Misplaced Pages

#537462

89-524: The Long Beach Grand Prix is the longest running major street race held in North America. It was started in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race by event founder Christopher Pook, and became a Formula One event in 1976 . In an era when turbocharged engines were starting to come to prominence in Formula One, Long Beach remains one of the few circuits used from the time Renault introduced turbos in 1977 until

178-495: A CART / Champ Car race from 1984 to 2008, then became an IndyCar Series race event in 2009. The 2017 race was the 43rd running, and the 34th consecutive as an IndyCar race, one of the longest continuously running events in the history of American championship car racing . On three occasions (1984, 1985 and 1987) the race served as the CART season opener. In seven separate seasons (1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1994), it served as

267-604: A 50% stake in the Long Beach Grand Prix from the estate of the late Kevin Kalkhoven . Despite the challenging nature of the course, the Grand Prix of Long Beach has produced the first Indy/Champ Car victories for several drivers. Drivers who won their first career Indy car race at Long Beach include Michael Andretti , Paul Tracy , Juan Pablo Montoya , Mike Conway , Takuma Sato , and Kyle Kirkwood . For Michael Andretti ,

356-582: A 90-degree left turn, leading into a roundabout around a fountain, and a series of three 90-degree turns. A year later, this segment was revised again, to create a longer straightaway leading to Pine Avenue. This course layout remains intact today. The inaugural race was held as part of the Formula 5000 series. From 1976 to 1983 the event was a Formula One race, commonly known as the United States Grand Prix West . The City of Long Beach and

445-600: A broadcast presence. Team Penske announced after the season that they would become permanent entrants in the IRL for 2002 due to pressure from sponsor Marlboro resulting from the American tobacco settlements that prevented cigarette advertising in multiple series. The loss of ESPN/ABC's exposure and engine manufacturer sponsoring began a downward spiral for the series, as race promoters began demanding reduced sanctioning fees for 2002 and sponsors began to review their agreements. Heitzler

534-477: A cold refusal from the IRL, which started to carve a niche in the motorsports landscape by leveraging close relationships with the new NASCAR spec ovals being built, with the series' substantial losses being underwritten by the other revenue streams of IMS. Despite the split, CART saw its annual revenues increase from $ 38,000,000 in 1995 to $ 68,800,000 by 1999, street races remained lucrative, and teams were able to make some gains on sponsorship revenues. The success

623-585: A dominating performance at Indy, leading 167 of the 200 laps to win. The Ganassi team's primary advantage was the greater engineering put into their IRL-spec car. 2000 would see Team Penske 's return to prominence as Gil de Ferran won the driver's title. For 2001, CART unveiled their most ambitious schedule yet, with 22 races in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. The loss of Homestead-Miami and Gateway to

712-421: A further decline in cash reserves and the stock price. Team owner Gerald Forsythe was able to purchase enough stock to control 22.5% of the voting shares in concert with the board. Star driver Michael Andretti purchased the prominent Team Green and moved them to the IRL with heavy direction from Honda, and Chip Ganassi Racing left due to pressure from its primary sponsor, Target . Beginning in 2003, after

801-733: A mostly American dominated series. A growing contingent of international drivers helped make the series a valuable television property for growing sports cable networks worldwide. CART would host its first race outside North America, in Surfers Paradise , Australia , in 1991. Tony Hulman's grandson, Tony George , became president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in 1989. He and others viewed foreign drivers and street circuits as discouraging predominantly American USAC sprint racing talent, such as Jeff Gordon , from competing in CART. NASCAR , which ran predominantly on ovals,

890-543: A public relations war pitting the owners and drivers of CART against George and IMS, which included Indianapolis legends like the Unser and Andretti families publicly criticizing the new rules and labelling the Indy 500, with less experienced drivers, as unsafe. The 1996 Indianapolis 500 did see a series of accidents, with a quarter of the race run under caution before Buddy Lazier won his first race. The U.S. 500, starting halfway through

979-478: A rare occurrence in both series running the same track ( Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal ) within a month of each other. Former Chip Ganassi Racing driver Juan Pablo Montoya won the pole position for the Formula One race with a lap time of 1'12.836, with the slowest being Alex Yoong's 1'17.34; Several weeks later, Cristiano da Matta won pole position in a Champ Car race with a lap time of 1'18.959. In 1905

SECTION 10

#1732844075538

1068-468: A road-course. Teams typically purchased chassis constructed by independent suppliers such as Lola , Swift , Reynard , and March , with some owners, such as Dan Gurney and Roger Penske , constructing their own. The series exclusively used Goodyear tires until 1995, when Firestone entered, creating a spirited competition between the brands. Firestone ultimately became the exclusive supplier in 2000, with their parent company Bridgestone taking over

1157-402: A scenic track. Long Beach is classified as an FIA Grade Two circuit. The circuit has undergone numerous layout changes since the race's inception in 1975. All iterations have featured a signature hairpin turn, main stretch along Shoreline Drive, and back stretch along Seaside Way or Ocean Boulevard. The first grand prix layout measured 2.02 miles, and featured two hairpins, one at each end of

1246-526: A series of identical 2.65L V-8 turbocharged Cosworth engines and leased them to teams under Ford branding. Champ Cars were visually similar, and often compared to, the higher budget and more technical Formula 1 cars, which also featured wings, mid-engines, and an open-wheel design. Due to their use on ovals, Champ Cars weighed more and were more substantial in size, were slower to accelerate but were higher in top speed. Both series intentionally downplayed direct comparisons for commercial reasons, but 2002 saw

1335-478: A stable schedule, enabling more generous sponsorship and television opportunities for team owners. Despite the corresponding increases in attendance, TV revenue, and purses, CART's egalitarian governing structure created its own headaches. CART owners were incredibly diverse: For example, owners such as Carl Haas and Roger Penske owned speedways and had generous contracts with tire, chassis, and engine manufactures, while other teams simply purchased older cars and ran

1424-446: A street circuit is also called "legal street racing". Local governments sometimes support races held in street circuits to promote tourism . In some cases, short segments or connector roads of the circuit are purpose-built for the racecourse, and remain in place year-round, but are not otherwise utilized by public traffic. active circuits in bold Championship Auto Racing Teams Championship Auto Racing Teams ( CART )

1513-520: A trio of CART owners (Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi , and Kevin Kalkhoven ) along with Dan Pettit made a bid for CART's assets as Open Wheel Racing Series, LLC. The bankruptcy court ruled in favor of the OWRS bid as more beneficial to creditors than the IRL bid, despite it being smaller. Champ Car would continue to run until declaring bankruptcy and being "reunified" with the IRL in February 2008. IndyCar recognizes

1602-583: Is the only event during the GP that runs at night, under floodlights. Long Beach hosted the opening round of the 1997 North American Touring Car Championship , being won by Neil Crompton in a Honda Accord . A modified version of the Long Beach Grand Prix track was used during the Long Beach ePrix of the FIA Formula E Championship . The track is 2.1 km (1.3 mi) in length and features seven turns. Admission to

1691-430: The 1996 Indianapolis 500 the top 25 drivers in IRL points would be guaranteed a spot in the race, leaving only eight of the 33 grid positions available to others. This was known as the " 25/8 Rule ," and was unprecedented, as the 500 had traditionally always put every spot up for open qualification. CART alleged they had been locked out of the event and would no longer race at Indianapolis, while George declared that CART

1780-517: The AAA established a 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 the United States Auto Club (USAC) to take over the sanctioning of what

1869-612: The Champ Car World Series (CCWS). Continuing financial difficulties caused Champ Car to file for bankruptcy before its planned 2008 season; CART and CCWS assets and history were merged into the IRL's IndyCar Series . Champ Cars (before 1997, advertised as IndyCars) were single-seat, open-wheel racing cars , with mid-mounted engines. Champ cars had sculpted undersides to create ground effects and prominent wings to create downforce . The cars would use different aerodynamic kits depending on whether they were racing on an oval or

SECTION 20

#1732844075538

1958-594: The Southern California area. The city of Long Beach was selected, approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of downtown Los Angeles. A waterfront circuit, near the Port of Long Beach was laid out on city streets, and despite the area at the time being mostly a depressed, industrial port city, the first event drew 30,000 fans. The inaugural race was held in September 1975 as part of the Formula 5000 series. In 1976 ,

2047-532: The Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race . Toyota was a sponsor of the event since its beginning and title sponsor from 1980 to 2018, believed to be the longest continuously running sports sponsorship in the U.S. The Long Beach Grand Prix has been announced since 1978 by Bruce Flanders (and various guest announcers). The Long Beach Grand Prix in April is the single largest event in the city of Long Beach. Attendance for

2136-626: The United States Grand Prix West was created, providing two grand prix races annually in the United States for a time. Long Beach became a Formula One event for 1976 and the race was moved to March or April. Meanwhile, the United States Grand Prix East at Watkins Glen International was experiencing a noticeably steady decline. Despite gaining a reputation of being demanding and rough on equipment, Long Beach almost immediately gained prominence owing much to its pleasant weather, picturesque setting, and close proximity to Los Angeles and

2225-465: The first event was free: "the free admission will afford everyone the opportunity to come out and witness this historic and unique event", Jim Michaelian , president of the Grand Prix Assn. of Long Beach, said in a statement. The ePrix was held once again in 2016 . However, it was not renewed for the third Formula E season in 2017. As of April 2024, the fastest official race lap records at

2314-676: The "Gurney White Paper", the blueprint for an organization called Championship Auto Racing Teams. Gurney took his inspiration from the improvements Bernie Ecclestone had forced on Formula One with his creation of the Formula One Constructors Association . The White Paper called for the owners to form CART as an advocacy group to promote their interests in USAC's national championship. The group would also work to negotiate television rights, sponsorship agreements, and race purses, and ideally hold seats on USAC's governing body. In 1978,

2403-419: The 1970s. Notable incidents included the loss of a lucrative series sponsorship by Marlboro in 1971 after USAC failed to enforce the brand's exclusivity at events, the existence of dirt tracks, purses that teams said would result in a loss in money even if the team made the podium, and a lack of modern promotion for the non-Indianapolis events in the series. In early 1978, Gurney wrote what came to be known as

2492-569: The 1980s, CART's Indy Car World Series became the pre-eminent open-wheel auto racing series in North America, featuring street circuits , road courses , and oval track racing . CART teams continued to compete at the USAC-sanctioned Indianapolis 500 , which was effectively integrated into the series schedule. Even as the series prospered, concerns about costs, competitiveness, and revenue sharing began to create opposition to CART's organizational structure. Attempts at reform, which saw

2581-438: The 1992 F1 Driver's Champion, switched to IndyCar and beat out Fittipaldi for the championship. After the season, the compromise CART board collapsed following a series of controversial decisions, mainly shutting out Japanese manufacturers, cancelling a planned race at Brands Hatch in the United Kingdom, and not increasing the number of races on the 1994 schedule. Team owners angry with the decisions believed they were motivated by

2670-669: The 20 races held in 1979, 13 were part of the 1979 CART Championship. An attempt by USAC and CART to jointly sanction races in 1980 as the Championship Racing League saw USAC withdraw after 5 races, and by the end of 1981 the only USAC sanctioned asphalt championship race was the Indianapolis 500. By 1982, the CART PPG Indy Car World Series was generally recognized as the American national championship in open wheel racing. In 1983, USAC agreed to allow CART to add

2759-458: The 500-mile races conducted in Fontana and Michigan that saw Champ Cars average speeds of near 240 mph (390 km/h). In 2000, after years of frustration building behind the scenes, CART owners forced Andrew Craig to resign as CEO, and popular driver/owner Bobby Rahal stepped in as his interim replacement. Seeing the continued success of street racing and the decline of the series' oval dates,

Grand Prix of Long Beach - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-592: The Grand Prix Association signed a contract in 2014 to hold the Grand Prix as part of the IndyCar Series through 2018, with optional extensions available through 2020. In 2016, the Long Beach City Council issued an RFP , opening up consideration for returning the event to a Formula One race as early as 2019. In August 2017, after a study was completed and after discussions, the switch to Formula One

2937-438: The Grand Prix of Long Beach are listed as: Street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city , town or village , used in motor races . Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the paddock, pit boxes, fences and grandstands are usually installed temporarily and removed soon after

3026-402: The IRL was to be offset by the addition of Texas Motor Speedway , which had seen an exciting IRL race the year prior. Rahal retired to head Jaguar Racing in Formula 1 , leading to marketing expert Joseph Heitzler taking the helm. Brazil was cancelled after track promoters defaulted. The race at Texas Motor Speedway had to be cancelled on race day, due to concerns of drivers blacking out at

3115-480: The Indianapolis 500 and team owners not wanting to give too much power to track promoters. In an attempt to address these concerns, CART rebranded as IndyCar in 1992, and later that year formed a compromise board. The owners would elect five members with voting rights, while the IndyCar CEO (representing the other owners) and George (representing IMS) would have non-voting seats. In 1993, British driver Nigel Mansell ,

3204-505: The Indy 500 and other IndyCar events seeing drastic decline in prominence, television viewership, and attendance. After a number of competing lawsuits, CART agreed to revert to their formal initialism following the 1996 season, on the condition that the IRL would not use the IndyCar name before the end of the 2002 season. CART began promoting its vehicles as "champ cars," the term that had previously been used by USAC's championship division. In

3293-531: The Indy 500 in 1984. From 1985 until 1992, Rede Bandeirantes aired the race and from 1989 onwards, they aired the whole season on TV. Between 1993 and 1994, the CART season was broadcast by Rede Manchete . Following economical difficulties by the former broadcaster and to battle Rede Globo for the lead of audience, SBT took the rights to transmission from Manchete, including its trio of narrators (Téo José, Luiz Carlos Azenha, and Dedê Gomes), and even sending one of their helicopters to get exclusive images from

3382-502: The Indy 500 to its schedule and have drivers be awarded points in the CART championship while retaining their authority to sanction the 500. Beginning with a schedule mainly based on oval speedways like its USAC predecessor, the series began to replace the declining Can-Am series in prominent North American road racing circuits such as Road America , Mid-Ohio , and Laguna Seca . Many racing stars, including Mario Andretti , Bobby Rahal , and Danny Sullivan found success in CART, which by

3471-419: The Indy 500, had a disastrous start with a twelve-car crash, delaying the race for an hour. Jimmy Vasser , who won by 11 seconds, quipped "Who needs milk?" while exiting his car for the podium, referring to the tradition of the Indy 500 winner drinking a bottle of milk in victory lane. Both at the time and in retrospect, the weekend was seen as a fiasco that began a serious decline in open-wheel racing, with both

3560-463: The Long Beach Grand Prix has the distinction of being his first career Indy car win (1986), and 42nd and final career IndyCar win (2002). James Hinchcliffe won his first-career Indy Lights race at Long Beach in 2010, then followed it up with an IndyCar Series win at the track in 2017. In 2005 , Katherine Legge won the Atlantic Championship support race at Long Beach, her first start in

3649-469: The Shoreline Drive straightaway. In its early years, the starting line and the finish line were located on different sides of the course. In 1982, the hairpin turn and the end of the main stretch (turn 1) was removed, and replaced with a 90-degree right turn, followed by 90-degree left turn. When the race became a CART series event, the layout was changed significantly. The final turn hairpin was moved to

Grand Prix of Long Beach - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-564: The UK Sky Sports showed the races in 1992 on a tape delay and the Indy 500 live. ITV showed races on World of Sport and later on as a bought in programme as part of the Night Time service in 1988 and later highlights between 1993 and 1994. From 1997 to 2001, Channel 5 showed races on early Wednesday mornings though in 1998 showed them as live on the Sunday night. In Brazil, Rede Record aired

3827-462: The USAC and IndyCar, dominating the race and prompting fears that costs would continue to grow out of control. In July, IMS announced the founding of the Indy Racing League , which would be cost-controlled, race solely on American ovals, and be sanctioned by the USAC. After officiating errors in the 1995 Indianapolis 500 saw driver complaints about USAC's oversight, George announced that for

3916-420: The United States, which was compounded by the growing popularity of NASCAR , creating a downward trend in sponsorship and attendance at some tracks. After a series of setbacks in the early 2000s saw the departure of major racing teams and engine manufacturers to the IRL, CART went bankrupt at the end of the 2003 season. In 2004, a trio of team owners acquired the assets of the series from bankruptcy, renaming it

4005-428: The board announced an intention of moving away from traditional venues toward overseas ovals and more street races to generate sanctioning fees, to the frustration of some of the traditional owners and United States–based sponsors. Chip Ganassi , under pressure from his main sponsors, also persuaded the board to leave Memorial Day open on the schedule and returned to the Indy 500 with Vasser and Montoya. Montoya put on

4094-435: The board's chronic issues grew more complicated with aggressive stockholders beginning to pressure the board alongside owners. During the 2002 season, Honda announced that it would move to the IRL the following year, causing a drastic decline in CART's stock and leaving Cosworth/Ford as the sole engine manufacturer for 2003. Attempts to subsidize teams to have enough cars racing to avoid breaching sanctioning contracts led to

4183-414: The board; IMS stated that George's resignation had nothing to do with Craig's appointment, but rather it was out of frustration with CART's decision to revert to a 16-member board after the collapse of the five-member compromise board late the previous year. That year, Team Penske introduced a Mercedes-Benz engine specifically designed for the 1994 Indianapolis 500 that exploited a rule difference between

4272-605: The change, leading to all three manufacturers being upset. Toyota would announce it would move to the IRL for 2003 at the end of the season. The series' first foray into Europe, the German 500 , was overshadowed by the 9/11 attacks that occurred the Tuesday before the Saturday race. With the teams unable to leave due to the worldwide shutdown of airspace, CART decided to run the race as scheduled after some controversy, with ESPN refusing to air

4361-444: The company rebranded as IndyCar in 1992 and a compromise board formed, failed. In 1996, an open wheel "split" saw the newly created Indy Racing League (IRL) take full control over the Indianapolis 500 and start a competing oval-based open-wheel series. CART ceased using the IndyCar name but continued its series without participating in the Indianapolis 500. The "split" saw a dramatic fall in general interest for open wheel racing in

4450-408: The company's valuation tended to fluctuate with the perceived success or failure of IRL merger talks. CART's championship battle in 1999 between young stars Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti was overshadowed by the deaths of drivers Gonzalo Rodríguez and Greg Moore within two months of each other. Moore's death at the 1999 Marlboro 500 especially raised serious concerns about safety in

4539-471: The company. While this allowed CART to have sufficient cash reserves to expand and purchase the Indy Lights series, commentators suggested it was short-sighted to subject the notoriously secretive and fluctuating finances of the auto racing industry to public trading requirements. Efforts, led mostly by engine manufacturers, to pressure CART and the IRL to at least adopt uniform engine standards were met with

SECTION 50

#1732844075538

4628-520: The early years after the CART–IRL split, CART was in a far stronger position. It held most of the prestigious races, sponsorship money, most of the "name" drivers and teams, and was the preferred series for manufacturers due to the IRL's ban on engine leases. The IRL's primary asset was Indianapolis Motor Speedway and its 500. 1996 and 1997 saw generally well-regarded racing with stars such as Vaseer, rookie sensation Alex Zanardi , and Michael Andretti leading

4717-487: The east, closer to the pit entrance. Other slow chicanes and turns were removed. After a minor tweak to the layout in 1987, the track was shortened in 1992 by the removal of the Park Avenue loop. That created a longer Seaside Way back stretch and a faster run to the passing zone. In 1999, due to new construction in the area, the turn one set of curves was removed, and replaced with the new fountain complex. Turn one now became

4806-453: The event promoters that the race would have to be canceled for 2021 or run with an attendance cap, but the promoters and the city of Long Beach were able to work out a compromise on safety measures and rapid testing to allow the event to go forward with full capacity. The Grand Prix returned to its traditional April date for the 2022 IndyCar Series . On March 28, 2024, it was announced that former ChampCar owner Gerald Forsythe would buy

4895-486: The event, Pook convinced city leaders to change the race to a Championship Auto Racing Teams IndyCar event beginning in 1984. In short time, the event grew to prominence on the IndyCar circuit and has been credited with triggering a renaissance in the city of Long Beach. The race was used to market the city, and in the years since the race's inception, many dilapidated and condemned buildings have been replaced with high-rise hotels and tourist attractions. The event served as

4984-650: The final race before the Indianapolis 500 . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 race was canceled as part of the City of Long Beach's ban on events with estimated attendance of more than 250. The following year, as a preparatory measure for the pandemic's effects on the schedule, the race was moved from its traditional April date to September 26 as the season finale. With the rise of the Delta variant there were concerns from IndyCar and

5073-562: The former location of The Pike historic amusement zone. The track is particularly noted for its last section, a sharp hairpin turn followed by a long, slightly curved front straightaway which runs the length of Shoreline Drive. The circuit is situated on the Long Beach waterfront, and is lined with palm trees (especially along the front straightaway towards the Aquarium of the Pacific ), making for

5162-417: The glitzy Hollywood area. When Watkins Glen was dropped from the Formula One calendar after 1980, the now-established Long Beach began to assume an even more prominent status. Despite exciting races and strong attendance, the event was not financially successful as a Formula One event. The promoter was risking a meager $ 100,000 profit against a $ 6–7 million budget. Fearing that one poor running could bankrupt

5251-432: The grid. René Arnoux , who finished third in his Ferrari 126C2B , was the only driver to ever finish on the Formula One podium at Long Beach driving a turbocharged car. In 1984, the race switched from a Formula One race to a CART IndyCar event. Support races over the years have included Indy Lights , IMSA , Atlantics , Pirelli World Challenge , Trans-Am Series , Formula D , Stadium Super Trucks , Formula E , and

5340-448: The high G forces created by Champ cars on the heavily banked course during qualifying. While applauded for putting driver safety first, the cancellation was a publicity disaster, and CART was criticized for not testing cars on the track earlier as requested. A resulting lawsuit, while settled, produced a quarterly loss for CART's stock and forever harmed its relationship with track owner Speedway Motorsports . Despite CART teams sweeping

5429-427: The last Long Beach Grand Prix in 1983 that never once saw a turbo-powered car take victory. John Watson 's win for McLaren in 1983 holds the Formula One record for the lowest ever starting position for a race winner. In a grid consisting of 26 cars, Watson started 22nd in his McLaren - Ford . That same race also saw Watson's teammate (and 1982 Long Beach winner) Niki Lauda finish second after starting 23rd on

SECTION 60

#1732844075538

5518-443: The last season that USAC was sole sanctioning body for Championship racing, their 18 race schedule had 4 road course races and 14 oval track races. On April 23, 1978, eight top USAC officials died in an airplane crash, creating an organizational vacuum that severely hampered the 1978 season. In November 1978 Gurney, joined by other leading team owners including Roger Penske and Pat Patrick , took their requests to USAC's Board, but

5607-520: The mid-1980s expanded by sanctioning street races , taking over the Detroit Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of Long Beach from Formula One, and expanding to Toronto and Cleveland . CART founded the first full-time driver safety team that traveled with the series, instead of depending on local staff provided by promoters. For the first time, open-wheel racing outside of Indianapolis had developed

5696-434: The most risks, paid the drivers, and expended the most cash – should control the general direction of the sport. CART owners also resented George, and felt that his close relationship with the USAC meant he could jeopardize the series' involvement in the Indianapolis 500 on a whim. Debate continued for a number of years over the proper oversight mechanism for the sport, with IMS resisting any revenue sharing or control over

5785-414: The personal business interests of George and two powerful owners, Roger Penske and Carl Haas , rather than the good of the sport as a whole. The conflict between George and CART owners came to a head in 1994. On January 7, the organization named Andrew Craig, a British sports marketing executive, as its new president and CEO, replacing William Stokkan. The same day, George resigned his non-voting seat on

5874-499: The points standings, while the IRL experienced growing pains, including a rain-soaked 1997 Indianapolis 500 , off-putting engine sounds from their new normally-aspirated engines, and the abandonment of USAC sanctioning due to incompetence. CART, in further contrast to IMS's sole ownership of the IRL, opted to proceed with a public stock offering, selling on the NASDAQ as stock symbol MPH. The offering raised US$ 100 million by selling 35% of

5963-490: The proposal was rejected, leading to the creation of a new stand-alone series. The first CART race was held on 11 March 1979, with the Sports Car Club of America sanctioning the series. USAC initially tried to ban all CART drivers from the 1979 Indianapolis 500 , informing CART teams by telegram during their event at Atlanta Motor Speedway , until CART succeeded in obtaining an injunction to allow its cars to qualify. Of

6052-415: The race is over but in modern times the pits, garages, race control and main grandstands are sometimes permanently constructed in the area. Since the track surface is originally planned for normal speeds, race drivers often find street circuits bumpy and lacking grip. Run-off areas may be non-existent, which makes driving mistakes more expensive than in purpose-built circuits with wider run-off areas. Racing on

6141-481: The race live. The race would see popular former champion Alex Zanardi lose both legs in an accident. The series inaugural event in the United Kingdom would come close to being cancelled due to track concerns. To keep coverage of the Indianapolis 500, ABC/ESPN signed an exclusive television deal for 2002 onwards with the IRL, forcing CART to turn to Speed Channel for cable coverage and buy time on CBS to maintain

6230-512: The races they could afford to attend. The diversity of interests led to annual disputes and accusations of real and apparent conflicts of interest with regard to rules, sponsorship, driver safety, track selection, and other matters. In 1988, CART joined ACCUS , allowing foreign drivers to compete without risking their FIA Super Licences . This, combined with former F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi 's series title in 1989, attracted drivers from South America and Europe to join what had previously been

6319-520: The races. They broadcast the entire season live between 1995 and 2000, although from 1999 onwards, following complaints by Gugu Liberato because of audience size, the races were delayed and transmitted at 11:00PM, after the Programa Silvio Santos , although a few races remained live, such as Surfers' Paradise (because of the time, which was in the middle of the night) and the Rio 200. From 1997 onwards,

6408-441: The racing season; one engine could easily dominate competition in the first part of the season and then fall behind. The exclusive availability of more advanced versions of engines to certain teams in the early-1990s became a major source of contention within the organization, and manufacturers fiercely resisted proposals to have engines simply be purchased by teams. In 2003, after the withdrawal of Honda and Toyota , CART purchased

6497-483: The records and champions of both series in its historical records. In its early years, television coverage of CART races were shared by NBC , ABC and ESPN . NBC left after the 1990 season, and returned for 1994's race in Toronto only. CBS also aired races from 1989 to 1991 and also aired the 1995 race at Nazareth. ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 continued as broadcasters until 2001. In the 2002 and 2003 Champ Car seasons, coverage

6586-419: The role in 2002. Champ Cars used turbocharged engines that ran on methanol fuel. Cosworth (branded as Ford-Cosworth ), Ilmor (branded as Chevrolet ), and Buick engines were common until the mid-1990s, which saw Mercedes-Benz take over as Ilmor's branding and Honda and Toyota enter factory efforts. Engines were typically leased from manufacturers, who conducted research and development during

6675-462: The series was referred to as "Fórmula Mundial" (Worldwide Formula), following the split between CART and the Indy Racing League. In the first years, the category was able to challenge Globo and its F1 transmission, but after most of the races were reallocated to VT in the night, the audience stagnated. After the contract expired in 2000, SBT opted to not renew it. Record once again broadcast

6764-471: The series. In doing so, she became the first female driver to win a developmental open-wheel race in North America. The current race circuit is a 1.968-mile (3.167 km) temporary road course laid out in the city streets surrounding the Long Beach Convention Center . The convention center actually doubled as the pit paddock during the days of Formula One. The circuit also goes primarily over

6853-457: The top 6 positions in the 2001 Indianapolis 500 and a highly competitive four-way points battle among Gil de Ferran , Kenny Brack , Hélio Castroneves , and Michael Andretti , headlines centered on a technological controversy regarding a turbo pop off valve that Honda and Ford had developed, prompting complaints by Toyota. When CART mandated changes in the valve to help equalize the competition, Honda successfully obtained an injunction barring

6942-547: The weekend regularly reaches or exceeds 200,000 people. In 2006, the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame was created to honor selected past winners and key contributors to the sport of auto racing. The Long Beach Grand Prix was the brainchild of promoter Chris Pook, a former travel agent from England. Pook was inspired by the Monaco Grand Prix , and believed that a similar event had the potential to succeed in

7031-419: The withdrawal of FedEx as series sponsor, CART re-branded itself as " Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford ". The series ran a near complete schedule of road course races, featuring chassis from the year before. CART, running out of cash reserves, declared bankruptcy after the 2003 season and its assets were liquidated. The IRL made a strategic bid to keep the series dormant, while

7120-430: Was a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season . CART was founded in 1979 by United States Auto Club (USAC) Championship Division team owners who disagreed with the direction and leadership of USAC, with the then-novel idea of team owners sanctioning and promoting their own series collectively instead of relying on a neutral body to do so. Through

7209-515: Was billed as the "final Champ Car race." Beginning in 2005 the event included a demonstration by participants in the Formula D drifting series. Since 2006 Formula D has held the first round of their pro series on Turns 9–11 on the weekend prior to the Grand Prix. In 2013 the Motegi Super Drift Challenge, a drifting competition, was added on the GP weekend, using the same Turn 9–11 course as Formula D. The Motegi Super Drift Challenge

7298-407: Was boycotting the 500. To placate sponsors who contractually required the accommodation of large contingents to attend Indianapolis, CART created a rival showcase event, the U.S. 500 , at Michigan International Speedway on the same day as the Indy 500 in 1996. In March, IMS attempted to terminate CART's license to their "IndyCar" trademark in federal court. The lead-up to Memorial Day 1996 saw

7387-529: Was called "championship" auto racing , or open wheel racing, whose biggest event was the annual Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway . USAC sanctioned the championship exclusively until 1978, and was the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile 's recognized American authority with regard to open wheel racing. Competitors in the championship circuit, coalescing around Dan Gurney , began to become critical of USAC's sanctioning though

7476-468: Was fired by the CART board in the offseason, being replaced by Chris Pook, the well-regarded CEO of the Long Beach Grand Prix . Making matters worse was CART's growing ownership instability due to the public offering: Despite an initial agreement for the car owners to maintain 65% of the stock, agreements allowed owners to divest shares in the company. As car owners began to sell off their shares,

7565-424: Was gaining in popularity in CART's traditional Midwestern US market at the time. Costs were also rapidly increasing and pricing out smaller teams, as the larger teams and engine and chassis manufacturers competed for victories. Critics regularly accused CART of only serving the interests of team owners, especially the richest ones, and not of the sport as a whole; the owners countered that the teams – who took

7654-537: Was made to create a unique "split weekend" of races at Motegi and Long Beach. The existing Indy Racing League teams would compete in Japan, while the ex-Champ Car teams raced at Long Beach. Both races paid equal points towards the 2008 IndyCar Series championship. The ex-Champ Car teams utilized the Panoz DP01 machines, the cars that would have been used in 2008 had the unification not taken place. The 2008 Long Beach Grand Prix

7743-655: Was rejected. The city council voted unanimously to continue the event as part of the IndyCar Series. During negotiations which led to the unification of the Champ Car World Series and the IRL IndyCar Series in 2008, a scheduling conflict arose between the IndyCar race held at Twin Ring Motegi (April 19) and the Champ Car race at Long Beach (April 20). Neither party was able to reschedule their event. A compromise

7832-606: Was split between CBS and Speed Channel ( Fox aired the 2002 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach ). Also from 2002 to 2004, select races aired on high definition channel HDNet such as Road America race in 2003. Outside the United States, Screensport showed CART in the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, France, Germany and the Benelux countries including the Indy 500 from 1984-1992. Eurosport aired CART and Champ Car in Europe from 1993 until its demise. In

7921-477: Was uneven, as the series' traditional oval races in Michigan and Nazareth began to see dramatic attendance declines, which CART blamed on substandard marketing. Television ratings and revenue were anemic, with the series receiving $ 5,000,000 annually for the entirety of its television package, less than the rate for some individual NASCAR races. While CART's stock was generally considered healthy, investors noted that

#537462