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1996 Indy 500
The 80th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 26, 1996. This was the first Indy 500 contested as part of the new Indy Racing League, under the overall sanctioning umbrella of USAC. It was the third and final race of the 1996 IRL season. Veteran driver and former AIS champion Buddy Lazier won the race, his first career win in top-level Indy car competition, just over two months after he suffered a broken back in a crash at Phoenix. Lazier's victory marks the last (as of 2025) Indy victory for Ford, the second of two all-time victories for Reynard, and the first victory for Firestone since 1971. The race was surrounded by months of controversy, and was a key component of "the Split", the name given in racing circles to the twelve-year organizational dispute in American open-wheel racing between the upstart Indy Racing League (IRL) and the established Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). Most of the top teams and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Auto Club
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. USAC serves as the sport governing body, sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and GT World Challenge America. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director. History When the American Automobile Association (AAA) withdrew from auto racing after the 1955 season, citing the 1955 Le Mans disaster, Le Mans disaster and the death of Bill Vukovich at 1955 Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis as contributing factors, both the Sports Car Club of America, SCCA and NASCAR were mentioned as its potential successor. Ultimately, USAC was formed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Unser, Al, A. J. Foyt, and Mario Andretti). Unser won the 1968 and 1974 United States Automobile Club (USAC) national championships. He won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb overall title 10 times (13 times when class wins are included). He was the nephew of Louis Unser, brother of Al, Jerry Unser and Louie Unser, the father of Robby Unser and the uncle of Al Unser Jr. and Johnny Unser. The Unser family has won the Indianapolis 500 a record nine times, with Bobby and Al Unser Sr. being the only set of brothers to win in the race's history. Bobby Unser was one of ten drivers to have won the 500 three or more times and the first of two (followed by Rick Mears) to have won in three decades (1968, 1975, 1981). Early life Unser was born in Colorado ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Championship Auto Racing Teams
Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 CART season, 2003 season. CART was founded in 1979 by team owners formerly from the United States Auto Club (USAC) Championship Car division. The owners disagreed with the direction and leadership of USAC. They developed a then-novel business model of team owners sanctioning and promoting their own series collectively rather than relying on a neutral governing body to do so. While the CART owners broke off to form their own series, the sport's biggest race and centerpiece – the Indianapolis 500 – remained under the sanctioning control of USAC. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the CART Indy Car World Series became the pre-eminent open-wheel auto racing series in North America. It features a diverse schedule of superspeedways, Oval track racing, short ovals, road courses, and street circuit. The CART-based team ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1971 Indianapolis 500
The 55th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was a motor race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Saturday, May 29, 1971. Al Unser Sr. won for the second consecutive year, dominating most of the race. Unser became the fourth driver to win the Indy 500 in back-to-back years, and it was his second of a record-tying four Indy victories. The race was marred by a crash involving the pace car at the start. Eldon Palmer, a local Indianapolis-area Dodge dealer, lost control of the Dodge Challenger pace car at the south end of the pit area, and it crashed into a photographers' stand, injuring 29 people, two seriously. Peter Revson started on the pole with a record speed of , more than a mile per hour faster than any other qualifier, with defending Indy 500 winner and USAC National Champion Al Unser in the middle of the second row. Mark Donohue, who qualified in the middle of the front row, took the lead at the start of the race and led the first 50 laps. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firestone Tire And Rubber Company
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is an American tire company founded by Harvey S. Firestone (18681938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, carriages, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era. Firestone soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles, and the company was a pioneer in the mass production of tires. Harvey S. Firestone had a friendship with Henry Ford, and used this to become the original equipment supplier of Ford Motor Company automobiles, and was also active in the replacement market. In 1988, the company was sold to the Japanese Bridgestone Corporation. Company history Early to mid 20th century Firestone was originally based in Akron, Ohio, also the hometown of its archrival, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, and two other midsized competitors, General Tire and Rubber Company and B.F. Goodrich Company. Founded on August 3, 1900, the company initi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reynard Motorsport
Reynard Motorsport was the world's largest racing car manufacturer in the 1980s. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, Formula Three, Formula 3000 and CART. History Founded by Adrian Reynard in 1973 as Sabre Automotive Ltd, the company built on its success in lower formulae (particularly Formula Ford and its variants; Reynard himself was a top driver in Formula Ford 2000 in the late seventies) to progress in March 1994 to CART racing and collaborate with British American Racing from 1999 in the design of its early Formula One cars. Adrian Reynard formed a very effective working partnership with friend and Formula Ford rival Rick Gorne, who looked after the sales and commercial side of the business. Gorne was one of the first people to bring a commercial mindset to the sale of racing cars - he worked out pricing models for cars and spares ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ford-Cosworth Indy V8 Engine
The Ford-Cosworth Indy V8 engine is a series of mechanically similar, turbocharged, 2.65-liter V-8 engines, designed and developed by Ford in partnership with Cosworth for use in American open-wheel racing. It was produced for over 30 years and was used in the United States Auto Club (USAC) Championship Car series, CART, and Champ Car World Series between 1976 and 2007. The DFX engine was the Indy car version of the highly successful 3-liter Ford-Cosworth DFV Formula One engine developed by former Lotus engineer Keith Duckworth and Colin Chapman backing from Ford for the Lotus 49 to campaign the 1967 season. This engine had 155 wins between 1967 and 1985 in F1. The DFX variant was initially developed for Indy car use by Parnelli Jones in 1976, with Cosworth soon taking over. This engine won the Indianapolis 500 ten consecutive years from 1978 to 1987, as well as winning all USAC and CART championships between 1977 and 1987. It powered 81 consecutive Indy car victories from 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix
The Jimmy Bryan Memorial was an IndyCar Series race held at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, United States. USAC moved the fall race and added a spring race to the newly built Phoenix International Raceway in 1964. The race became a CART event in 1979, and joined the Indy Racing League in 1996. It was held continuously through 2005. After a hiatus of eleven years, the race was revived by the IndyCar Series in 2016. It was held on Saturday night under the lights. Long considered a popular Indy car track, Phoenix saw the final career victory for Mario Andretti (1993). History During its time on the USAC Championship Car circuit, Phoenix International Raceway typically held two races annually, one in the spring, and one in the fall. During the CART years, two races were scheduled through the mid-1980s, but the track dropped down to one race per year starting in 1987. In many years, Phoenix served as the CART season opener. After a feud between the track ownership and CART s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Open-wheel Car Racing
American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar and is known as the IndyCar Series. Competitive events for professional-level, open-wheel race cars have been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies, and traces it roots as far back as 1902. A season-long, points-based, ''National Championship'' of drivers has been officially recognized in 1905, 1916, and each year since 1920 (except for a hiatus during WWII). As such, for many years, this discipline of motorsports was known as Championship car racing (or Champ car racing for short). That name has fallen from use, and the term ''Indy car'' racing (derived from the Indy 500) has become the preferred moniker. The machines, typically referred to as "Indy cars", are a formula of single-seat, open cockpit, open-wheel, pur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Indycar Series
The American Indycar Series (AIS) was an American open wheel racing series founded in 1988 by racing driver, owner, and businessperson Bill Tempero. The series utilized year-old (and older) chassis and engines from the CART series and later the Indy Racing League. CART and IRL drivers including Buddy Lazier, Jaques Lazier, Robby Unser, and Johnny Unser found early career success in the AIS. In the mid-1980s, the once-popular Can-Am series was withering, and most teams had already defected to CART or IMSA. The last holdouts formed "CAT" (Can-Am Teams) in 1986 to take over sanctioning of the series as part of the SCCA. Two plans emerged, one keeping the Formula 5000-based cars, and others, led by Bill Tempero who favored using old CART Indy car machines. During 1986 and 1987, the CAT races were run essentially as two-class races, with the familiar full-bodied Formula 5000 cars racing alongside ex-CART Indy cars. CAT folded after the 1987 season. Tempero then broke off and started ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1996 Indy Racing League
The 1996 Indy Racing League was the first season in the history of the series, which was created and announced on March 11, 1994 by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), as a supplementary series to the established Indy Car World Series sanctioned by Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) since 1979. It consisted of only three races, as the season concluded with the 80th Indianapolis 500 in May. Walt Disney World Speedway was completed in time to host the first ever event of the Indy Racing League (IRL), and Phoenix International Raceway switched alliances from CART to the IRL, in order to host the second event of the season. At the conclusion of the three-race schedule, Scott Sharp and Buzz Calkins ended up tied for first place in the season championship. With no tiebreaker rule in place, the two drivers were declared co-champions. Its creation, and the opposition of CART's teams and drivers to take part in it, marked the start of 'the Split', a 12-year period of competition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speedway, Indiana
Speedway is a town in Wayne Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 13,952 at the 2020 census, up from 11,812 in 2010. Speedway, which is an enclave of Indianapolis, is the home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. History Speedway was laid out in 1912 as a residential suburb. It took its name from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, constructed three years earlier. It is an early example of a residential community planned for the industrial plants located nearby. Carl G. Fisher, James A. Allison, Frank Wheeler, and Arthur Newby, founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, planned the suburb of Speedway west of the track. Fisher and Allison owned plants that needed workers, the Prest-O-Lite factory and Allison Engine Company. The investors' goal was to create a city without horses, where residents would drive automobiles, as well as participate in creating mechanical parts for new modes of transportation. Speedway was incorporated as a town in July ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
