Nascarman History has a great 4-part mini-series on the whole split, and even a video on the first one in the late 70's as well. Highly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn more about this era.
I have to agree, this was a dark time in US Open Wheel Racing. With the fan’s angry over the split, NASCAR took advantage and propelled to become the number 2 sport, next to the NFL. Over the last few years, INDYCAR has rebounded and gaining popularity. For this year, the races have been fantastic and competitive. I’m hoping the championship will come down to the final race at Laguna Seca, in Northern California. 🏁🏁🏁
Maybe next video about the first race under the unified Indycar? Maybe even a review of the whole 2008 season 😉 Thank you for these videos! Always interesting to watch.
Quick note about Disney World Speedway: it also hosted two NASCAR Truck Series races in 1997 & 1998. In fact, those two races were the season openers for the Truck Series in those years as it wouldn't be until 2000 that the Truck Series opened its season at Daytona (a race infamous for the violent wreck involving Geoff Bodine).
One thing is right: the IndyCar's split was a complete disaster for the US open wheels. I'm from Brazil and I watch IndyCar's racing since my childhood by Brazilian broadcast. At that time I was 11 years old and I didn't know absolutely nothing about the split, and when May has arrived and I didn't see Indianapolis in the 1996's schedule, I asked "Hey, where's Indy 500?".
And all CART had to do was enter their own entries, clown the IRL guys, and have Tony George beg for mercy while they take everything from him. Tony only won the war because of CART/Champ Car’s ineptitude, not because he was some open wheel genius.
CART should have shown IMS it needed them rather than letting IRL only get big due to one race. it wouldn’t have been the end of the world if they put 8 cars in the IRL 500. It probably would of saved 12 years of the loss of millions of dollars. Tony George should have done a different option rather than starting a new USAC or AOWR organization.
I look back on the split era with nostalgia (despite starting before I was even born). I get why it's viewed as a dark era but to me it's like when your parents divorce so you get two Christmases. CART by this point is viewed with nostalgia I think, and IRL I believe is pretty underrated. I'm currently on something of an oval kick so I'm happy to learn about one of the more historically notable oval races.
You know, that's an excellent way of putting it. You're parents getting divorced and having two Christmases lmao. For me, I was very young, and my dad hated the IRL so we never watched it. So even for me, it's fun to go back and visit some of the OG IRL races, and pick up on interesting things that I might have missed back then.
nothing underrated about the Irl. it was trash. These were all C-grade drivers on their best days and the way the whole shit show played out proves that. There was nothing "special" about this race. If there were it would've lasted more than a decade; especially with the amount of money and tv promo it received. At this point the IRL and tracks specific to it are nothing more than an asterisk - a footnote in the history of motorsports that people will look at with disdain for the greed and stupidity of group that formed it.
@@erikcorredor255They listened to a small part of the fanbase in the state of Indiana aka the USAC ranks and somehow Tony George agreed with them but some of his stuff was out of line and bush league. However he was child play compared to how Brain France made NASCAR bush league. CART never should have underestimated IMS however the France family helped prop up the IRL with coming to IMS in 1994 year the IRL was announced and the race was sold out for its first years and helped keep the IRL operating until 2008.
Eliseo Salazar missed the race after a huge wreck during the free practices. He came back at the Indy 500, starting in the front row and finishing 6th.
Me upon learning how the WDW Speedway was built, and for how much: "Paul Pressler taking the cheapest possible option with the Disney Parks? Perish the thought!"
I thought this was going to be 1979, but 1996 works too. To be fair quite a lot of the 1978-1979 and early CART years is, at least going by the Lost Media Wiki, well, lost sadly. Which is a shame, I was hoping to find the Silverstone/Brands Hatch 1978 or 1979, whichever it was, broadcasts. Either way given all the issues this track had, an how it was set up, it wasn't ever going to last. Maybe move it a few miles down the road and redo it, and it's one of those one game wonders, only ever IIRC showed up in one videogame, the questionably so bad it's good, built on bits of the F1 World Grand Prix N64 codebase, Indy Racing 2000 game. So bad it's actualy, pretty good sort of game too, going by the footage, somehow, when an N64 game looks better than the actual, real track, well, that says a lot about the Mickyard. Hey at least Kevin Forbes and IMS's crew got the Indy road course right in the enda qu
I understand the disdain for this era. But IRL did produce some good racing and was key on driver safety plus plenty of drivers we do remember. Also I drove on the infield road course in a Porsche years ago
Not a bad video. I think you could've jumped in and talked about the cars dropping out of the race as it happened, instead of jumping over it and saying there was nothing exciting that happened on track.
The way the Indycar is going now, I think we need another split. We need real AMerican Open wheel series, not some second tier european like series as it is now.
I disagree. Field size is healthy and the series is as respected as it's been since unification The fact that Grosjean has been close but not won yet demonstrates the high level of competition.
Nascarman History has a great 4-part mini-series on the whole split, and even a video on the first one in the late 70's as well. Highly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn more about this era.
I'm more than hip to that.
Highly recommended!
@@MaunoKoivistoOfficial Triple Agreement
does anyone else think tony george always sounds on the edge of tears whenever he talks? also turn 1 look so intimidating from a driver pov
LOL Yes
Sounded like he was drunk
Whenever someone mentions that, I always think if the announcement of the Brickyard 400. Just... oooh...
@@obamabigears734he sounded so low energy 😂
I have to agree, this was a dark time in US Open Wheel Racing. With the fan’s angry over the split, NASCAR took advantage and propelled to become the number 2 sport, next to the NFL. Over the last few years, INDYCAR has rebounded and gaining popularity. For this year, the races have been fantastic and competitive. I’m hoping the championship will come down to the final race at Laguna Seca, in Northern California. 🏁🏁🏁
it took Cart one year for them to bounce back, 1997 was great and 1998 and 1999 were their golden years
Maybe next video about the first race under the unified Indycar? Maybe even a review of the whole 2008 season 😉 Thank you for these videos! Always interesting to watch.
Quick note about Disney World Speedway: it also hosted two NASCAR Truck Series races in 1997 & 1998. In fact, those two races were the season openers for the Truck Series in those years as it wouldn't be until 2000 that the Truck Series opened its season at Daytona (a race infamous for the violent wreck involving Geoff Bodine).
Indeed they did! Future video for sure 👍
Buzz's lone win en route to a co championship with Scott Sharp. Good stuff Demise
I was at Disney with my wife and kids the week they demolished the Mickyard. They wiped out almost all traces of it in less than 3 days.
It was built with minimal permanent infrastructure just in case they decided to demolish it, so I guess it fulfilled its ultimate purpose.
@De-fault! De-fault! I mean the actual track. The entire asphalt oval disappeared seemingly overnight.
I really thought this track was awesome. Wish it could have been more popular and stuck around. Would have been awesome to have Cup races there.
One thing is right: the IndyCar's split was a complete disaster for the US open wheels.
I'm from Brazil and I watch IndyCar's racing since my childhood by Brazilian broadcast. At that time I was 11 years old and I didn't know absolutely nothing about the split, and when May has arrived and I didn't see Indianapolis in the 1996's schedule, I asked "Hey, where's Indy 500?".
And all CART had to do was enter their own entries, clown the IRL guys, and have Tony George beg for mercy while they take everything from him.
Tony only won the war because of CART/Champ Car’s ineptitude, not because he was some open wheel genius.
CART should have shown IMS it needed them rather than letting IRL only get big due to one race. it wouldn’t have been the end of the world if they put 8 cars in the IRL 500. It probably would of saved 12 years of the loss of millions of dollars. Tony George should have done a different option rather than starting a new USAC or AOWR organization.
Great Video, well done!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it 👍
Man I wish I would’ve been following Indy when Paul Page was on the broadcast.
I look back on the split era with nostalgia (despite starting before I was even born). I get why it's viewed as a dark era but to me it's like when your parents divorce so you get two Christmases. CART by this point is viewed with nostalgia I think, and IRL I believe is pretty underrated. I'm currently on something of an oval kick so I'm happy to learn about one of the more historically notable oval races.
You know, that's an excellent way of putting it. You're parents getting divorced and having two Christmases lmao. For me, I was very young, and my dad hated the IRL so we never watched it. So even for me, it's fun to go back and visit some of the OG IRL races, and pick up on interesting things that I might have missed back then.
nothing underrated about the Irl. it was trash. These were all C-grade drivers on their best days and the way the whole shit show played out proves that. There was nothing "special" about this race. If there were it would've lasted more than a decade; especially with the amount of money and tv promo it received. At this point the IRL and tracks specific to it are nothing more than an asterisk - a footnote in the history of motorsports that people will look at with disdain for the greed and stupidity of group that formed it.
@@erikcorredor255They listened to a small part of the fanbase in the state of Indiana aka the USAC ranks and somehow Tony George agreed with them but some of his stuff was out of line and bush league. However he was child play compared to how Brain France made NASCAR bush league. CART never should have underestimated IMS however the France family helped prop up the IRL with coming to IMS in 1994 year the IRL was announced and the race was sold out for its first years and helped keep the IRL operating until 2008.
Eliseo Salazar missed the race after a huge wreck during the free practices. He came back at the Indy 500, starting in the front row and finishing 6th.
Greasy Old Salad Bar
And proceed to cause like 3 crashes, too 😂😂
LOVE the mismatched Menards Lola of Tony Stewart.
I loved the concept cart was a nightmare. They wanted to be an American F1
As an f1 fan...they were better than f1 imo..
I used to go to the Rio 400 with my dad back then and the vibe of it was so much better than f1's.
I liked this track
It nearly 30 years since the civil war of open wheel.
and about 11 years since the reunification of open wheel
Wounds are still not fully healed
Very good point And where are we now? CART lite?
After the split they started adding more road/street courses and taking away ovals
Me upon learning how the WDW Speedway was built, and for how much: "Paul Pressler taking the cheapest possible option with the Disney Parks? Perish the thought!"
Crazy how the made this out to bigger than the 500. Track and series long gone. Caulkins never won another race.
I thought this was going to be 1979, but 1996 works too. To be fair quite a lot of the 1978-1979 and early CART years is, at least going by the Lost Media Wiki, well, lost sadly. Which is a shame, I was hoping to find the Silverstone/Brands Hatch 1978 or 1979, whichever it was, broadcasts.
Either way given all the issues this track had, an how it was set up, it wasn't ever going to last. Maybe move it a few miles down the road and redo it, and it's one of those one game wonders, only ever IIRC showed up in one videogame, the questionably so bad it's good, built on bits of the F1 World Grand Prix N64 codebase, Indy Racing 2000 game. So bad it's actualy, pretty good sort of game too, going by the footage, somehow, when an N64 game looks better than the actual, real track, well, that says a lot about the Mickyard. Hey at least Kevin Forbes and IMS's crew got the Indy road course right in the enda qu
There was the aurora f1 scene in that season raced gordon smiley
Guess they couldn't get the Disney license, as it was "Orlando Speedway" in the N64 game.
40mph between first and last 😂😂😂😂
I understand the disdain for this era. But IRL did produce some good racing and was key on driver safety plus plenty of drivers we do remember. Also I drove on the infield road course in a Porsche years ago
Curious if you've counted the number of drivers that broke their backs in IRL stock block high center of gravity cars?
@@benmalec3258 I'm aware of those. And I fully believe that Davey Hamilton (Texas 01) would've had a few wins had that incident not occurred
FTG
The Mickyard
Worst Pace Car in the history of motor racing. 😂
Walt Disney Speedway is a knock off of Pocono Raceway in my opinion.
Well done..
I don't want anyone to get hurt but you were almost always guaranteed crashes in the IRL..
😮😬
Not a bad video. I think you could've jumped in and talked about the cars dropping out of the race as it happened, instead of jumping over it and saying there was nothing exciting that happened on track.
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🏁
IRL was basically a bunch of no good tracks, crap cars, nobodies and hasbeens for drivers, all combined into one big nothing.
✌️
CART > screw Tony George. Greed-filled martyr
of course a guy called buzz won the disney race
Lmao I never even put two and two together until you said that 😂
The way the Indycar is going now, I think we need another split. We need real AMerican Open wheel series, not some second tier european like series as it is now.
I disagree. Field size is healthy and the series is as respected as it's been since unification The fact that Grosjean has been close but not won yet demonstrates the high level of competition.
This is the thinking that split the series twice already, going for a third?
It will always revert back to its current form. Road course racing is a European thing especially in open wheels.
No matter what you dream of, American open wheel racing ain’t coming back to the USAC style roots.