MOST STARS ARE ABSENT, BUT IT'S STILL INDY 500.

Byline: Mike Harris Associated Press 

``The Greatest Spectacle in Racing?''

Perhaps. But the Indianapolis 500 is definitely in danger of becoming just another race.

The 500 still should draw 400,000 fans this morning, the biggest one-day crowd in sports. The purse, easily the richest in auto racing, probably will be higher than the $8.6 million last year, with the winner taking home no less than Arie Luyendyk's $1.6 million haul.

But race tickets that were once as precious as heirlooms are now hawked in newspapers at face value, fewer fans show up for the weeklong festivities before the race and many of the drivers are virtually unknown.

Even so, the name and history remain.

``Indy is still Indy,'' said Luyendyk, known as the Flying Dutchman. ``It's still a big race for the drivers and the fans.''

Just not as big.

The problems began two years ago when Championship Auto Racing Teams said goodbye to the 500 in a fight for control of the sport. That left the race to the fledgling Indy Racing League, the brainchild of speedway president Tony George.

The immediate question was raised: If CART, with the biggest names from the open-wheel sport, stayed away, would people still care about the Indy race?

Would the IRL, with few familiar faces and a new, low-cost approach to the expensive world of Indy-car racing, be able to prosper?

The answers seem to be maybe.

NASCAR's Daytona 500 has had higher TV ratings than the Indy 500 for the past two years, although the 1997 numbers were skewed when Indy was rained out until Tuesday. (It still drew a decent 5.3 rating during the afternoon soap-opera slot).

In the IRL's first year in 1996, the stock car race in February had an 8.6 rating and a 23 share on CBS, while Indy had a 6.6 rating and 21 share on ABC.

In the battle between the IRL and CART for open-wheel supremacy, only the Indy 500 has drawn a big TV audience. All of the other races in both series have drawn ratings below 2.0, splitting what had been about 4.0 when it was all CART.

Corporate support, the lifeblood of racing, is only slowly building in the IRL, with Pep Boys signing on this year as series sponsor and several other companies getting involved. But the big-dollar deals still are mostly in NASCAR's Winston Cup series and, to a lesser extent, CART.

Nonetheless, the 500 is still the race for Tony Stewart, defending IRL champ.

``How important would it be to me to win Indy?'' said Stewart, an Indiana native who lives in Indianapolis. ``I would give up every win and every championship I've had in my life to win.''

Also trying to win will be three little-known drivers on the front row - Billy Boat, Greg Ray and Kenny Brack. They will lead the 33-car field under the green flag for the 82nd running of the Indy 500.

That is if weather permits. The forecast called for showers on and off through the weekend, much like last year.

The most familiar name behind the front row will be two-time winner Luyendyk, who had lost his full-time CART ride before the IRL came along. Luyendyk's first victory, however, was in 1990, when all the competitors were still part of the scene.

Buddy Lazier, who won the first IRL Indy in 1996, is the only other former winner in a lineup that includes just four drivers who have ever won a 500-mile race.

Besides the two Indy winners, two-time runner-up Scott Goodyear has won two 500-milers at Michigan Speedway, and John Paul Jr. has won once there.

Al Unser Jr. has won the Indy 500 twice but was one of the drivers who stayed with CART.

``I can't tell you how much I'd like to be here for this race,'' Unser said during a visit to the speedway. ``This place still means the world to me and to my family. But the drivers don't make the decisions about where and when we race.''

Unser's father won Indy four times and his uncle, Bobby, won it three times. Two lesser-known cousins, Robby and Johnny, are in the Indy lineup.

INDIANAPOLIS 500

Today, 8 a.m.

Channel 7 / XTRA-AM (690)

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Photo

PHOTO Indianapolis Motor Speedway maintenance worker Eric Fuller puts a fresh coat of paint on the winner's circle for a race that's lost some luster.

Damon Winter/Indianapolis Star News