A spokesman for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will have little impact on the first international sporting event in the United States since that day.

But those selling tickets and renting limousines said overseas travelers are shying away from this weekend's event.

"Where do I start?" Indianapolis ticket broker Kyle Kinnett asked. "Cancellations, cancellations, cancellations, cancellations."

Kinnett, president of Front Row Tickets, said corporate groups of 100 each from Germany, England and Japan canceled their plans to attend the worldwide racing series Indianapolis event.

People are simply afraid to travel to the United States, Kinnett said.

"There's still a demand for the best seats in the house, but that demand is at $100, where last year it was a $300 ticket," he said. "This has gone from an international flair to a local thing, almost."

After a nine-year break, Formula One racing returned to the United States to a sellout crowd of 200,000 a year ago at the Speedway. This year the Speedway has sold 175,000 tickets, leaving 25,000 available at the box office, spokesman Fred Nation said. He dismissed reports of widespread international cancellations.

"The calls we've had are people with difficulty finding flights, not a fear of terrorism," Nation said.

The Speedway expected about half of last year's 30,000 international fans to attend before the attacks, Nation said. The Speedway has been marketing the event to people who live within a day's drive of Indianapolis.

Limo company owner Stuart Steienfeld agreed this year's Formula One crowd might be driving itself to the race. A year ago, his Indianapolis company emptied its lot of limos and corporate luxury cars.

"Last year, we had people calling in advance," said Steienfeld, president of Corporate Connection Limousine. "They haven't even called. It's definitely going to be slower."

Steienfeld attributed some of the expected decline in business to a more somber mood in the nation and financially strapped companies cutting back on luxuries, such as all-expenses paid trips to the races.

"A lot of famous and very wealthy people come out here for the race," he said. "Usually they will announce stars, like Bruce Willis or the 'N Sync kids, but I haven't heard anything this year."

Some rooms at the upscale Westin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis will sit empty this weekend because of cancellations, said Marian Wilson, the hotel's director of sales. Though the hotel will still charge for the rooms, it will lose money from unsold drinks and meals.

The Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association has heard of groups from Germany, Finland and Mexico reducing their numbers, spokesman Bob Schultz said.

But Schultz points out that two years ago the event didn't even exist.

While Nation and Schultz said they are predicting about an only 10 percent decline in international guests to the Speedway and the city, the drop may be more dramatic for the cab drivers, caterers and waiters.