There shouldn’t be many traffic jams on the track when the Indy Racing League opens this season.

Only 18 drivers have secured deals for the race Feb. 29 in Homestead, Fla., despite all the strides made in the open-wheel series since its founding in 1996.

Among those who probably will be sitting on the sideline, at least for the first race: two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. and Sarah Fisher.

“It’s a very tight sponsorship market with lots of competition,” said Fred Nation, the right-hand man to IRL president Tony George. “We’ve got several teams close to final deals. Some will get there. Some won’t.”

Last year, every IRL race had at least 21 cars. At Homestead, where Nation is hopeful that at least one more car will complete a sponsorship deal, there probably won’t be more than 19.

He blames a still-recovering economy and the tight sponsorship market, which has been felt all the way to the Daytona 500 in the more-popular NASCAR Nextel Cup series. Only 45 cars attempted to qualify for Sunday’s race — eight fewer than a year ago.

“Everybody’s wanting more this year as far as cars,” Nation said. “I know Daytona is a little lower than usual.”

While the economy has shown definite signs of being on the upswing, including corporate earnings and Wall Street performance, the results haven’t trickled down fully to the IRL.

“That’s what we’re hearing from our car owners,” Nation said. “It has not improved to the extent that they hoped it would.”

Sarah Fisher, bottom right, leads the field past the starting line on the first lap of the IRL Belterra 300 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky., in this Aug. 1, 2002, file photo. Fisher is one of the most recognizable drivers who hasn't secured a deal to race in the IRL this season.

That’s not all.

“There’s increased competition for motorsports as well as all sports,” Nation said. “More people are vying for the same or a very slowly growing pot of dollars. It’s tight.”

Car owner Derrick Walker, who has fielded entries in both the IRL and the renamed Champ Car series, still is trying to work out a deal to race somewhere in 2004.

“Wherever we can raise money, I’ll go race,” Walker said Wednesday.

In a perfect world, the IRL would like to have 10 to 12 well-financed teams and around 24 regular drivers. But Nation pointed out the series was much more competitive and well-run than it was in the formative years — even if the fields then were larger.

As an older open-wheel series, CART, spiraled into bankruptcy, IRL lured away top organizations such as Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing and more prominent drivers, including Helio Castroneves and defending champ Scott Dixon.

“Yes, we’re down a few cars,” Nation said. “But the teams we have are pretty solid. Some are more solid than others, but our core is well-sponsored, well-run, competitive teams.”

Unser raced last season for Tom Kelley, who cut back to a one-car operation for 2004. Even though Little Al is coming off a solid year — sixth in the points, a victory at Texas Motor Speedway — he’s still scrambling to find a ride. So is Fisher, the only woman in the series last year.

“These are people we need,” Nation said. “These are people the fans like to see racing.”

Then again, it must be noted that Unser is 41, has battled alcohol problems and was seriously hurt in a snowmobile accident during the offseason. Fisher, while popular with fans, never has been very successful on the track.

Fisher and several other drivers have lined up one-race deals for the Indy 500, which traditionally has a 33-car field. The IRL hopes some of those cars will make it to other tracks.

There should be at least 36 open-wheel racers this year. The problem: They’re divided between two rival series.

Champ Cars, which picked up the remains of CART, plans a 15-race season with at least 18 cars, including defending CART champion Paul Tracy.

For now, there’s no sign of a reconciliation.

“If we had one series, we would have about 36 cars,” Walker said. “Thirty-six cars trying to get into any given race. That would be what we see in NASCAR. That would be a hell of a show. The Indy 500 would be what it used to be.”