Indycar Series Tickets

IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series in DIRECTV HD is the premier series of the Indy Racing League (IRL). The championship began in 1996 as a competitor to CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams). It was founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George.

He aimed to create a lower-cost alternative to CART's increasing reliance on expensive machinery and overseas drivers.

Format:
The IndyCar Series is not an open formula, neither is it a one-make or spec series. Instead, chassis and engine manufacturers of the League supply cars for three-year cycles.

Apparently, IndyCar machines resemble those of other open-wheeled formula racing cars. Originally, the cars were being designed for oval racing. However, the current generation chassis is designed to accommodate road racing.

Car History:
In the series' first season (1996), model year CART chassis built by Lola and Reynard were used. Tony George then specified new technical rules for less expensive cars and production-based engines that effectively outlawed the CART chassis and turbocharged engines.

Riley & Scott produced IndyCar chassis from 1997-2000. Their initial effort, the Mark V, introduced in the 1997 season, severely limited its potential market. After Riley & Scott was purchased by Reynard, the Mark VII, was introduced for the 2000 season. It won in Phoenix but was off the pace at Indy and was quickly dropped by its teams.

In 2002, ?lan Motorsport Technologies bought G Force. Re-named as Panoz G Force and then shortened to Panoz. In 2003 a new model was introduced. It won the Indy 500 in 2003-2004 and finished second in 2005.

It fell out of favor starting in 2005, and by 2006 only one finished in the top ten at Indy. By 2008, only one Panoz saw track time, an aborted second weekend effort at Indy resulted in Phil Giebler being injured in a practice crash.

The series rules were changed in 2003 requiring chassis manufacturers to be approved by the league before they could build cars. Falcon Cars founded by Michael Kranefuss and Ken Anderson appeared as the third approved chassis supplier for the 2003 season. One rolling chassis was completed, but it was never fitted with a working engine and never ran.

The current Indycar came into being in 1997 when Dallara began producing it. Currently, Dallara provides the chassis to almost all teams, while Honda is the sole engine provider.

Indy Racing League officials have confirmed that the series will continue to use the current batch of Dallara chassis for the rest of the 2008 season, and possibly till 2010.

Car Specifications:
The fuel cell of all cars is 22 US Gallons. Minimum curb weight for all cars is 1525 pounds on oval courses and 1615 pounds for road / street courses. The weight includes driver, fuel, lubricants and coolant.

About the series:
From 1996, the premier series was simply referred to as the USAC's Indy Racing League, with no genre designation. The series acquired its first title sponsor in 1998 and advertised as Pep Boys Indy Racing League.

The contract was not renewed after the second year. In 2000, the series sold its naming rights to Internet search engine Northern Light for five seasons, thus naming it Indy Racing Northern Light Series. However, this sponsorship agreement ended after only two seasons.

Due to the legal settlement with CART, the IRL was unable to utilize the name IndyCar until the beginning of the 2003 season. After being named the Firestone Indy Racing League for 2002 season, the title IndyCar Series was adopted for 2003, as the series was now legally entitled to use it.

In 2006, IndyCar forged an alliance with Simmons-Abramson Marketing, promised to be actively engaged in the league's marketing, sponsorship and merchandising. Simmons also co-authored the IndyCar theme song, I Am Indy.

In 2008, the IndyCar Series merged with the Champ Car World Series, ending a 30-year period in which American open wheel racing was split into at least two major groups.For the 2008 season, DIRECTV became the Premiere Official Sponsor of the IndyCar Series.

Team and Drivers:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Sam Hornish, Jr. currently leads all IndyCar Series drivers with 19 career victories and 3 championships. Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan are the active leaders, each entering the 2008 season with 13 wins and a single championship.

Scott Sharp is the all-time series leader while H?lio Castroneves is the active leader with 97 starts entering 2008. In 2007, the IndyCar Series was the only major racing series with three female drivers including Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno.