IndyCar
Series Accelerates Into 10th Season Of Racing: 2005 marks the
10th season of racing for the IndyCar Series, which held its
first race on Jan. 27, 1996. The following is the first in a
monthly series focusing on the IndyCar Series 10th anniversary.
A decade after Tony Kanaan was getting his feet wet in the
Italian Formula 3 Championship, he is drinking in the adulation
accorded the reigning IRL IndyCar® Series champion.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Kanaan, whose gusto for life is
superseded only by his passion for driving a high-tech race car
at more than 215 mph inches from competitors. “It makes you
proud of all the hard work you put in through the years.”
Kanaan, 30, also has respect for the IndyCar Series, which kicks
off its 10th season of competition March 6 with the Toyota Indy
300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Some of the greatest names in
auto racing – Foyt, Mears, Andretti, Rutherford, Unser, de
Ferran, Castroneves, Hornish and Rahal – are associated with the
series, and Kanaan considers it a privilege to share their
company.
"I see it growing and getting better every year,” said Kanaan,
one of four drivers in the Andretti Green Racing armada. “I’d
say the competition level is the highest it’s ever been. The
series has survived the tough times and I think we have the
product, the cars and the drivers to grow it further.
“In another 10 years, and another 10, we’ll be old and watching
young kids racing in the IRL.”
Visionary
The champ shares the vision set forth in 1994 by Indianapolis
Motor Speedway Corp. President and CEO Tony George for an
exciting oval-based racing series with the historic Indianapolis
500 as its centerpiece. Less than two years after the ambitious
plans were set in motion for the inaugural race at a new
facility, a sellout crowd of 51,000 watched Buzz Calkins hold
off Tony Stewart for the victory on Jan. 27, 1996, at Walt
Disney World Speedway.
The margin of victory (0.866 of a second) became one of the
calling cards of the series, which has followed with 47 of its
103 races decided by less than a second. For Calkins, the
competitive racing, technological and safety innovations and
team spirit also have been hallmarks of the IndyCar Series.
“(The longevity) is a testament to the IRL,” said Calkins, the
first season’s co-champion with Scott Sharp. “The attitude at
that time, if you would’ve asked 100 people if the IRL would
make it to 100 races, outside of the competitors and those
involved, everyone would’ve said ‘no.’ It’s pretty neat to see
how it’s succeeded.”
Moving forward
Phil Casey has been on board since the spring of 1995. In the
early years, the IRL Senior Technical Director has been traffic
cop, secretary and parts manager. Essentially, he’s seen and
done it all and can chuckle in hindsight. What the veteran car
builder and mechanic sees entering the 10th year of competition
is growth in the mechanical stability of the cars and technical
experience of their drivers.
“You can see how the series has improved with the number of
transporters, the quality of the teams and the quality of the
competition that we have now,” he said. “When we first started,
the first year any ways, we had four or five guys that could win
races. Now the whole field is almost capable of winning races.
The quality of competition has really increased since the
beginning.”
The 100th-race milestone was celebrated with birthday cake and
fireworks at Nazareth Speedway on Aug. 29, 2004. Dan Wheldon of
Emberton, England, continued the celebration after he took the
checkered flag.
“This is the best racing series in the world, bar none,” Wheldon
said after leading a 1-2-3 sweep by Andretti Green Racing –
another first in series competition. “I’m just so happy for the
opportunity to compete in this series.”
Opportunities abound
Through 103 races, an equal number of opportunities have been
presented to drivers from around the globe to test themselves
against the best competition, drive the most technically
advanced machines, and win.
“There was so much that was new (in 1996),” said Sharp, the only
driver to start a race in each of the series’ nine previous
seasons. “It was a real fun time of enormous growth with the
IRL. It’s just continued to grow and grow and grow.”
Sharp, who has made 98 IndyCar Series starts and is the only
driver from the inaugural IndyCar Series season still racing in
the IRL.
“You never count the races, and suddenly you turn around and
you’ve run 80-something races in a row,” said Scott Sharp “It’s
pretty amazing. I’m very competitive and take (races) one at a
time, everything I do I want to do as well as I possibly can.
That’s what drives me.”
There will be many more opportunities in the years ahead. It’s
only the 10th anniversary of the IndyCar Series.
There will be many more opportunities in the years ahead. It’s
only the 10th anniversary of the IndyCar Series. .
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