BROOKLYN, Mich. Sunday s IndyCar Series race at Michigan International Speedway was to be the final chapter in a four-decade-long journal of open-wheel events at the Irish Hills venue. Unable to come up with a workable date for 2008, track officials and the IndyCar brass have parted ways.

But in the wake of last weekend s spectacular Firestone Indy 400 that featured all of the chills, thrills and spills a racing fan could dream of, the drivers themselves are pushing for a reconciliation sometime in the near future. What seems like a bitter and contentious divorce with irreconcilable differences is now being cast more like an amicable separation.

It s sad we re going away, and I ve definitely got some mixed feelings about it, said Tony Kanaan, the winner of the last IndyCar race at MIS, which turned out to be a 200-lap demolition derby at 200 miles an hour 20 cars started the race seven finished it. I hope we get back to this track, but I don t know.

Although the Indy Racing League has been tight-lipped about the details behind the circumstances that brought about the split with MIS, it has made an effort not to appear heavy-handed while facing the fallout.

IndyCar Series officials have said if circumstances change, the series would be thrilled at the possibility of returning to MIS. A cluttered midsummer calendar and date conflicts with other tracks were just part of the issue.

MIS president Roger Curtis acknowledged that a considerable amount of fence-mendingoccurred over the weekend, when phone conversations and e-mails were replaced with face-to-face discussions. Curtis also spoke at the drivers meeting before Sunday s race and said the response to his optimistic message was encouraging.

The drivers seemed very excited to know that the sides are talking, and it makes us feel great knowing that the drivers really want to be here, Curtis said. They support racing here again, and they seemed relieved to know that we have not burned any bridges on this.

We ve put on some great shows here, series points leader Dario Franchitti said. And I m not talking about the crashes, because nobody wants that. I m talking about the speed, and the side-by-side racing, the long runs and all of the passing and lead changes. Very few places can match the raw entertainment at this place.

MIS is the only two-mile oval on this year s IndyCar Series schedule, and the superspeedway has provided some very fast shows. The open-wheel events at MIS attracted crowds approaching 90,000 about 15 years ago, but that number dipped closer to 30,000 earlier this decade. Sunday s race, delayed five hours by rain, drew a crowd estimated at 15,000.

That does baffle me a bit, Franchitti said about Michigan s run with the open-wheel race cars coming to an end, especially since the racing has been generally regarded as terrific, even while crowd size has diminished.

It s been a shame. There s definitely a group of hard-core open wheel fans that come to this race. Whether it was when I was in Champ Car or since I ve been here in IndyCar, I don t know of many places where you put on a better show than you do here. So it s a shame that is all I can say about it.

IndyCar Series defending champion Sam Hornish Jr., a native of Defiance who attracts a huge following to the open-wheel events at nearby MIS, said the drivers felt a little helpless as the whole process played out.

Obviously it s a tough thing for a lot of people to accept, and I m one of those who would like to see the Indy cars run here for a long, long time, Hornish said.

I remember coming here to watch the open-wheel races when I was a kid. I think we ve had some great races here better than what some of the mile and mile-and-a-half tracks have produced. I wasn t part of the deciding process, but it is disappointing to see it come to an end.

Curtis said MIS will do everything it can to get open-wheel racing back, but it will have to demand a July race date so as to give the track time to adequately prepare for its traditional Nextel Cup events each June and August.

We re parting company, taking a hiatus, and we hope it s a short one, but we have to be realistic about the politics involved, and that a lot of dynamics play into the schedule each year, Curtis said.

A lot of nice things were said over the weekend, but this is not going to be an easy road we re headed down. With all due respect, all that s left to say at this point is that the ball is in their court.

Contact Matt Markey at:mmarkey@theblade.comor 419-724-6510.

First Published August 7, 2007, 9:21 a.m.