Stewart says IRL is doing just fine

The Indy Racing League lost one of its original tracks this week and faces losing one of its brightest stars at the conclusion of this season.

New Hampshire International Speedway on Tuesday declined to renew its contract with the IRL and 27-year-old Tony Stewart is leaving the series after this season for a full-time ride in NASCAR's Winston Cup Series.

Neither move, Stewart said, will hurt the fledgling open-wheel series.

"That race is always poorly promoted, it wasn't the (fault of the) IRL," Stewart said Wednesday during a break in tire testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"I don't think you can say it's bad for the IRL when we're running at Atlanta and Texas and Charlotte and Dover and Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Las Vegas. We're running at some really, really nice facilities now so I don't think it's going to hurt us."

Stewart, a former USAC midget, sprint and Silver Crown champion, will make his final regular IRL start on Oct. 10 at LVMS. Beginning next year, Stewart will limit his Indy-car racing to the Indianapolis 500.

Despite being one of the only stars to be created by the IRL and certainly its most recognizable driver, Stewart said his departure won't have a devastating effect on the series.

"It's not going to hurt it a bit," he said.

"They've got a lot of talent in this series and there are a lot of talented guys that will be coming into the series so I'll be an afterthought shortly."

About the only thing that is hurting the series, according to Stewart, is what he feels is unwarranted criticism directed at the series by many open-wheel racing fans.

"The criticism, you've got to take with a grain of salt," he said. "You ask 10 different people the same question and you'll get 10 different answers and they're all opinions.

"In my opinion, the IRL has been a success from day one. All you've got to do is look at the facts: the series is in its third year now and look at the venues that we're going to, we've got a title sponsor and we're running for a million-dollar point championship.

"I don't know how you can't call it a successful series already. People who say it's not a successful series really don't know what they're talking about."

Drivers in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Series have been shut out of the Indianapolis 500 for the past three years as a result of IMS president and IRL founder Tony George's formation of the new league. But the upstart IRL still suffers from a lack of recognition -- and fan support -- despite annually competing in the world's premier open-wheel race.

That, Stewart said, will change in time.

"There are a lot of people who aren't very open-minded about the IRL," he said. "A lot of people are scared of change and don't like change and it's going to take time. But the IRL is not going to go away, it's going to survive.

"People have got to realize that and quit arguing and griping about (the split) and realize they've got two good Indy-car series to watch on TV. I don't know what people are whining about."

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