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Indy Car: Difference between revisions
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[[Indy Car]] (Known formally as the [[Indy Car]] Series), is perhaps the greatest racing series in America... that everyone forgot.
The series is named for the annual Indianapolis 500, [[Older Than Radio|which has been running every year since 1911]] (With the exception of during World War I and II). The cars are open-wheeled and open-cockpit, very similar to [[Formula One]], although the differences between the two are many. [[Indy Car]], once the pinnacle of American motorsport, has slowly seen a decline in ratings and popularity over the past thirty years as [[NASCAR]] became popular for its wild, down-to-earth appeal. Even today, the Indianapolis 500, the crown jewel in the series schedule, is normally [[Overshadowed
The reason for the decline stems from a split within the series itself back in 1979. Back then, the United States Automobile Club (USAC) had organized and run the Indianapolis 500 as well as other American championship car races since 1956. However, many prolific team owners such as Dan Gurney, Roger Penske, and U.E. "Pat" Patrick had long disagreed with USAC due to alleged ineptitude on the organization's part. As a result, they formed Championship Auto Racing Teams, (CART) which was founded as an advocacy group to keep USAC in check. However, such an agreement was flat-out denied by USAC bigwigs, which then led to CART becoming a breakaway series. After several years of legal battling, USAC finally allowed the Indianapolis 500 to be part of the CART calendar, and all was good. CART enjoyed immense success in America as drivers such as Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, and Nigel Mansell, coming off of highly successful Formula One drives, touted its competitiveness.
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'''Dale Coyne Racing:'''
* ''Sébastien Bourdais'' - [[The Bus Came Back]]. After winning four straight Champ Car championships, he was [[Put
* ''Alex Lloyd'' - [[Kid Sidekick|The Kid Sidekick]]. His 4th place finish at the 2010 Indianapolis 500 meant that he would live to race another day, but his form is still to be seen.
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* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: James Hinchcliffe.
* [[Continuity Snarl]]: The rapidly changing array of tracks. Outside Indianapolis of course.
* [[Down to
* [[
* [[Every Year They Fizzle Out]]: Beside 1969, Indy has not been nice to the Andrettis.
* [[Exactly What It Says
* [[Family Business]]: On track: the Unser and Andretti racing families. Off track: The Hulmans, owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
* [[Fan Boy]]: Dario Franchitti has a room dedicated to Jim Clark, winner of the 1965 Indy 500. The tiles are the same colour as his fellow Scot's helmet.
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* [[Money, Dear Boy]]: As with most upper echelons of motorsport, you get the occasional accusation of hiring a driver simply to gain money from the sponsorship they bring in.
** Milka Duno was brought in to drive for Dale Coyne because of the sponsorship money she brought with her from CITGO and... [[High Hopes, Zero Talent|well, we know how that turned out.]]
* [[The Movie]]: In 2001, Sylvester Stallone produced a movie based on the CART series called [[Driven]]. The result, as [[Bad Movie Beatdown
{{quote| "Originally intended as a biopic of the late Ayrton Senna, it evolved into a racing movie set in Formula One. One problem: the Formula One bosses took one look at the script and told Stallone to get stuffed."}}
** Understandably, the movie was panned by critics and regarded as an all-around bad movie.
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* [[Nitro Boost]]/[[Super Mode]]: Okay, while IndyCars may not use literal nitrous, the series has the "Push to Pass" Button, which gives cars an extra 5 horsepower for 12-18 seconds (depending on the track) to make overtaking a car easier during a race. However, they are only allowed a certain number of button-pushes (Again, depending on the track), and there is a cooldown period of 10 seconds after using it. The new engine packages in 2012 tentatively will have a 100 HP boost when activated.
* [[No MacGuffin, No Winner]]: Essentially the whole story of the 12-year 'Split' between CART and IRL. [http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/columns/story?columnist=hinton_ed&id=5195237 Right from the beginning in 1996] pundits were predicting that the only benificiary of an Open-Wheel racing civil war would be NASCAR.
* [[Only Known
* [[Part-Time Hero|Part Time Driver]]: The Indy 500 plays host to ''many'' part-timers who only race during that event. The reasons are simple:
*** The grid for the Indy 500 is 33 drivers instead of the usual 26-28, so it gives part-timers a chance to compete.
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