Indy 500-NASCAR double may be thing of the past

By MIKE MULHERN
Winston-Salem Journal
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

If it's the greatest doubleheader in racing, then why didn't any NASCAR stars, like Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon, do the Indianapolis-Charlotte double: running the Indianapolis 500, then flying quickly to Lowe's Motor Speedway for Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600?

Been there, done that, sure.

And getting all those IV fluids on the shuttle flight down here, to replenish body fluids, may not be great fun.

But with NASCAR's TV ratings a bit sluggish, and with Tony George's Indy 500 not quite the stellar attraction that it used to be, it does seem odd that promoters George and Bruton Smith couldn't put together any marketing synergies for their Memorial Day weekend spectacles, to give both tours a shot in the arm.

Certainly these two branches of the sport have many more technical similarities today than in years past, and a number of key NASCAR team players have strong Indy-car backgrounds: Car owners Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi, most obviously.

In fact Penske's Indy-car operation is based right down the road from Lowe's Motor Speedway, in the same shops as his NASCAR teams.

Rick Hendrick's chief engine man, Jeff Andrews, came to NASCAR from the Indy-car world, and so did Richard Childress' crew chief Scott Miller, who runs Jeff Burton's team. Childress, too, has an ex-Formula One engine builder heading his rapidly expanding engine operation.

And Juan Pablo Montoya, now a NASCAR rookie, won the Indy 500 in 2000 for Ganassi.

John Andretti, who competed in Sunday's 500, was the first NASCAR man to do the double, back in 1994.

Casey Mears, here Sunday night, has an Indy-car background, too. And Kevin Harvick has said he'd like to try his hand at the Indy 500.

But the Indy-Charlotte marketing and promotional packaging came to an abrupt halt when Indianapolis changed its starting time to an hour later, making it logistically impossible for a driver to run the 500 and fly in here for the 600.

If General Motors were willing to return to the Indy Racing League, that would open the door for George and Smith to put together some NASCAR-Indy packages.

Chevrolet helped bankroll the IRL in its early years but pulled out when Toyota and Honda began pouring buckets of money into the tour. Even Ford's Jack Roush built IRL engines at one point.

Pat Suhy, Chevy's NASCAR field manager, said: "Economics and marketing value, that's what drives participation. That's why we're here in NASCAR. We race where we can win, where there is a sizeable and relevant audience, and when there's a return on investment. The thing with the IRL was, two of those three things were upside down. So we asked, 'Why are we here, and can we spend our money more effectively somewhere else?'"

That, of course, could change.

One reason that Stewart gave up Indy racing is that it's difficult to do the Indy 500 as just a one-off deal. A driver needs to run more than just that one race in order to keep up with that part of the sport. And the NASCAR Cup tour is so demanding that it's virtually impossible to find time for other early season IRL races, though George and NASCAR's Brian France could make a few scheduling tweaks to accommodate

Greg Zipadelli, Stewart's crew chief, said that the Indy-Charlotte double can be draining.

"It was a little stressful the first year we did it," Zipadelli said. "But it wasn't bad the second time Tony did it. The scheduling was a little tight, but everything else worked out pretty good.

"The first time, though, was the best shot we had at winning the 600 (and Stewart arrived here physically drained).

"But Tony just lost interest in it (Indianapolis). And the way it's scheduled now it can't be done anyway."

Stewart did drop by Indianapolis in 2004, not to run but just to visit, and when he sat down in A. J. Foyt's racer - a Toyota - he created quite a controversy, since he's a Chevrolet driver.

Among NASCAR crews there is naturally quite an interest in Indy 500 options. "Kevin has talked about it, and so has Richard," Todd Berrier, Harvick's crew chief, said. "A lot of these guys would be way more serious about it if the higher-ups were more serious about making it work.

"I don't know what it takes to go up and run an Indy 500 program for the month of May, but there are a lot of cubic dollars in this business.

"And you would think they (George and Smith) could move some time frames around to make it happen."