Penske quits CART for switch to IRL

"We plan to compete in all IRL series races in 2002, in addition to the Indy 500," said Penske Racing President Tim Cindric. "It was a decision made with our principal sponsor based on our collective business interests and objectives for 2002."

Penske won the last two CART championships with de Ferran and also crossed over this year to the IRL's blue-riband event, the Indianapolis 500, to take a 1-2 finish, with Castroneves winning. But the team was not allowed to run full Marlboro livery on the cars on race day at Indy because of strict U.S. tobacco advertising laws that allow only one series sponsorship in a sport.

Philip Morris U.S.A. was also unhappy with the increasingly international slant of the CART schedule, with two more races outside the U.S. to be added in 2002. The IRL runs exclusively on ovals in the United States, with an expanded 15-race 2002 schedule.

"We have enjoyed Marlboro Team Penske's tremendous successes in the CART series over the years and we have developed special relationships with the CART community," said Ina Broeman, who heads the Marlboro Racing program for Philip Morris U.S.A.

"However, since Philip Morris U.S.A. only markets its products within the United States and its territories and our intent is to communicate with adult smokers who attend races in the United States, we believe that the IRL is more closely aligned with our business interests and objectives for 2002."

The decision was undoubtedly tough for Roger Penske, who was a founding member of CART in 1978. Penske stayed loyal to CART when the IRL was formed in 1996, keeping him from the Indianapolis 500, where his team's 10 victories between 1972 and 1994 made him a household name. At last week's AUTOSPORT Awards, Penske cited Castroneves' win at Indianapolis this year as the highlight of his 2001 season.

But Penske has grown increasingly disenchanted with CART's direction in the past two years, and he was known to be very unhappy about CART's decision to drop several oval tracks from its schedule, including Michigan, Homestead and Nazareth Speedways. Penske owned those tracks before selling his Penske Speedways firm to International Speedway Corp. in 1999.

De Ferran and Castroneves were reported to be less than enthusiastic about the switch to the all-oval IRL. Castroneves' only win on an oval came at Indianapolis this year, while de Ferran's two oval triumphs came on the 1-mile Nazareth bullring in 2000 and in the thriller at Rockingham Motor Speedway in September.

Neither driver was available for comment on Thursday, but Cindric told Autosport.com, "Gil and Helio are very supportive of the team and its future direction."

Right until the eleventh hour, CART and engine supplier Honda kept pressure on Penske to split his effort and run a single car in CART for de Ferran to defend his consecutive championships. But Penske and Cindric ultimately decided that was not feasible.

For a Q&A with Tim Cindric click here.