Indianapolis 500 celebrates its 100th running Sunday

INDIANAPOLIS – When Alex Tagliani leads the 33-car field into the first turn of the Indianapolis 500, he’ll be tugging along a century’s worth of triumphs, thrills and tragedy.

But in this, the 100th anniversary of America’s most famous race, the focus is clearly on the future.

The IndyCar series is showing signs of emerging from 15 years of irrelevance, a period of darkness that began with an open-wheel war between two feuding series and ended with a peace agreement hardly anyone noticed. The sport that produced such giants as A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and Rick Mears found itself relegated to niche status. There were even empty seats at the Brickyard, a sight no one could have envisioned a couple of decades ago.

“There was almost a lost generation,” Andretti said. “There were those 15 years where things were precarious, at best.”

Now, there’s a semblance of hope. Two new manufacturers will enter the series in 2012, powering a futuristic new machine. The field for this year’s 500 is undoubtedly deeper and more talented than it has been since the glory days. Sponsorships are up, attendance is improving and an energetic new leader seems willing to try anything that might bring more attention to the sport.

In a sense, today’s race can be seen as a jumping-off point to a new era.

“I’m proud of the series for what we’ve done, for all the hard work we’ve put in,” said Danica Patrick, who has just one win in her career but remains the only driver widely known outside of IndyCar circles.

Of course, the fact that everyone is wondering whether Patrick will bolt to a more profitable gig in NASCAR next year shows the checkered flag remains in the distance. No matter what happens, there’s still plenty of work to be done.

A third of the field is composed of part-time drivers, most of whom are doing Indy-only deals and hope it leads to something bigger.

Dan Wheldon, a former race winner who should be in the prime of his career, was squeezed out of his last job, and this is the only sure thing on his schedule in 2011. Townsend Bell, who has finished as high as fifth at Indy and will start from the inside of the second row, when asked what’s on his schedule for the rest of the year, replied, “Well, there’s Christmas. And New Year’s, I guess.”

Good line, but not good for IndyCar.

“I stopped many years ago trying to rationalize or problem-solve the racing industry,” Bell said. “I’m resigned to the fact that if I just go out and win the damn race, everything else will probably take care of itself.”

Randy Bernard, who was brought in from the Professional Bull Riders series to bring some pizzazz to IndyCar, has shown he’s willing to shake thing up. One of his changes – double-file restarts, which are used in NASCAR – has drawn the ire of the drivers. They see them as impractical with the high-speed, open-wheel machines, which can’t go banging into each other like the good ol’ boys.

Tagliani, the surprising pole-winner, was one of the most outspoken critics. He fears that today’s race could turn into a gruesome crashfest. He even went so far as to raise the possibility of debris flying into the stands and injuring someone in the massive crowd of more than 200,000.

“I don’t want to be responsible for that,” the Canadian said. “If our wheels touch while we’re racing side by side, all of a sudden cars are going to be flipping.”