What happened to the Reynard and Lola chassis, and the Mercedes and Ford Cosworth and Menard engines?
All but the last have decided, for the time being at least, not to get involved in IRL racing. All of the CART chassis makers (Penske, Reynard, Swift, and Lola) took a pass on the IRL formula, presumably for business reasons. The Ilmor (Mercedes) and Cosworth (Ford) CART engines are no longer legal for the IRL, and so far they haven’t felt inclined to attempt an IRL engine. Ilmor never has had much to do with the IRL because they don’t sell engines; they only lease them, and that is contrary to IRL rules. Quite a few Ford Cosworths were raced in the IRL in 1996, before the turbo engines were banned, but despite reoccurring rumors Ford has so far not attempted an IRL-legal engine (at least not that they will own up to). As for the Menard (nee Buick) V-6, it is now a museum piece, since it is no longer legal in the IRL and never was competitive anywhere except Indy, where USAC rules gave it a break in the form of extra turbocharger boost. (Some Buick V-6 engines live on in the American I
