33 car grid in jeopardy

[Dare]

Newman/Haas withdraws Indy 500 entry


 
Newman/Haas Racing has withdrawn its entry for the Indianapolis 500, and the pullout puts the race in danger of not having a full 33-car field.

 

General manager Brian Lisles told The Associated Press on Friday night the team ran out of time to put together a proper program for the May 27 race.

''We had every intention of being in the race, but simply ran out of time,'' Lisles said. ''We withdrew when it became apparent we could not do it properly.''

Lisles said there was no one issue holding up the deal.

''It was everything,'' he said when asked if the problem was with the driver, sponsor or engine.

Newman/Haas was on the official entry list released last week, but the team did not list a driver. The official entry had Newman/Haas paired with engine manufacturer Lotus, which has struggled mightily this season and earlier this week released two of its teams from its contracts.

Lotus now how just three official cars, compared to 11 for Chevrolet and 10 for Honda.

The withdrawal of Newman/Haas puts the Indy 500 in danger of not having a full 33-car field. The race has had a full field every year since 1947, when it had 30 cars. In 1979 and 1997, the field was expanded to 35 cars for ''extenuating circumstances.''

Although there were 34 official entrants on the initial list, there were only 30 announced driver-team combinations. Rahal Letterman Lanigan has since announced Michel Jourdain Jr. for its entry.

Michael Shank Racing announced earlier this week it would field a car for Jay Howard, but does not have an engine deal yet. The team has a deadline next week with a sponsor to put together a final package.

Shank would now be the 33rd entry.

Ed Carpenter Racing and Sam Schmidt Motorsports are also on the official entry list, and neither has yet to announce its drivers.

The Indy 500 has been in jeopardy of not having a full field before, but because teams can enter cars all the way through qualifying, the maximum 33 has always been met.

[lkjohnson1950]

In the past Penske could roll the museum piece out, prep it and enter it for Al Ubser Sr., who promptly won. Can't do that this year.

[Scott]

Wow...Newman/Haas not taking part in the Indy 500.  I think that should be the key point in the story, not actually about the grid strength. 

That says a lot about the state of Indycar today.  I know the team has suffered in recent years, but I never imagined they wouldn't take part in Indy until their last dying breath.  I guess they are winding down the team.   

[Canada Darrell™]

Wow...Newman/Haas not taking part in the Indy 500.  I think that should be the key point in the story, not actually about the grid strength. 

That says a lot about the state of Indycar today.  I know the team has suffered in recent years, but I never imagined they wouldn't take part in Indy until their last dying breath.  I guess they are winding down the team.   

Exactly what I though when I read the story!

[cosworth151]

Laura, our office manager here, is a huge PBR fan. We both deeply wish that Randy Bernard would go back there.

[Dare]

Laura, our office manager here, is a huge PBR fan. We both deeply wish that Randy Bernard would go back there.

Indy car is near being beyond repair and that's
a damn shame.Now it's just another race and
not a very good one at that

[Jericoke]

Laura, our office manager here, is a huge PBR fan. We both deeply wish that Randy Bernard would go back there.

Indy car is near being beyond repair and that's
a damn shame.Now it's just another race and
not a very good one at that

I'm hoping that there is some mad genius behind the tear down of IndyCar... like those shows where they strip and rebuild an old, but rotting house, and end up with something beautiful and lasting.

[cosworth151]

They need to put Tony back in charge, NOW!

[lkjohnson1950]

Yeah, that will kill it for sure. Then they can start over.

[cosworth151]

NASCAR had all but killed the race back in the turbo days of CART.  Tony brought back real engines and saved the series. Now the Bull Boffin has done even worse, switching to teeny, tiny turbo 6 poppers. V6 engines almost killed NASCAR's Nationwide (then called Busch) Series back in the 1980's.

Bernard has gone out of his way to show long-time IndyCar fans that we are no longer wanted around the series. He brought back turbos and, for the first time in a century, he's outlawed V8's. The cars aren't really open wheel any more. He has even outlawed the IRL name. For the first time in my life, I'm not really interested in the Indy 500.

[lkjohnson1950]

Well, I'm sorry you feel that way Cos. But, if Tony had not said my way or the highway to the owners back when, there would have been no split. He then basically closed the 500 to CART owners by saying only 10 grid positions would be open to them. The introduction of his V8s and flat bottom cars lowered the speeds at Indy, which was his goal, but before long lead to qualifying runs that were 4 laps flat out and nowhere near the wall. Great drivers like Rick Mears, driving over powered TURBO V8s, really had to drive the car, deciding when to lift and how close to get to the wall. I hate the new cars, and there have been a couple of incidents that indicate they can still ride over each other. I don't care whether the engines are Naturally aspirated or turbos, or how many cylinders they have. I would prefer a nice mix of all types. I do care that they are currently under powered. They should be in the 900-1000 BHP range. Limited ground effects chassis would provide some protection against over lapping wheels and be safer because there would be less danger of completely losing one end of the car. They would still be open wheels and look more like traditional cars. There is no way you should be able to run Indy flat, especially not 2 feet off the wall. I think Bernard is doing a reasonable job, TV ratings are up, sponsors are returning, venues are slowly changing for the better. He managed to put together a deal to save Milwaukee, for which I am grateful. Tony did not save the series, he very nearly killed it with his determination to bury the CART people instead of reaching some compromise to reunite the series years ago. And he was the one to bring NASCAR to Indy, which boosted his revenue, but I think in the long run is bad for the track. We will never see eye to eye on this, but Tony sucked as bad or worse than Bernard.

[Jericoke]

We will never see eye to eye on this, but Tony sucked as bad or worse than Bernard.

Two sides of the same coin.

Too bad it's a bum nickel.

George ruined Indycar for me.  Bernard hasn't made me tune in. 

I still think that Bernard has the right strategy, even if the details are wrong.  He's eliminated the single make aspect, which to me was one of the biggest problems with IndyCar.  Too bad he bungled it.  It's time to bring in someone to continue that strategy.  If it's George, let's hope he has learned to play with others.  (Remember when Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple and came back 'better' than ever?  Maybe they can rename the race the i500...  the Izod iCar i500 )

[John S]

  Maybe they can rename the race the i500...  the Izod iCar i500 )

 

  i i, someones been at the corn bucket.    

    

[cosworth151]

It was Penske and the CART Cabal that said "Our way or no way. We don't need Indy." Remember the American 500? Don't worry, neither does anyone else.

NASCAR had long since relegated Indy racing to second string status by the early 90's. Most American racing fans didn't even know there were any other Indy races other than the 500. The Penske crowd wanted to turn CART into a wannabe F1. Tony brought it back from the brink of oblivion.

Besides that, Tony brought F1 back to the U.S. Randy has said that he sees it as competition and wants to keep it out.

[lkjohnson1950]

Tony insisted that Indy follow F1 down the garden path and implement flat bottom chassis. Neither the owners nor the drivers wanted to abandon ground effects. Tony wanted more ovals and American drivers. He ended up with a lot of ovals that were solidly in NASCAR's pocket and not really suitable for Indy Car, and a lot of American Drivers nobody had ever heard of. Remember Buddy Lazier or Buddy Rice? Nobody else does either! The only reason the IRL survived and CART didn't was the financial security the 500, which still holds place as one of the 3 premier races in the world, gave Tony. It was the world wide exposure that the advertisers and sponsors wanted that drove the owners, especially the perfidious Penske, back to the IRL. Tony's pouring the profits from the 500 into the money pit that was the IRL, lead his sisters to boot him. Tony knew he could outlast the CART people so he dug his heels in and the split lasted far longer than it should have. He was right, but he, with plenty of help from the CART people, virtually destroyed Indy car. The truth is Indy Car needs the 500 and the CART style races to survive. Note that foreign drivers and road courses are again beginning to dominate Indy Car. Whether you approve of what he's doing, Indy Car is on an upswing. The new engines came about because Honda wanted competition and no other company wanted to build a V8. Look how Ford is pushing their Eco-Boost engines. It would be great if a company like Offenhauser could build an engine strictly for racing, but only manufacturers can finance racing engines these days and they want a tie to production. Hence V6 turbos. There wasn't really much choice. If VW had gotten their way, it might be 4 bangers. And yes, I remember the American 500 very well. Thought it was a mistake then and I still do.