Junqueira's team owner Dale Coyne says he had to buy "old" wheels to get going but will have to buy newer and better ones later...if he can get them. (LAT photo) » More Photos

And we’re not only talking about parts developed by the likes of Target Chip Ganassi, Andretti Green and Team Penske specifically for the Speedway, but about various “standard” bits that are simply in scarce supply.

“The Dallara is light years from a spec car,” said Dale Coyne. “You can run any wheelbase you want – there’s three sets of front wheelbases, let alone track width. There’s a lot to play with. The challenge is equipment and inventory. The front suspension for Indianapolis? We’re just not going to have what we want, so we’re going to have to run something other than what we want to run. Flat-sided wheels? We want to buy some and can’t get ’em. We have to buy the old wheels and run them while we’re waiting for the new wheels, so we have the expense of buying the old and the new wheels. Halfshafts, axles . . . they’re all back ordered.”

Consider that Pacific Coast Motorsports’ “Visit Mexico” Dallara flunked tech last Sunday because the A-arms on three corners were deemed illegal – not illegal as in trick/cheaters but as in so old they’ve long been superseded by safer designs; that the new Dallara delivered to Conquest Racing last week came without a gearbox or that no “transitional” teams have functioning spare cars at the Speedway – and that a major crash in what figures to be the final day of qualifying this coming Saturday means they’ll probably go home.

This is not to suggest that Dallara is playing favorites, nor that the IRL and the experienced IndyCar teams have been anything but helpful to the transitional teams. Nor is it to suggest that, in addition to next week’s traditional “Last Row” party, there should be a pity party for the “transitional” teams.

It is to say, however, the teams “transitioning” from the Champ Car World Series to the IndyCar Series have faced – and continue to face – tangible handicaps in their efforts to become fully competitive in this new environment. We can all wish it was otherwise, we can all hope the “gap” closes sooner than later, we can all pray the powers-that-be make wise decisions in their efforts to speed a leveling of the playing field . . . and I can even vow not to belabor the point that the transitional teams are facing substantial technical and logistical challenges. But simply saying there is no difference between the two castes at this moment in time won’t make it true.

David Phillips is a Senior Writer for RACER magazine. For details about the current issue, visit www.racer.com/speedtv


The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, SPEED, or Haymarket Worldwide.