The reunification of the two series in 2008 came late, but it was better late than never. 25 Years Ago, CART Tried to Take Down the Indy 500Īs history went on to be written, George’s vision turned into a nightmare for open-wheel racing in the U.S., all but destroying it.and that if CART didn’t like it, it was either his way or the highway.ĬART's U.S. He felt his way was the best way for open-wheel racing in the U.S. He had only been on the job about a week when in 1994, and while CART was racing halfway around the world at Surfer’s Paradise, Australia, that George revealed his initial plans for the IRL and how it would impact and change the Indianapolis 500, beginning with the 1996 season.Ĭraig, along with numerous key owners in CART including Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi, Pat Patrick and others, tried for more than a year to sway-or at the very least, compromise -with George. No one was more involved in negotiations with the IRL than the man who was president of CART at the time, Andrew Craig. The contentious battle between the two warring series led to NASCAR rising to prominence and eventually to become the most popular motorsports series in the U.S. That move led George to create the IRL and, coupled with his edict that only eight spots would be open for CART teams to qualify for the 1996 Indy 500, forced a CART boycott of teams competing in the 500 for several years. John Marsh - EMPICS // Getty ImagesĬART officials and team owners balked at George’s insistence, ultimately leading to their ousting of him from the organization’s board of directors. But Indianapolis Motor Speedway president/CEO Tony George wanted CART to go in a different direction, one that downplayed foreign drivers in favor of more American-born racing talent, as well as decreasing the number of road/street course races in favor of more oval tracks like IMS, the most famous race track in the world and host of the biggest race in the world, the Indianapolis 500.Īndrew Craig was CART’s top executive during the CART/IRL split 25 years ago. In the 1980s and into the mid-1990s, CART racing was the most popular auto racing series in the country. The split between the upstart Indy Racing League (IRL) and the established Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) that began in 1996 and remained a deep chasm until reunification in 2008 nearly destroyed Indy car racing in the United States. In an exclusive interview with Autoweek, Andrew Craig-CART's chief executive during the split era-says Ind圜ar is still recovering from the split of 25 years ago.
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