Zanardi's laps at Lausitz have to be one of the most underrated events in motorsports history. Every time I see it I shake my head at how amazing it is that he not only lived, but was motivated to "finish" the race. And his "exhibition" laps would have put him 6th on the grid that day!
I've been to the German 500 in 2003. The last laps to finish his race were great. The atmosphere was magical when he drove the laps. It was a great feeling.
Man, I remember being a kid turning on the Speed channel and cheering for that McDonald's car driven by Sebastian Bourdais. I wish Speed was still around
The Katherine Legge crash at Road America is something I'll always remember. I was at the track that day and I remember hearing about the wreck and everyone worrying about how serious it could be. To say Legge is a badass is an understatement with how she came out of that smiling.
I saw her crash live and thought it was all over for her. If we do live in a multiverse, this was the only one that she survived in. It was great to see her beaming smile afterwards ❤
Man, CART/ChampCar still provided a very good racing product until the year it folded, as well as some great drivers (Sebastian Bourdais and Will Power chief among them). Such a shame that it went under due to mismanagement by officials at the top around the year 2002. Also, FTG.
The mismanagement began well before then. The cracks only started to show in 2001. Between mismanagement, cancelled races, a terrible CART-inspired movie and a horrific accident at a race that should never have been run, the 2001 season was the beginning of the end. And I second FTG
Paul Tracy was the bad boy of Champ Car! He’s still the bad boy of American Racing, but man he is so entertaining, I don’t like or hate him. He's a legend!
Same, personally don't like him too much but what a character he is and he never let himself change. Plus he can bloody drive, his record can speak for itself that way.
About the only thing you missed was Montoya and Michael Andretti having a last lap shootout at Michigan in 2000 where Montoya blocked in Michael using a lapped car and took the win. Other than that, great job and I will always be a sucker for a Robin Miller night…
Despite the loss of Greg Moore in 1999, the Canadian drivers were still a huge part of Champ Car during the 2000's. Still though, I would've loved to have seen Moore race during that fun time in motorsports.
I would have loved to see him run Indy. Had he not died, he could have ended up having Helio Castroneves’s career. Moore and Zanardi were robbed because of the split.
It’s Funny how people say Sebastian Bourdais 4 Championships are not that significant since the Era he won them in champ Car. But there was some Great competition In Champ car: Paul Tracy A.j Allmendinger Mario Dominguez Nelson Phillipe Justin Wilson Will Power Ryan Hunter Reay Bruno Junqueria Patrick Carpentier Robert Doombas And More To me bourdais will be one of the top 5 Drivers In INDYCAR Ever.
I enjoyed hearing the voice of Bob Varsha calling the action in some of those clips, man he was one of the best! Paul Tracy, ever the villain, but I grew to respect him as a commentator in Indycar these past few years. Didn't realize Dinger won 4 Champ Car races, always did like him. And closing these random thoughts, it was nice to see the late Robin Miller again, doing what he did best, which was tell it like it was!
Glad you didn't put "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun as a backing song. Mate, 2000s Champ Car what a time in motorsport we'll never see again. loved being a teen at the Surfers Paradise race (Billed as "Indy") my eyes and nostrils stung from the methanol exhaust, I could barely breath or hear but I loved every second of it.
I was also watching during Kathrine Legg's accident, and years ago when Jeff Krosnoff had his fatal crash. I was a huge open wheel racing fan, as well as my favorite sport, motocross and Supercross
Fantastic stuff! This makes me wish I watched more after Penske, Ganassi, and Andretti-Green left for the IRL. If possible, I would love to see a 1990s CART version please. Thank you!
Paul Tracy was the greatest troll teaser ever! In Australia, we had Paul Morris (The Dude) do the same thing to the complaining trolls. It made for great entertainment.
It was pulling an awesome show, but was also incredibly mismanaged. Between the death and injuries, the lack of marketing, the races cancel (Hawaii and Texas), the conflict between management and engine manufacturers, racing on 9/11, relations issues with ESPN and ABC, and sponsor issues (that FedEx contract should have been longer), and I still don't know who was in charge of marketing... They didn't help themselves at times.
I hated and I mean hated Alex Zenardi. But I cried seeing him complete those laps. And you know what, I feel could have competed in that race because his speed was actually not that far off from the leaders
Its a shame that Indycar barely races on ovals anymore. Its still better racing than F1 (I'm saying that as a British fan) but I miss the big oval races.
CART up to 2003 was just brilliant. I still love Champ Car as in 2005 was my 1st exposure to us racing (plus still dislike pt from this). Also i live up the road from the lola factory
No, there were NOT two great racing series in the US during the 2000's. You can thank one man, Tony George - the man that killed open wheel racing in the US for over a decade. Champ cars began their decline, in 1996 when Tony (the idiot) George pulled IMS from the CART/Champ car series. IRL was NEVER a good series, just look at their pitiful attendance numbers and the TV ratings. Now that Penske has purchased Indy, the series might just become relevant. Maybe...
@@cool3865 CART started going downhill the minute Tony George pulled Indianapolis from the series. CART declared bankruptcy after the 2003 season, you don't declare bankruptcy if you are doing "great". They lost the television contract with ESPN/ABC in 2002. They also lost Toyota after the 2002 season. The 1996 US 500 vs the Indy 500 began a serious decline in open-wheel racing, with both the Indy 500 and other Indycar events seeing drastic decline in prominence, TV viewership, and attendance. The only reason they "made" money in the late 90's was because they sold off 35% of the company in a stock offer. Were you even watching CART in 1996?
As a long time IndyCar fan, back to my childhood in the 70's, I pretty much stopped watching CART/Champ Cars by this time for the simple reason that they basically excluded American drivers from their line up. As an American myself, I didn't see why I should support a series that didn't give opportunities to other Americans. I said to myself, "if I had a kid who was a talented race car driver, these people would not even think of hiring him, so why should I support them?" It would be like black baseball fans supporting the Major Leagues before Jackie Robinson. I did follow the IRL, though it was a pretty unsatisfactory series itself. Not a good time for open wheel fans, though I tried to watch as much USAC or World of Outlaws as was available on TV.
CART was great throughout the 90's. However, in 2001 they slowed down the cars and the implementation of the Hanford device in the late 90's bunched up the cars and made the races a crap shoot and frankly silly. It's no surprise that attendance dwindled after they slowed down the cars and bunched them up. Nascar did the same thing and keeps doubling and tripling down and their fanbase is basically all gone. These guys never learn. Fans don't want to see parity and "progressive" measures. The fans want to see the cream rise to the top...like Alex Zanardi in 1997 and 1998 and Jeff Gordon throughout the 90's. Their historic accomplishments brought attention to the sports and created fans...like me. Now the racing organizations do everything in their power to prevent future Dale Earnhardt's, Jimmie Johnson's, and Roger Penske's. Such a shame.
belive or not, this could be happen raigth now... the best category with the most beautiful cars. call the inversionists... CHAMPCAR WORLD SERIES CHSASIS Swift 🇺🇸 Gforce 🇺🇸 ENGINES Cosworth 🇬🇧 Judd 🇬🇧 TYRES Bridgestone 🇯🇵 SEASON 1) Phoenix Streets 🇺🇸 m 2) Monterrey Streets 🇲🇽 a 3) Houston Streets 🇺🇸 a 4) Cleveland Airport 🇺🇸 m 5) Eurospeedway 400 🇩🇪 j 6) Brands Hatch GP 🇬🇧 j 7) Edmonton Airport 🇨🇦 x 8) Milwaukee 200 🇺🇸 x 9) Mont Tremblant GP 🇨🇦 a 10) Denver Streets 🇺🇸 a 11) Vancouver Streets 🇨🇦 a 12) Michigan 500 🇺🇸 s 13) San Jose Streets 🇺🇸 o 14) Surfers Paradise Streets 🇦🇺 n
Zanardi's laps at Lausitz have to be one of the most underrated events in motorsports history. Every time I see it I shake my head at how amazing it is that he not only lived, but was motivated to "finish" the race. And his "exhibition" laps would have put him 6th on the grid that day!
I've been to the German 500 in 2003. The last laps to finish his race were great. The atmosphere was magical when he drove the laps. It was a great feeling.
I give Zanardi all the credit in the world to pull those laps after what happened to him.
100% agree. seeing the fans do the "mexican wave" all the way down the track draws out an emotion i cant define. an absolute legend alex is
6:13
F1 drivers: “The porpoising is hurting my back.”
Champ Car drivers: “Hold my beer.”
yeah, I still wonder who thought that section was a good idea
listening to Paul Page commentate Indycar with metal in the background gets the blood pumping lol
Man, I remember being a kid turning on the Speed channel and cheering for that McDonald's car driven by Sebastian Bourdais. I wish Speed was still around
The Katherine Legge crash at Road America is something I'll always remember. I was at the track that day and I remember hearing about the wreck and everyone worrying about how serious it could be. To say Legge is a badass is an understatement with how she came out of that smiling.
I saw her crash live and thought it was all over for her. If we do live in a multiverse, this was the only one that she survived in.
It was great to see her beaming smile afterwards ❤
Man, CART/ChampCar still provided a very good racing product until the year it folded, as well as some great drivers (Sebastian Bourdais and Will Power chief among them). Such a shame that it went under due to mismanagement by officials at the top around the year 2002.
Also, FTG.
The mismanagement began well before then. The cracks only started to show in 2001. Between mismanagement, cancelled races, a terrible CART-inspired movie and a horrific accident at a race that should never have been run, the 2001 season was the beginning of the end.
And I second FTG
If I was an adult 20 years ago Paul Tracy would've been my favorite driver. Dude is hilarious lol
I saw somebody say that if social media existed 20 years ago, Paul Tracy would've kept Champ Car alive a few more years lol
@@nascarmanHistory that makes absolute sense too
@@nascarmanHistory newsboards and myspace have left the chat. crying.
I absolutely love Paul Tracy... The world really needs more people like him in it. He don't give a damn what u think of him. I love that
@@KellieLeigh48 oh we ALL need to be a bit more like that, for sure for sure.
dunno why ya telling me that tho
Some of the best sounding cars ever. CART at Fontana and Michigan was amazing and nothing like that will ever happen again.
💯 % and think about what a job for these engines. 500 Miles full throttle Amazing
16,000 RPM at 900HP!!!! It's a shame that will never happen again. The skill to handle these beasts were off the charts.
Vintage Paul Tracy, such a lightning rod of drama.
Paul Tracy was the bad boy of Champ Car! He’s still the bad boy of American Racing, but man he is so entertaining, I don’t like or hate him. He's a legend!
He's also a legendary driver and champion. I'm a fan honestly
@@KellieLeigh48 big respect to that! Love him or hate him, he is those 2 legends as well!
Same, personally don't like him too much but what a character he is and he never let himself change. Plus he can bloody drive, his record can speak for itself that way.
About the only thing you missed was Montoya and Michael Andretti having a last lap shootout at Michigan in 2000 where Montoya blocked in Michael using a lapped car and took the win. Other than that, great job and I will always be a sucker for a Robin Miller night…
Sometimes I forget just how much of a legend Paul Tracy was lmao
I remember Paul Tracy laying down doughnuts over the same doughnuts he laid down the year before in Vancouver back in 03. Sweet.
CART/Champ Car along with F1, NASCAR & the WRC are what defined my childhood as a young racing fan. Thanks for sharing.
Despite the loss of Greg Moore in 1999, the Canadian drivers were still a huge part of Champ Car during the 2000's. Still though, I would've loved to have seen Moore race during that fun time in motorsports.
I would have loved to see him run Indy. Had he not died, he could have ended up having Helio Castroneves’s career. Moore and Zanardi were robbed because of the split.
We have been blessed with great racing and personalities through the decades and my beloved Indycar is still just as good as ever
I'll always be a fan of Paul Tracy!
Champcar was pretty awesome. I still remember the split from Indycar all those years ago.
Carpantier might be the most underrated driver of the 2000s
God, those cars were amazing. I miss them so much.
That driver facing camera that CART used to run is something to behold. It looks almost video game like.
I'm a NHR alum from that era. That was so enjoyable to watch. Thank you for sharing.
Those DP01s were the best cars of this era. Hands down.
I "watched" some formula E this weekend only because Bob Varsha was on the mic. Miss him, Matchett and Hobbs doing F1 here.
It’s Funny how people say Sebastian Bourdais 4 Championships are not that significant since the Era he won them in champ Car.
But there was some Great competition In Champ car:
Paul Tracy
A.j Allmendinger
Mario Dominguez
Nelson Phillipe
Justin Wilson
Will Power
Ryan Hunter Reay
Bruno Junqueria
Patrick Carpentier
Robert Doombas
And More
To me bourdais will be one of the top 5 Drivers In INDYCAR Ever.
He's top 5 without any doubt.
Paul Tracy was literally the Devon Butler of Champcar
Always enjoyed Cart and Champcar immensely. Loved it when they had many chassis and engine manufacturers which madecfor great competition.
I went to the cleveland Grand Prix a couple of times as a kid. I really miss it.
2006, maybe the craziest season of Champcar
I enjoyed hearing the voice of Bob Varsha calling the action in some of those clips, man he was one of the best! Paul Tracy, ever the villain, but I grew to respect him as a commentator in Indycar these past few years. Didn't realize Dinger won 4 Champ Car races, always did like him. And closing these random thoughts, it was nice to see the late Robin Miller again, doing what he did best, which was tell it like it was!
"Yea, Robin Miller! Robin Miller!"
I still remember watching the cars going over the railroad tracks for the first time and thinking how is the suspension going to hold up?
I miss Champ Car so much!!! It was the best open wheel racing series in the world, imo!!!😊
Glad you didn't put "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun as a backing song. Mate, 2000s Champ Car what a time in motorsport we'll never see again. loved being a teen at the Surfers Paradise race (Billed as "Indy") my eyes and nostrils stung from the methanol exhaust, I could barely breath or hear but I loved every second of it.
All legends Champcar was just at another level.
That freaking McDonalds clown is terrifying
Both Champcar and the IRL put on nice on track products
We need Cleveland back. The CART pack in AMS2 with Cleveland in it has only made me more sure it has to come back...
It's looking more likely that Burke Lakefront is going to be closed and repurposed by the city.
I was one of those 174 viewers! Shoutout Neilsen ratings!
I was one of them. 5x cleveland attendee. I can't drive by burke airport anymore and not be sad.
Damn, I miss airhorns at races! My compatriots provided for a great atmosphere in 2003. Too bad the Lausitz oval is rotting away...
I was also watching during Kathrine Legg's accident, and years ago when Jeff Krosnoff had his fatal crash. I was a huge open wheel racing fan, as well as my favorite sport, motocross and Supercross
I watched it and i loved it. Best Racing series ❤
I rooted for Tracy back then BUT Dinger was a badass, would have loved to have seen him win a season title...
from the 1990s and on, champ car *was* dominating open-wheel racing.
Fantastic stuff! This makes me wish I watched more after Penske, Ganassi, and Andretti-Green left for the IRL. If possible, I would love to see a 1990s CART version please. Thank you!
Check out Phil Kinch on RUclips. He's got playlists set up for the 90's and 2000's. They're still awesome to watch.
@@danielhenderson8316 Thank you!
Greatest racing machines ever created 90s and earliest 2000s. Without them split CART would be bigger then F1
The rest of the world isn't interested in oval racing, Indycar will forever remain exclusive American, just like it should
@@JohnDaubSuperfan369 #opinion. CART Had the world by the b@))s in the early 90s and couldn't hang on.
@@gosmo4504 Exactly. No question about that
@Matt Theisen yeah especially once Nigel Mansell came Bernie got scared!
we miss you Gil de Ferran
Paul Tracy was the greatest troll teaser ever!
In Australia, we had Paul Morris (The Dude) do the same thing to the complaining trolls.
It made for great entertainment.
Who here used to play CART Fury on the PS2 and the arcade?
That was real American auto racing
Loved the ChampCar era of IndyCar ❤🎉
Over the tracks at San Jose was great! Surfers Paradise was the best!
I'm Old School NASCAR And IndyCar From The 70s 80s And Early 90s ☺
Late 90s and early 2000s. What a time.
"PT is for shizzle my nizzle"- Paul Tracy
Never change bud
Anyone that didn't experience this I feel so so sad for them! Was incredible!
Thank you for this 🙂🏁
It was pulling an awesome show, but was also incredibly mismanaged.
Between the death and injuries, the lack of marketing, the races cancel (Hawaii and Texas), the conflict between management and engine manufacturers, racing on 9/11, relations issues with ESPN and ABC, and sponsor issues (that FedEx contract should have been longer), and I still don't know who was in charge of marketing... They didn't help themselves at times.
Best era in racing hands down!
when the first thing you hear is Bob Varsha you know it's gonna be a banger
Three Videos in One Day. I'M READY
Paul Tracy was certifiable man. I don’t know how anyone ever let that basket case drive a race car, but I’m sure glad they did!
Paul Tracy rules
Fo shizzle
Love Paul Tracy pulling out the hockey code. Take your helmet off French guy.
I hated and I mean hated Alex Zenardi.
But I cried seeing him complete those laps. And you know what, I feel could have competed in that race because his speed was actually not that far off from the leaders
Its a shame that Indycar barely races on ovals anymore. Its still better racing than F1 (I'm saying that as a British fan) but I miss the big oval races.
AJ Allmendinger, he finds success I. The Xfinity series
If you are showing Paul Tracy clips, how could you have left out team mates Paul and Dario taking each other out. Classic.
That was mostly late 90’s that happened.
Cómo extrañar el mejor sonido
CART up to 2003 was just brilliant. I still love Champ Car as in 2005 was my 1st exposure to us racing (plus still dislike pt from this). Also i live up the road from the lola factory
There's nothing nostalgic about ChampCar racing after 2002 even though I loved ChampCar over IRL anytime. 😂
They could be at the back of a F1 grid... Great cars...
I misread the title as “2006 ChampCar was awesome”
What track had the rail road track?
San Jose
@@BANGITSME87 Thank you
I will say if your a true racer you should have a test comeback like Alex did 💪🏁🙏
The best time in motorsports
Weiner-itis! Only Paul Tracy can cure it by WINNING.
What song did you use for 3:39-4:54?
Depth Fuse by French Fuse
FTG!
did john drop a f bomb
Without Tracy, it would be only half of awesome
Paul Tracy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Use this comment as a Tony George hate button
No, there were NOT two great racing series in the US during the 2000's. You can thank one man, Tony George - the man that killed open wheel racing in the US for over a decade. Champ cars began their decline, in 1996 when Tony (the idiot) George pulled IMS from the CART/Champ car series. IRL was NEVER a good series, just look at their pitiful attendance numbers and the TV ratings. Now that Penske has purchased Indy, the series might just become relevant. Maybe...
what are you talking about, CART was doing great from 1997 - 2003, Indycar was doing horrible up untill 2006 when champcar (CART) started to fail.
@@cool3865 CART started going downhill the minute Tony George pulled Indianapolis from the series. CART declared bankruptcy after the 2003 season, you don't declare bankruptcy if you are doing "great". They lost the television contract with ESPN/ABC in 2002. They also lost Toyota after the 2002 season. The 1996 US 500 vs the Indy 500 began a serious decline in open-wheel racing, with both the Indy 500 and other Indycar events seeing drastic decline in prominence, TV viewership, and attendance. The only reason they "made" money in the late 90's was because they sold off 35% of the company in a stock offer. Were you even watching CART in 1996?
As a long time IndyCar fan, back to my childhood in the 70's, I pretty much stopped watching CART/Champ Cars by this time for the simple reason that they basically excluded American drivers from their line up. As an American myself, I didn't see why I should support a series that didn't give opportunities to other Americans. I said to myself, "if I had a kid who was a talented race car driver, these people would not even think of hiring him, so why should I support them?" It would be like black baseball fans supporting the Major Leagues before Jackie Robinson. I did follow the IRL, though it was a pretty unsatisfactory series itself. Not a good time for open wheel fans, though I tried to watch as much USAC or World of Outlaws as was available on TV.
CART was great throughout the 90's. However, in 2001 they slowed down the cars and the implementation of the Hanford device in the late 90's bunched up the cars and made the races a crap shoot and frankly silly. It's no surprise that attendance dwindled after they slowed down the cars and bunched them up. Nascar did the same thing and keeps doubling and tripling down and their fanbase is basically all gone. These guys never learn. Fans don't want to see parity and "progressive" measures. The fans want to see the cream rise to the top...like Alex Zanardi in 1997 and 1998 and Jeff Gordon throughout the 90's. Their historic accomplishments brought attention to the sports and created fans...like me. Now the racing organizations do everything in their power to prevent future Dale Earnhardt's, Jimmie Johnson's, and Roger Penske's. Such a shame.
belive or not, this could be happen raigth now... the best category with the most beautiful cars.
call the inversionists...
CHAMPCAR WORLD SERIES
CHSASIS
Swift 🇺🇸
Gforce 🇺🇸
ENGINES
Cosworth 🇬🇧
Judd 🇬🇧
TYRES
Bridgestone 🇯🇵
SEASON
1) Phoenix Streets 🇺🇸 m
2) Monterrey Streets 🇲🇽 a
3) Houston Streets 🇺🇸 a
4) Cleveland Airport 🇺🇸 m
5) Eurospeedway 400 🇩🇪 j
6) Brands Hatch GP 🇬🇧 j
7) Edmonton Airport 🇨🇦 x
8) Milwaukee 200 🇺🇸 x
9) Mont Tremblant GP 🇨🇦 a
10) Denver Streets 🇺🇸 a
11) Vancouver Streets 🇨🇦 a
12) Michigan 500 🇺🇸 s
13) San Jose Streets 🇺🇸 o
14) Surfers Paradise Streets 🇦🇺 n
Champ Car was a total bullshit: no overtakes, no ovals, no normal racing teams, no qualified pilots.
Shut up.