This article is about the sanctioning body. For other meanings see IndyCar (disambiguation). For an overview of U.S. National Championship auto racing, see American Championship Car Racing.

IndyCar
Sport	Open-wheel cars
Area of jurisdiction	North America
Formation date	1996
Headquarters	Indianapolis, IN
President	Randy Bernard
Official website
www.indycar.com

IndyCar is the trade name of an American-based open-wheel auto racing sanctioning body. IndyCar sanctions four racing series, the premier IZOD IndyCar Series^[1] (often abbreviated ICS or IICS) with its centerpiece Indianapolis 500, and developmental series Firestone Indy Lights, the Star Mazda Championship and the U.S. F2000 National Championship, which are all a part of The Road To Indy.

The trade name INDYCAR was officially adopted on January 1, 2011, as the trade name of racing operations of Indy Racing League LLC.

IndyCar is owned by Hulman and Co., which also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex and the Clabber Girl brand.

Sanctioned series[link]

IZOD IndyCar Series[link]

The IndyCar Series is the name adopted in 2003 for the premier series sanctioned by IndyCar. The series was known as the Indy Racing League until the beginning of the 2003 season. Izod was announced as the IndyCar Series title sponsor in 2010, a deal expected to run for at least five years.^[1]

The series initially raced exclusively on oval tracks, as the series was founded partly in response to the increasing prominence of road and street courses on the CART schedule. In 2005, the series abandoned its unofficial ovals-only stance, and added three road–street course events. By 2009, the series had a roughly 50/50 split of ovals and road/street courses.

Firestone Indy Lights[link]

Firestone Indy Lights is the development series for the Izod Indycar series. It originally started in 2002, as the IRL Infiniti Pro Series coincidentally in the same year as CART's own Indy Lights series came to an end. Since the merger of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League, the Indy Lights name returned. The Indy Lights run as support races to IndyCar Series races. In the past, a round during the United States Grand Prix was also apart of the schedule.

Star Mazda Championship[link]

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is an open-wheel racecar driver development series in North America. Competitors use spec Formula Mazda race cars built by Star Race Cars. The original series, using first-generation tube-frame cars started in the early 1990s, with the current, high-tech, carbon-fiber car released in 2004. The series has historically included road courses, street courses, and ovals. The series' primary sponsors are Mazda and Goodyear and the cars, while purpose built for the track with carbon fiber monocoques, are powered by 250 horsepower Mazda 'Renesis' rotary engines. The series' stated goal is "to develop new race driving talent". In 2010 the series became a part of The Road to Indy.

U.S. F2000[link]

USF2000 is a series IndyCar started sanctioning in 2010. Originally started in 1991 and folded in 2006, it was restarted in 2010 as part of the "Road to Indy" ladder series. The series runs with Star Mazda at every event, though it doesn't run at a few races Star Mazda does.

Championship point system[link]

Like other governing bodies, IndyCar awards points based upon where a driver finishes in a race. The systems for both the IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights are identical. The top three drivers are separated by ten and five points respectively (see this section table). The fourth through tenth place finishers are separated by two points each. Eleventh through eighteenth are separated by one point each. Eighteenth through twenty-fourth score twelve points each. All other drivers who start the race score ten points. New for 2009, 2 points (instead of 3 points, as in previous years) will be awarded for the driver who leads the most laps, and 1 point will be awarded to the driver who claims the pole position, except at the Indianapolis 500.

For the Indianapolis 500, qualifying points are awarded for all 33 cars at the Indianapolis 500. The point scale slides based on the teams that qualify for the top-nine shootout, then descending by speed and position.

History[link]

Indy car name[link]

"Indy car" is sometimes used as a descriptive name for championship open-wheel auto racing in the United States. The Indy car name derived as a result of the genre's fundamental link to the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race (often referred to as the "Indy 500"), the best-known and most-popular auto race in North America.^{[citation needed]}

Beginning in 1980, the term Indy car was often used to describe the race cars in the events sanctioned by CART, which had become the dominant governing body for open-wheel racing in the United States. The Indianapolis 500, however, remained sanctioned by USAC. CART recognized the Indy 500 on its schedule, and awarded points for finishers in the race from 1980–1995 despite not sanctioning it. The two entities operated separately, but utilized the same equipment.

In 1992, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway registered the IndyCar trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and licensed it to CART, which renamed its championship the IndyCar World Series. All references to the name "CART" were decidedly prohibited, as the series sought to eliminate perceived confusion from casual fans with the term kart.

During the 1996 season, the IndyCar mark was the subject of a fierce legal battle. Prior to the 1996 season, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George had created his own national championship racing series, the Indy Racing League. In March 1996, CART filed a lawsuit against the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in an effort to protect their license to the IndyCar mark which the Indianapolis Motor Speedway had attempted to terminate. In April, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway filed a countersuit against CART to prevent them from further use of the mark. Eventually a settlement was reached in which CART agreed to give up the use of the IndyCar mark following the 1996 season and the IRL could not use the name before the end of the 2002 season.

Following a six-year hiatus, Indy Racing League, LLC announced it would rename their premier series the IndyCar Series for the 2003 racing season. Brickyard Trademarks, Inc., a subsidiary of Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, is the current owner of the IndyCar mark and licenses that mark to the Indy Racing League for use in connection with the IndyCar Series. CART (and its successor Champ Car) races outside the United States were still permitted to use the Indy moniker, such as the Toronto Molson Indy and Lexmark Indy 300, though the distinction is moot now, as the two series have unified. Post-unification, a heavy emphasis has been placed on deemphasizing the IRL moniker and replacing it with the IndyCar name. This became official on January 1, 2011 as Indy Racing League LLC adopted as its trade name INDYCAR, with all official documents stating "Indy Racing League LLC, d/b/a INDYCAR."

Split with CART[link]

The Indy Racing League was founded in 1994 by Tony George and began racing in 1996. CART had sanctioned Indy car racing since 1979, when the organization broke away from USAC. George blueprinted the IRL as a lower-cost open-wheel alternative to CART, which had become technology-driven and dominated by a few wealthy multi-car teams, much like Formula One. It initially attracted some of the smaller teams who believed in the vision presented by Tony George.

The split between the IRL and the CART governing body was extremely acrimonious, and both series greatly suffered because of it. The rivalry between competing groups of fans was most active on the Internet, especially on motorsports message boards, and tended to affect any attempts at impartial views of either racing series.

The most bitter point of conflict between CART and the IRL was the Indianapolis 500, long considered the crown jewel of North American motorsports. After the beginning of the IRL in 1996, Tony George restricted entry of the starting 33 cars to 25 IRL cars from full-time IRL teams, with only eight other cars being permitted to start. In retaliation, CART scheduled what was supposed to become its new showcase event, the U.S. 500, at Michigan International Speedway on the same day, but it drew far less fan interest and was discontinued after its 1999 running. Although modified in 1999, the initial Indy 500 policy toward CART was held up as proof of George and the IRL's ill-intent towards CART.

In 1997, Tony George specified new technical rules for less expensive cars and "production based" engines that outlawed the CART-spec cars that had been the mainstay of the race since the late 1970s. For the next few years almost all of the CART teams and drivers did not compete in the race. While this situation allowed many American drivers to participate in an event they might otherwise have been unable to afford, the turbulent political situation and the absence of many top IndyCar drivers, big-name sponsors and faster CART-spec cars cast something of a shadow over the race. It was certainly arguable that to the average fan, the replacement of at least fairly well known foreign drivers by almost-unknown American ones was not perceived as a real gain.

At its inception, the series and George himself were criticized by members of the media and some CART competitors. The IRL's early seasons consisted of sparse schedules, mostly unknown drivers, and inexperienced teams, even in the Indy 500. Eventually, the schedule expanded and the caliber of drivers improved. The IRL began to draw teams from CART starting in 2000, contributing to the latter's bankruptcy, re-branding as Champ Car in 2003, and ultimate demise and absorption by the IRL in 2008.

The IRL–CART split was a primary factor in an overall loss of interest in open-wheel motor racing in North America.^[2] NASCAR has since supplanted open-wheel racing as the most popular auto racing sport in the United States, and from 1995 onward, NASCAR's Daytona 500 has surpassed the IRL's Indianapolis 500 in U.S. television ratings. The split has also hurt overall sponsorship of US open-wheel racing. In 2006 and 2007, several top CART and IRL drivers left for the more lucrative NASCAR, including Dario Franchitti, A.J. Allmendinger, Sam Hornish, Jr., and most recently Danica Patrick,^[3] although Franchitti returned to the IRL for the 2009 season due to a lack of sponsorship in NASCAR.^[4]

In later years, the IndyCar Series has become similar to the CART series from which it separated. The winner's circle of IndyCar is now dominated by a few wealthy teams—including those from the old CART series, such as Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske—a strong contingent of foreign-born drivers, and has a schedule which includes nine races that are not contested on ovals.

Unification with Champ Car[link]

On January 23, 2008, Tony George offered Champ Car management a proposal that included free cars and engine leases to Champ Car teams willing to run the entire 2008 IndyCar Series schedule in exchange for adding Champ Car's dates at Long Beach, Toronto, Edmonton, and Australia to the IndyCar Series schedule, effectively reuniting American open wheel racing.^[5] The offer was initially made in November 2007.^[5] On February 10, 2008, Tony George, along with IRL representatives Terry Angstadt and Brian Barnhart, plus former Honda executive Robert Clarke, traveled to Japan to discuss moving the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi.^[6] Moving that race, or postponing it, would be required in order to accommodate the Long Beach Grand Prix, which was scheduled for the same weekend.^[6] Optimism following the meeting was high.^[7]

In February 2008, Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George and owners of the Champ Car World Series completed an agreement to unify the sport for 2008.^[8] The result was that the Champ Car World Series was suspended except for the Long Beach Grand Prix. Many of the former Champ Car teams moved to the IndyCar Series using equipment provided by the League.

Driver safety[link]

Driver safety has also been a major point of concern, with a number of drivers seriously injured, particularly in the early years of the series. There have been four fatal crashes in the history of the series. Compared to road racing venues, the lack of run-offs on oval tracks, coupled with higher speeds due to the long straights and banked turns, means that there is far less margin for error. Car design was attributed as a leading cause of early injuries, and the series made improvements to chassis design to address those safety concerns. Following a series of spectacular high-profile accidents in 2003, including American racing legend Mario Andretti and former champion Kenny Bräck, as well as the death of Tony Renna in testing at Indianapolis, the IRL made additional changes to reduce speeds and increase safety.

IndyCar was the first racing series to adopt the SAFER soft wall safety system, which debuted at the Indianapolis 500 and has now been installed at almost all major oval racing circuits. The SAFER system research and design was supported and funded in large part by the Hulman-George family and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.^{[citation needed]}

Fatalities[link]

• Scott Brayton – (May 17, 1996), 1996 Indianapolis 500 practice session.
• Tony Renna – (October 22, 2003), Firestone private testing session.
• Paul Dana – (March 26, 2006), 2006 Toyota Indy 300 practice session.
• Dan Wheldon – (October 16, 2011), 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championships.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Hélio Castroneves practicing at the 2007 Indianapolis 500.

• 

  Roberto Moreno practicing the 2007 Indianapolis 500.

• 

  Marco Andretti (left) practicing with father Michael at Indy in 2007.

• 

  A Honda engine for 2007 to 2011.

See also[link]

• List of IndyCar teams
• List of IndyCar Series racetracks
• ABC Sports Indy Racing (video game)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official website of the Indianapolis 500
• IndyCar on Versus.com

Ryan Hunter-Reay
Hunter-Reay in May 2010.
Nationality	American
Born	(1980-12-17) December 17, 1980 (age 31) Dallas, Texas
2012 IndyCar Series
Debut season	2007
Current team	Andretti Autosport
Car no.	28
Former teams	A. J. Foyt Enterprises Vision Racing Rahal Letterman Racing
Starts	74
Wins	3
Poles	0
Best finish	7th in 2010 & 2011
Previous series
2003–2005 2002 2000–2001	CART/Champ Car World Series Toyota Atlantic Championship Barber Dodge Pro Series
Awards
1999 2002 2007 2008	Skip Barber Big Scholarship WorldCom Rising Star Award IndyCar Rookie of the Year Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year

Ryan Hunter-Reay (born December 17, 1980 in Dallas, Texas) is a professional American race car driver best known as the only driver to have won races in each of North America's top open wheel formulas, CART ^[1] the ChampCar World Series^[2] and the IndyCar Series.^[3] He is also the most successful American driver currently competing in open wheel competition, with more race wins than all of the other current American IndyCar drivers (12)^[4] combined.

Hunter-Reay won the IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year award in 2007, despite only competing in six of the seventeen events, and Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors in 2008. In January 2010 Hunter-Reay was signed to drive for Andretti Autosport in the No.# 37 IZOD sponsored IndyCar, where he won the prestigious Long Beach Grand Prix and Andretti Autosports first win under the sole ownership of Michael Andretti. In October 2010 Andretti Autosport announced they had signed Hunter-Reay to a two year contract through 2012. For the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Championship Hunter-Reay drove the Andretti Autosport DHL Sponsored No.# 28 entry.

The No.#28 depicted on his race car is a show of support for the estimated 28 million people living with cancer worldwide. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who lost his Mother to colon cancer in 2009, continues to be a leader in the fight against cancer and serves as a special envoy for Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG foundation and serves as an ambassador for 'Racing for Cancer' an organization founded in 2010 to help build awareness in the global fight against cancer. His wife is ex-ChampCar pit reporter, and off-road racer, Beccy Gordon.

Career history[link]

Early years[link]

After winning six national karting championships, Hunter-Reay won a Skip Barber Karting Scholarship to race in Skip Barber Formula Dodge Series. He then won the Skip Barber Formula Dodge National Championship in 1999 and then a shoot-out against the top Formula Dodge drivers for the Skip Barber Big Scholarship prize and its $250,000 prize.

Racing in the Barber Dodge Pro Series from 2000 to 2001, Hunter-Reay won the Rookie of the Year award in 2000, and claimed two wins in 2001. He then proceeded up the Champ Car developmental "ladder" to the Toyota Atlantic Series in 2002, where he finished sixth overall in the points standings, won three races, and led the circuit in laps led, poles, and fast times. This secured him the Worldcom "Rising Star" Award and attention from several Champ Car teams.

Champ Car[link]

In 2003 Hunter-Reay joined the Champ Car World Series, driving for the first-year low-budget American Spirit Team Johansson. Although handicapped with a slower Reynard chassis and three separate engineers, he impressed many with a front row start and third place finish at Mid-Ohio, as well as a win at Surfers Paradise where he qualified as the top Reynard and worked his way up to fifth on a diabolical wet/dry changing track. He opted for a high-risk strategy and pitted on the first lap of a mandatory three lap window to take on slick tires, managing to do what a lot of veterans could not and keep his car on the track and incident free. Through three restarts, he beat first ex-Champion and teammate Jimmy Vasser and then Briton Darren Manning for the win.

In 2004, Hunter-Reay moved to the Herdez Competition team, where he recorded the team's first ever pole and won in dominant fashion at Milwaukee, leading all 250 laps and setting a Champ Car series record for most laps led in a single race. He qualified on the front row at Road America; however, a first-lap back-of-the-track incident where his ex-teammate Vasser forced him off before "RHR" returned the favor at the next corner moved both drivers to dead last. Hunter-Reay fought his way back to a fourth place finish; however, other than at Toronto (where he was running third on the last lap until Patrick Carpentier ran into the back of him and cut down a tire forcing him to pit), the remainder of the season was inconsistent.

In 2005, Hunter-Reay moved again, this time to the uncompetitive second seat at the Rocketsports Racing team. He struggled through most of the season without an engineer and rarely ran near the front of the pack. His rookie teammate Timo Glock was somewhat more successful, almost winning at Montreal with a lucky pit strategy; however, other than that both drivers' best result was a sixth place finish. While Glock would go on to win Rookie of the Year honors, Rocketsports took on a pay driver for the last two races of the season and released Hunter-Reay from the team.

A1 Grand Prix[link]

In 2006–2007, Hunter-Reay began working with A1 Team USA in the A1 Grand Prix series. He was due to make his debut in Beijing however problems occurring at the circuit meant that track time was curtailed and he never got to drive. His debut proper took place in the 6th round of the series held in Taupo, New Zealand.

2007[link]

In January, Hunter-Reay co-drove with 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, Marc Goossens, and car owner Jim Matthews in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Early on the #91 Lowe's Pontiac Riley ran at the front of the field, but shortly after Hunter-Reay relinquished the driving duties to car owner Matthews, the car was damaged in a crash and although the team managed to work back up into 10th place with only a couple hours left in the race, the car suffered engine failure in the 22nd hour.

Hunter-Reay practices for his first Indianapolis 500 in 2008.

On July 19, Rahal Letterman Racing announced that Hunter-Reay would be replacing Jeff Simmons, who had been dismissed after a series of incidents, in the team's #17 ethanol sponsored car in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series for the rest of the season. Hunter-Reay began his IRL career with two top 10 finishes, placing 7th at the Honda 200 and 6th at the Firestone Indy 400.

On September 9, Hunter-Reay placed 7th at the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 – his 3rd Top 10 finish of the season. Despite only starting in six races, his performance was sufficient to win the 2007 Bombadier Rookie of the Year award.

2008[link]

Hunter-Reay returned to Rahal Letterman for a full season in the IndyCar Series for 2008. Because Hunter-Reay did not attempt the Indianapolis 500, by rule, he was eligible for the race's rookie title in 2008, which he won by finishing in 6th place, one spot ahead of fellow rookie Hideki Mutoh. On July 6, Hunter-Reay scored his maiden IndyCar Series win in the Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International. He led 9 of the race's 60 laps having passed Darren Manning on a late restart. He would go on to beat Manning by 2.4009 seconds. Following the triumph at "The Glen," Hunter-Reay would post top tens in five of the final seven rounds (Australia did not count toward the 2008 championship) to finish 8th in the final standings.

2009[link]

Hunter-Reay in 2010.

At the onset of 2009, Hunter-Reay was left rideless after Rahal Letterman announced they would not be running a full season due to a lack of sponsorship, but was able to sign a late deal with Vision Racing a few days prior to the race in St. Petersburg. In his debut race with the team Hunter-Reay finished second to Ryan Briscoe. The second place finish was the best for Vision Racing in the IndyCar Series. His other finishes in 2009 with Vision were notably less successful, failing to finish in the top 10 and having to qualify in the final minutes of Bump Day in order to make the field for the Indianapolis 500. After the race at Texas Motor Speedway, Vision and A. J. Foyt Enterprises announced that Hunter-Reay would move to Foyt's team to replaced the injured Vitor Meira for the remainder of the season.

2010[link]

Hunter-Reay began his 2010 racing season in the Grand-Am series, where he teamed with three other drivers to pilot the #95 car in the Daytona Prototype class for Level 5 Motorsports at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The entry completed the grueling 24-hour race four laps off the lead in third place. Hunter-Reay drove the final stint, bringing the car home to a podium finish.

On January 4, it was announced that Hunter-Reay would drive the #37 Izod sponsored car for Andretti Autosport. The deal was initially for a partial season, lasting only through the Indianapolis 500. In the first race of the season, the São Paulo Indy 300, Hunter-Reay led for 20 laps and finished 2nd to Will Power, relinquishing the lead on lap 58 of 61. Three races later, Hunter-Reay won the Grand Prix of Long Beach in dominating fashion. This on-track success led to additional sponsorship, culminating in the announcement prior to the race at Watkins Glenn that Hunter-Reay would pilot the #37 car for the full season. Hunter-Reay finished the season with three podiums, six top 5 finishes, and twelve top 10 finishes (including a stretch of eight in a row). He finished a career best 7th in the final points standings.

On October 29, it was announced that Hunter-Reay signed a two-year contract with Andretti Autosport to drive with the team through the 2012 season.

2011[link]

Hunter-Reay returned to the Izod Indycar Series driving the #28 DHL/Sun Drop sponsored car for Andretti Autosport. The year began with high expectations, but the season’s first-half results were disappointing. Despite having some good cars, mistakes and bad luck caused Ryan to finish no better than 14th through the first six races. Ryan twice qualified his car on the front row (Long Beach and São Paulo), and he was contending for a possible win at Long Beach when his race ended on lap 72 of 85 due to a gearbox malfunction. The disappointment culminated at Indianapolis when he failed to qualify for the 500-mile race, having been bumped by the last car as time expired. Despite not qualifying, he ran the race anyway, replacing Bruno Junqueira in the #41 car for A. J. Foyt Enterprises, and finished 23rd. After finally getting his first top-10 in the second race at Texas, Hunter-Reay finished last at Milwaukee after crashing on the first lap of the race.

Hunter-Reay’s season finally turned around when he began a string of seven straight top-10 finishes with an 8th place at Iowa. He had podium finishes at Toronto and Mid-Ohio, and gained a controversial win at New Hampshire. The New Hampshire race result was protested, but a review committee upheld Hunter-Reay’s victory. After a bad-luck incident late in the race at Motegi resulted in a 24th place finish, Ryan finished the season with a 5th place at Kentucky. Despite the poor start to the season, Hunter-Reay battled back to finish 7th overall in the points standings with a very strong second-half. In 17 races, he had one win, four top 5 finishes, nine top 10 finishes, and 3 DNF.

Career results[link]

American open–wheel racing results[link]

(key)

Atlantic Championship[link]

CART/Champ Car[link]

^{^} New points system implemented in 2004.

IndyCar Series[link]

* Season in progress.

¹ Run on same day.

² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

³ Failed to qualify; subsequently replaced Bruno Junqueira in a car owned by A. J. Foyt Enterprises.

⁴ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

Indianapolis 500[link]

Complete A1 Grand Prix results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete American Le Mans Series results[link]