INDIANAPOLIS — While the unified IndyCar Series has “split” for the final time, with the former Champ Car teams heading to Long Beach for their series finale and the regular IndyCar teams off to Japan for the Honda 300, series founder and CEO Tony George looks forward to an intense month of May for the 92nd Indianapolis 500.
George was part of last week’s annual Indy 500 Media Tour at  Indianapolis Motor Speedway and assessed the positive vibe that has hit the series since unification.
But while early estimates have 39 entries for the 33-car starting lineup, George admitted it would be difficult for the new teams to field extra entries in the race until more equipment becomes available.
“I think you’ll see the teams continue to get comfortable with Kansas the week before the month of May opens up,” George said. “Hopefully, there will be good weather so they can get a lot of track time in during the month of May. I think come race weekend it’s going to be a very exciting race.
“I don’t think you’ll look at many, if any, of the Champ Car teams looking to run additional entries at this point. I think they’ve got their hands full, and there is an equipment issue. I would think a car count in the mid-30s is realistic.”
George continued to express disappointment that some teams have chosen not to join the IndyCar Series, such as Forsythe Racing, while others have been left behind because of lack of sponsorship, including Walker Racing.
He admitted he continues to be open to adding Paul Tracy to his Vision Racing team, but no deal has been reached while the 39-year-old driver remains in legal limbo over the status of his contract with team owner Gerry Forsythe.
“I intend to call. I got a message yesterday from his business manager,” George said. “I didn’t have a chance to call him back. The message was that he’s free to talk about a ride beginning as early as Motegi. He said he would not be running Long Beach, much to my surprise. All of that is kind of unfortunate in all of this.
“I’m not sure what his prospects are, and I’m not sure what teams have available seats that would meet his expectations. We’re currently planning to be a two-car team. On the outside chance we would need to add a third or on the outside chance the right business opportunity comes along for us to run a third, we would consider that. But at this point, I’m not inclined to go spend a lot more money to do that.
“On the other hand, I’d like to see Paul in, and if it could be with Vision, that would be great. If it could be with another team, that would be great. I just want him to have the chance to come over now.”
Corporate America is also taking a better look at what IndyCar has to offer in terms of dollars spent for a return on investment.
“All that is very fluid, it’s subject to change,” George said. “I think as things stabilize, there will be opportunities for drivers, teams and sponsors to enter the field of competition and we will continue to grow. I think we need to keep doing a good job of marketing. I think we need to attract a title sponsor.
“Everybody has got an opinion as to what we should do. I think we need to just, you know, try to do our best to leverage all of our assets that we have and come up with the best schedule possible for the future, keep the diversity that IndyCar has been known for the last 30 years and try to encourage and welcome teams and drivers into this sport.”
The current equipment situation was thought to have an impact on “Indy-only” teams that want to participate during the month of May, but so far some of those teams have already acquired their equipment and should be ready to be on the track when the Speedway opens.
Some of those teams are second-weekend qualifiers which means their engine lease won’t be available until after the first weekend of practice. Others, such as Luczo Dragon Racing, owned by Roger Penske’s son, Jay, will compete at Kansas at the end of April and are listed as a full-month team at Indy.
“The Indianapolis 500 provides some opportunity beyond what the series offers on a season-long basis,” George said. “So there’s opportunity for some Indy-only teams to, in the future, better establish their programs to come early. In the last 10 or 12 years, it seemed like everything has been last minute.
“I just think if we do our jobs and we keep pulling together the way we have, that things will begin to fall in place. I’m confident that we’ve got good leadership and a spirit of cooperation among all the teams coming in to work hard and work together to advance the sport.”