Misplaced Pages

#519480

28-501: The sanctioning body was formed in 1994 under the name Indy Racing League by Hulman & Company , which also owned the Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex, and began competition in 1996 . The trademark name INDYCAR was officially adopted on January 1, 2011. The sport of open-wheel car racing, also historically referred to as championship car racing or Indy car racing, traces its roots to as early as 1905. It

56-549: A heavy emphasis has been placed on deemphasizing the IRL name and replacing it with "IndyCar". This became official on January 1, 2011, as Indy Racing League LLC adopted as its trade name INDYCAR. On November 1, 2013, the company's legal name was changed to INDYCAR LLC. The dispute between CART and IRL centered on the Indianapolis 500, long considered the flagship race of the sport. From 1980 until 1995, USAC continued to sanction

84-416: A main competitor in the wholesale grocery business, with the firm changing its name to Hulman & Cox. During this period, the firm incidentally employed future Socialist Presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs , himself the son of Terre Haute grocers, as a warehouse worker and clerk for five years, with Debs leaving to pursue a political career as elected Terre Haute city clerk in 1879. Hulman purchased

112-656: A new national championship racing series, the Indy Racing League . This resulted in a legal battle over the IndyCar trademark: In March 1996, CART filed a lawsuit against the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in an effort to protect their license to the IndyCar mark after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway had attempted to terminate it. In April, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway filed a separate lawsuit against CART to prevent them from further use of

140-502: A number of attempts at a compromise board failed, IMS formed the Indy Racing League in 1994 , with the series being slated to begin racing in 1996 . CART had primarily 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 in his view had become technology-driven and dominated by a few wealthy multi-car teams. The IRL

168-664: 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 car racing . The offer was initially made in November 2007. 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

196-482: A reported $ 300 million to the Penske Corporation . 1994 in sports 1994 in sports describes the year's events in world sport. Men's professional Men's amateur Women's professional Steeplechases Flat races The following is a list of major noteworthy kickboxing events during 1994 in chronological order. Before 2000, K-1 was considered the only major kickboxing promotion in

224-689: Is the fourth major sanctioning body to govern the sport of Indy car racing, following the American Automobile Association 's AAA Contest Board , the United States Auto Club (USAC), and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), and operated alongside the Champ Car World Series before acquiring the latter. Today, IndyCar is owned by Roger Penske via Penske Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of Penske Corporation . Penske purchased IndyCar and

252-669: The Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi . 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. Optimism following the meeting was high. 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. The result

280-476: The Hulman & Cox operation in 1879. Herman Hulman conducted the business without a partner from 1879 until 1884, formally establishing the firm under the name Hulman & Company in that latter year. Herman Hulman took a new generation in the persons of B. G. Cox and Anton Hulman into partnership in the firm in 1886. The firm continued to grow until its location at the corner of Fifth Street and Wabash Avenue

308-681: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Hulman & Co. in November 2019. The term "Indy Car" began as a nickname for the cars that competed in the USAC's Championship Division of open-wheel racing in the United States, deriving from the sport's most popular competition, the Indianapolis 500 . The division's link with Indianapolis soon resulted in the term surpassing the official term "championship car" (or its short form "champ car") in common use and promotions. The term continued to be used by

SECTION 10

#1732772023520

336-505: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hulman %26 Company Hulman & Company is an American private, family-owned, company founded in 1850 by Francis T. Hulman as a wholesale foods supplier of groceries, tobacco, and liquor, headquartered in Terre Haute, Indiana . Throughout the early half of the 20th century, Hulman & Co. became nationally known for its Clabber Girl baking powder which it began producing in 1899. In 1945,

364-510: The Indy 500, although CART drivers predominantly competed in the race and points that drivers scored during the event counted towards the CART drivers' championship. George felt that his opinions regarding increasing costs and revenue sharing were being ignored, while CART team owners felt George used his influence over USAC to have a disproportionate impact on the general operation of the sport. After

392-420: The IndyCar Series for the 2003 racing season. CART, beset by team departures and other financial issues, filed for bankruptcy that year; a trio of former CART team owners were selected by the bankruptcy court to purchase CART's assets, which they used to reorganize the Champ Car World Series . The two series were unified for the 2008 season, with the unified series using the IndyCar Series name. Post-unification,

420-469: The McGregor & Co. distillery of Terre Haute shortly after forming his partnership with Cox, greatly enlarging the capacity and sales of the firm. He sold the firm in 1875 to Crawford Fairbacks and returned for a visit to Germany, rebuying a half interest upon his return, with the distillery operating as Hulman & Fairbanks for a time. This half interest was then traded to Robert Cox for his share of

448-585: The USAC's replacement as the dominant governing body for open-wheel racing, CART, which called its main series the "CART PPG Indy Car World Series" despite the body not sanctioning the 500. In 1992, during an attempt by CART to broaden their board membership, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway registered the camel case trademark IndyCar with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and licensed it to CART as their new trade name. In 1996, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George launched

476-565: The company purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway , in what many thought was an unusual investment for a company with a rich history in the food and beverage industry and owned the speedway until its sale to Roger Penske in 2019. In 1850, Francis T. Hulman, a native of Lingen, Germany , emigrated to the United States, settling in Terre Haute , Indiana , where he established a small grocery store. The small company proved successful and in 1854, Francis Hulman sent over for his younger brother, Herman Hulman Sr., who had himself been working in

504-536: 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

532-428: The degradation in quality especially apparent during the Indianapolis 500, which saw a dramatic decline in prestige. The IRL began to draw top teams from CART starting in 2002, contributing to the latter's bankruptcy , replacement by the Champ Car World Series in 2003, and ultimate demise and absorption by the IRL in 2008. After absorbing Champ Car, the IndyCar Series became what the CART series from which it separated

560-516: The grocery business in the German town of Osnabrück . The brothers would work together as partners in the wholesale grocery business until in 1858, when Francis and his entire family died at sea aboard the SS Austria , which sank en route to Germany. Herman Hulman thereafter assumed control of the growing and prospering firm. In 1870, Hulman formed a partnership with Robert S. Cox, previously

588-467: 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

SECTION 20

#1732772023520

616-426: 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 agreed not to use the name before the end of the 2002 season. CART returned to branding as simply CART for 1997, and resurrected the term "champ car" to describe their vehicles. Following a six-year hiatus, the Indy Racing League announced it would rename their premier series

644-415: Was and its related European open-wheel formula counterparts: former prominent CART teams such as Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske are frequent race winners, there is a strong contingent of foreign-born drivers, the cars are increasingly electronic and aero dependent and the schedule includes more road and street courses than oval tracks. On January 23, 2008, Tony George offered Champ Car management

672-564: Was designed only to run on oval tracks, in order to promote American drivers from the midget and sprint car ranks to graduate to IndyCar racing, the same way that IndyCar legends A.J. Foyt , Mario Andretti , Johnny Rutherford , and the Unsers ( Al Unser, Sr. and Bobby Unser ) had in the 1960s. Starting with the first IRL season, the league proclaimed that 25 of the 33 spots in the Indy 500 starting grid would be reserved for cars from full-time IRL teams. In 1996, CART retaliated by scheduling what

700-489: Was introduced for the 2012 season. IndyCar collaborated with DreamWorks Animation to launch comedy film Turbo in 2013. Bernard was fired in October 2012, and replaced by Mark Miles . 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 five fatal crashes in the history of the series. Compared to road racing venues,

728-461: Was outgrown. A new facility was constructed, a vast, multi-story building occupying an entire city block, which was opened with tours and a celebratory banquet attended by more than 2,000 people in September 1893. In May 2019, Hulman & Company sold Clabber Girl to B&G Foods for $ 80 million. In November 2019, Hulman & Company sold the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar for

756-453: Was supposed to become its new showcase event, the U.S. 500 , at Michigan International Speedway on Memorial Day , the traditional date for the Indy 500. The new 1997 technical rules featured less expensive chassis and "production-based" engines that were purchased rather than leased, but most importantly, were technically incompatible with CART specifications. The IRL's early seasons consisted of sparse schedules and inexperienced teams, with

784-459: 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 IRL. Randy Bernard was announced as the new IRL CEO in February 2010. In 2011, the sanctioning body dropped the Indy Racing League name, becoming IndyCar to reflect the merged series. The new Dallara DW12 racecar

#519480