Late Racing News.(car racing)(Brief Article)

IRL gets Pro Series going

* We can officially now say the Indy Racing League has its Infiniti Pro Series up and running after a handful of teams tested cars June 20 at Michigan International Speedway, June 22 at Gateway International Raceway and June 24 at Chicagoland Speedway. The 450-hp, normally aspirated 3.5-liter engines are V8 Infinitis. The cars are specially built Dallaras that weigh 1430 pounds. The first race is July 7 at Kansas Speedway, the first of seven 100-mile events to be held this season (with half-hour taped shows on ESPN2). Series executive director Roger Bailey expects up to 15 cars for the first race. The driver list is interesting, too, with Arie Luyendyk Jr., Anthony Foyt IV and Ed Carpenter, the stepson of Tony George, already signed. So is actor/driver Jason Priestly and USAC standout Aaron Fike. If John Rutherford III can get a sponsor, he'll be in, too. About half of the teams are IRL regulars, including those from shops owned by Tom Kelley, Ron Hemelgarn, A.J. Foyt and Sam Schmidt.

BMW out for good?

* BMW has pretty much ruled out a racing return for the controversial M3 GTR. The GTR is the defending American Le Mans Series GT champion. BMW motorsport boss Gerhard Berger said the V8-powered car would not return to the ALMS as long as the performance restrictions imposed over the winter remained in place. The M3 GTR would have had to run with up to 220 pounds of weight and a 20 percent smaller air restrictor after the Le Mans organizers introduced new eligibility requirements. ``In the ALMS the rules have been changed so that the car does not have a fair chance any more,'' Berger said. ``If it stays like this the car will remain in the museum.'' At the same time, Berger admitted that there were no plans to ...