Could IndyCar be on the rise? If you judge it off the series’ biggest race, the Indianapolis 500, then the answer would be a resounding “Yes!”
But before we talk too much about the future, how about a history lesson?
During the 1990’s, CART, the Championship Auto Racing Team, was the premier open-wheel racing league in America. CART was run by several legends of racing, including Roger Penske, Bobby Rahal, and Paul Newman. Tony George, owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was also on the board of owners, but played a minor role.
George became fed up with “political differences” between himself and the sanctioning body. George said the differences were driving the sport away from its “American-bred oval roots”; others say it had more to do with money and power. I believe the former, and still believe that IndyCar needs to get back to those roots.
In 1995, Tony George created his own racing league; a league that was more affordable, and that centered on the Indy 500.
The result nearly destroyed both leagues. CART took the big names, while IRL held onto the biggest race. For the following years the two leagues battled to try and destroy each other, striving to find the best drivers and best teams. Eventually, Penske, Ganassi, Michael Andretti, and Rahal all returned to Indy, and the Indy Racing League.
In 2008, CART had nearly reached bankruptcy so they agreed to merge with the Indy Racing League. That resulted in what we know today as IndyCar.
The 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 was a near sellout, bringing more people since the 1995 race, which was the year before the IRL/CART split. The race also produced a higher television rating than last years, rising from a 3.6 to 4.0. Tickets are being sold at tracks across America at a faster rate than previous years, showing that people are taking interest in the league and its drivers.
Next season, IndyCar will introduce all new cars. There will be an oval car and a road/ street course car. These cars have customizable parts that will allow the car makers to create different looking cars than their opponents.
Along with these new cars will be Chevrolet and Lotus, along with Honda, all making cars for specific teams. This means that there could be three different looking race cars on the track all on once, reminiscing to the early days of the Indy 500 where car companies pushed for innovation and speed.
These new cars will also attempt to get rid of the “spec” racing that has become synonymous with all racing leagues. The term refers to how all the cars are made exactly the same, and look exactly the same, i.e. NASCAR and Formula 1. This was also a problem for IndyCar, as the cars have been the same since 2003.
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| A model of the new cars for 2012. The top is the road course car. The bottom is the oval car. |
The biggest change coming to IndyCar is the loss of its most popular driver, Danica Patrick. Patrick will be moving to NASCAR after this season to compete in the Nationwide Series. To me, this is a positive; it is time for IndyCar to forge its own identity, one that isn’t based on just one driver. You watch Sportscenter, and the only thing that would be covered in the highlights is Danica Patrick and the winner of the race. That’s not a good thing.
-There has been no formal announcement made on this issue, but everybody is expecting Danica to leave IndyCar.
The time is right for open-wheel racing to re-emerge on the sports scene. The series has been dormant far too long, and the men running IndyCar want it to be a premier racing league. NASCAR has shown a decline in popularity, some NFL teams are struggling to sell tickets, and that league may not even have a 2011 season. Plus the economy, which drives racing, is improving, and large corporations are crucial as they sponsor cars, drivers, and tracks.
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