I just read an email from Indycar Nation advertising the latest Indycar apparel. I am disappointed to report that the new shirts,hoodies, etc. say "INDYCAR Racing Series 1996." Huh? The name of the organization is INDYCAR as of 1/1/2011. To make matters confusing, it is always written as IndyCar Series, with the sponsor name in front (currently IZOD). Regardless, the name IndyCar Series is used to reflect that the Indy Racing League (which was indeed founded in 1996) absorbed CART/Champ Car (founded 1979) and formally recognizes the racing/driver results of those organization. So that means IndyCar Series results begin in 1979. But the series also recognize the racing/driver records of previous US open wheel racing sanctioning bodies (primarily AAA and USAC) -- and their records begin in 1904. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IndyCar#History for a summary of US OWR's messy history.

Long story short: Please use 1904 (AAA), 1979 (CART), or 2008 (INDYCAR). But not 1996. Count me annoyed.