[TLK]

Off the topic of the merger, but this goes to the character of the IRL and Mr. George.....

"Engine parts must be available to any competitor at a controlled price, so that has not changed," Mehl said. "We will not allow manufacturers to lease them. That's a difference between what CART does and what we do. If you lease an engine, you don't know what's inside of it, and there's two or three different kinds of them out there being raced. That's not what we're looking for. We don't call that a level playing field. The only way that I'll get my guys to believe that they've got the same thing as that guy, is if they can open this thing up and look inside of it. We will not allow leased engines."
IRL executive director Leo Mehl on November 17, 1998

Without Honda and Toyota's engine leasing program, the IRL would of had exactly six cars racing in 2003

"We anticipate that many of the driving champions attending Champions Day will someday try their hand at driving a Pep Boys IRL car at the Speedway," Nation said. "The IRL is committed to assisting these drivers in reaching the next level in their careers."
IMS vice president of corporate communications and public relations, Fred Nation

In 1998, the Speedway/IRL boys hosted something called "Champions Day," a short-lived attempt to bring short-track sprint guys to IMS for exposure. This experiment at getting them rides in the IRL failed, of course, but the quotes are amusing. I believe the IRL will have exactly one USAC driver in next year's field. Following up on this....

"Take Billy Boat, for example. I've watched Billy all of his career. He's 31 now. I think He will turn out to be one of the finest talents that Indy Car racing has ever seen/ John Menard, who put Tony Stewart in his car at Orlando, asked me where I'd found him, and I was reported to have said "I have 10 more, 20 more just like him" and I do. But it's not me, it's America's short tracks. Our driver A-list includes not only the USAC sprint and midget drivers, but also those from WOO where there are a number of splendid drivers."
Cary Agajanian, USAC VP in charge of the IRL. August 1996 Racer Magazine.

and a more recent quote from the aforementioned Mr. Boat....

"I'd still like to do something in the IRL, and I'm still talking to Panther," Boat said. "Unfortunately, there's very limited opportunities."
Driver Billy Boat

Limited opportunities because the rides that are available are those that went to foreigners and ride-buyers. Not exactly the original vision....

"There were a lot of factors at work. One was the rising cost of Indy Car racing. Another was the road racing bent of that organization. Some of it had to do with the make up of the owners themselves. There were myriad factors that contributed to this change. Then we began to see an internationalization of CART, which is becoming stronger every day.

"Now Indianapolis always had a tradition of welcoming foreign drivers, so I'm certainly not being xenophobic. The great foreign champions really added to the show. That will always happen. We will always encourage it. But NOT to the exclusion of American drivers.

"Last year there were more foreign drivers than Americans. There were six rookies in the race last year, and all of them were foreign. The speedway saw that trend; I think Tony tried to get CART to understand what the Speedway's concern is about the makeup of the product they were bringing to the 500. And I knew from day one - as an outside observer during this time that they were never going to find any middle ground.
Cary Agajanian, USAC VP in charge of the IRL. August 1996 Racer Magazine

Is it me or does this perfectly explain the situation that the IRL is in today....

"The IRL was created for inclusion not exclusion -- and certainly not to be in direct conflict with or to replace any series already in existence. Toward that end, invitations to the 1996 Indianapolis 500 remain open to those caught in the web of Monday's announcement."
Tony George, President, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (11-19-95)

Scratching my head over this one.... He would later announce a 25/8 rule that would insure that 25 of the 33 spots for the Indy 500 would go to IRL drivers. I'll stay away from the we're not trying to replace any series, even though that is what's going on now....

"CART's had a good run," George said. "But we're looking to knock CART or NASCAR or Formula One off the top, too."

George sometimes speaks in convoluted language, and The translation was that he meant not only to topple CART from its pinnacle, but NASCAR and F1 from theirs, too.

"It wasn't meant to be a shot across anyone's bow," George says now. "Everybody asked me what my vision is for the IRL five or 10 years from now, and I stated that we want to be the premier racing series in the world."
Tony George in the "IRL Suddenly Has Become A Force", Orlando Sentinal, September 15, 2002

This is my favorite. If you subtract the Indy 500 from the schedule, the IRL wasn't even the most watched open-wheel series in America. The fact is they can't draw flies to a race outside of Texas and Indy without season-ticket packages that include NASCAR. I'll feel bad for ole' TG when Toyota gets into NASCAR and they bolt the IRL. To compare the IRL to NASCAR and F1 is hilarious.