"INDYCAR Racing Series 1996"

[champcarray]

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.

[champcarray]

PS I grew up calling the cars "champ cars" -- right through the 1970s.

[call_me_andrew]

If they're following NASCAR's example, they will appy name changes retroactively.

[Mekola]

Even FIA did this. FIA was founded in 1904, but not with that name, but as AIACR (International Association of Recognized Automobile Clubs, the initials are for the name in French).

[heliocastroneves#3]

This series does exist since 1996, period... It's as easy as that..

[garyshell]

This series does exist since 1996, period... It's as easy as that..

Really? Just that easy you wipe away the rest of the history of the other incarnations of the series. Just throw it away? Sorry, but I think that is a ridiculous notion.

Gary

[heliocastroneves#3]

No Gary, not at all.. F1 does exist since 1950 but before you already had "Grand Prix Racing". Still, Giuseppe Farina is called the inaugural F1 champion and so are Scott Sharp and Buzz Calkins in the IRL/IndyCar Series... I'm not ignoring all history of American Open Wheel, it simply doesn't belong to the IndyCar Series but to USAC and CART/Champcar. In my opinion, it's not right to merge statistics. They are as they are, period.

[garyshell]

IRl is not Indycar. IRL and Champcar merged to become Indycar. That's where I think your logic breaks down.

Gary

[heliocastroneves#3]

IRL is definitely IndyCar but just with another name... It still is the Indy Racing League, LLC and always will be. The series didn't merge, Champ Car simply went bankrupt and IndyCar took over a couple of races and the most Champ Car teams joined the IRL. The sanctioning body is called INDYCAR since 2011 and that was already three years after the "merge". You're right if you are talking about the sanctioning body, that is not called IRL anymore but once again, that's the case since 2011 and not 2008. It's like how Champ Car still was CART but just with another name..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IndyCar

[Bruce D]

IRL was the Indy Racing League while Indycar was what became Champcar, then they merged to become Indycar again, so technically it's been around since 1996.

[Spafranco]

PS I grew up calling the cars "champ cars" -- right through the 1970s.

I'm sure you meant that you called them CART in the 70's since CHAMP cars only became an entity in when the bankruptcy took hold.

I enjoyed your post and feel your pain.

Ever been to Road America?

[champcarray]

A quick summary from Wikipedia follows. This is why those of us in our 40s and older called the cars that competed at Indy, etc. "champ cars." They were the top of the line AOWR cars and they raced on the championship trail. The term "Indy car" became popular in the 1980s. Does anyone happen to know when CART started officially using the term? All I know is that the IRL couldn't legally use "Indycar" until they got it back from CART in 2003.

"In 1905 the AAA established the national driving championship and became the first sanctioning body for auto racing in the United States. The AAA ceased sanctioning auto racing in the general outrage over motor racing safety that followed the 1955 Le Mans disaster. In response, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony Hulman formed USAC to take over the sanctioning of what was called "championship" auto racing. USAC controlled the championship until 1978, when a split between USAC and some of its car owners prompted the formation of the rival CART series."