INDIANAPOLIS -- After seven years of turmoil, the Indianapolis 500 remains the world's biggest race. So when practice for the 86th running begins Sunday, the most competitive field since the Indy Racing League began in 1996 will battle for spots in the 33-car lineup.

When the IRL went into operation in 1996, it was met with bitter resistance by the rival CART series. Although the Indy 500 never was part of the CART schedule and never was sanctioned by that series, most of the fields were comprised of CART drivers and teams.

	Mario Andretti, left, congratulates son, Michael, after he qualified for the 2001 Indy 500.

Many of those drivers and teams said they never would return to the Brickyard as the Indianapolis 500 was part of the IRL schedule. But as the IRL continued to grow into a viable racing series and CART began a slide that nearly put it on the brink of extinction last year, many of the most vocal critics have come back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Few CART members were more critical of the IRL than Bobby Rahal. As an owner-driver, he took part in the ill-fated 1996 U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway that competed directly with the Indy 500 that year.

When Rahal retired as a driver and concentrated on his role as a team owner, he continued to stay away from Indy, hoping the IRL eventually would fade away. Rahal even served as CART's interim CEO in 2000 after Andrew Craig was fired.

After CART team owner Chip Ganassi returned to Indy in 2000 and was joined a year later by Roger Penske and Barry Green, it was inevitable that even the IRL's harshest critics would have to make it back to the world's biggest race.

"We've worked on coming back to the Speedway probably since the split happened in 1996," said Rahal, who won this race in 1986. "But the rules were different, and that was a major challenge for us. Thankfully this year, Miller Brewing Company really stepped up and made the commitment to us to come back in a first-class manner.

"I think with teams like Penske, Ganassi and Green that the scene has changed a little bit compared to a year or two ago. We have all the ingredients now to win it and it's just a matter of us doing our job through the month of May. I think the opportunity is there to succeed."

Rahal, Letterman back
Rahal returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with co-owner David Letterman, who grew up in Indianapolis. Jimmy Vasser will drive Rahal's Dallara/Chevrolet.

Letterman has been a loyal CART supporter but kept his criticism of the IRL and Tony George, president and CEO of IRL and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to private conversations. Returning to the Indy 500 is a special feeling for Letterman.

"The first time I came to the Speedway I was about 7 or 8 and I came with my uncle," he recalled. "I can remember seeing the first car, and it was a driver not many remember -- Bud Tinglestad. I used to listen to the race on the radio and it was just great.

"Over the years in New York City, we've had a pretty good relationship with the New York Yankees and they were nice enough to let us go up to the stadium and goof around up there. And the feeling you have coming into this facility is pretty much the same when you step out onto the field at Yankee Stadium. It's one of the great sports buildings of the world."

	“	The feeling you have coming into this facility is pretty much the same when you step out onto the field at Yankee Stadium. It's one of the great sports buildings of the world.”
		—David Letterman on Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Letterman attended Broad Ripple High School and worked as a stock boy at Atlas Supermarket on College Street. In those years before Indianapolis had NFL and NBA teams, the Indianapolis 500 put the city on the sports map.

"When I was kid in Indianapolis, this is what brought the world to our neighborhood," Letterman said. "It was spring when the Speedway opened, and it meant many things, not the least of which was the end of a grueling winter and the promise of excitement and thrills and big-time sports right in our backyard.

"The last few Memorial Days for me have been something else. So I was so happy when this thing came together because now my Memorial Days seem like I always had them as a kid. And to be in the company of Bobby and Jimmy, I can't ask for anything better than that. I would love to be here under any circumstances, but to be here with Mr. Rahal is special. I'd go anywhere with him. In fact, we talked about going to Steak and Shake later."

Remaining loyal to CART is what kept Rahal away from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This power struggle proved futile, however, as the Indianapolis 500 remained an iconic sporting event.

"I am looking forward to coming back to Indianapolis," Rahal admitted. "It's been a long, long time and it's a great event. And being part of the scene during the month of May is something I always remembered. I think the most difficult thing about Indy, that whole month of May, is keeping your head together and keep going forward, because it's real easy to psych yourself out. It's easy to begin trying too hard.

"You can really start to outthink everything. You try to outthink the race track and everything else, and there's no way you can. And all that does is breed even more insecurity. It's much more an exercise in mental discipline as it is in anything else."

This will not be Vasser's first race at Indy since the CART split. He returned each of the last two years for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, finishing seventh and fourth, respectively.

"I think we have everything in our trailer we need to win the race," Vasser said. "We have a good grasp on things entering the month of May after two tests at the Speedway and the race in Fontana (on March 24). I think we have an understanding of the chassis and we have been working hard with this program.

"It's no slam dunk to make the race, as everybody knows. Weird things can happen, and you have to be prepared for that. We're going to put the car in the race first and I think we'll be in good shape. That's our goal for Saturday. But there are a lot of good cars out there. There are things that are adding extra drivers from IRL teams and CART teams. It's very going to be very exciting."

Andretti's unfinished business
Another outspoken IRL critic who has softened his tone considerably is Michael Andretti, who finished third last year in his first Indy 500 since 1995.

Andretti's father, Mario, continues to hammer away at the IRL, but his son is glad to be back at the one race he really wants to win.

"Indy -- what can you say about one of the greatest races in the world?" Michael Andretti asked. "Last year, I was so excited to be back because I felt like I definitely had some unfinished business at the Speedway. Even though I finished third last year, third place wasn't my goal, winning was. So I'm very happy to be back again this year with Motorola and Archipelago and to have the opportunity to win the Borg-Warner Trophy.

"The Indianapolis 500 is never an easy race, but I have the entire Team Motorola crew with me this year and we work really well together, so I think that will help. We still have a lot to learn, but like I am every May, I'm optimistic that this might be my year to finally win."

Andretti is part of a three-driver effort for Team Green that includes Paul Tracy, a veteran of four Indy 500s with Penske Racing and Newman/Haas, and Dario Franchitti, who will be making his first Indy 500 appearance.

"It's good to be back at the Speedway, although with the new control tower and all the other changes, I hardly recognize the place," Tracy said. "But the most important things haven't changed. It's still the world's biggest race and you've still got to put four solid laps together to get in the show and then work on running the full 500 miles.

"This is the most competitive field at Indy in years, kind of like the playoffs, where the best from both leagues are going head to head and everybody's looking for the slightest edge. That's OK though. The more competitive, the better. It makes winning that much more satisfying."

Kenny Brack began his American racing career in the IRL, where he won the 1998 championship and the 1999 Indianapolis 500. He departed for CART in 2000 but returns this year with Target/Chip Ganassi Racing along with teammate Bruno Junqueira and IRL regular Jeff Ward.

"Returning to the Indianapolis 500 is one of the main reasons why I wanted to join Team Target," Brack said. "This team has proven that they can win here, and that gives you a lot of confidence. For the last two years, it has been difficult watching the race and not competing in it. Now I get another chance to win the greatest race in the world. I can't wait to get the month of May started."

CART teams have won the past two Indianapolis 500s, but with the emergence of defending IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr. and Marlboro Team Penske's decision to leave CART and join the IRL full-time, that task may be more difficult this year.