For much of my 55 years on this planet I counted down the days until May when the Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened for practice source: champcarworldseries.com - Robin Miller New designs, different combinations, Happy Hour, Pole Day and Bump Day were all reasons to be geeked for four weeks. Obviously, for many of us, the month has lost its luster -- not to mention its intensity, credibility and dramatic license. Since the open wheel split in 1996, the starting lineup has not contained the 33 fastest cars and drivers, as advertised. Sure, with all the CART defectors it's gotten a good bit stronger in the past couple years but it's still not as deep as it should or could be. Not as long as Paul Tracy, Cristiano da Matta, A.J. Allmendinger, Justin Wilson, Jimmy Vasser, Alex Tagliani, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Mario Dominguez, Andrew Ranger, Oriol Servia, Bjorn Wirdheim, Ronnie Bremer and Timo Glock are outside looking in at the greatest spectacle in racing. And, for any purists of our sport, it's criminal to think about the talented guys who haven't had one shot at 16th & Georgetown. Two-time CART champion Alex Zanardi never turned a wheel at Indianapolis. Ditto for the late Greg Moore, except for a few laps in a test in the fall of 1995. Nor did Mark Blundell.
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