A: Simply by entering a car that has been tested to meet IRL specifications with a qualified driver. Since a League goal is to establish open competition, no franchise fees are required. Participation and performance are the criteria for reward (See Purse Distribution below).
Q: Are teams competing in the IRL series restricted from belonging to or racing with other organizations or sanctioning bodies?
A: Absolutely not.
Among the many innovations of the new Indy Racing League will be a significant restructuring of the traditional system for prize money distribution for races other than the Indianapolis 500. The benefits for competitors will be $1 million purse minimums, special qualifying incentives for IRL participants and, when the first year's races are combined with the Indy 500, total purse distributions for the IRL in 1996 are expected to exceed $12 million.
"If the IRL is appealing enough financially to all car entrants, they will choose to be ongoing participants in the league," said Jack Long, executive director of IRL. "After all, that is what league competition is all about - - consistent team participation." Long pinpointed the following incentives in the IRL plan:
In addition to the Indy 200 at Orlando and the Indianapolis 500 on May 26, 1996, the IRL has scheduled 200-mile races at Phoenix International Raceway on March 24, New Hampshire International Speedway on Aug. 18 and Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sept. 15.
Each of those will offer a minimum $1 million purse. Long explained the $22,000 qualifying prize for the opening race at Walt Disney World will be paid to each of the top 20 qualifiers. In subsequent races, the $22,000 will go to the top 20 teams in points standings who enter and qualify at each race, regardless of their starting positions in the field.
"Under this structure," commented Long, "it is possible for a top-20 point leader to finish in last place and still collect as much as $32,000 - $10,000 for the finishing position and a $22,000 qualifying incentive."
First place in races under 500 miles will pay $78,000, making the $100,000 prize possible with the $22,000 qualifying award. Second place will pay $60,000 for a possible $82,000 payout. Long added: "These monies apply only to purse awards guaranteed by the IRL. They do not include lucrative contingency dollars or improved sponsorship opportunities provided by the IRL".
Long offered the following breakdown example of the IRL purse system:
IRL Prize Money Distribution Plan - Sample Qualifying Finish Race Total Prize* Position Prize Prize $22,000 1 $78,000 $100,000 $22,000 2 $60,000 $82,000 $22,000 3 $47,000 $69,000 $22,000 4 $35,000 $57,000 $22,000 5 $30,000 $52,000 $22,000 6 $25,000 $47,000 $22,000 7 $24,000 $46,000 $22,000 8 $23,000 $45,000 $22,000 9 $22,000 $44,000 $22,000 10 $21,000 $43,000 $22,000 11 $20,000 $42,000 $22,000 12 $19,000 $41,000 $22,000 13 $18,000 $40,000 $22,000 14 $17,000 $39,000 $22,000 15 $16,000 $38,000 $22,000 16 $15,000 $37,000 $22,000 17 $14,000 $36,000 $22,000 18 $13,000 $35,000 $22,000 19 $12,000 $34,000 $22,000 20 $11,000 $33,000 21 $10,000 $10,000 22 $10,000 $10,000 23 $10,000 $10,000 24 $10,000 $10,000 Totals:-------------------------------------- $440,000 $560,000 $1,000,000 *"Qualifying prize" may be to finishers out of top 20 Notes:1. The Indy 500 pays in excess of these monies and therefore no change is required to meet these standards.
2. Plus contingency prizes.
3. Minus 10% hold back for season points fund.
The radio broadcast tradition of the "500" traces its lineage, in various forms, all the way back to a crackling, intermittent local series of race day updates at the dawn of the radio age in 1922. The modest beginning grew and solidified into the IMS Radio Network in 1952. In 1996 the tradition will extend itself with live raceday originations and support programming from Walt Disney World in Florida, Phoenix, Indy, New Hampshire and Las Vegas for IRL's opening season schedule.
Generally regarded as the world's largest sports radio network, the "500" broadcast each year boasts 600 stations in the United States and a worldwide audience through the Armed Forces Radio Network and LeSea Broadcasting.
"This is one more example of the opportunities the Indy Racing League brings with it," commented Jack Long, IRL executive director. "The promotional bonus presented by a powerhouse communications outlet like the IMS Radio Network helps everyone in the sport."
IRL remains true to Indy roots. The IRL was created to restore the prominence of oval track competition.
Why is a second Indianapolis car series necessary?
"It shouldn't be" is my answer to that oft-asked question. Then, of course, "Why?"
It's a matter of roots. In recent years the sport of open wheel racing at this level in America has taken a dramatic turn away from its heritage.
There has become a weakening of "permanence" in the foundation of Indy car competition, most obvious by its shift from its oval track base to an imbalance of road and street racing. And that is our concern. The road course trend for Indianapolis type racing has led to may temporary circuits that are very costly to set up and just as costly, within a few days, to tear down--investments that fail to build equity in racing.
This is fleeting economics that has hardly produced a picture of stability or long-term growth. Hence, the emergence of the Indy Racing League, which blends heritage and a fresh concept for establishing roots in new markets under a realistic cost formula that doesn't have to be renewed each year.
Circuits that are recreated each year must be considered vulnerable...or transient. They can go away at any time. The IRL will be launched in 1996 on a brand new track that is cost efficient, permanent and located within America's most famous recreation destination - - Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The only temporary aspects of this new raceway will be the portable grandstands and support facilities.
The one-mile track surface, pit lane, the surrounding retaining structures and walls, all of which will be completed in October and ready for testing by November, are the components of a racing complex that will remain available year-round for testing or multiple usage without closing city streets or airport runways. The art of erecting temporary grandstands, luxury suites and other support structures has reached a point of sophistication that is major league in quality.
These facilities can be tailored to specific events, are quickly assembled and are cost efficient.
Importantly, it is the track that is the permanent fixture. The Orlando track is the first tangible illustration of a concept that can bring Indianapolis car racing to major marketplaces at an initial capital investment of $5-6 million. With that expansion formula for the future, the IRL can sink lasting roots for Indianapolis car racing in many important venues throughout the country -- building upon the 1996 foundation of Orlando, Phoenix International Raceway, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, New Hampshire International Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The IRL was created to restore the prominence of oval track competition and to assure there is a balanced opportunity in the future for drivers and teams to compete in the league's premiere event, the Indianapolis 500. The IRL is not, as some have charged, a power move to gain sole control of the sport at the exclusion of road course racing.
To accomplish the real motive behind the IRL -- preserving at the very highest level the century-old American tradition of oval track racing and the true heritage of the Indy 500 -- a second series became necessary.
From this perspective then, there is room for both.