Later start in 2005?

ABC is pushing for beginning future races later in the day.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Jim Nabors always sings "Back Home Again in Indiana." Mari Hulman George always yells, "Gentlemen, start your engines!" The celebration in Victory Lane always includes milk.
And the Indianapolis 500 always starts at the same time.
But, ABC is trying to get the track to change one of its revered traditions. Weather permitting, the race has started at 11 a.m. local time every year since 1963.
"We're trying to balance tradition with reality," said Loren Matthews, senior vice president of programming for ABC Sports.
On Tuesday, the network announced an extension of its TV deal with the Indy Racing League through 2009. As part of the deal, serious discussions will be held on the possibility of a later start time.
"There's nothing definite," said Ken Ungar, senior vice president of business affairs for the IRL. "But it's beyond just an idea."
Night
Another television-friendly idea was met with less enthusiasm from Indy officials: running the 500 at night. That would require a massive lighting project that track officials aren't yet ready to tackle or pay for.
"Sure, we would love the opportunity to do the Indy 500 in prime time," Matthews said. "But they say it's not realistic at this point in time."
The ratings for last year's race were less than half of what they were in 1995, the final year before a nasty split in open-wheel racing led to the formation of the IRL and a boycott by Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), which had most of the top drivers and teams at the time.
ABC believes it could stem the ratings slide if the race started in the afternoon, luring in more viewers especially from the Mountain and Pacific time zones.
Drawback
One clear drawback to starting the race in the afternoon: NASCAR drivers such as Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart would no longer have time to attempt "The Double," running both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in North Carolina on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, teammates Kosuke Matsuura and Adrian Fernandez put up the fastest times during the two-hour "Carburetion Day" practice -- the only time between the end of qualifying and the race in which the cars are allowed on the 21/2-mile oval.
The Fernandez Racing duo has been among the fastest nearly every day since practice began. That was the case again Thursday, when the 33 cars had one final chance to make sure all the bolts were tightened, all the hoses connected.
"It was a very, very good test," said Matsuura, a rookie who turned the quickest lap of 219.226 mph.
Fernandez, the team owner who is racing at Indy for the first time since 1995, was next at 218.066.