Tony George - IRL

IRL

(see Indy Racing League) The IRL was founded in 1994 and began racing in 1996 claiming to offer a cost-effective, all-oval alternative to the PPG CART Indycar World Series. The basic beliefs behind the creation of the series were:

• Cost controlled racing
• Driver Safety
• All-oval schedule
• Give a better opportunity for American drivers to succeed in motorsports and compete at the Indianapolis 500, particularly USAC drivers whose numerical representation at the 500 had dwindled.

However, as the series evolved, it moved away from these principles, with more foreign drivers, increased costs and, eventually, racing on road courses and street circuits.

The IRL ("The League") struggled initially, until CART faced financial turmoil and CART teams began to return to the Indianapolis 500 in 2000. The concern over CART's future, financial stability, and the attraction to the sponsorship draw of the Indy 500 saw teams slowly moving over to the IRL from 2001 to 2003.

CART declared bankruptcy in the 2003 off season. George made a bid for certain assets of the company, while a trio of CART owners (Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi, and Kevin Kalkhoven), along with Dan Pettit, also made a bid, calling their group the Open Wheel Racing Series (OWRS). George's offer was to purchase only select company assets, in an effort to eliminate any series that would rival his Indy Racing League. However, if George's bid (which was actually higher than the OWRS bid) had been successful, many vendors that were still owed money by CART would have not been paid. Therefore, a judge ruled that the OWRS group should be the purchaser of CART, which ensured a 25th anniversary season in 2004, running as Champ Car. Open Wheel Racing Series. (OWRS) would later change its name to Champ Car World Series (CCWS) LLC.

Prior to 2003 the IRL was unable to use the term "IndyCar" since that was licensed to CART. In 1992, The Speedway trademarked the term "IndyCar" which had been widely used by CART in championship branding and promotion. The Speedway then leased the term to CART through 1997. With the inception of the IRL, a lawsuit, and a six-year non-use agreement, formal use of the term disappeared. Widespread confusion ensued with CART still competing at "Indy" branded events in Canada and Australia, and both CART/Champ Car and IRL cars being popularly referred to as "IndyCars". In 2003 the non-use agreement expired and the IRL was able to adopt the recognized IndyCar moniker once again, thereafter becoming the IRL IndyCar Series.

Road courses entered the IRL schedule in 2005. Adding road courses added significant costs to the increasingly expensive league, because modifications to the chassis and engines (which were initially designed solely for the stresses of oval racing) would be required. This caused much criticism of George, and debate amongst fans, some of whom argued it went against what the IRL was founded. The fans opined that oval racing was more exciting than road and street racing, better represented the heritage of open-wheel, paid homage to the Indianapolis 500, was more cost effective and better allotted American drivers with the opportunity of success in open-wheel racing. The other side of the debate argued it was best for the IRL to adopt more road racing, and become similar to CART, the series that saw American open-wheel racing reach its peak (popularity, manufacturer and sponsor interest) with a diverse schedule, technical package, manufacturer involvement, and large costs. In addition, Champ Car, the successor to CART, had failed at providing as diverse a schedule as in the CART era. Becoming CART-like in its season schedule was suggested as a way to help grow the IRL fan base.

In 2005, George stepped down from his operational duties in the IRL to start his own team, Vision Racing, with his wife Laura George and actor Patrick Dempsey. The team was formed from the remnants of Kelley Racing, which disbanded after the 2004 season. George's stepson, Ed Carpenter, began driving for the team in 2005. Neither Vision Racing nor Ed Carpenter ever exhibited the potential to join the top teams. Vision Racing shut down operations on January 28, 2009 due to a lack of funding, thus ending George's connections to motorsports.

On February 22, 2008, the IRL and Champ Car World Series signed a deal to unify the two open-wheel American circuits, bringing them under the umbrella of the IRL IndyCar Series. A statement was released by the two sides, saying, "Owners of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League completed an agreement in principle Friday that will unify the sport for 2008."

"Gerald Forsythe, co-owner of Champ Car, signed an agreement in principle in Chicago, joining his partner Kevin Kalkhoven and Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George who had signed late Thursday in Indianapolis."

Champ Car liquidated its assets and the IRL bought almost all of them, thereby allowing the unification of IndyCar and Champ Car on track for 2008, as well as officially unifying the history of American Championship Car Racing. The unification, in part described as a merger, has led to fans coining the term "mergification" to describe this union.