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Originally Posted by Ronzi
The CART/IRL war seems to be about over, with the IRL and Indianapolis the ultimate victor, although the 500 was almost destroyed in the process.
CART certainly was mismanaged and that played a big part in their problems, but I think the bottom line was the Indy 500. It was the only race the public gave a damn about, so it ultimately was the one race the car owners HAD to be able to run.
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Yep the INdy 500 is make or break for open wheel racing in America.
Americans don't care for it to begin with. Without the big race its an uphill fight.
But the Indy 500 left CART in 1996 and the years that followed were some of the best for CART. They had full participation from every major engine company and they had by far the more talented drivers and better and more professional organized races. THe one IRL race I attended in 1999 was the worst I've ever seen.
Tony George needed the CART teams at the 500 more than the CART teams needed Tony George and his big race. With the help of Budweiser, George offered Chip Ganassi and Juan Montoya from CART the largest purse in the history of Indy racing to come over for a one off appearance. The result was that Montoya destroyed the IRL regulars and made off with nearly $10 Million. This was the straw that broke the camels back because Roger Penske couldn't believe he wasn't getting a dime of that Ganassi purse.
But CART really did implode more than they got beat because of the 500. There could have been a deal for the CART teams to participate in the race without all of the teams ditching CART altogether. BUt this Heitzler guy who was put in charge of CART started making enemies fast and the engine builders/Penske told CART to beat it.
So you could blame it all on Juan Montoya. He was just too fast to haul off with all that cash.