent way to find out about people.”
Many support series teams are content to remain at that level, enjoying the less serious but highly competitive family atmosphere.
“As a marginally budgeted IndyCar team which only runs the Indy 500, for a reasonable amount of money running the Pro Series, we can keep our crew employed year round,” explained Gary Sallee, co-owner of Playa Del Racing, entering Phil Giebler and Jacques Lazier. “We are only a sponsor away from running Indy cars.”