This was combined with the addition of rounds at Texas and Pikes Peak that nullified a summer break, and the criticism about the Indianapolis 500 overshadowing the co-championship of Buzz Calkins and Scott Sharp.

[3] As the majority of motorsport series and potential sponsors followed a calendar-based approach, all of those reasons led the teams to complain about the split season.

[6] Team Menard had previously a successful test session at Charlotte on September 25, with Mark Dismore and John Paul Jr., who subbed for the injured Tony Stewart, and a reported fastest lap of 207.61 mph.

They were joined by Formula Atlantic champion Chris Smith, supermodified driver Mike Muldoon and Silver Crown veterans Cary Faas and Jim Keeker.

[15] On October 6, John Paul Jr. won at the 3 Hours of Daytona, the last round of the IMSA GT season, with a handful of other IRL regulars in competition.

[19][20] However, by the time of the open test at Walt Disney World on December 10–13, Oldsmobile's engine production had been scarce, and Infiniti was not ready yet to supply theirs.

[22] This was the first on-track activity overseen by the new IRL executive director and vice president Leo Mehl, the former general manager for Goodyear.

[23] On December 17, the litigation between the IRL and CART over the use of the "IndyCar" trademark, as well as the one filled by A. J. Foyt for anti-competitive practices, ended in an out-of-court settlement "without any acknowledgment of fault or liability by any party".

Stewart, Salazar, Eddie Cheever, John Paul Jr. and Buzz Calkins also took part, while Galles Racing and Davy Jones elected to do so at Phoenix International Raceway.

[29] They were joined by Buddy Lazier, who got to do some system-check laps with the Infiniti,[30] and Dr. Jack Miller, a veteran Indy Lights competitor who passed his rookie test in the PDM Racing 'mule' car.

[31] On January 11, Eliseo Salazar lost control of his car after an engine failure and crashed in Turn 1, suffering a compression fracture in his lower back.

[29] On January 16, both Jeret Schroeder, a U.S. F2000 champion and top-5 contender in the Atlantic Championship, and Jim Guthrie were confirmed by McCormack Motorsports and Blueprint Racing, respectively.

[35] Further testing was conducted on the week of the race with 11 drivers, among them Roberto Guerrero and Marco Greco, designated by Team Scandia as Salazar's replacement.

[37] The entry list was unveiled on January 21 with 22 car/driver combinations, but only 19 materialized after Mark Dismore, Robbie Buhl and Sam Schmidt were withdrawn due to the widespread parts shortage.

[38] On Thursday, Stan Wattles announced plans to become a driver-owner, reforming the Metro Racing System team from his Atlantic Championship stint.

Jeff Ward put his new ride in a solid 8th place, while the Infiniti drivers lagged behind: Lazier managed to qualify 11th after overcoming a gearbox failure in the morning, and points leader Mike Groff was only faster than Jeret Schroeder and Danny Ongais, who had no testing mileage whatsoever.

Jeff Ward had a great start and placed 5th in the order, while Eddie Cheever went the opposite way by losing two additional spots to Scott Goodyear and a fast-starting Buddy Lazier.

Vapor chemtrails coming from the rear wings as a result of the high humidity also caused some confusing reports of smoking for other drivers, among them Stewart.

Three laps later, Buzz Calkins, who was bound to have the same fate, slowed on track after turning off a switch in his car by accident, trying to nurse his engine problems.

It was thought that the spin had been caused by Stewart running into some debris from Calkins' blown engine, but he later clarified that he had suffered an oil leak, which led to his crash.