INDIANAPOLIS -- The party line here all month at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is that everything is back to normal and the good old days have returned. And, from a competition level, it's certainly the best field since the IRL/CART split in 1996.

Barry Green bought Paul Tracy and Dario Franchitti to join Michael Andretti, while Bobby Rahal (with Jimmy Vasser) returned to the scene of his 1986 triumph and Morris Nunn added his CART shoe, Tony Kanaan, to his two-car program. Chip Ganassi has cut back from four cars to three, but one of them contains 1999 Indy winner Kenny Brack, absent the past two years.

	CART stars like Paul Tracy have made this year's Indianapolis 500 field stronger than ever.

Throw in Robby Gordon, who is doing the Indy/NASCAR daily double, and CART veteran Max Papis and it's easy to see more quality than the previous six Mays.

"I read in the paper the other day that Indy's not what it used to be, which is completely out of line," said Raul Boesel, who snagged the outside of the front row as a last-minute replacement for the injured P.J. Jones.

"When you see the speeds you achieve now and what it takes to be in the grid, how much more competitive can you be, you know what I mean? I don't think this race has ever stopped growing."

A thought echoed by defending IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr.

"Not everybody remembers who won Phoenix or Miami or anything like that, but they always remember who won Indy," Hornish said. "I made a mistake at Nazareth last month and I'm sure people won't talk about that for the next year.

"But everybody remembers my mistake here last year. I mean, for a driver race, Indy is everything because it's always been the biggest race and it always will be."

From a driver's perspective, in terms of money and prestige, Hornish is right. Sure, the level of talent and depth of teams at Indy has suffered since the split, but Juan Montoya got a lot more exposure for winning here in 2000 than he did for dominating CART the year before.

It didn't make Montoya's career but it did put him on the worldwide map.

Still, while the quality of this race is rebounding, the same cannot be said for the attendance.

The pole day crowd, estimated at 65,000 in 1995, has never topped 20,000 since '96 and continued to dwindle. This month's pole turnout was thought to be less than 10,000.

Practice has also been a non-event since the open-wheel war broke out. Bad weather certainly played a part this month but, even on nice days, there is simply nobody at 16th & Georgetown.

"Well, Michael (Andretti) and Team Penske came back last year and it didn't help the crowd one bit and a few more CART guys came over this month and it didn't make any difference," said two-time Indy winner Arie Luyendyk.

"I can't figure it out. I don't understand it because you can't ask for closer qualifying than we've had the past few years."

No more "new track records" since '96 could be a small factor and the removal of the infield "Snake Pit" has also contributed to the lack of people. With the Brickyard 400 and U.S. Grand Prix in town, Indy no longer has that exclusive feeling either.

The bottom line is that Indy has become a one-day event. Aside from a nice turnout on Carb Day, nobody shows up until race day. Even the buzz of the city is noticeably missing.

But, once a year when 300,000 people flock to the Speedway, there is no show to compare to the Indy 500.

"I did miss the excitement of being here all month because you felt like you were really part of a major event," Rahal said. "You don't get that at other races.

"It's still a special place and the one race you want to win."