Editor: Below is an article from the Indianapolis Star again calling for a merger. We’ve heard it all before but it bears repeating until the two sides have the sense to merge or the whole thing goes down the drain…for good.

The Indy Racing League couldn’t have scripted a better conclusion to an exciting racing season than a virtual photo finish at Chicagoland Speedway, giving Dan Weldon a blink-of-an-eye victory over Scott Dixon, while Sam Hornish Jr. won a tie-breaker IRL title.

But such is the sorry state of open-wheel racing that the biggest news of this past IRL season isn’t Hornish’s success, but rather that Danica Patrick, who wasn’t even in the chase for the title, opted not to jump the IRL for NASCAR.

Hornish, despite winning the IRL championship and four races, including the Indianapolis 500, will earn less this year than about three dozen NASCAR drivers. IRL television ratings are foundering and attendance is lackluster. The league struggled to assemble a 33-car field for the Indy 500.

Rival Champ Car isn’t faring any better. Although this successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams has emerged from bankruptcy, it is racing only about 18 cars at each event. Attendance is flat and television contracts anemic.

Since the 1995 breakup of open-wheel racing into warring camps, neither side has gained traction. Meanwhile, NASCAR continues lapping the field. It is only a matter of time before successful drivers in both open-wheel leagues jump to NASCAR.

It’s time to black-flag this losing formula. IRL and Champ Car need to merge. Many of the differences that led to their divorce no longer exist. Champ Car is unveiling a new Panoz chassis for 2007, giving that series the more affordable car Speedway owner Tony George sought when he initiated the split. Both groups drive on oval and racecourse tracks.

Differences in equipment, scheduling, rules and personnel will have to be worked out, and a merger may need to be gradual. But George and Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven must continue their talks in earnest or agree on a third-party arbitrator to unify open-wheel racing. Gentlemen, start your bargaining.

IndyStar.com