IRL cushioned from financial crunch

Dire economic news coming out of the NASCAR camp doesn't much affect the Indy Racing League -- it's already been through a period of belt-tightening.

While stock car racing was flying high in the middle of the decade, the IRL still was suffering from the effects of a split in 1996 that resulted in two open-wheel series, dividing fans' allegiances and making the teams cut their finances.

As a result, they were prepared when the economy, in IRL lingo, "hit the soft wall" earlier this year.

"We suffered less, because we went through this a while ago," defending RIR champ Tony Kanaan said. "We've been running pretty lean the last four years."

Danica Patrick pointed out that the merging of the leagues also created a more stable financial environment, enabling them to weather the recession.

"Knock on wood, we've stood up to it," she said. "I think all the things going on with IndyCar have been positive."

That's not to say the league hasn't made adjustments. Drivers without the name recogni tion of Patrick or Kanaan still have to drum up sponsorship, whether for an entire year or just for a weekend. But unlike NASCAR teams, which can cost upward of $10 million, the price tag for an Indy car is about half that.

In the interest of keeping things even among the haves and have-nots, the league restricts the amount of testing teams can do during the season, as well as the number of tires they can keep on hand during a race and other variable expenses.

The IRL also stabilized itself financially in the offseason by announcing a 10-year, $67 million TV contract with the Versus network. Like another often-overlooked sport, pro hockey, the IRL is betting that fans will find them on the upstart network, and they will benefit from being one of the anchor sports on the channel.

It remains to be seen whether the gamble will work. Sports Business Journal reported that the first races broadcast by the network averaged about 250,000 viewing homes. The ratings problem isn't just restricted to Versus -- when ABC broadcast the A.J. Foyt 225 on May 31, the ratings were lower than the pre-race show for that day's NASCAR Nationwide race.

Tomorrow night's race from RIR will be broadcast on Versus.

Another constant is the engine that the teams use. Instead of NASCAR, which features several manufacturers, all of the cars on the track tomorrow will be using the same Honda engine. Teams budget about $900,000 for the engines, and Honda technicians travel from track to track with the series.

Each engine is rebuilt every 1,200 miles, an expense that adds about $300,000 to each team's annual budget. Honda also offers short-term leases to teams that only want to run the Indy 500.

All these things offer their own challenges to the drivers, who have to learn how to do more with less. When asked about it, Patrick said that she could learn to adjust to having fewer available tires.

"It would be nice to have them," she said. "But then again, I'm a driver, so I would say that."

Contact Michael Phillips at (804) 649-6546 or .