The IZOD IndyCar World Championship Presented by Honda was an

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

race on the

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...

, held from 1996 to 2000, and again in 2011. It was first known as the Las Vegas 500k. The Champ Car World Series held a race at the track during the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

seasons as doubleheaders with the

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of ...

and a street race was held in Las Vegas at the Fremont Street Experience in 2007.

Race history

AAA Championship Car

The Silver State Century was a 100-lap/100-mile race at Las Vegas Park, a dirt track in Las Vegas. Jimmy Bryan was the winner of the race's lone running.

Stardust Raceway

The

USAC Championship Car From 1956 to 1978, USAC Championship Car seasons featured the top teams and drivers in U.S. open-wheel racing. Until 1971, the Championship contained road courses, ovals, dirt courses, and, on occasion, a hill climb. Thereafter, the schedu ...

series held a race on the short-lived Stardust International Raceway in 1968.

Bobby Unser Robert William Unser (February 20, 1934 – May 2, 2021) was an American automobile racer. At his induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994, he had the fourth most IndyCar Series wins at 35 (behind his brother Al, A. J. F ...

won the Stardust 150 ahead of

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...

and

Joe Leonard Joe Leonard (August 4, 1932 in San Diego, California – April 27, 2017 in San Jose, California) was an American professional motorcycle racer and racecar driver. Biography Motorcycle career Leonard won the first A.M.A. Grand National Champion ...

Caesars Palace

Starting in 1981,

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

scheduled a race on laid out in the parking lot of the

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesar ...

hotel. Following mediocre crowds, Formula One left after only two years. In 1983,

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed ...

picked up where Formula One left off, and started holding a race on the same course (albeit the layout was modified). After two editions under CART sanctioning, the race ended.

Indy Racing League

In 1996,

was announced as a venue for the newly formed

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

. The facility was still under construction when it was added to the 1996-97 season. For the first four runnings, the race was advertised as a 500 km race. Starting in 1997, the race was moved to a night race. In 2000, it was moved from the fall to the spring, and returned to a day race. After 2000, the race was removed from the

for a decade.

Champ Car

In 2004–2005, the

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...

series held a race at

. Both editions were held under the lights on a Saturday night as part of the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

weekend in the fall. After only two years, however, the race was considered unpopular and was removed from the schedule. For 2005, the name of the race was changed to the Hurricane Relief 400, and it served as a fundraiser for

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

recovery.

Fremont Street

In July 2006, the Las Vegas City Council approved a , 14-turn, counterclockwise street circuit in

Downtown Las Vegas Downtown Las Vegas (commonly abbreviated as DTLV) is the central business district and historic center of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the original townsite, and the Downtown gaming area was the primary gambling district of Las Vegas prior to the S ...

area near the Fremont Street Experience.

held their first event on

Easter Sunday Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel P ...

, April 8, 2007. The race was titled the Vegas Grand Prix. The course was generally liked by competitors and fans. With the dissolution of the Champ Car World Series in 2008, the event was cancelled after only one running.

Lap Records

IZOD IndyCar World Championships

On February 22, 2011, IndyCar CEO

Randy Bernard Randy Bernard (born January 31, 1967) is the former CEO of Professional Bull Riders and IndyCar. He is currently co-managing Garth Brooks. Career Professional Bull Riders Bernard previously served as the CEO of Professional Bull Riders, serving f ...

announced the IZOD IndyCar World Championships to be held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, reviving the 200-lap, 300-mile race format on the new variable banking. The race was adopted as a tripleheader, with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Smith's 350 The Bucked Up 200 was a 134-lap, 200-mile long NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race that takes place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. History The race was first held on November 3, 1996 as the Carquest 420K. The race continued annually until 200 ...

on Saturday and for the first time, a 100.5-mile

Firestone Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a progra ...

race on Sunday morning. The first INDYCAR race since 2000 started with a hard-charging Indy Lights race where

Sam Schmidt Motorsports The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren (competing as Arrow McLaren due to sponsorship) is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt in 2001 as Sam Schmidt Motorsports. After a series of partnerships and name ch ...

teammates

Josef Newgarden Josef Nicolai Newgarden (born December 22, 1990) is an American race car driver who competes in the IndyCar Series full-time for Team Penske. He is the 2017 and 2019 IndyCar Series Champion and 2011 Indy Lights champion. Career Karting Newga ...

Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri (born 19 January 1985 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine racing driver. He was the most successful driver in the WTCR series in terms of wins. Career Formula racing After graduating from karts, Guerrieri competed in various F ...

, and

Victor Carbone Victor Carbone (born September 13, 1992) is a Brazilian racing driver from São Paulo. After karting, Carbone participated in the Skip Barber National Championship in 2008 and finished 15th. In 2009 he drove in the F2000 Championship Series for ...

battled each other on the final lap, but Carbone cut the new Indy Lights champion Newgarden's tire on the Nellis Straightaway, leading Guerrieri and Carbone to fight for the win in a side-by-side finish, with Carbone winning by .0229 seconds. The 200-lap IndyCar feature ended on lap 12 after a 15-car crash that claimed the life of fellow Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011, and was co-winner ...

. IndyCar decided that the race would not continue, and spectators were offered refunds of all Sunday tickets that were used, and partial refunds of multiple-day tickets (Qualifying and NASCAR tickets could not be refunded, as Friday qualifying and Saturday NASCAR events finished without incident, so only the portion relating with the Sunday race could be processed).Dan Wheldon dies in crash at Las Vegas Indy 300
/ref> As a result of the incident, on December 8, 2011, Bernard announced that the IndyCar World Championships would not return to Las Vegas in 2012. The Smith's 350, which had been set for the IndyCar weekend, was moved up two weeks.

Past winners

Las Vegas Park (dirt oval)

Fremont Street circuit

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Firestone Indy Lights

In 2011, the Firestone Indy Lights support race was added to the World Championships.

References

External links

IndyCar.com race page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Izod Indycar World Championship Champ Car races Motorsport in Las Vegas Former IndyCar Series races Las Vegas Motor Speedway