- published: 08 Aug 2015
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Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race. Such racing has also been sanctioned by the American Automobile Association, the United States Auto Club (USAC), the Sports Car Club of America, the Championship Racing League, and the Indy Racing League (IRL).
In its most popular usage, "Champ Car" was the last name given to a governing body formerly known as Championship Auto Racing Teams, or CART, founded in 1979 by team owners who disagreed with the USAC. At the height of the popularity of the series in 1992, it was known as the PPG Indy Car World Series until the split with the Indy Racing League in 1996. Thereafter, it was known as the CART FedEx Championship Series until 2003, when it was known as Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered By Ford. CART went bankrupt at the end of the 2003 season. A trio of CART team owners purchased the assets of the sanctioning body and renamed it as Champ Car Open Wheel Racing Series, later renaming it to Champ Car World Series (CCWS) LLC. Continuing financial difficulties caused CCWS to file for bankruptcy before its planned 2008 season; its assets were merged into the IRL's IndyCar Series, reuniting both series of American championship open-wheel racing.
Champ may refer to:
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the transport of people rather than goods.
The term motorcar has also been used in the context of electrified rail systems to denote a car which functions as a small locomotive but also provides space for passengers and baggage. These locomotive cars were often used on suburban routes by both interurban and intercity railroad systems.
There are approximately 600 million passenger cars worldwide (roughly one car per eleven people). Around the world, there were about 806 million cars and light trucks on the road in 2007; the engines of these burn over a billion cubic meters (260 billion US gallons) of petrol/gasoline and diesel fuel yearly. The numbers are increasing rapidly, especially in China and India.