INDYCAR – How Did We Get Here? Pt. 3 The Indy Effect

(Note: Part one here. Part two here.) After years of instability, the championship had finally become recognized and repeatable. Historical mistakes were made, but the sport is well on its way to greatness and The Indianapolis Motor Speedway finally takes the helm of championship racing for the first time. Board track racing was at its height in the early 1920’s. Millions of trees were felled to accommodate the hundreds of miles of the highly banked wooden autodromes that popped up all around the nation. These facilities led to a decline…

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INDYCAR – How Did We Get Here? Pt. 2 When Did It Go Sideways?

(Note: Part one can be found here) Welcome back to the weird and wonderful world that is AAA and INDYCAR history. Racing through the 20’s was political, but more or less straight forward in its execution. The late 20’s bring a whole different problem. Instead of making history, AAA was finally interested in documenting its history correctly and accurately. You can decide how successful they eventually were. In 1926/1927, AAA Assistant Secretary Arthur Means, for reasons unknown, created false season tables for 1909-1915 and 1917-1919 and reworked the 1920 season …

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INDYCAR – How Did We Get Here? Pt. 1 When Did We Start?

PD-US

The prospect of American open-wheel racing is a fractured endeavor at best, and has been for nearly the entirety of its history. How long is that history, and how do we differentiate between the massive gaps in execution, ideology and technology that has graced the dusty roads of North America for over 100 years? We can at least agree that what we watch now can trace its history back a very long time. But how long depends on who you ask. The first race in the US was held in…

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Op-Ed – A Pro Mazda Carol: Part I, History of Star Mazda

Star Mazda at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course -- Photo by Eric McCombs, Star Mazda

Ok, I know the new Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires is barely a week old, but given who has taken over the old Star Mazda series, I’m willing to offer some speculation on how the new series will evolve over the next few seasons. All of my speculation hinges upon observations of how Dan Andersen and his company Andersen Promotions have managed the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda over the past few seasons. This is a long article, so bear with me as I…

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IndyCar – Kansas Preview: Kansas Speedway 2001-2006

The Summer Years: 2001-2006 The first IZOD IndyCar Series race at the Kansas Speedway was held on July 8th, 2001. Those of you in the Midwest already know that no July 8th, surrounded by tarmac and concrete, it will be oppressively hot, and so it was for the first six races. Summertime in the Midwestern states, and especially in the central plains are brutal for both their high temperatures and high humidities. These conditions would challenge and tax both drivers and fans, but these years also produced some of the…

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IndyCar – Kansas Preview: A look at the history of open-wheel racing around Kansas City

History: An Interview with Kansas City Sprint Car Legend Luther Brewer: Open-wheel racing has always been a major part of the motorsports scene in Kansas and Missouri. After WWII, motorsports throughout the country exploded in popularity, and the MidWest was the center of sprint and midget car racing. That rich tradition hasn’t faded. Every week, you can find winged and wingless sprint cars doing battle on dirt ovals across the Kansas City area. I thought about trying to piece together a review of the sprint car history from around the…

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IndyCar – Barber Motorsports Park Preview: History

Introduction: This weekend, the IZOD IndyCar Series heads back to Birmingham, Alabama and the Barber Motorsports Park. This visit will be very different than in times past. This time, they’re there to race! The league has been to Barber several times for testing, but this will be the first time we see the IndyCars compete at the track. As the third event on the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, Barber also represents the third straight in a series of four twisty tracks on the schedule, although its the first natural…

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IndyCar – St. Petersburg Preview: History and Track Analysis

Introduction: This weekend represents the home opener for the IZOD IndyCar Series, and the first race of the season for the Firestone Indy Lights and US F2000 National Championship, on the Streets of St. Petersburg. The IZOD IndyCar Series began the 2010 season the weekend before last on the Streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, but this weekend represents the series first race of the year on US soil. Historically, the St. Petersburg race has one of the best races of the season, which is a bit surprising given that its…

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