You must have F1 and Indycar confused. Indycar teams don't have anywhere near the funding that NASCAR teams have now. In the '80's and early '90's that would have been true, but now, a fully funded full-season Indycar program is about 6 million. That's a fraction of a NASCAR budget.

Here's a neat story about one of those "prissy, wine and cheese" Indycar drivers, who by the way, happens to be French.

http://autoweek.com/article/indycar/...eturn-race-car