Mystery as Access is denied

Ray issued a statement shortly before the Argent Mortgage 300 blaming the lack of primary sponsorship for the team's financial problems. Ray's team, Access Motorsports, arrived at the track Friday, but quickly departed. Access reportedly is behind in its lease payments to Honda, a situation that could force the team to miss the remainder of the season.

Saying his team "simply cannot carry the financial load any further without primary sponsorship" - Ray indicated in the statement that the team might miss more races than just Sunday's race, the seventh of the 16-race IRL season.

Honda issued a statement Saturday indicating that Access was done for the season. Ray missed most of practice and qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 in May before a temporary fix for the problem was found and he participated. He then raced in IRL events at Texas and Richmond without a primary sponsor.

"We sincerely regret that Greg Ray and his Access Motorsports team will be unable to complete the 2004 IRL season," Honda's statement read. "Greg and his team have demonstrated great ability and commitment since joining Honda's Indy program last year, as evidenced by his front-row qualifying performance at Motegi and frequent top-10 finishes. We understand the financial realities of the sport but will miss the contributions of Greg and the Access team."

Ray was quoted in Saturday's Dallas Morning News: "We are not going away." However, in Sunday's statement, he indicated that a significant infusion of cash would be required for the team to continue.

"The lack of a primary sponsor, as of yet, for 2004 has negatively affected cash flow to the point that we must skip the Kansas race and possibly other events until we correct some financial Roadblocks," Ray said in the statement. "We have enjoyed our relationship with Honda and are working hard for that to continue."

The statement also indicated that Ray had signed a sponsorship deal on Friday, then was told he would not be able to participate because of the debt to Honda. "We were ready to race," Access engineer Mike Colliver said in the statement. "Not go home."