IndyCar (organizer)

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IndyCar is the name of the United States settled seater - car racing organizer. The organizer was founded in 1996 under the name Indy Racing League (IRL) and carried this name until 2010. The organizer is owned by Hulman and Co. The head of IndyCar has been the American Randy Bernard since 2010 .

IndyCar has organized the IndyCar Series since 1996 , which from 1996 to 2002 was called the Indy Racing League (IRL) like the organizer itself . The IndyCar Series is the highest category in American Championship Car Racing . She shared this position between 1996 and 2007 with the CART / Champ Car series, which was carried out by the CART and the OWRS . In the 2012 season, IndyCar will host the IndyCar Series, the Indy Lights , Star Mazda Series and the US F2000 National Championship .

history

Spin-off

In November 1991, beat Tony George , president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) and organizer of the Indy 500 , the IndyCar Series a new structure with the creation of a new umbrella company, the Indy Car Inc. ago. The CART refused. In February 1992, CART licensed the name "IndyCar" from IMS, while George founds Indy Car Inc. These two processes should cause significant problems in the future. In the following years, resentment grew at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The company lamented the diminishing importance of the Indianapolis 500 miles in the IndyCar (CART) series. In March 1994, George announced that he would create a competition series for the PPG IndyCar World Series: the Indy Racing League . The CART protested unsuccessfully against the project. In September 1995, the competitive series formed while most of the IndyCar (CART) teams refused to participate in the Indy Racing League. In January 1996, the Indy Racing League held its first race in Orlando under the control of the USAC . The most important race of the season, the Indianapolis 500, no longer took place in the PPG IndyCar World Series, but in the Indy Racing League. The resulting formula racing series was based exclusively on oval tracks until 2004 .

Competitive situation

Immediately after the founding of the new series, the Indy Racing League consisted primarily of teams that were only moderately successful at the IndyCar World Series. The former Formula 1 drivers from all parts of America, who had traditionally been represented, were missing from the field. Accordingly, the series received little public attention, only the Indianapolis 500 had high audience figures.

The big teams, however, initially stayed in the old series, now called the CART World Series after a trademark lawsuit . This created a problem for both sides: The CART teams missed the top race in Indianapolis, which is many times higher than the ratings of the other races; the Indy Racing League teams drove the rest of the season with practically no spectators. As a result, some CART teams initially tried to register for the Indianapolis 500, which was mostly only characterized by moderate success, as the experience with the cars was lacking and the double development work turned out to be too expensive.

The big change began with the 2002 season : Penske Racing , one of the most successful teams on the scene, switched to the Indy Racing League. With the 2003 season , since the Indy Racing League has been allowed to use the name IndyCar Series , several top teams changed, including Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Green Racing . As a result, the CART lost much of its substance; in the IndyCar Series, however, primarily only the losses were concealed: apart from three drivers from the two previous top teams Panther Racing and Kelley Racing , only drivers from former CART teams were on the first 13 championship places at the end of the season. Still, the IndyCar Series could hardly raise the traditional 33 cars for the Indianapolis 500. From the 2005 season , the IndyCar Series also started on city and circuit circuits for the first time.

In the years that followed, the IndyCar Series was stagnant in terms of its popularity, whereas CART continued to decline: With great difficulty, the 18 cars stipulated in the contracts with the track owners could be launched. The low point marked the 2007 season, in which there were changing drivers for almost every race.

In the meantime, NASCAR had grown into an overpowering competitor: Their stock car races are consistently sold out and have even overtaken the Indianapolis 500 in the ratings.

fusion

In February 2008, the Champ Car series run by the Open Wheel Racing Series (OWRS), the successor organization to CART, was financially at an end. In an act called Merger (Fusion), the remnants were taken over by the Indy Racing League and some of the teams switched to the IndyCar Series. These were given free of charge by Tony George Dallara vehicles. The Champ Car teams only carried out one final race in Long Beach with the Champ Car vehicles, but this was fully scored with points for the IndyCar Series (as well as the IndyCar Series race taking place at the same time in Motegi, Japan, in which the "old" IndyCar Series teams competed).

The new series was characterized by a certain spirit of optimism: 25 vehicles were at the start throughout the season, 28 each in the races in Texas and Chicago, which were shown live on one of the major US broadcasters - the best figures for a long time. Only at the Indianapolis 500 with "only" 37 qualifiers (33 of them start) the improvement was limited. The former Champ Car teams were hopelessly defeated on the ovals at first, but this improved over the course of the season. The end result was a season in which a total of ten drivers won the 18 races, six of them for the first time in this series.

Change at the top of the Indy Racing League - renamed IndyCar

In the summer of 2009, Tony George , the founder of the Indy Racing League, was removed from office. The reason for this was the operational separation of the Indy Racing League from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Jeff Belskus , President of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, took over the management on a temporary basis.

In February 2010, Randy Bernard was finally introduced as the new head of the Indy Racing League. Bernard was previously managing director of Professional Bull Riders Inc. In early 2011, the organizer was renamed IndyCar .

Sanctioned racing series

The Indy Racing League initially only hosted the IndyCar Series (from 1996 to 2002 Indy Racing League ). Since 2002 the Indy Lights (from 2002 to 2005 Infiniti Pro Series , from 2006 to 2007 Indy Pro Series ) has been organized by the Indy Racing League. Since 2010 the organizer has also hosted the Star Mazda Series and the US F2000 National Championship . All four racing series make up the Road to Indy .

Scoring system

In contrast to racing series organized by the FIA , all qualified drivers are counted in the IndyCar championships, even if they do not finish. The points are awarded after placement at the end of the race, with all pilots receiving points. Qualified pilots who do not start the race receive half of all points.

For a race to be counted, 50% + 1 lap of the planned race distance must be completed. If this is not the case, the race will not be included in the IndyCar statistics and bonus points that have already been awarded will be withdrawn.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Tony George disempowered" (Motorsport-Total.com on July 1, 2009)
  2. ^ "Tony George on his disempowerment" (Motorsport-Total.com on July 10, 2009)
  3. ^ "Bernard presented as the new IndyCar boss" (Motorsport-Total.com on February 3, 2011)
  4. ↑ "Out for the IRL: From now on only IndyCars" (Motorsport-Total.com on January 12, 2011)
  5. ↑ “Indy Racing League launches 'Road to Indy' development system” (racer.com on December 10, 2009)