Jack Rodgers and Russ Breeden say there will be a future without Tony Bettenhausen, who died in an airplane crash Monday with his wife, Shirley, and two other men.

"Tony would expect us to carry on," said Rodgers, an Indianapolis businessman who along with Wayne Hillis gave Bettenhausen his Indy-car start in 1980.

"There's a lot of things we've got to do, legally, in the next few days and we need to get some legal advice. But we've had conversations with the CART officials and it's our intent to go forward," Rodgers said.

Bettenhausen's older brothers, Merle and Gary, "both hope there's a way to continue," Rodgers said.

Bettenhausen Motorsports has 22 full-time employees, and was to be funded for Mexican driver Michel Jourdain this year.

"If Tony was sitting here we would laugh because he already had everything set up for the staff and on-track folks to take over," said Breeden, the chairman and CEO of Community First Financial Group and president of Harrington Bank. "I told Jack we can sit on the scoring stand and yell and cheer like Tony."

Engineer Tom Brown, who began working for Bettenhausen in 1991, said the crew was "pretty shattered" but resolved to soldier on.

"The biggest tragedy is Tony's and Shirley's two girls, but I think the second biggest tragedy would be to let this team disappear," Brown said. "Tony gave everything to build this thing up and he'd be kicking my butt if I let this fall down.

In 1986, Roberts, Rodgers, Breeden and Tony Bettenhausen formed Bettenhausen Motorsports.

"I was not a big race nut but Tony was my neighbor, and when I found out he needed $100,000 to secure a ride I got together with Russ and Jack," said Breeden. "It was hard to walk away from somebody like Tony. He was just such a great guy."

Added Rodgers: "Wayne and I had been out of racing for a couple years when Bettenhausen wanted to form a new partnership in '86. I always told him I was dumb enough to keep going but it turned out to be very viable. Very successful.

"We didn't win a race yet but racing is not all about winning," he said.