Prior to CART
In 1905 the American Automobile Association (AAA) estabished the national driving championship and became the first sanctioning body for auto racing in the United States.
In 1956 the USAC was founded to take over sanctioning from the AAA following the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans disaster when a car flew into the crowd, killing the driver and 84 spectators and also injuring 100. It has been the most catastrophic accident in motorsport history.
Open Wheel Car
In modern cars the engine is often located directly behind the driver , and drives the rear wheels. Depending on the rules of the class. many types of open-wheelers have wings at the front and rear.
Formation of CART
In early 1978 Dan Gurney wrote his "White Paper" the blueprint for CART. He took his inspiration from the improvements Bernie Ecclestone had forced on Formula One with his creation of the Formula One Constructors Association. CART as an advocay group would promote USAC's national championship, doing what the sanctioning body would not. The group would also work to negotiate television rights and race purses, and ideally hold seats on USAC's governing body.
Gurney, joined by other leading team owners such as Carl Hogan, Roger Penske and Pat Patrick took their requests to USAC but were rejected. Hence CART was formed with the first race being held in March 1979.
The new series quickly gained the support of the majority of teams and track owners, with the notably holdout being A.J. Foyt. Out the 10 tracks to host races, 5 would host CART events exclusively and one,Ontario Speedway would host races from both USAC and CART series
CART Series Name Changes
1979 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series
1980 -1996 PPG Indy Car World Series - sanctioned by CART
1997 PPG CART World Series - sanctioned by CART
1998 -2002 FedEx Championship Series - sanctioned by CART
2004 -2006 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford - sanctioned by CCWS
2007 Champ Car World Series - sanctioned by CCWS
2008 season cancelled after one race
Dominance by non-US drivers
CART, like it's predecessor USAC, was dominated by North American drivers until the 1990's. Many road racing stars, including Mario Andretti, Bobby Rahal, and Danny Sullivan found success in the series.
Venues
During this time, CART found success in street races, taking over the Detroit Grand Prix and the Long Beach Grand Prix from Formula One. As well, they had success in venues like Miami, Toronto, Vancouver, Cleveland and Surfer's Paradise.
The Cart program had racing on four very different types of tracks:
* Short ovals - oval tracks less than 2 miles long
* Super speedways - ovals 2 miles and longer
* Street courses - courses laid out on city streets
* Road courses - courses running on special closed tracks
Diversity
The type of track changed from race to race, making a season of CART racing incredibly exciting. The racing teams had to create cars that were flexible enough to run under all these different conditions. The teams had to completely revise the aeorodynamic package, the suspension settings and lots of other parameters on their cars for each race.
The drivers had to be extremely agile to handle all the different conditions that they faced as no two races were alike in CART racing.
Driving Speeds
CART racing was among the fastest in the world. Speeds on ovals can range in constant excess of 210-220 mph.
Even on tight non-oval street circuits such as the Grand Prix of Toronto, on the front straight at "Lakeshore Drive", the CART cars attain speeds of 190 mph.
Safety
Formation of the Indy Racing League
In 1991, Tony George, President of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, approach the CART board of directors, he took a non-voting position on the CART board.
George resigned from the CART Board of Directors, and in 1994 formed a new racing series, the Indy Racing League (IRL). With it's first race in 1996, the IRL, had only oval races on American soil, and with mostly American drivers.
Most of the IRL equipment and drivers were non-competitive cast-offs from CART. By contrast, CART featured 4 engine manufacturers, 4 chassis manufactures, 2 tire companies, large crowds, 28 cars and large sponsorships.
IndyCar mark
In March 1996, CART filed a lawsuit against the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in an effort to protect their licence to the IndyCar mark which the Speedway had attemted to terminate. In April the Speedway filed a countersuit against CART to prevent them from further use of the mark.
In the end, CART agreed to give up the use of the IndyCar mark following the 1996 season and IRL could not use the name before the end of the 2002 season.
Early CART and the Indy 500
I watched , a replay on TV, CART's attempt to create a rival showcase, the U.S. 500, at Michigan International Speedway on the same day as the Indy 500 in 1996. With three abreast, at the first turn, there was a disastrous crash involving many of the front runners. The race failed to attract network TV coverage.
CART's next strategy was to hold the race the day before the Indy 500 which also failed todraw attention away from IRL's most famous race.
Tony George's next move, was to specify technical rules that would not allow the CART-spec cars. Hence, Cart teams would be forced to purchase different cars to qualify for the Indy 500.
From 1996 to 1999, few CART teams competed in the Indy 500. With the absence of many of the top CART drivers, big-name sponsors, and faster CART-spec cars a shadow was cast over the race. As a result, the Indy 500 lost considerable prestige.
CART after IRL formed
In the early years after the launch of the IRL in 1996, CART seemec to be dominant. It controlled most of the "name" drivers while George's primary asset was the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and its 500.
In 1998, CART went public and raised $US 100 million in stock offering.
CART dominance seemed ralatively unchallenged through 2000.
Later CART and Indy 500
In 2002, Penske Racing and Target Chip Ganassi Racing became permanent entrants in the IRL. The following year Andretti Green switched from CART. In 2004, Team Rahal moved to the IRL series
Texas Motor Speedway
The turning point for the CART - IRL rivalry may have come as a result of the proposed Firestone Firehawk 600 race, April 29, 2001.
This race was cancelled just two hours before it was scheduled to start. Unprecedented g-forces brought on by the steep 24-degree banking caused several drivers to experience dizziness and disorientation.
CART officals had ignored repeated requests to test their cars before the race. The two parties settled, out of court for an estimated $5-7 million.
CART to CCWS
In 2003, CART began to promote itself as Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.
In 2002, FedEx announced that they would end their title sponsorship. Honda and Toyota switched their engine supply from CART to IRL after 2002.
During the 2003 off-season, CART declared bankruptcy and the assets were liquidated.
CART's assests were purchased by a group calling them selves Open Wheel Racing Series (OWRS) , a trior of CART owners along with Dan Pettit. This would ensure a 25th anniversary season in 2004 running as Champ Car. OWRS would later change its name to Champ Car World Series CCWS.
Several teams stayed with Champ Car, ensuring the series could continue, namelyNewman/Haas Racing and Dale Coyne Racing
September 24, 2006, I was watching on TV this race at Road America. The improvements in the driver's compartment since Greg Moores accident in 1999 made it possible for Katherine Legge safety in this horrifing crash.
CCWS Champ Car to Indy Racing League
In 2007, with the withdrawal of Bridgestone and Ford Motor Company as presenting sponsors, the offical name was Champ Car World Series. By late 2007, it was clear that CCWS lacked the resources to mount another season
February 14, 2008, the CCWS Board of Managers authorized bankruptcy. On February 22, 2008, an agreement in principal was reached and signed that merged the Champ Car Sreies with the IRL.
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