Done earlier than expected
Waller, Texas – 03 February 1993
A.J. Foyt had seen the fax and mulled it over the night before, deciding to sleep on the thoughts and consider what would drastically impact his team’s fortunes over the coming years. Foyt knew his driving career was at an end and had signed Robby Gordon in the fall of last year. Gordon impressed him with two points-scoring results out of his three finishes. His eyes kept drifting back towards the fax printout, though, and he realized that the Rahal Proposal was a good enough skeleton to get approved with a few minor horses traded. As a one-car outfit, A.J. Foyt Enterprises would benefit from expansion should he find the sponsorship, and he thought long and hard who he should find to fill the seat. This late in the offseason, he knew that he didn’t have much time, and the talent pool was running dry, but if he could find the money, he could make something work. The key would be to find someone to balance Gordon, and at this stage, his best chance was the oddly enough unsigned Scott Pruett. At 32 years old, Pruett’s maturity, and extra few years of experience would help the still-rookie Gordon.
Foyt’s perusal of the draft constitution had him looking towards the purchase of a stake in a track as well, but Rahal’s brainchild would be throwing everyone into the mix. Had Texas World Speedway been in good enough condition to host a race immediately, that track would be the obvious choice just fifty miles away from his base in the outskirts of Houston. It could be hard to become competitive again if the bigger teams could afford to get in the circuit ownership pie, and he wasn’t going to deny that the one source of favors he could call in would be wary to bargain away his chips. Still, he made the call – to Tony George.
Speedway, Indiana – 03 February 1993
Tony George had spent the last two weeks spitting rivets, furious at how his mother and sisters so neatly outflanked him on the negotiations with CART. To magnify his outrage, the alignment of a Rahal-Ueberroth-Andretti-Coyne axis was starting to attract attention through the rest of the teams, and had earned the grudging respect of his own mother. The solution she had proposed, “If you can’t beat them, join them,” seemed to apply a measure of sarcasm for one of his own ideas, the formation of his own team. Mari had injected the caveat of not going too deep, too soon, though, and he was stuck knowing that it would be hard to work with most of the team owners, admitting to himself that the landscape was possibly self-limiting. When he picked up the phone, however, it was Foyt proposing an expansion of his own outfit. Pieces immediately started to click together, and it was the first four-time winner at Indianapolis, fiery temper and all, to calm him down and see a way to keep a large seat at the IndyCar table. Tony had no quarrel with bringing in a balanced, consistent contender like Pruett, in exchange for him being able to recruit local dirt track hero Robbie Stanley to run several of the races, if not the majority of the calendar. With that agreement struck, the two of them started to hash out their concerns about the long-term future of the sport.
Neither George nor Foyt were fond of the direction Rahal’s proposal could go if left entirely in the hands of the Penske-Hall-Patrick faction, however they thought they had a way to mitigate it. George and Foyt would suggest a counteroffer, incorporating a split of control to the feeder series, so they could incorporate some of the USAC Sprint and Midget infrastructure into the IndyCar ladder. The hard core of the CART faction would be given free reign to the Indy Lights and Toyota Atlantic series, and there would be a united front regarding an Indy-friendly Karting organization, which young drivers could step towards either the Atlantics, or the Midgets. If push came to shove, he’d ease USAC out the door and relinquish primary control over the Midget and Sprint series in exchange for more control in the other half of the junior tier, but he’d bide his time and wait for the reaction of the other factions.
USAC owed him, and owed his family, for the spirited defense he and his father played over the years. As much as it pained him to admit it, Rahal had outflanked him neatly enough with the encouragement to start a team, and use the USAC engine rules for 1994. He decided to throw his hat in the ring if the kinks could be ironed out, if not, he’d need to see if he could wrest back control of the family business. In either case, it was obvious, George and Foyt both had drivers to hire and equipment to order.
It may take them until Indianapolis, but they would be ready to go.
Grove, England – 06 February 1993
Michael and Mario Andretti cleared customs out of Heathrow and took the van chartered by Williams F1 to Grove travel-weary but each with minds racing from the conversation they had nearly uninterrupted on their flight across the Atlantic. Mario had been in contact with the various factions of the CART-IMS debate since the meeting in Speedway the previous month, and the skeleton of the Rahal Proposal only drew grudging praise from all sides. That Tony George picked his ground well, going after expansion of the junior series had only alarmed the CART faction, with all of them looking over their shoulder wondering whose hand held the knife at their backs. Mario had advised calm, and thought his counteroffer was indeed worthy of consideration, particularly his willingness to cede some influence on the Indy Lights and Toyota Atlantic programs to drag part of the USAC infrastructure, kicking-and-screaming if need be, to the hands of a unified IndyCar management. Michael had chimed in that perhaps they should form their own team, and persuade the Mattoli family to sell a stake in Pocono, as Roger Penske was liable to deny any sale to a talented rival. All told, Mario had wanted to sleep, but held off until he could find his way to the hotel bed.
Michael Andretti was less weary but more apprehensive, knowing that he would be distracted through the entire weekend, wondering what the next couple of years would personally have in store for him. Partially, he was relieved to be getting away from IndyCar for the 1994 season, as he was sure that the next several months would pull him in several directions. The other part was sure he would arrive in England again, wistfully looking towards the chance of being in at the birth of something wonderful.
Perhaps, even probably, both feelings would compete throughout the following year, but he was also excited to try his hand at the most sophisticated, utterly dominating race car ever constructed. He had been in contact with Ayrton Senna and Riccardo Patrese over the last few weeks, and was thrilled at the thought of what was yet to come. Michael would have his shot at both the FW-15C, and the Williams FW-15/16 mule that had been cobbled together with concepts Newey and Head had pieced together from Senna’s warnings and the regulations revealed just six weeks prior. It had only been driven a couple of days over the past week, with the garage team working late nights reconfiguring a spare FW-15 chassis to the upcoming regulations. He was sure it wouldn’t be pretty, but he knew he’d be crossing The Pond fairly often, knowing he would only be helping himself in the long run.
Reading, Pennsylvania – 06 February 1993
Roger Penske spent the week kicking over the Rahal Proposal and the reaction of the George-Foyt faction, knowing that he would be in a financially sound position should he support Rahal in full. He read the section on Tier 1 teams several times by now, and grew more and more confident that with his three-car team and two tracks, he could only grow over the coming few seasons. Despite that, George’s counteroffer worried him, it seemed too good to be true. Penske had word from Mari Hulman-George that she favored Rahal’s ideas – and Tony’s Midget/Sprint proposed incorporation, but she’d kept mum on her son’s motives. For the time being, he knew he held the high ground by playing along, but with Nazareth’s small capacity, it would only be a matter of time before the track was pushed out from the other owners looking for increased ticket sales. If he was going to build, he was going to BUILD.
With that thought in mind, it occurred to him that he not only had an opportunity to double-dip as a Tier 1 owner, but he had a chance to quadruple-dip due to MIS being a NASCAR venue. If he could sweeten that pot, his footing would be secure as the rising NASCAR and a possibly revitalized CART dueled for fan support. Knowing how the France family had even tighter control over NASCAR than George thought he did over IndyCar, Penske’s options were limited if he wanted to significantly expand his track holdings. Looking back and forth between his rolodex and his map of facilities in the US, he placed a call to one Bruton Smith. If he wouldn’t be interested in pooling the resources of their several tracks, perhaps he’d be willing to take a trip to College Station with him, and go in with him on a fixer-upper of a superspeedway on the cheap…
Grove, England – 08 February 1993
Ayrton Senna finally was face-to-face with his future teammate, and was curious to get to know the man. He’d been paired with a variety of personalities over the years, and the idea that Andretti had been willing to get his gloves wet this early on with the mule did a lot to reassure him. Senna asked him about the rumors of fractiousness in the IndyCar world, and had been directed to Lotus’ last WDC, his father Mario, who was over at the other corner of the garage catching up with Patrese, the two having raced against each other for a few years. Senna walked on over and spoke with Mario, having met him on occasion through the years as part of the informal Champions fraternity. They got on well, and here Ayrton hoped to pick his brain once again, to prepare himself for a possible jump to IndyCar a few years down the line.
Silverstone, England – 08 February 1993
Two hours later, David Coulthard had continued where Senna left off after the mule was done the preparations for Andretti’s test. The young Williams test driver still doing double duty between his F1 and F3000 commitments, and was getting ready to leave to test this season’s F3000 himself. He and Patrese had spent the most time in the FW-16 mule, with Patrick Head having to chase Senna away and into the -15C so he didn’t distract himself just five weeks away from the opening round of the 1993 season. Coulthard was glad to have a man like Senna sharing in the development of the car, but found himself to be jealous of the man before him, who was getting strapped into the mule as he spoke. David may not have a chance on the -16, and hoped that Williams would still look to him should Senna leave at the end of his contract, as he’d been told privately that he was considering. Having explained the personality of the mule, its quirks, and the different controls of an F1 car as the younger Andretti strapped on his silver and red helmet, he left the most important warning for last: “Michael, remember: this is only halfway between this year’s car and where the design team wants to take next year’s. Push it hard, but respect its limits. The thing will step out on you if you’re not careful.”
Patrick Head and Adrian Newey shared a knowing glance as Andretti began his first out lap in the mule. They were both concerned the American would go too deep through Bridge and Priory after Nigel’s epic pass the previous summer and wreck the car. Andretti kept quiet on the radio as he made his way around the course. The air was cold, and grip would be shaky at best for his first several laps. They gave him about ten laps of fuel, to let him find his way around before really digging deep. A minute later, they started to hear the 15/16’s roar growing louder, and shortly after from the pit wall they saw him flash by, the clock running for his first timed lap.
Michael Andretti remembered what Coulthard had told him before the engine was fired, and was doubly careful with the cold tires and the cold air. He’d worked his way through the Maggots-Becketts complex gingerly, probably 2500rpms slower than he could have, and opened up the throttle for the Hangar Straight. The speed was familiar, it reminded him of coming down through Morraine Sweep at Elkhart Lake, and he enjoyed every second of it. The wind noise was odd to him, until he remembered the grotesquely large sidepods to account for the loss of the airbox. So far, the engine wasn’t showing the lack, and by the time he was back at the line to start his second lap, he became more confident. It was more like an IndyCar than he thought, with the decreased grip levels and the lack of aids. He could do this.
Ayrton Senna, Mario Andretti, and Riccardo Patrese all watched at the pit wall reading the telemetry coming in from the 15/16. Andretti was making great time considering his unfamiliarity, about three seconds off Senna’s test session laps on cold tires. As he found his rhythm, the gap started to shrink relative to Senna’s once he had got heat into the rubber, but not nearly enough to be a threat straight out of the gate. Over the radio, they could hear Michael talking about the low downforce setup being similar to an IndyCar, with a slightly higher power-to-weight ratio. Senna turned to Mario and remarked, “After the first draft of the design, I had told Adrian that it wouldn’t be too far off an IndyCar with all the winglets along the fins. Do you think it handles that similarly?”
“Apparently Michael thinks so, Frank hasn’t let me in the car yet, you know,” Mario replied.
“It’s a pig to drive, though. They set it up to be a little loose so he wouldn’t go straight off at Copse, Stowe, and Bridge,” Riccardo interjected. “David had that problem, that’s the lowest downforce you’ve driven in a couple years, isn’t it?”
“My first flying lap I took it in too far and got about halfway to the wall before I got it turned,” Coulthard admitted. “Here he comes again.”
The four of them watched Michael blast past, his tires at maximum grip, with confidence climbing as he started his fifth lap on the hard compound. His delta to Senna’s pace on his fourth lap dropped yet again, and they all muttered in agreement that Andretti might just have what it takes to help Williams get another Constructors’ championship in a year. Inwardly, Senna knew Andretti’s unfamiliarity would be enough to forestall an inter-team rivalry, and allowed Senna the luxury for the first time since 1991 to have the team built around him.
Grove, England – 08 February 1993
That evening back at headquarters, Frank Williams sat in front of the Andrettis after a quick word with Patrick and the other drivers. Nigel Mansell had arrived while the lot was at Silverstone, and had remained, slightly annoyed that they couldn’t bring the -15 for him to test while they vetted his replacement.
“Mansell still hasn’t grown up, has he? I remember him back at Lotus in 1980, and he just wouldn’t keep his temper and ego in check. I take it nothing’s changed?” Mario asked.
“He’s an interesting character to say the least. Still, it’s his fairwell season here in F1, and then he’s off to your IndyCars,” Frank replied.
He got to business rather quickly thereafter, reviewing the data set the younger Andretti managed to compile over his test session. Towards the end of his run, he was very quick, enough that had the car been put in race trim, he might be able to get it into the points. Yes, as they discussed into the evening, all were happy with how things could go. Michael would fly over for the San Marino, Japanese, and Australian Grands Prix, and spend time at headquarters in the buildup and recovery to those weekends. Michael was committed to making his transition work, as long as he had access to the facility and was enabled to be as ready as possible. Things were indeed looking up for 1994.
Speedway, Indiana – 08 February 1993
Mari Hulman-George again looked over the counterproposals from her son and Roger Penske, and smiled. Roger Penske already signaled that he wasn’t going to fight the centrist faction over small details and was willing to work within the framework of the Rahal Proposal and Tony’s addendum. USAC already signaled that they would be willing to deal as long as IMS helped fund the series they’d have remaining through a hefty lump sum. It’d be one hell of a sweetener, and was pretty much an opportunistic gouge, but she was willing to pay to keep the peace. She was determined not to screw her daughters out of their inheritance. Tony, on the other hand, will have to learn how to keep his ego in check, and how to live on a leash. Mari thought.
