Indycar Boycott Possible

IndyCar Series team owners are preparing for a meeting that could approve a united boycott of next year’s Indianapolis 500, along with a competing event, to protest the revised qualifying system for the sport’s premiere race.

The proposed boycott would be in response to Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George’s decision to secure 25 of the Indy 500’s 33 starting positions for the series leaders in his newly formed Indy Racing League. That would leave just eight available slots for IndyCar teams that choose not to run in the league.

The IRL, which will debut Jan. 27 with the Indy 200 at Walt Disney World, is a rival five-race, oval-track series that has the Indy 500 as its centerpiece.

“There is serious testing of the waters, but the button has not been pushed yet,” IndyCar team owner Derrick Walker said.

“There is an owners’ meeting real soon, and there will be a show of hands of who will go where. The majority of (owners) I’ve talked to are not willing to give in.”