Minnows want in to the circle.

Whereas the current economic funk has put paid to the hopes of many aspiring team owners in both CART and NASCAR there has been no shortage of ambitious new teams aiming for a place on the substantially cheaper, but no less competitive Indy Racing League grid and with the arrival of the new 'Leaders Circle' programme there is an extra initiative for new teams looking to make their mark.

Brayton Engineering, Conquest Racing, Convergent Motorsports, Blair Racing, Racing Professionals, Mo Nunn Racing and, of course Team Penske, will all compete in their first full-season of Indy Racing League competition in 2002 after securing the necessary funding to make it onto the grid and Mo Nunn and Penske aside, all have had to pull some major strings in order to assemble their package.

However the introduction of the Indy Racing League 'Leaders Circle' should go some way towards reducing the week to week financial stresses and strains for the majority of small-budget single car operations that form the backbone of the burgeoning series.

Of course not everyone has avoided the current economic pitfalls with Galles Racing, Team Xtreme, Tri Star Motorsports and Heritage Motorsports (Chip Ganassi pending) all folding over the winter, stalwart team Treadway Racing merging with Sam Schmidt Motorsports and other small market operations such as Cahill Racing, Indy Regency, PDM Racing, Zali, McCormack Motorsports and Vertex-Cunningham Racing all suffering badly in their quest to secure primary funding. If used wisely the new 'Leaders Circle' could become a glowing lifeline for those team owners who were looking at a part, opposed to a full 15 round 2002 schedule.

Discounts on in-car electronic system and the equipment required to use them, entry fees and fuel and a season long allotment of Firestone tyres should make some inroads into the average $3 Million competition budget needed by most teams to survive a full season of competition and if the 24 available spaces within the program are given to the teams most dependent on the help, Sam Hornish, Gil De Ferran, Scott Sharp, Jaques Lazier, Eddie Cheever et al can battle for the 2002 IRL title with a full field of cars behind them as the series aims to consistently beat CART entry levels which have taken a severe hit during the off-season. Penske and Blair have transferred operations completely from CART to the IRL with Mo Nunn splitting his two-car team across both series. Chip Ganassi is also being linked more and more with a possible IRL programme with Jeff Ward and some of the former Heritage crew but is not expected to enter a car under the Ganassi Racing banner until 2003.

Whetting the appetite even more despite the fact that the season is barely more than a month away is the fact that there are even more prospective teams scrambling around to make it onto the 2002 grid and several top-line drivers without a full time ride as yet. Al Unser Jr, Airton Dare, Mark Dismore, Didier Andre, Shigeaki Hattori (with Epson money) and Jeret Schroeder are amongst those currently joining Ward on the substitute bench after completing full or-nearly full 2001 seasons.

With full-time entries already in from Kelley Racing (Scott Sharp and Greg Ray), Team Menard (Jaques Lazier), Panther Racing (Sam Hornish Jr), Penske Racing (Helio Castroneves and Gil De Ferran), Cheever Indy Racing (Eddie Cheever and TBC), AJ Foyt Enterprises (Eliseo Salazar definite, Donnie Beechler probable), Hemelgarn Racing (Buddy Lazier), Sam Schmidt Motorsports/Treadway Racing (Anthony Lazzaro and possibly Ricky Treadway), Bradley Motorsports (Buzz Calkins and maybe Richie Hearn), Convergent Racing (Hideki Noda), Cahill Racing (Robby McGehee), Racing Professionals (Jon Herb), Conquest Racing (Laurent Redon), Brayton Engineering (John deVries), Walker Racing (Sarah Fisher), Mo Nunn Racing (Felipe Giaffone), Curb-Agajanian-Boat Motorsports (Billy Boat), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (Robbie Buhl and possibly one other) and Bair Racing (Alex Barron) the average IRL grid should not drop below 22 all year, a figure apparently out of CART's reach this season.

Should the second cars from Foyt, Schmidt, Bradley, Dreyer & Reinbold and even the long-rumoured Panther No.2 seat materialise in time for Homestead it is not inconceivable to see upwards of 26 cars out in time for the season opener in March. Adding to the spice is the probable debut of a 310 Racing/Cunningham Racing effort for karting ace George Mack and Barber Dodge Series standout Rocky Moran Jr, possible returns from Dick Simon and Arie Luyendyk, the arrival at some point of Satellite Motorsport and the continued presence of the Hemelgarn/Metro/Stan Wattles unit for at least some of the races.

To some these figures may seem optimistic and they are, but with the tantalising 'Leaders Circle' carrot now dangling directly overhead, the least expensive of the American 'Big Four' (NASCAR, CART, IRL, NHRA) has taken steps to ensure that it remains so for the time being and they could be rewarded with bumper 2002 grids that would have seemed impossible mere months ago.