Billboards, which relate to different NASCAR sponsors and personalities, have been popping up, around town, for weeks. Several NASCAR teams were at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, last month, participating in the General Motors and Ford testing programs. This week, NASCAR show cars will be appearing at K Marts, Kroger stores and just about everywhere else a crowd gathers, in this community. Tee shirts and ball caps, with NASCAR images on them, will sell quickly and retailers and merchandisers will scramble to keep plenty of anything, which contain the words Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte or Terry Labonte, in stock.

It's "Brickyard 400" week in Indianapolis. Racing's biggest heroes are in town for Saturday's fifth edition of, at the very least, one of American motor sport's three biggest events. The "Brickyard 400" rivals the "Daytona 500" as NASCAR's premier event. Daytona has a richer purse and carries more history, but Saturday's race draws twice as many people, as the "Daytona 500," and is quickly establishing a history of its own. The "Indianapolis 500" is more famous, carries racing's richest purse, longest history and since general admission is sold for the "500," probably draws more people, but it's a legitimate question which race, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is more popular in this city in 1999.

As I wrote, at the end of 1998, Indianapolis has a huge contingent of  NASCAR fans and the "Brickyard 400" week is built upon that enthusiasm. Since nearly all of America's racing heroes compete in NASCAR, this is the week that the big boys come to town to race, in contrast to May, when race drivers come to run the "500." For me, that seems to be a primary difference between the "Indianapolis 500" and the "Brickyard 400." The "500" is "the big race." Although the "Brickyard 400" is NASCAR's second biggest show, my perception of the race is that it's mainly a chance for local fans to see Winston Cup racing at the only venue big enough to hold the race, in this area. There seems to be a lot more excitement, from the NASCAR competitors, about racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while the fans just seem to be excited about having a NASCAR race.

As in May, there is racing going on, throughout next week, all around the area. Foremost is the three nights of racing, at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Wednesday, the USAC Silver Bullet series runs at IRP, followed by the NASCAR trucks the next night. On Friday, the annual "Kroger 200" NASCAR Busch race runs, at IRP. This race has been run since the early 1980's and it is developing a tradition of its own.

I've been to each "Brickyard 400," but I've never been too excited about the race, with the possible exception of the inaugural event, in 1994. I buy a ticket, from a "scalper," somewhere in the vicinity of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, never paying more than face value, about 30 minutes before the race starts. I video tape the race and try to get some token photos, although it's difficult from the grandstands. When the race is over, I go home, watch television highlights, and then forget about it. In contrast, the "500" travels in my head for at least a month, as I have the countless rolls of film developed, from the photos I took during the race and hours of "500" video to watch.

I'm not an intense NASCAR enthusiast. Often, I think NASCAR Winston Cup is as predictable and boring as any racing series can be. I have hard time understanding its popularity. I always get excited about the "Daytona 500," but I watch many of the NASCAR races as much to keep up with what's going on as to be entertained.

This season, however, I'm paying closer attention to NASCAR, because my Indy car favorite, Tony Stewart, has taken his act south and is making a large impression. I can't recall any Winston Cup rookie, including Jeff Gordon, in recent years, who has generated the focus that Stewart is getting. In so many races, it's Tony's car 20 Home Depot Pontiac that's creating the excitement on the race track. During Winston Cup telecasts, the orange and white number 20, is on camera for much of the race. In a season where Jeff Gordon is having an unusual run of misfortune, Tony Stewart appears to have captured much of the attention usually reserved for Gordon.

Welcome to Indianapolis all NASCAR people. Spend lots of money while you're in town.

Go Tony Stewart!

It was, perhaps, the best "pure" race I've seen, so far, in 1999.

TNN televised a tape delay, of the USAC Silver Bullet (Crown) race, which was run Friday July 30, at Gateway International Raceway. It was a classic contest, as Ryan Newman and Kenny Irwin raced wheel to wheel, with intensity I haven't seen since the 1993 CART race, at New Hampshire International Speedway. Remember that race? Nigel Mansell was running third, behind Paul Tracy and Emerson Fittipaldi, with ten laps remaining. In what he considered one of the three best races, of his career, Nigel caught and passed both Penske drivers, to take the fourth of his five 1993 Indy car victories, on his 40th birthday.

Jason Leffler led the first five laps (of 80), at Gateway, before Newman and Irwin passed. After that, Newman's white and orange car 14 and Irwin's light blue car 2 ran wheel to wheel, for the rest of the race. Sitting high, without wings or any down force, other than wide tires and the shape of their race cars, Newman and Irwin slid through the corners, at Gateway, exchanging the lead 14 times, before Ryan beat Kenny to the checkered flag. Following the top two finishers, in close pursuit, were Jack Hewitt, Gary Hieber, Tracy Hines and Russ Gamester.

That was fun to watch. I wish I could've been there.

I thought the Clabber Girl Baking Powder Summer Sizzle 99, for midgets, was a good idea. I went to the 16th Street Speedway, on Saturday July 10, for the final night of racing and  it was a fun time.

The $140,000 total purse was a record for midget racing. 96 cars, from several states, were entered. It took one night of practice and four nights of countless preliminary races to qualify 24 cars for the 50 lap feature, on Saturday.

Various midget racing series, were represented. Adam Clarke, from New Zealand, came to race, supported by some of his countrymen, who waved their national flag, throughout the evening, whenever Clarke's bright green car was racing around the quarter mile dirt oval.

Conspicuous by his absence was Ryan Newman, who was being entertained, at the NASCAR Winston Cup race, in New Hampshire, by CART owner Cal Wells. Wells plans a major NASCAR program, in 2000. "USAC'ers" Jason Leffler, Tracy Hines, Jack Hewitt, J.J. Yeley, Tony Elliott, Jay Drake, Ricky Shelton, Dave Darland, Brian Gerster and Jerry Coons Jr. were entered. Former USAC and current Indy Racing League regular Donnie Beechler, "old pro" Johnny Parsons and Tony George also came to race, although neither Parsons nor George qualified for the feature.

Some of the vendors told me there was a packed house, the Thursday night before the "Indianapolis 500," for the season opener, at 16th Street Speedway. For Saturday night's "Summer Sizzle" feature, the crowd was below capacity. Curt Cavin reported, in The Indianapolis Star, that total attendance, for five nights of racing, was 3,500. Perhaps the $30 admission kept some customers away, but for me, it was worth it. Cavin quotes Tony George as implying that if he could go back, he wouldn't have become involved in the 16th Street Speedway.

I'm sorry to hear those sentiments, from Tony George, because I think the 16th Street Speedway has been an asset to the local racing scene. I'm disappointed that "Summer Sizzle" wasn't well received, because my wife and I enjoyed the evening and the feature was especially entertaining. The 50 lap finale featured intense racing.

There were some frightening moments as midget racers were bouncing all over the old ball park. Dave Darland and Critter Malone were both upside down and Ricky Shelton suffered a cervical injury which will keep him from racing for a while.

Malone was on pole for the feature. He's from Indianapolis and is a competitor in the weekly USAC 16th Street Speedway Regional Midget series. Malone led the first 24 laps, before his accident. Leffler took over after that, but in the closing laps, Hines was chasing, with everything he had in the black number 71 Willoughby entry. Jason's number 9 Steve Lewis Beast, the most famous midget racer in the country ( the car even made a recent issue of Racer magazine), was too strong  and Leffler, the wild little (5'4") red-haired demon, took $20,000 for first place.

Leffler and Hines are two exciting young racing talents and I'm sure both are going to have big names in the years ahead. Each has a charisma and media presence that will fit in nicely with NASCAR.

Is big time open wheel racing in such a depressed state that we can't keep exciting young American oval track specialists in the sport?

It looks that way to me. Tony Stewart is gone and likely won't return, at least for several years. Dave Blaney one of the top competitors, in the World Of Outlaws series, seems to be establishing himself nicely in NASCAR. Ryan Newman, perhaps the cream of the crop, among the current group of USAC'ers, doesn't seem to want anything to do with Indy car racing, where he looks like he'd be a natural. Instead Newman seems set on a NASCAR career. Leffler tried to break in to the Indy Racing League, but an early race crash, at Walt Disney World,   ended his association with Fred Treadway. A testing contract, with Roger Penske never got off the ground. Now Jason is going to NASCAR. With Tony Stewart's support, Leffler is set to run Joe Gibbs' Busch Grand National car in five races yet this season. Hines told me personally, at Salem, that he wants to go to NASCAR.

But who can blame these young talents for wanting to go where the financial opportunities are endless and the star drivers are worshipped like Elvis Presley, old time move matinee idols and Country & Western music stars? NASCAR is big time, major league stuff. Unfortunately, Indy car racing, whether your talking CART or the IRL, is a sport with regional pockets of support, with what amounts to a niche following of fans.

Robin Miller wrote recently, in The Indianapolis Star, that the crowds, for CART road circuit events, especially those run through city streets, are either holding steady with crowd numbers, from previous years, or in the case of the races in Long Beach, Toronto and Surfers Paradise, Australia, enjoying record attendance for three day events. At the same time, the CART crowds for oval races, so far this season, are continuing to drop significantly. I don't often agree with Robin, although I think he's the best racing writer around. His suggestion that perhaps Indy car fans have to accept that our sport appeals to people who enjoy cars running in a procession through the streets, of major cities, may be correct.

I hope it's not correct though. CART currently runs, in the streets, at Long Beach, Toronto, Detroit, Vancouver, Houston and Surfers Paradise. The CART races, run on temporary street course, have to be the poorest excuses for racing events, I've seen in 44 years of watching races. The CART street races stink so bad, it's like visiting the hog barn at the state fair. If the future of Indy car racing is street racing, then I'm ready to give up. I watched the recent Toronto race and it was another piece of uncompetitive crap, with Dario Franchitti "ho-humming" his way to a win over his newly docile Team Kool Green teammate Paul Tracy. Behind the two Kool drivers, cars were bumping into each other like "dodge-em cars," on an arcade, as they tried to negotiate the narrow streets, through Toronto's Exhibition Place, sometimes in something other than single file fashion. The Toronto race was another CART joke. But maybe it's what appeals to the Indy car fan of the late 1990's. If that's true, I'm very depressed.

At the "U.S. 500," which ran Sunday July 25, at Michigan Speedway, the crowd was terrible, for what turned into a dandy race, even if it was a CART event. I attended every one of the 500 mile Indy car races, held in the late July/early August time frame, at Michigan, from the opening race, in 1981, through 1988. Then I went again, each summer, from 1990 through 1996. During those years, the crowds would range from 80,000 to 55,000 fans. This year's crowd was the smallest in history. It appeared that some of the crowd was late in arriving, as their were more people, in the seats, at the finish, than at the start of the race. At best, however, there weren't more than 40,000 people in attendance, including the sparse infield crowd. I bet the new owner, of Michigan Speedway, Bill France, wasn't particularly impressed with what he saw.

The small crowd, at Michigan, tends to give Robin Miller's theories about CART street racing credibility however.

The "Indianapolis 500" remains an institution and has held on to most of its audience, on race day, from the glory days, before the country went NASCAR crazy and the split with CART took place. I called the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, last week, to see what the ticket situation was for the 2000 "Indianapolis 500," next May. I was told that tickets were sold out and that the Speedway stopped taking orders three weeks after this year's "500." That makes the 19th consecutive year the "500" has sold out reserved seats, in advance of May. Actually pre May sellouts, for the "500," might have occurred sooner, but that's the first time I was aware of it. Considering that ticket prices, for the 84th "500," are increasing, makes the early sell out even more significant.

I was feeling some temporary euphoria, earlier this summer, when it was announced that the IRL would be running at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport, next season, as a result of a dispute, over sanctioning fees between CART and the Cleveland promoter, International Management Group (IMG). I was further excited by Robin Miller's hint that the IRL may also be running next season at Bill France's Miami Homestead oval.

Events since, however, have dampened my earlier enthusiasm.

Going into the IRL race, at Atlanta, Bruton Smith commented to the media, that he thought fenders would enhance both the safety and popularity of Indy car racing. When Smith makes a comment like that, it has to cause a stir with Tony George, Leo Mehl and the rest of IRL "world." Smith owns tracks (Texas, Charlotte, Atlanta and Las Vegas) where five of the eleven races IRL races are scheduled this season. Smith's comment set off a minor furor, with A.J. Foyt and Eddie Cheever making known their displeasure, with the fender idea, while George and Mehl tried as best they could to tiptoe around the issue politely. A meeting was held, with Smith, George and Mehl, but the only feedback, I read, came from Mehl, who remarked "everything's cool."

The crowd figures given, for the Atlanta race, ranged from 25,000 to 40,000. To me, it appeared that the IRL Atlanta crowd was larger than the CART crowd at Michigan. Bruton Smith's man, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Ed Clark, expressed disappointment with the crowd, which he confirmed to be lower than last year, and questioned whether IRL racing  was going to be successful at his track.

At the same time, Eddie Gossage, who runs Texas Motor Speedway, for Smith, expressed happiness with the IRL product and indicated he was ready to sign a five year agreement, for two IRL races each season, in Texas. The IRL opened, in Texas, in June 1997, with a crowd of 120,000 plus people. Last season, 80,000 people came to the night race, in June, and another 70,000 people showed up for the afternoon race, in September. Texas management reported selling 90,000 tickets for the IRL race, in June, although the crowd looked smaller to me.

In what has to be more discouraging news, for the IRL, the Brant Motorsports team closed, leaving Raul Boesel without a drive. The Indianapolis Star reported, last weekend, that Humpy Wheeler is considering dropping the IRL race, from the 2000 schedule, at Lowes Motor Speedway. The crowd, at Dover Down's, for last Sunday's IRL "MBNA 200," was small. An estimate, of 15,000, was reported, which was down significantly from the 1998 race. It didn't look good.

I was supposed to go to the Atlanta race, but as with the ill-fated IRL race, May 1st, at Charlotte, for which I purchased tickets, I had to change my plans. I'm working on a hot conversion project and my employers have made the project a high priority.

The Atlanta race was a terrific show. Less than 6/10 seconds separated the 27 car field, after qualifications. There were 16 lead changes among ten drivers. Sunday's race, at Dover, was another example of wide open IRL racing, as winner Greg Ray, Mark Dismore, Stephan Gregoire, Sam Schmidt, Buddy Lazier, Kenny Brack and early leader Scott Sharp all ran strong and put on an exciting contest. Unfortunately, not many people were at Dover to see it. The IRL has developed a formula that creates wide open competition, like no other racing series in the world. But other than the Indianapolis and Dallas - Fort Worth areas, not many people seem to care.

There are repeated rumors that Al Unser Jr. will join the IRL, in 2000. Most often, Little Al has been linked to Fred Treadway. Having Unser in the IRL could be a potential benefit for the series and Al's career. It would give the IRL a very popular, well recognized driver, even though Little Al hasn't won an Indy car race since 1995. It could also generate a lot of press, especially in May, about Unser's return, after five years, to his true love - the "Indianapolis 500." The story would probably dwarf all the "angle" news stories, at the Speedway, this May; Arie's" last ride," Tony Stewart's double duty, Eddie Cheever in the Infiniti, etc.

It would be nice, however, if the IRL could sustain a few USAC "young guns," like Ryan Newman, Tracy Hines and Jason Leffler. Letting the sport of Indy car racing become a haven for international racing refugees, the way CART has, at the expense of drivers like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, is one of the key elements in NASCAR's rise, while big time open wheel racing has fallen.

Serious speculation began, during the two weeks leading to the "Indianapolis 500," in May, that a possible reconciliation between CART and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was in the works. A few days prior to the "500," both Tony George and Leo Mehl spoke in discouraging tones about any common ground between the two sides. In the past couple weeks, however, that speculation has resurfaced, fueled by meetings by George with CART representatives.

I believe that some sort of Indy car racing accord is inevitable, although I don't have an idea about what form the accord will take or when it will take effect.

I have mixed emotions about the two sides coming together. An agreement to unite Indy car racing is probably necessary for the sport to come out of its doldrums. Neither side is doing that well, and with the exception of the "Indianapolis 500," Indy car racing pales in comparison with NASCAR. However if the result, of any unification, is a series that looks like CART does today, I'd rather see the two sides continue to go their own way, with the hope that the Indy Racing League finds an audience.

I guess we'll just have to wait to see what happens.

In a unique quirk to the decline in popularity, for Indy car racing, it looks like other open wheel racing series are gaining fans. In fact, based upon what I saw, a couple weekends ago, when I watched the World Of Outlaws run on the famous Eldora Speedway, in Ohio, the Outlaw series is flourishing. There were two nights, of racing, both televised by TNN. The Friday night race, the "Eldora Classic," was held with a large crowd packed around the Eldora dirt oval. The following night, however, for the "Kings Royal," which is one of the more prestigious events, on the World Of Outlaws schedule, the place was jammed with people. I bet the crowd wasn't too far off the crowds for either the CART race, in Michigan, or the Atlanta IRL race. The Eldora crowd looked substantially larger than Sunday's attendance at Dover.

It makes you wonder doesn't it?