History
The Indy Racing League (IRL) began operating in 1996 with a three-race series for Indy cars. The first race, called the Indy 200, was held at the new Walt Disney World Raceway in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 27. That was followed by a race in March at Phoenix International Raceway and the Indianapolis 500 in May.
In challenging Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), which had ruled Indy car racing since 1980, the IRL had one big card to play: The Indy 500, the most prestigious American race for open-wheel competition. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway itself was the major force behind the new racing series, with the collaboration of the United States Auto Club (USAC), then the sanctioning body for the Indy 500.
In 1995, Tony George of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced that 25 of the 33 starting positions at the 1996 Indy 500 would be reserved for the top 25 drivers in the IRL standings after the league's first two races.
Despite that incentive, though, few of the top CART teams were lured into IRL races. In fact, CART made a point of scheduling a major race of its own at Michigan International Raceway in competition with the Indy 500.
As a result, competition at Indy was limited to little-known drivers in 1996. The one major exception was Arie Luyendyk, who set new one-lap and four-lap records during official time trials. However, the race itself was won by unknown rookie Buddy Lazier.
The IRL's first official season ended with the Indy 500, but there was one additional race that year, a 500-kilometer event at Las Vegas in September. That race was the beginning of the IRL's second season, which extended through 1997. Since 1998, the IRL season has been based on the calendar year.
One of IRL's goals has been to develop an engine-chassis formula for all of its competition. The current formula is based on a 3.5-liter engine powering a carbon fiber/composite monocoque chassis. Dallara Automobili and Panoz G Force have designed and built approved chassis. Approved engines are V8s from Chevy, Honda, and Toyota.
Suppliers are required to make chassis and engines available to competitors at fixed prices, in order to make Indy car racing affordable for more drivers, teams, and sponsors.
The formula made it difficult for most CART teams to compete in any IRL races, including the Indy 500, since CART racers are powered by Ford or Mercedes engines.
But CART, in establishing its schedule for the year 2000, left the last two weekends in May open to allow its members to race at Indy. In the meantime, the IRL announced that experienced CART drivers would not be required to take the rookie test at Indianapolis, even if they'd never raced there before.
In 2002, Roger Penske announced that he was pulling out of CART to race two cars in the IRL. Since Penske had been a founder of CART, that was a major move. After losing nearly $78 million in 2003, CART was forced into bankrupty. George and the IRL tied to buy its assets at auction, but lost out to a three-man team that created a new organization, Champ Car, from CART's remnants.
The IRL, too, has had problems selling out its races and has also been troubled by lower than expected television ratings. Its series, though, has grown from 10 races in 1999 to 16 in 2004, all on oval tracks. The IRL has also established the Infiniti Pro Series as a development series.