IRL tries to ensure full Long Beach field

With the Indy Cars racing in Motegi, Japan the same weekend as the Champ Cars will be in Long Beach for their last hooray, there is a concern that some Champ Car teams will want to go to Motegi instead because the IRL season will have already started and they will not want to switch back and forth. So the IRL has upped the offer to Champ Car teams.

The IRL has offered any team, Champ Car or otherwise, that commits to its full season a package that includes Honda engines, chassis and $1.2 million. Pacific Coast Motorsports General Manager Tyler Tadevic said that offer has been adjusted for existing Champ Car teams that enter the Long Beach Grand Prix, which is the same weekend as the IRL race in Twin Ring Motegi in Japan.

According to Tadevic, Champ Car teams have been offered two IRL cars for every one it enters in the Long Beach Grand Prix.

He called it a gracious offer from the IRL, but "it's kind of a rough deal."

"It is what it is," Tadevic said. "I'm not very OK with any of it."