Of all the great battles in American sports, this one outlasted them all.
For the past decade, two rival organizations have gone head-to-head for control of open-wheel racing -- a split that drove alienated fans to NASCAR, squandered millions of dollars on acrimony instead of growth, and left both sides gasping for their very survival.
Amid all the squabbling, this much is clear: If the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series don't find a way to become one -- and soon -- they could drive their very sport to an early grave.
"I hope it's not going to be like this much longer," said Michael Andretti, an IRL car owner and former Champ Car driver. "It's bad."
At long last, a settlement could be in the works. High-level discussions involving the IRL, Champ Car and powerful engine maker Honda have rekindled hopes of reconciliation -- perhaps as soon as 2007, when both series are scheduled to set new engine specifications.
Don't start the celebration just yet. There are still those all-too-familiar details to work out: Who controls the sport? What will be its philosophy? Where will it race?
"It's going to take a lot to get both sides together," said reigning Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais of France, who will race in Sunday's Indy 500, the IRL's biggest event. "But there's really no other options. We can't have people keep saying, `We're fine.' Obviously, we're not. Both sides are losing a lot of money."
While several attempts at reconciliation have fallen through, there seems to be a sense of urgency to these peace talks, mainly fueled by Honda's grim outlook. The Japanese behemoth believes it will soon be the only engine manufacturer in the IRL -- Chevrolet is leaving at the end of the year, and Toyota is widely expected to put its full weight into NASCAR.
That would leave Honda as the lone manufacturer, an untenable situation for the engine builder.
"Our whole philosophy is built on competition," said Robert Clarke, Honda's director of motorsports. "Personally, I'm terrified that things will not go in that direction."
So far, no other manufacturer has shown serious interest in spending upward of US$50 million on developing power for a shaky series. And this much is certain: They can't have the Indy 500 if they don't have engines.
"We're very concerned with the very existence of open-wheel racing in this country if we continue as we are," Clarke said. "We decided to personally get involved and see what we could do."
Clarke puts the odds of a settlement at 50/50. While that may not sound overly hopeful, "it's a whole lot more than I thought it was a year ago," he said.
Champ Car has made no secret of its desire to reach some sort of settlement, while IRL founder Tony George finally acknowledges that one series would be better than two.
George wouldn't discuss the settlement talks, preferring to keep the focus on Sunday's Indy 500. "I don't want to talk about unification this week," he relayed through his spokesman, Fred Nation.
The feud began in 1995 when George, whose family owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway, announced the formation of his own series -- focused on American drivers and oval races -- and reserved 25 spots in the Indy 500 for his drivers.
That prompted the established CART series -- which had virtually all the top open-wheel drivers -- to boycott the sport's most famous race.
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