Penske Ponders Return To Brickyard

Could Roger Penske be ready to return to the Indianapolis 500 next year?

Penske is one of the leaders of Championship Auto Racing Teams, whose teams have virtually ignored the new Indy Racing League, of which the Indy 500 is the star attraction.

But Penske is also the winningest car owner in the 500, with nine victories. The recent out-of-court settlement of lawsuits by CART and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway may have opened the door for him and other CART teams to again take part at Indy.

Last year, the IRL’s first season, CART ran the U.S. 500 at Brooklyn, Mich., on the same day as Indy. This year, CART has backed off the direct challenge, running instead on the day before the 500 at a new track near St. Louis.

The big hurdle facing Penske and the rest of the CART teams who might wwant to run at Indianapolis is that the IRL’s new cars and engines are different than those used in the established CART series.

“The rules are the rules,” Penske said. “But, from our point of view, if we were to run Indianapolis again, we would want to build our own cars in the interest of both safety and performance.

“The way their rules are written right now, though, we aren’t allowed to build our own cars, so there’s plenty out there on the table to be discussed.”

Numbers game

One way to note the escalating prominence of NASCAR’s Winston Cup series is to take a look at the TV advertising and ratings.

The Sponsors Report, a newsletter that tracks sports advertising, says in its latest edition that the Winston Cup series in 1996 pulled in an all-time high of 385 hours of on-screen time and 23,000 mentions during the telecast season.

When taking into account sizable hikes in 1996 broadcast advertising rates, the figures translated into nearly $850 million of what it called “comparable exposure value” - about $200 million more than in 1995. The story said networks devoted 123 live and-or replay broadcasts to the 31 Winston Cup races. That record number was up from 67 the previous year.

Front and center

Alex Zanardi, the 1996 CART rookie of the year, will attempt this weekend to establish a series record of nine consecutive front-row starts. The PPG CART World Series opens Sunday with the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami.

Swede replaces Jones

Sweden’s Kenny Brack, a European replacement for Davy Jones, who is recuperating from injuries suffered in a crash during practice last month in Orlando, Fla., will drive the team’s G Force-Aurora race car, beginning with the March 23 race at Phoenix.

Rookie’s off and running

Gary Scelzi is the first NHRA rookie to win his first two races, and the first top-fuel driver to win the first two in a season since Gary Ormsby in 1989. He made it two in a row last weekend by defeating the fastest field in NHRA history. No. 16 qualifier Eddie Hill went a quarter-mile in 4.802 seconds.