Indy 500 Rival? The Michigan Race That Tried To Take Over American Motorsport

The Indianapolis 500 is a race that stands alone, outside the pantheon of championship-directed open-wheel racing in America — and it’s one of the most coveted events for a sanctioning body to organize. In 1996, the Indy car realm had blown to pieces over access to the iconic event, and dissatisfied teams attempted to set up their own version of the 500. This is the story of the short-lived rivalry between the Indianapolis 500 and the U.S. 500.

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Episode Bibliography:
Indy Split: The Big-Money Battle That Nearly Destroyed Indy Racing by John Oreovicz
The IndyCar Wars: The 30-Year Fight for Control of American Open-Wheel Racing by Sigur E. Whitaker
Blood and Smoke: A True Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and the Birth of the Indy 500 by Charles Leerhsen
https://web.archive.org/web/20100813130152/http://www.automobilemag.com/features/racing/0906_indianapolis_motor_speedway_birthplace_of_speed/index.html
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star/138159883/

Remembering the split that nearly sunk Indycar racing

when you think of Memorial Day Open Wheel racing events in America you think of the Indianapolis 500 the iconic 500 Mile event that has been regularly run on a 2.5m oval track for over 100 years in 1996 though two different factions in American Open Wheel racing had formed and only one of them could claim the Great greatest spectacle in racing as its own event the other group had nothing so that group formed its own Memorial Day race one that took place just up the road in Michigan it was held on the exact same day just after the Indie 500 with the exact same goal in mind complete 500 miles of hard and fast racing before anyone else today on deadly passions terrible Joys we are talking about the Indie Car split and the 1996 battle between the Indie 500 and its short-lived rival the US 500 Motorsport isn’t just about fast cars and Daredevil drivers it’s a place where scandals burn hotter than exhaust pipes this is a History Podcast dedicated to delving into the darkest corners of the racing world to uncover Secrets deception and Intrigue my name is Elizabeth Blackstock and welcome to deadly passions terrible joys when it comes to racing events the Indie 500 stands on its own this 500m race around a 2.5m track erected in Speedway Indiana has been run for over 100 years it survived two world wars widespread outbreaks of illness multiple repaving driver deaths and so much more to create an annual American tradition loaded to the brim with pump and circumstance and it all started as one man’s Vision Carl G Fischer started off as a bicycle racing Enthusiast who broke into the burgeoning automobile industry by buying an interest in the US Patent to manufacture acetylene headlights for cars before long almost every vehicle built in America utilized a headlight manufactured by fiser company and when he and his business partner James a Allison sold their headlight making company to Union Carbide after 9 years of constant production the two men became Rich beyond their wildest imagination the company that started with pennies in 1904 sold for $9 million in 1913 which is about the equivalent of$ 270 million today Fischer’s role in The Bicycle World had put him in contact with automobile Racers and after helping friends prepare for a French Motorsport Excursion in 1905 he began to pay closer attention to the racing world see Americans were torn on Motorsport organized professional sport as a whole was still a fairly New Concept in our country and debate raged about whether or not racing should even count as a sport since the car was doing all the work those cars nevertheless began competing and it encouraged the debate about the dangers of competition it was the danger that caused Carl Fischer to dream up the idea of a Speedway he’d heard about the refined European way of doing things and had seen it with his own eyes it was drastically different from the rough shod tracks that defined American Motorsport European automotive technology as a result had begun to thrive and fiser reckoned it was because there was no legitimate way for American Machinery to catch up if it were confined to competing on like horse tracks at local fairgrounds in a 1906 letter to Motor Age mag fer wrote the average horse track is narrow has fences that are dangerous and is always Dusty or muddy with high-speed cars where wide skids are necessary the fastest car from a slow start or other temporary delay gets stuck in the rear without chances of ever gaining the front on account of a continuous sea of dust if the mere Act of racing suffered on dirt tracks then fiser further reasoned that Spectators weren’t getting their money’s worth He also claimed that Spectators deserved more than the occasional glimpse of a car flashing by on a longdistance open road circuit after seeing Brooklyn’s a steeply banked oval track that opened near London in 1907 fiser found that that was the best expression of Motorsport he too wanted to build a massive Circle Track with a wide track surface that could allow cars to Broach speeds of over 100 mph which at that time would have come pretty damn close to the 120 mph land speed Rec record of the day he also wanted those cars to be able to compete without having to worry about running out of racing room plus when there was no racing going on fiser figured that automakers could rent his track out for testing fiser set his real estate agent to work finding the perfect piece of property which turned out to be a level tra of Farmland spinning 328 Acres the land was located a close 5 miles to downtown Indianapolis and fiser convinced three other men his former business partner James Allison as well as Frank wheeler and Arthur newbie to join him in both purchasing the property and in founding a new business called the Indianapolis Motor Speedway company the property cost fiser $72,000 when he purchased it in December of 1908 which would be equivalent to over $2 million today the following year the IMs company was founded with $250,000 or almost 8 million in 2024 construction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway began in March of 1909 at which point reality quickly set in Fischer had originally wanted a 5m oval track but the size of the land had forced him to downsize to a 3M oval with a planned 2m road course then he had to downsize again prioritizing a 2.5 M oval track with some Grand stands and buildings that inside road course had been completely scrapped for the time being building the track itself was a major operation that required use of 500 laborers 300 mules and a massive amount of steam powered Machinery plus constant attention by the four Founders who had initially thought that the racetrack would just be something of a side hustle not their allc consuming obligation the original track surface consisted of graded and packed soil tapped by 2 in of gravel 2 in of limestone covered in a mix of tar and oil one or two inches of crushed stone chips also drenched in tar and oil and more crushed stone the grand stands could seat 12,000 people while an 8ft tall fence lined the perimeter Bridges provided access between the Outfield and infield and 42 buildings provided space for cafes bathrooms clubhouses and more just to kind of better illustrate the sheer scale of what went into this course fiser needed to Source 90,000 th000 cubic yards of white stone to cover the track and create the highclass racing surface that he had envisioned and bet his hopes on getting that amount of material was almost impossible in those days and Fischer had to negotiate with 18 different gravel providers in order to satisfy his quota as track prep continued hiring began one of the first key employees of IMS was Ernest a Moross a publicity representative whose official title was dor of contests moras took to pitching a Fantastical idea of the track to the newspaper reading public promising quote competition such as been dreamed of will be witnessed when cars representing almost every country in the world will whirl by piloted by Demons of speed and unrest ironically the first race that took place at IMs didn’t even involve cars on Saturday June 5th 1909 months before the completion of the oval track itself we had nine hot air balloons attempting to travel the furthest distance a reported 40,000 Spectators turned up to watch the balloons take off but only about 3,500 of them actually paid to enter the racetrack grounds almost everyone else realized they could just spectate for free by hanging out in the field plus a competition whose results wouldn’t be determined for several days or in the place where the competitors first departed meant no spect Ator became Truly Deeply invested in the competition the event had to offer the second race at IMs did involve wield machines but not Cars instead a series of anywhere from 7 to 15 motorcycle races was planned as a way to celebrate the opening of the track in August it too was a little bit of a disaster as it became clear that the track surface was not ready panicked fixes got underway but rain delayed the start of the motorcycle race weekend and over half of the events were cancelled during One race Spectators witnessed a rider blow atire and nearly die almost directly in front of the grand stand the first car race at IMs took place immediately after the motorcycle Fiasco and it was just about as disastrous the good news was that tens of thousands of paying Spectators turned up for several days of competition and that land speed records were broken at the track the bad news was that the track surface continued to cause issues temporarily blinding Louis Chevrolet killing driver William Bourke and his riding mechanic and sending Charlie mtz’s car into a fence killing three people and launching Bruce Keane’s vehicle into a bridge the triaa which sanctioned most forms of Motorsport in 1908 immediately called an end to the race and boycotted the track until it was in safer racing condition it took a serious amount of effort to Revitalize the speedway fiser and his Partners decided that they would repave the track with bricks that needed to be hand laid while a concrete wall was built in front of the main grandstand and in all four corners to better protect Spectators work lasted until December of 1909 when 11 drivers and motorcyclists turned up for some speed trials with formal racing returning the following year during three holiday weekends Memorial Day Independence Day and Labor Day the surface held up to the stress and fans flocked to the new track but fiser and his IMS co-founders still felt like there was more they could do according to blood and smoke a true tale of mystery Mayhem and the birth of the nd500 by Charles lerson it isn’t quite clear who exactly came up with the idea of consolidating all three of ims’s 200m race weekends into one single 500 M outing many people naturally credit Fisher with the idea but James Allison’s wife Sarah maintains that her husband had been thinking about that idea years before was introduced fiser himself allegedly wanted a 1,000m race but Allison talked him into having the distance saying let’s give people something they can see start to finish in a reasonable amount of time whatever the case a press release went out in September of 1910 announcing that Indianapolis motor Speedways racing schedule would be paired down to just one event the 500m international sweep Stakes taking place on Memorial Day weekend which would award contestants with a total purse of $25,000 or just under 800,000 today by 1911 Europe had been hosting longer and more arduous events for years but in America the prospect of driving even 100 Mil on a public Road let alone on any one of the country’s rough racetracks was an incredibly daunting Prospect Congress didn’t pass the federal aid Road act which gave money to states to support a critical network of roadways until 1916 5 years after the first indd 500 even then there was no Interstate System linking one Coast to another no Average Joe was buying an automobile to travel exceedingly long distances and that made the concept of a 500 m race an especially daunting one but that 500 Mile sweep stig’s idea worked 80,000 paying Spectators turned up to the track to watch Ray harun take a hotly debated Victory behind the wheel of his bright yellow Marmon wasp word of the race spread drawing in plenty of European talent in subsequent years and a new American tradition was born the Indie 500’s unique Providence means that it tends to stand outside of any singular champion ship which makes it kind of difficult to govern in Europe for example even before any serious Championship grew out of the various Grand Prix events in the continent there was still a general sense of agreement on how those grand PRI should operate a Grand Prix in France for example would be run with a similar rule set to a Grand Prix in Germany as a result it made sense to combine all those events into one big Championship it was simple when the Federation International finally popped up and linked together those races in the Formula 1 series we know today it was drawing on what was already a long history of linked events that resulted in one overall Champion perhaps most importantly a Grand Prix in a country like Italy may have been Italy’s biggest race but it was also part of something much broader and much more International the Indie 500 has long been America’s biggest race but it originates outside of a championship structure and it continued to exist outside of one for decades the Indie 500 had its own rules its own procedures its own traditions and its own prize structure even when the triaa tried to put together a national championship there was still no real agreement about what races should count toward that Championship as a result you have different winners depending on who you ask for those few years the Indie 500 has generally been organized by the people who own the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway hasn’t always agreed with well anyone about how the race should be run and where it should rank within an overall Championship IMS owners then have a serious amount of sway if you own IMS you effectively own American Open Wheel racing it’s that battle for ownership and meaning that created many of the ideological spats that have continually undermined American Motorsport and contributed to the split between the Indie 500 and the US [Applause] [Music] 500 vintage style clothing company HomeField apparel has long established itself in the realm of college sports here in America but for 2024 the speedway Indiana based brand has turned to the racing world for inspiration this year is part of its season of speed you can select from any number of incredible Motorsport themed merch items the NASCAR fans in the audience can grab some of the iconic items from the hendrik collection while the American Open Wheel fans out there can pick from any number of amazing Indie 500 themed shirts and hats plus HomeField has partnered with tons of great content creators in the Motorsport space including deadly passion’s terrible Joys make sure you show HomeField some love so that we can keep on nabbing that exceptional racing attire and don’t forget to use code DPT j15 to get 15% off your first [Applause] [Music] purchase the seeds for a pentious split between rival Open Wheel racing factions in America were first sewn as World War II came to a close the Indianapolis 500 was first paused in 1917 and 18 due to the first world war but in 1942 the track closed seemingly for good as International tensions Rose before World War II the AAA suspended auto racing and the US government even wanted to go as far as Banning Motorsport competition due to rationing before the final running of the 500 before the war the 29th 500 of its kind about a third of Gasoline Alley the name for ims’s garage area burned down ownership changed hands and the track was effectively abandoned left to grow weeds and crumble to Pieces as locals suspected it would be demolished anyway and sold to a Housing Development but three-time Indie 500 winner Wilbur Shaw refused to let that happen Shaw turned up to the track after the war to engage in some long-distance Tire testing for Firestone only to discover the sari state of the track when he reached out to then owner Eddie rickenbacher a former fighter pilot and Indie 500 competitor Shaw discovered that the track was for sale he immediately engaged in a massive letter writing campaign in the hopes of finding a buyer that would preserve the track sporting tradition but everyone that expressed interest in buying it said that they intended to transform the track into a private facility there was only one man who was willing to buy the track repair it and reopen it to the racing world that man was a businessman from terot named Tony hullman who had made his fortune thanks to clabber girl baking powder in November of 1945 Homan agreed to purchase the speedway for a rumored sum of $750,000 or over $13 million today day hman announced that the first post-war race would take place in 1946 and he immediately embarked on an arduous renovation process to ensure that IMS would be ready in time for the big day over the years the race grew more popular and an organized form of racing sprang up around the 500 to link it to a series of other events around the United States but the real chaos began to set in when hullman’s grandson Tony George took over hullman died in 1977 and IMS leadership was assumed by a man named Joe clauder who made a significant strides in TV and radio coverage sponsorship track management and grounds expansion according to the IMs Museum before we get to Tony George though we need to address what can be seen as the original split in indie car racing hman had founded the United States Auto Club or usack to sanction Open Wheel racing in the United States which included the 500 but the 500 was still really just the highlight of every season every other usack race was poorly organized poorly attended and resulted in very poor prize money for the teams who were dedicating themselves to the series to compound that USAC was also firmly stuck in the past it wanted to limit powerful cworth engines and preserve old offen housers when a plane crash killed eight USAC officials on April 23rd 1978 tensions only accelerated later that year several team owners published a so-called white paper that accused both USAC and IMS of holding back Motorsport in America driver turned team owner Dan gurnie penned that white paper and suggested that a new Racing Organization be formed one that could help American Open Wheel racing reach its full potential by the end of the year several teams defected from usack to form Championship auto racing teams or cart cart took a little extra assistance from the Sports Car Club of America when it first started getting off the ground but the goal was ultimately to operate independently cart kicked off its first season of competition in a big way cart teams boycotted the first usack race of 1979 at Ontario Motor Speedway usack responded by rejecting the Indie 500 entries of six key cart teams that year Pensky Patrick McLaren Fletcher chaol and gurnie in total 19 cars were disallowed with usack saying that they were harmful to racing and not in good standing with usack cart took usack to court and were granted the ability to compete in the 1979 nd500 but during that month of of May another controversy erupted over the turbocharger waste gate in the engine several teams had discovered a loophole that would allow them to build extra pressure in the engine to create more power and usack decided in the middle of qualifying that those changes to build pressure were actually illegal teams were annoyed especially those that had already qualified for the n500 and IMS was forced to add an extra day of qualifying and extra starting slots for teams that had previously been unfairly denied a chance to set a quick time due to those engine restrictions as a result 35 cars started that race instead of the usual 33 in 1980 things only got worse a new organization the championship Racing League was invented to co-sanctioned 500 and set rules for both cart and usack to follow but usack pulled out of that agreement after the first five races cart sanctioned the rest of the seven remaining races of the Season solo and in 1981 USAC tried to create its own National Championship that it called Gold Crown however by 1983 the Gold Crown calendar was composed of Just One race the Indie 500 while Kart became the sanctioning body representing season long Open Wheel championships in America Tony George grandson of Tony hman took control of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1989 after the death of Joe cloudier he took to continuing Renovations at IMs and soon aimed to bring other series like NASCAR and Formula 1 to the track but George is better known for creating a brand new racing series called the Indie Racing League the IRL as it came to be known was founded in 1994 in reaction to a move from cart see Open Wheel racing organized by cart was theoretically supposed to be called Championship car racing but American Open Wheel racing had at that time colloquially become known as indie car racing so there was a period of time where cart’s machines were called Indie Cars even though cart didn’t sanction the Indie 500 and even though they theoretically should have been called Championship Cars usac’s prominence had also Faded by by that time so there was no real reason for anyone to get upset about the use of that name not until cart tried to trademark the term Indie Car the Bold move was made in an effort to broaden cart’s appeal but it so frustrated Tony George that he developed his own series called the Indie Racing League if there was a series out there named after Indie then surely cart couldn’t legally claim ownership of the term indie car cart tried to kick off a lawsuit against the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in March of 1996 claiming that the IRL had infringed on its trademark the speedway then reacted with a lawsuit of its own demanding that cart stop using the phrase indie car when speaking about its Vehicles the dueling lawsuits between cart and IMS were eventually resolved somewhat in both parties favor cart agreed to give up the use of the term indie car while the IRS agreed that it wouldn’t use the term Indie to refer to itself until 2003 but the battle was never just as simple as a name and a trademark see cart teams had continued racing in the 500 despite it still being sanctioned by usack and cart owners felt that Tony George had way too much say in the overall direction of Open Wheel racing in America since he had a direct line to usack thanks to his ownership of IMS meanwhile George was growing frustrated with the skyrocketing costs of Fielding more vehicles in the IND 500 and he was annoyed that cart was going for a more European road racing influence ignoring the traditional American Open Wheel racing that took place with American drivers on oval tracks the IRL was designed to level the field by reducing the costs of competition and it would be run entirely on oval courses it took of infighting to reach this point but George had one more trick up his sleeve on July 3rd 1995 he also announced the 25 of the traditional 33 starting slots on the Indie 500 grid would be guaranteed to fulltime IRL competitors cart entrance could battle for the remaining eight places I was never taken seriously in those cart meetings and this announcement may not be taken seriously some may say he’s blowing smoke again said George in an Indianapolis Star article but I guarantee you one thing is certain the time for all the talking and positioning is over Tony George had made his move next it was time for cart to make theirs [Applause] [Music] throughout much of 1995 cart and the prospective IRL series danced around one another Tony George stated that he was tired of the circus atmosphere of cart that he was ready to revive traditional racing and that he felt his lowcost series would be around for decades to come the folks over at cart meanwhile were convinced that the IRL would fall apart and that both series would be reunited at some point in the near future so confident were the cart teams that they sold their old race cars to the IRL teams for pennies on the dollar when it became clear that no manufacturer was going to build cars to the IRL specs the IRL announced its calendar and Chassis specs first and cart followed suit by scheduling several conflicting events with the IRL and by adopting a set of specs that the IRL had discussed but rejected cart left the month of May open to allow itself to rais in the 500 but cart team owner Roger Pensky admitted that it was still unclear if they were going to be allowed to race there Tony George as we mentioned made himself clear in July of 1995 when he announced what would become known as the 258 rule or that 25 slots on the nd500 starting grid were reserved for IRL regulars so long as they could hit a minimum speed requirement and that the eight remaining slots were open for everyone else it also meant that those cart cars would be stuck at the back of the field no matter what as John orovitz writes in his book Indie split that meant that an IRL car could qualify on pole with a speed of 219 mph while a cart machine that qualified at 230 mph would still remain in the back three rows of the grid Robin Miller of the Indianapolis Star said that besides being highspeed extortion it’s also a terrible idea that could serious L damaged The credibility of this race and that was only the beginning influential cart members claimed that georg’s actions meant he must not have any actual support from teams while three-time cart champion and Indie 500 winner Bobby Ray Hall slammed the IRL saying quote I have to ask where were these people in the 1980s when cart was building the series back up they were Mia in the80s now because of the success of indie car racing they want to take it over I’m a Believer in Fair and open competition I don’t care if it’s a a stock car or a Formula 1 car the drivers and teams should have to prove themselves there are no gimmies no exceptions this special seating at the indy500 is a heavy-handed approach to something that is unneeded you can ask Allen sir Jr Emerson faldi or myself we’ve all won the nd500 and we’ve all sat on the sidelines and watched the nd500 rayall was referring to the 500’s Infamous bumping process with just 33 starting slots allowed in the field and as many as 40 plus entries there would inevitably be disappointment somewhere along the line for the drivers who simply weren’t fast enough to make the show or who had a mechanical Gremlin at the wrong time in 1995 for example team Pensky cars dominated headlines not by competing in the 500 but by failing to qualify for it and that’s all part of what made that race so iconic the IRL meanwhile claimed that the 258 scheme was actually somehow inclusive since it rewarded its own full-time competitors while also allowing teams from other series to join in Jack long of the IRL added the n500 makes stars stars don’t make the n500 more chaos followed those statements the IRL imp implemented a complex point system that multiplied a driver’s final points in a race by the number of races he’d entered but it also decided that the indy500 would be the season finale for the 1996 IRL season meaning that a champion would be crowned after only three races detractors called it a farce especially because cart was consistently growing its own schedule to include races all across America and even all across the world and Tony George still had more to say I’m going to quotee him pretty extensively here in an article he wrote to the Indianapolis Star in October of 1995 let’s make this clear before we go any further there is no lockout what I believe to be the case is that Championship auto racing teams following an effort to eliminate the IRL and gain control of the Indianapolis 500 is in the uncomfortable position of having created deliberate and unnecessary conflicts from which it will not extricate itself chassis compatibility and schedule conflicts cart created both of these problems after the IRL was on record is having sincerely tried to avoid them the expressed purpose of the IRL is to provide growth stability and opportunity for Open Wheel oval track racing that mission is certainly not intended to harm cart or control cart in fact it has nothing to do with cart we simply do not want the Indianapolis 5 00 to be controlled by an outside group that does not have as its most important goal the future of Indianapolis type oval track racing not to mention a group that is based out of state in Bloomfield Hills Michigan and is far removed from the significance of the Indie 500 in this community on the subject of power I can only say it as simply as this my desire is not now and never has been control of cart indie car or the entire series of whatever car cars run in the Indianapolis 500 the payback on that side is simply peace of mind that comes from maintaining the sovereignty of this wonderful event we are an oval track race and we want to ensure our future it’s that simple of course cart also responded with a hefty letter of its own penned by Andrew Craig who represented the series as its CEO again let me quote him at length here so I can share both sides of this story indie car is part of the commercial fabric of Indianapolis and an important part of the community the actions of the speedway are not an act of defense against some invading horde but rather an attack against good and hardworking people within the racing industry in Indianapolis and an attack against all the traditions and all that is good about the indd 500 what is disappointing about the current dispute between the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and indie car is that so much energy is being spent on nonproductive tasks is each organization jockeys for position it is ironic that Tony George states that his prime objective is to protect the future of the Indie 500 while this ambition is appropriate for someone in the important position of president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the actions taken in recent months appear to have the potential to achieve exactly the opposite the sport is in grave danger of being deeply damaged at a time when its potential for growth is there for all to see if the sport is damaged then it follows that the Indie 500 will suffer as a result Indie car’s sincere wish is to be in Indianapolis for the month of May and to be racing in the Indie 500 on Memorial Day weekend we have no reason to wish otherwise and hope that an opportunity for sensible rational discussion and a resolution of our differences can still be found it must be understood however that confronted with barriers to free and open competition we have little choice but to look for Alternatives those were fighting words in a battle that just got more contentious when IRL announced an entirely different engine format for the future which would force cart to build entirely different cars to be competitive at the indy500 so on December 18th 1995 cart dealt a decisive blow it would lease use of the Michigan International Speedway from team owner Roger Pensky and run its own 500 mile race race called the US 500 on May 26th 1996 the same day as the 80th running of the Indie 500 drivers like Bobby Ray Hall and Michael Andrey were both deeply skeptical of the move they both wanted to race at the IND 500 but because they were cart drivers they’d have to race in Michigan that day instead which was a losing situation for everyone involved then retired racer Rick Mir weighed in as well saying Indie has always been the best team or the best best man wins that’s what Indy stands for and I think when you start trying to regulate who can and who can’t run a particular race such as Indianapolis it’s just not fair I really don’t agree with it I don’t think it should have happened and I think it is happening for no real reason down the road it will be resolved eventually but it’s a shame that it had to happen to begin with the IRL season kicked off in Orlando with chaos during the race safety officials were responding to a crash drove directly into the path of a still ateed Tony Stewart forcing Stewart to drive through debris and nearly crash into the wall it also became clear soon after the event that usack had allowed new Buick engine vehicles to run 60 in of boost instead of the rule book mandated 55 in that Ford cworth was running meanwhile cart Susan opened with a successful event in Miami followed by International outings in Brazil and Australia IRL angered sponsors and teams by informing them they wouldn’t be allowed to cook their own food at the Indie 500 instead forcing everyone from Tony Stewart to Budweiser to purchase track food at inflated prices other sponsors pulled out of the series after it became clear that the IRL was not delivering on its promises namely that a had claimed plenty of cart Racers would be at every IRL event bigname Brands like Cool cigarettes got involved in American Racing but with cart not the IRL the personal battles between each major Series played out in newspapers and soured many fans to American Open Wheel racing entirely heading into the 1996 and d500 the IRL decided to reduce the amount of onrack action that would take place since it was simply too expensive for teams to run thousands of laps the number of practice laps in 1996 decreased 53% from the previous year and on one day of practice not a single car took to the track attendance number shrunk and purse money dwindled meanwhile up in Michigan cart had managed to attract a 3.6 million purse as well as 27 entries to compose its field the series emulated the protracted practice in qualifying schedule implemented at the 500 as well as the badging system that serves as credentials during Indie 500 practice fan favorite driver Scott Brighton was killed making a Shakedown run in a spare car it was just another sign that the month of May was going to be shrouded in disaster May 26th 1996 arrived gray and wet the Indie 500 kicked off a few minutes after its traditional 11:00 a.m. start time while the folks up in Michigan intended to hold off until 2:00 p.m. to allow viewers at home to watch both races the original 500 had attracted a field of 33 starters 17 of whom were competing in the event for the very first time that meant the start was a little slow and clumsy but everyone soon found their footing and hosted a competent race there were 10 cautions but only one major crash on the final lap and even though only nine cars were actually running at the end of the event drivers Davey Jones and Buddy lazir duked it out in an exciting finish in pursuit of Victory their battle perfectly condensed the dueling ideologies of the era Davey Jones had competed in European circles beating drivers like eron Senna and Martin brundle in Formula 3 before returning to American Open Wheel lazir meanwhile had stuck it out at home in the American Open Wheel circles even though he was always driving in poor Machinery his first shot at the 500 in a decent car came in 1996 and lazir used that vehicle to its full potential when the checkered flag flew it was lazir who had crossed the yard of bricks first it was an exceptional showing especially for a driver who had broken his back earlier in the IRL season and who was still using a cane to walk around during the month of May if the IRL z500 was a cautious success cart’s us500 was entirely the opposite a massive crash involving 12 cars struck the cart field Before the Race had even begun cart organizers mimicked almost everything from the 500 including the three wide starting format that start style had never been done in Michigan before and Paul sitter Jimmy vasser’s car touched second place car of Adrien Fernandez who then shoved the front row starter Brian Hera into the wall with so much chaos in the front of the field countless other cars were swept up in the crash the start of that race was horrifying cart had spent months arguing that it was the more professional and legitimate of the two American Open Wheel series and with one foul swoop it completely demolished its own credibility Before the Race even began AJ F who had started off a cart driver before moving to the IRL said for the world’s greatest professional drivers they sure have made a lot of mistakes the rookies running over there have outshone every one of the regular drivers I’m sick and tired of them running their mouthes off about how great they are are almost every race they’ve had there’s been an accident in the first lap and it wasn’t the rookies there was nothing for cart to do but Soldier on and Crews set about repairing broken Machinery or Wheeling out spare cars after an hour delay only Adrien Fernandez’s car failed to reappear on the starting grid for a race that proceeded to go off smoothly and UNS spectacularly on its second try there were a few wrecks but many cars simply just couldn’t stick it out Jimmy Vasser won the race by almost 11 seconds over the competition and only two cars finished on the lead lap vasser’s win netted him $1.14 five million while lazir took home 1368 million after such a tense and protracted battle between cart and the IRL both of their Marquee events turned out to be a sheer disappointment neither the 1996 indy500 nor the 1996 US 500 would go down in history as exciting compelling events at least not in any positive way and neither side of the Open Wheel battle emerged as a clear winner and what would become an ongoing battle for control of an entire sport in fact cart may have seemed to have been leading the charge but lost out after its terrible us500 Andrew Benson perhaps summed it up best in Autos sport both sides in the bitter War for control of indie car racing and in America claimed a moral Victory after the first showdown between the Indie 500 and the US 500 and the struggle between the two rival series shows no sign of dying down the one definitive conclusion that can be drawn is that neither side will back down for now neither side has won the split looks set to continue and the animosity caused by comments from both sides in the past few weeks has probably widened it [Applause] [Music] the remainder of 1996 looked drastically different for both cart and the IRL after the Indie 500 the IRL took a 2 and a half month break before it kicked off a 10 Race 1996 to 1997 season that would again end in a 500 Mile showdown at Indian Apolis cart was forced to run the rest of its season as a form of damage control watching helplessly as the IRL gain momentum in its sophomore season for 1997 the IRL introduced V8 powered cars that looked like a simplified version of cart’s complex Machinery cart simply couldn’t hope to turn up at the n500 with such a diverse field but it also learned its lesson in attempting to run its own 500 mile race to compete with Indian Anapolis instead it ran a frankly non-descript event at Gateway International Raceway near St Louis the IRL wasn’t so lucky during the buildup to the 1997 nd500 there had been 24 accidents that resulted in serious injuries for four drivers aside from its poor safety record the new IRL Machinery was also real slow the series eliminated its 258 rule in hopes of attracting cart competition back to Indianapolis but C shut down any hopes that the series might return to the event CEO Andrew Craig said there remain many major issues that separate cart in the speedway we hope Motor Racing fans everywhere are not misled into believing this announcement guarantees the teams and drivers that comprise cart will be racing at Indianapolis in 1998 cart teams didn’t show up to the Indie 500 again until 2001 when Helio castres of Team Pensky showed the IRL drivers that cart was still a top level series by winning the race but all was not well in the cart World either the IRL began to attract cart teams to its lineup as cart started to fall apart the series Lost critical International races and faced a scandal as drivers began passing out while running fast laps at Texas Motor Speedway in 2001 the series cancelled that event on race day kicking off a lawsuit that severely drained carts coffers then its triumphant foray into Europe was overshadowed first by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and then by the fact that star driver Alex sinardi lost both of his legs in a crash cart lost sponsors and broadcast rights and manufacturers after the 2003 season C declared bankruptcy and its assets were liquidated three cart owners formed an organization called The Open Wheel racing series LLC and purchased carts assets rebranding it as champ car World Series champ car moved to an Allroad course setup while the IRL continued to prioritize ovals but both series were falling to pieces attendance declined drivers looked to race anywhere else but American Open Wheel the chaos and anger that had powered the fracturing of American Open Wheel petered out as it became clear that under these conditions no one was going to survive heading into 2008 neither the IRL nor champ car could guarantee they had enough cars in their fields to satisfy their TV contracts and sanctioning contracts something different needed to be done that something turned out to be reunification in February of 2008 champ car authorized bankruptcy and a merger with the IRL the IRL purchased champ car sanctioning contracts its medical team and the series history for $6 million George foresight and Kevin coven champ car’s leaders signed non-compete agreements the deal was done with just a few weeks remaining before the first race at Homestead Miami Speedway for the combined Series in 2011 the IRL dropped its name and changed it to Indie Car in order to signify a collaboration and Goodwill between the former Rivals that reunification in 2008 created the Indie Car Series that we know today it was a move that effectively saved Open Wheel racing in the United States but it has taken years for the series to rebuild its legitimacy and most critically its fan base that work will remain ongoing for years to [Applause] [Music] come the battle between the Indianapolis 500 and the US 500 really highlights the fact that Open Wheel racing has always been contentious here in America but it also shows just what a critical place the Indie 500 holds in the heart of American Motorsport and how challenging it can be to fold that race into a greater Championship the Indie 500 even now stands alone for many fans it’s the only open wheel race they’ll even watch in a year it completely transcends the the Championships and the sanctioning bodies that have tried to turn that single race into a year-long story and my personal opinion neither cart nor the IRL were completely totally wrong in their ultimate goals Tony George and the IRL respected the tradition of Open Wheel racing in America and wanted to return the sport to a more paired down version of itself albeit at the expense of Technology safety and growth cart meanwhile saw the nd500 as a critical iCal event but one that should exist within a more International and multi-skilled context however cart’s rapid growth and its hard-headed self assurance also LED straight to its downfall both parties were trying to do what they felt was right but neither were willing to compromise and understand anyone else’s perspective and that’s ultimately what killed them unfortunately if you’re an indie car fan you know that many of these problems still resonate today attention have continued to grow now that Roger Pensky owns both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indie Car Series while still Fielding a team the push to pass cheating scandal of 2024 that has rocked team Pensky has only made that all the worse engine manufacturers are at odds as Indie Car delays the introduction of a Tiber power train largely in part because one manufacturer just one is not ready the delara chassis underpinning each indie car was first introduced over a decade ago and many people argue that it’s time for an improvement While others argue that we should maintain the old chassis to keep costs down the series attempted to host a competition at a private track in California this year but it failed to raise its projected $1 million prize for the winner both fans and drivers alike are frustrated with the massive gaps in Indie car’s schedule with its lack of international flare and with the fact that indie car just changes things on a whim indie car changed its season finale this year after the calendar was already announced moving the finale from downtown Nashville to Nashville Super Speedway and leaving teams to clean up the mess that that made with sponsors has left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths on top of all of that Roger Pensky is also currently considering the Revival of guaranteed starting spots in the n500 the issues that caused both the split and the reunification are still at play in indie car today only time will tell if those issues can be resolved or if they’ll Fester into yet another disaster for American Open Wheel [Applause] [Music] racing thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of dead deadly passion’s terrible Joys we have another episode coming next week and it’s a special one I’ll be sitting down with cassia stclair the author of a brand new Motorsport book titled the race to the Future 8,000 miles to Paris the adventure that’s accelerated the 20th century it’s going to be a good one so do not miss out and we’ll also be talking about the 1907 peaking to Paris race if you enjoyed this episode please subscribe to the show give it a rating and leave a review and if you’re hungry for more please make sure to subscribe to the dpj patreon tiered patrons get exclusive access to weekly blog posts and newsletters plus if you want to send an email I also have an address for that deadly passions terrible Joys gmail.com this week I want to read off a great message from a listener mror GT who left a great comment and wrote you are now listening to Excellence new to the pantheon of Podium topping Automotive podcasts come deadly passions terrible Joys Elizabeth Blackstock hbic PhD MSW obbe continues her reign as the softspoken automotive podcast Queen and another Banger for the ages thank you so much to mror GT for those amazingly kind words and if you want a quick shout out on the show make sure to leave a fstar rating and a comment of your own plus I want to give an extra special shout out to patreon subscriber Ryan lurman Ryan became the very first member of the world Champion’s patreon tier which automatically makes him both a star and a legend Ryan thank you so much for your support and if you also want a shout out don’t forget to subscribe and finally don’t forget to check out HomeField apparel now that Indie 500 season is upon us we have so many great merch options to choose from and I promise you don’t want to miss out on them check out the link in my bio to make sure that you know exactly where to go to get the best racing march on the market today and don’t forget to use code dpj 15 for 15% off your first [Applause] [Music] purchase finally we’re ending with lour the segment named after that iconic turn it spot franos but that serves as my bibliography for each episode it’s important to me to site regularly and accurately so I’m giving a shout out to some of the most influential sources at the end of each show you can find that fullest of sources as well in my episode description first and foremost I have to give a massive shout out to Indie split the big money battle that nearly destroyed Indie racing by John orovitz if you have ever wanted to know anything at all about the chaos of American and Open Wheel racing this book will give you all of the details you need to know and then some trust me so much of this sport is unbelievable and you wouldn’t know all of the twists and turns unless you read the Indie split it’s a great book I also want to say thank you to siger e Whitaker’s the Indie Car Wars and Charles lon’s blood and smoke these two books are also incredible sources of info about all things IND car and the Indie 500 I’ve also referenced a handful of online sources which are linked in the description below thank you so much for listening to this episode of deadly passions terrible Joys I’ll see you next week