Marsha asked me a while back for a “simple” explanation of the lineage that led to the two different sanctioning bodies that have been players in the Indy Car / Champ Car fiasco of the past few years. The recent, and long hoped for, merger back into one series was the impetus for the conversation. The whole long and sorry tale has some interesting dovetails with the story I am writing right now for our upcoming book on the beginnings and transition of American Sports Car Racing, entitled “The Gentlemen’s Club.”
To truly capture the whole story we have to go all the way back to 1902 when the Automobile Association of America (AAA) was formed. Yes, this is the same “triple-A” that we know today. This national organization tied together a number of more local auto clubs, and began pursuing nationwide objectives like publishing travel guides and maps. As auto racing began to expand in this country, it was the AAA that seemed to naturally evolve as the sanctioning body that oversaw these races. By the time the first Indianapolis 500 Mile Race was run in 1911, AAA was accepted as the leading authority in almost all things automotive in this country, including racing. So the big race was sanctioned by AAA, and as American racing gained international recognition from the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), it was the AAA that became recognized as the American representative to the international arm of the sport.
This situation continued pretty much unchanged, even as other clubs like the SCCA (1948), NASCAR (1948), and NHRA (1951) were founded to accommodate particular types of racing, like sports cars, stock cars, and drag racing. Then came, perhaps the darkest day in racing history, in 1955, when disaster struck at LeMans during the annual 24 hour race. A circumstance arose out of the narrow track, an unseparated pit lane, fast and slow cars running together, and minimal spectator protection. A race car was launched into the crowd, killing over 70 spectators. There was a massive outcry around the globe and there was talk in many corners of banning the sport of auto racing altogether. Within days, the AAA had announced they would no longer be involved in racing.
The United States Auto Club (USAC) was formed to fill the void, and began sanctioning the Indy 500 and other major races beginning with the 1956 season. USAC quickly looked to expand beyond just open wheel cars on ovals. This all occurred in the same time period that SCCA was arguing within itself about whether to continue as an amateur-only racing organization or enter professional racing. When USAC began to look toward the expanding arena of sports car racing as a new avenue for expansion, it forced SCCA to make a decision regarding its future. Ultimately the decision was to create a separate Pro division, which went head to head with USAC’s sports car racing aspirations. This is a subject which is covered in detail in our upcoming book, “The Gentlemen’s Club.” Simultaneously, USAC looked to create a stock car division to rival the growth of NASCAR. In the end, both the sports car and stock car divisions failed, and USAC retreated to being primarily an open-wheel sanctioning body.
Although this was their specialty, some thought that USAC was not terribly adept at organizing and promoting open-wheel racing to its best advantage. So in 1979 some of the top car owners in open-wheel racing formed their own organization, Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), and scheduled their own series. Interestingly, since CART was a new organization and had no standing with the FIA, their initial season of competition was sanctioned by SCCA until such time as CART could gain FIA recognition to stand on its own. Initially the CART-USAC split was acrimonious, and there were two separate series of open-wheel cars. Soon, however, the battle calmed down, and while USAC continued to be the sanctioning body for the Indianapolis 500, CART drivers were allowed to run there and the event counted for the CART championship which included all the other major open-wheel events in the country.
This relatively peaceful co-existence continued until Tony George, heir to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway dynasty, created the Indy Racing League (IRL) in 1994 and by 1996 was ready to run his own racing series. Initially USAC was the actual sanctioning body for the IRL series, for reasons similar to those that pushed CART and SCCA together in 1979. However, after a series of embarrassing scoring fiascos by USAC, the IRL struck out on its own in 1997, leaving USAC as a sanctioning body for lesser series, racing midgets and sprint cars. The stated objective at that time was for the IRL to build a purely oval track series for American drivers. The CART series was comprised of all the major open-wheel races in the country, on a combination of road races and ovals, so at first, the new IRL series had only a limited number of lesser events…….plus the Indy 500. Of course, since the IRL and CART were now in direct competition, CART teams were no longer admitted to the Indy 500.
Gradually, the IRL began to gain stature, drawing drivers, teams and venues away from CART. The IRL even began to venture into road racing in the last few years. In 2003, CART rebranded itself as the Champ Car World Series, modeling itself more after Formula One, seeking world class venues, and venturing off-continent for some events. However, the series overextended itself, and in 2003 that led to bankruptcy. Tony George made a bid to buy the assets to merge them with the IRL, however, a court awarded the assets to some of the remaining owners, who continued to operate the series. Just recently, after a nearly 20 year history of separation, the two halves of the open-wheel racing world have rejoined under the IRL banner, and for the first time in 12 years, all the top drivers and teams will be eligible to compete at this year’s Indianapolis 500.
Almost without exception, race fans are glad to see this segment of the sport back under one banner. In fact, even the leaders of IRL and Champ Car have been saying for years that the sport would be better off back-together. However, egos, dollars, and differences in regulations and sponsorship had kept the deal from happening until this spring. During this time, NASCAR has watched the members of open-wheel racing at each other’s throats for over a decade……a decade in which stock car racing has seen record growth, at the expense of open-wheel racing. In fact a number of top competitors have left IRL and Champ Car to try NASCAR. There is no way that splitting a segment of the racing world into two halves can produce a long term benefit. SCCA went through the same problem in 1969 when John Bishop resigned as Executive Director and soon after started a new sanctioning body called the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). That separation has seen its changes and convolutions as well, and has still not been rejoined, a situation that has worked against American sports car racing for over three decades. If there is a moral to this story, I think it would be that no matter how hard it is for racers to get along…….we would be infinitely better off if we worked a little harder at trying to stay together, rather than doing battle with ourselves.
No comments yet
Comments feed for this article