They fought in soap-opera like fashion, breaking up, reuniting and breaking up again.

Their relationship seemed torn permanently asunder.

And when one fell upon hard times, it would have been easy for the other to turn away from the situation.

Instead, love, or something like it, bloomed.

Finally, in February, there was a proposal, followed by an "I do," and now everyone hopes to live happily ever after.

No, this isn't the Jessica Simpson-Tony Romo story. Nor is it the saga of Jennifer Aniston's search for love in the wake of Brangelina.

This is gentlemen starting their engines. This is the saga of the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series.

Once they were one. Then they were divided. Now, they are whole again.

And it's all good.

In February, after 12 years of competition that did neither side any good, the IRL reached out to Champ Car and unification was the result.

Some will point out that the IRL had the upper hand, Champ had money problems, and this is not a merger as much as it is an absorption.

Others will say the Champ Cars are at a distinct disadvantage on the IRL circuit this year, given the brief span between the merger and the start of the season.

"Short-term pain for long-term gain," said Graham Rahal, a young star on the Champ Car series who is destined to be a star on the IRL circuit.

Rahal and the four other Champ Car teams that joined the IndyCar circuit have to get used to all new equipment.

They have to adjust from a schedule that was heavy on road and street courses to ovals, such as the RIR track they'll race on tonight.

The first year is going to have some rough patches for the former Champ Car teams, despite Rahal's April 6 victory at St. Petersburg, Fla.

"This had to happen," said Keith Wiggins, owner of HVM Racing, a former Champ Car competitor. "I don't think anyone can say it's not the right thing to do.

"We can find some real sponsors now. NASCAR needs a bit of competition."

Indeed it does.

NASCAR has a fan base that is seemingly endless, lucrative television contracts and legendary and iconic drivers.

NASCAR is a corporation with some enormously wealthy team owners and drivers. It even has a demographic the politicians always try to capture -- NASCAR Dads.

The domination NASCAR enjoys is not healthy. It makes it too easy for NASCAR to charge outrageous prices for tickets and memorabilia.

Someone needs to push NASCAR back to the real world, and the IRL now is in a prime position to do so.

Open-wheel racing once was the dashing, romantic arm of the motorsports world.

But the open-wheel world in the United States has been disjointed and confusing. It even has been easy to forget that the "Newman" in the Newman/Haas/Lanigan team is Paul Newman, legendary actor and philanthropist.

Can you imagine someone of such prominence going unnoticed on the NASCAR circuit?

Of course not.

After 12 years of hard-headed foolishness among Indy-car circuits, that should not be a problem any longer.

It's about time.
Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or pwoody@timesdispatch.com.