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 Since 1916 there has been a recognized United States national automobile racing National Championship for drivers of professional-level, single-seat open wheel race cars. The championship has been under the auspices of several different sanctioning bodies since 1909. Since 1911, the Indianapolis 500-mile race has been regarded as the marquee event of the National Championship. As of 2008, the top-level American open wheel racing championship is sanctioned by the Indy Racing League. The open-wheeled, winged, single-seater cars have generally been similar to those in Formula One, though there are important differences. Due to the fame of the Indianapolis 500, the term Indy Car (or IndyCar, Indycar) is a more popular term used to describe the cars that would typically compete in U.S. Championship car racing, popularized during the rising popularity of CART PPG Indy Car World Series racing in the early 1990s. [edit] Sanctioning bodies[edit] AAA (1902–1955)The national championship was sanctioned by the Contest Board of the American Automobile Association. The AAA first sanctioned automobile motorsports events in 1902 and introduced the first championship for racing cars as early as 1905 but it was canceled after a couple of serious incidents. Barney Oldfield was leading the championship at the point it was canceled. Official records regard 1916 as the first contested season, however, titles were later retroactively awarded back to 1909. Championship racing did not cease in the United States during World War I, however, the Indianapolis 500 itself was voluntarily suspended for 1917–1918. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, all auto racing was suspended. From 1942–1945 no events were contested, primarily due to rationing. Racing resumed in 1946. AAA ceased racing participation after 1955 following the fatal accident of Bill Vukovich and the Le Mans disaster. [edit] USAC (1956–1978)The national championship was taken over by the United States Auto Club, a new sanctioning body formed by the then-owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tony Hulman. It would continue in a stabilized environment for over two decades. During this time, the Indianapolis 500 continued to grow in popularity, while international participation began creeping into the series. During the 1960s, the cars evolved from front-engine roadsters to rear-engine formula-style racers. The schedule was dominated by ovals, and dirt track eventually were almost completely phased out. Technology and speed climbed at a fast rate. Hulman died in 1977, and several USAC officials were killed in a plane crash in 1978. By the end of the 1970s, however, a growing dissent amongst the participants was based on many factors, including poor promotion and revenue. [edit] SCCA/CART & USAC (1979–1981)Championship Auto Racing Teams was formed by most of the existing team-owners, with some initial assistance from the SCCA. Therefore, there were two national championships run each by USAC and CART. The Indianapolis 500 remained under USAC sanction. The top teams allied to CART, and the CART championship became the de facto national championship. USAC ran a "rump" 1979 season, with few cars and fewer name drivers—the only exception being A. J. Foyt.
[edit] CART & USAC (1982–1995)Stability returned and the national championship was run by CART. The Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned individually by USAC, but points were paid towards the CART season championship. It was conducted similarly to the sanctioning of three of the four PGA majors by separate organizations, but still counting as the most important events on the PGA calendar. USAC's Gold Crown Championship continued, settling into an unusual June through May schedule calendar (spreading across two calendar years), which provided that the Indianapolis 500 would be the final race of the respective season. However, during that period, the USAC schedule never included more than one race (i.e., Indianapolis). [edit] CART & IRL (1996–2003)In 1996, Tony Hulman's grandson, Tony George, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway created the Indy Racing League (IRL), a separate championship that initially leveraged the fame of the Indianapolis 500, which saw the exclusion of many of CART's top teams from that event. The IRL's results are either listed alongside the existing national championship [2] or treated as an entirely separate entity and not included. [3] [4]
[edit] IRL & CCWS (2004–2007)The rights to CART's assets were purchased by a consortium called Open Wheel Racing Series (OWRS) in 2004 and the series was renamed the Champ Car Open Wheel Racing Series, later renaming it to Champ Car World Series (CCWS) LLC. However, the sanctioning body continued to be plagued by financial difficulties, In 2007, CCWS's presenting sponsors Bridgestone and Ford Motor Company withdrew and CCWS lacked the resources to mount the 2008 season. [edit] IRL (2008–present)Prior to the start of the 2008 season, the CCWS Board authorized bankruptcy and Champ Car was absorbed into the IRL, creating one unified series for the national championship for the first time since 1978. The unified series competed under the name Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. All historical record and property of CART/CCWS was assumed by the IRL. [edit] Car names and trademarks Race cars participating in national championship events have been referred to by various names. Early nomenclature was to call the machines "Championship Cars," which was later shortened to "Champ Cars." The ambiguous term "Big Cars" was also commonplace in early years. A term that reflected the machines being larger and faster than junior formulae such as sprints and midgets. That term has disappeared from use. In most years since the USAC era, the term "Indy cars" (after the Indy 500) has been the preferred moniker. Apropos to that, when CART was founded in 1979, its acronym stood for Championship Auto Racing Teams, which reflected the historical use of the term "Championship Car." Soon thereafter, CART started exclusively marketing itself with the two-word "Indy Car" term, advertising itself as the "CART Indy Car World Series." Through the 1980s, the term "Indy car" was used to describe the machines used to compete in events sanctioned by CART, as well as the machines competing in the Indianapolis 500 (singly sanctioned by USAC). All references to the name "CART" were being increasingly discouraged as the series sought to eliminate possible confusion from casual fans with Kart racing. In 1992, the CamelCase term "IndyCar" was trademarked by Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Inc. It was licensed to CART through 1997. After the inception of the Indy Racing League in 1996, use of the term was voided after a lawsuit and subsequently by a six-year non-use agreement. Following the settlement, and the lack of direct connection to the Indianapolis 500, CART decided to revert back to the former term. It rebranded itself as Champ Car and the machines were referred to as "Champ cars." Complicating the situation resulting from the open-wheel split, Champ Car races held outside the United States were still permitted to use the Indy moniker (e.g., Toronto Molson Indy and Lexmark Indy 300). Foreign venue promoters took advantage of the marketing power of the Indy 500 name for their events, even though the Champ Car series they were promoting no longer had any ties to that race. The exceptions created confusion, and Champ Car gradually phased out the usage to distance itself from the IRL. After the settlement expired in 2003, the IndyCar term was brought back. The top level of the Indy Racing League was rebranded as the "IndyCar Series." The machines in the series were also referred to as "IndyCars." In 2008, when Champ Car merged into the Indy Racing League, the term "Champ Car" was abandoned, and all open wheel racing fell under the "IndyCar" name once again. [edit] Comparison with Formula OneAt first, American and European open-wheel racing were not distinct disciplines. Races on both continents were mostly point-to-point races, and large ovals tracks emerged on both continents. But in America, racing took off at horse-race tracks and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while in Europe, racing from point to point and around large circuits gained in popularity. Grand Prix racing (which became Formula One) and rally racing then diverged in Europe. Formula One was established after World War II as the World Championship for road racing, and F1 cars became increasingly specialized and high-tech. In the 1960s, road racing gained popularity in North America, and Formula One-style design ideas changed IndyCars, which until then had all been classic-styled front-engined roadsters. When North America's road racing championship, Can-Am Challenge, collapsed in the 1970s, the IndyCars were ready to fill the void. IndyCar was a combination road- and oval-racing championship from this time until the Split. Compared to F1 cars, IndyCars were partly specialized for oval-racing: they were larger and had other safety features, and were designed to run at the higher speeds necessary for oval racing. Because IndyCars were usually "customer" cars that the teams purchased from constructors, and because of rules to contain costs, they were considerably less expensive than F1 cars, each model of which was designed by the team that used it. After the Split in the 1990s, CART maintained the old formula while the IRL drifted toward the "spec" design that is now the only IndyCar model. As engine formulas have changed, and as engine technology has developed over time, F1 cars and IndyCars have each produced more power than the other at different times. But for the foreseeable future, F1 cars will have considerably more power than the spec IndyCar. Alex Zanardi, who drove both in F1 and CART, said that the lighter, naturally-aspirated F1 car was more responsive and accelerated off the turns faster, while the turbocharged IndyCar was more stable and accelerated to top speed faster. Some consider Formula One more demanding than IndyCars. They point out that champions that retired from F1 have won CART championships, and that drivers that did not excel in F1 have continued their careers and succeeded in IndyCar. In fact, since IndyCar's heyday in the 1990s, the difference between the money and attention spent on IndyCar and on F1 has become more pronounced. Others argue that IndyCars are more demanding because, with only one or a few standard car designs, the drivers are to be judged more on their ability than against their team's ability to design a car. Oval racing also requires skills that road racing does not (and vice versa). Caution periods are also done differently in Formula One and IndyCars. Largely because of IndyCar's oval-racing heritage, incidents that leave a hazard on or near the track always draw a full-course caution period. Because the entire field of cars gathers behind the leader for each restart, IndyCars that have fallen back in the field can earn a chance to challenge the leaders by making strategic pit stops. IndyCar-style caution periods also force the leader to withstand a possible challenge with every restart. By contrast, caution periods are usually only called in F1 for hazards on the track itself, so F1 drivers are by comparison more likely to be judged by their lap driving ability alone than by their pit strategy or aggression during restarts. [edit] Open Wheel Cars
[edit] Racing Description
[edit] Types of circuitsFurther information: List of auto racing tracks in the United States The American National Championship is notable for the wide variety of racetracks it has used compared to other series, such as Formula One and the various forms of Endurance sports car racing. The mainstays of the championship are paved oval speedway tracks, road courses and closed public road/street circuits. Until 1970 the championship frequently raced on dirt and clay tracks, but all such tracks were removed permanently by the USAC before the 1971 season. From 1915 to 1931 wooden speedways were frequently used for championship races, however they were too expensive to maintain, especially with the onset of the Great Depression, and nearly all were demolished in the 1930s. The Pikes Peak Hillclimb was a round of the championship in the years 1947 to 1955 and 1965 to 1969. In 1909 a point-to-point race from Los Angeles, California to Phoenix, Arizona was included in the championship. [edit] Non-US racesFor the majority of the National Championship, the races have been held inside the United States. First championship event outside of US took place in 1967. American championship cars raced in Monza oval in 1957 and 1958 in a non-championship Race of Two Worlds. Also, in 1966 there was a non-championship USAC race in Japan. Since the 1980s the CART/CCWS championship has increasingly raced outside the US. The Champ Car World Series held a handful of races in Europe and the IndyCar Series currently holds two races in Canada and one in Japan. [edit] Vanderbilt CupMain article: Vanderbilt Cup The 1916, 1936 and 1937 Vanderbilt Cup races were included in the National Championship. The 1909–1915 races were retrospectively added to the championship in 1926. CART resurrected the Cup in 1996 as the winner's trophy for the US500 race. When that race was discontinued in 2000, the Cup changed roles and became the championship trophy. As OWRS bought all of CART's assets in 2004 they have kept rights to use the Cup. [edit] Indianapolis 500 and 'The Split'From its inception in 1911, to creation of the Indy Racing League in 1996, the Indianapolis 500 was a round of the National Championship. The exceptions are the 1981 and 1982 races, which were removed from the CART championship for political reasons by the USAC. However, when the race still attracted all of the regular teams despite its lack of championship status USAC relented and allowed CART to run at Indianapolis. Winning the Indianapolis 500 has always had at least an equal profile with the winning the National Championship, although direct comparisons are difficult as many of the National Champions also won the Indy 500. 1993 is a good example of a year when the winners of each title received the same amount of attention. That year former Formula One champion Emerson Fittipaldi won the 500 but the current F1 champion Nigel Mansell won the National Championship, becoming the only driver to win both titles consecutively. The creation of the IRL in 1996 with the Indianapolis 500 as its centerpiece race removed the race from the existing National Championship. This of course was a hugely controversial move in racing circles, with opinions at the time ranging from praise to ridicule—in 2004 the US Sports Illustrated magazine named the IRL's formation as one of the 'Ten Dumbest Moments in Sports'.[citation needed] This assessment was based on the notable decline in the number of television viewers, car entries and estimated grandstand ticket sales (the Speedway does not officially announce sales figures), since the impasse began in 1996. By late 2007, both entities had fallen far behind NASCAR in popularity, participants, and media coverage. Several top drivers, including Americans A.J. Allmendinger and Sam Hornish Jr and 2007 IRL Champion Dario Franchitti, had switched to or were seriously contemplating a switch to stock cars. Neither the Champ Car World Series nor the Indy Racing League seemed to have an edge over the other in terms of credibility or prestige. Neither series had more than 20 cars outside of Indianapolis (compared with 25-28 as late as 2001), so a merger was the only logical move. On February 22, 2008, both series announced the acquisition of Champ Car assets by IRL founder and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, effectively rolling the former series into the latter, and reuniting American open wheel racing under IndyCar Series control. Further details of the 'Split' can be found under Indy Racing League and Champ Car. [edit] Notable driversFurther information: List of American Championship Car winners
[edit] Notable fatalities in competitionFurther information: List of fatal Champ Car accidents Further information: List of Indianapolis 500 fatal accidents
[edit] Retrospectively awarded championsIn 1926 the AAA Competitions board retrospectively calculated championship results for major AAA-sanctioned races run in 1905 & between 1909 and 1915 and for 1917 to 1919. In 1951 racing historian Russ Catlin officially revised AAA records with championship results based on all AAA races from 1902–1915 and 1916–1919. This had the effect of retroactively creating seven newly credited champions and changing the 1909 champion from Bert Dingley to George Robertson and the 1920 champion from Gaston Chevrolet to Tommy Milton. Although the 1909–1919 races were not considered to be part of a championship at the time, they are included in statistics by most historians. [edit] National champions     
[edit] Top championship winnersThis list of champions includes winners of all titles awarded in the "National champions" list above (including the "USAC Gold Crown Championship" which, in some years, was awarded to the winner of the Indy 500).
[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] External links
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