The Indy Car Wars
The Indy Car Wars

Author: Sigur E. Whitaker

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2015-10-27

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 1476619808

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The world of Champ Car auto racing was changing in the 1970s. As cars became more sophisticated, the cost of supporting a team had skyrocketed, making things difficult for team owners. In an effort to increase purses paid by racing promoters and win lucrative television contracts, a group of owners formed Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) in 1978. Soon after, CART split from its sanctioning body, the United States Auto Club (USAC). Though Champ Cars ran on numerous tracks, the Indianapolis 500 was the payday that supported most teams through the season. From the beginning, CART had most of the successful teams and popular drivers, and they focused on driving a wedge between the track owners and the USAC. Over the next 30 years, the tension between CART and USAC ebbed and flowed until all parties realized that reunification was needed for the sake of the sport. This book details the fight over control of Champ Car racing before reunification in 2008.

The Indy Car Wars
The Indy Car Wars

Author: Sigur E. Whitaker

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2015-10-22

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 0786498323

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The world of Champ Car auto racing was changing in the 1970s. As cars became more sophisticated, the cost of supporting a team had skyrocketed, making things difficult for team owners. In an effort to increase purses paid by racing promoters and win lucrative television contracts, a group of owners formed Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) in 1978. Soon after, CART split from its sanctioning body, the United States Auto Club (USAC). Though Champ Cars ran on numerous tracks, the Indianapolis 500 was the payday that supported most teams through the season. From the beginning, CART had most of the successful teams and popular drivers, and they focused on driving a wedge between the track owners and the USAC. Over the next 30 years, the tension between CART and USAC ebbed and flowed until all parties realized that reunification was needed for the sake of the sport. This book details the fight over control of Champ Car racing before reunification in 2008.

Indy Split: The Big Money Battle That Nearly Destroyed Indy Racing
Indy Split: The Big Money Battle That Nearly Destroyed Indy Racing

Author: John Oreovicz

Publisher:

Published: 2021-05-30

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 9781642340563

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Tradition, technology, and personal bravery combined to make the Indianapolis 500 one of the world's most famous sporting events. However, political infighting within the industry--which climaxed with a 12-year "Split" from 1996 to 2007 between competing forms of Indy car racing--prevented the sport from achieving its potential. The Split seriously tarnished the reputation of the Indianapolis 500 and allowed NASCAR to become America's most popular form of motorsport. But Indy car racing's dysfunction didn't originate in 1996. The story begins in 1945, when a businessman from Terre Haute, Indiana named Tony Hulman rescued the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from potential redevelopment. Over the next 75 years, the Hulman-George family used the stature of the Speedway to carve out a powerful position in American auto racing. Stewardship of the IMS often brought the family into conflict with Indy car competitors. A volatile period in the late 1970s resulted in the formation of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), and tensions ramped up even more when Hulman's grandson, Tony George, assumed power in 1990. The Split forced Indy car fans, sponsors, broadcasters and participants to choose sides. It created confusion and animosity and caused tremendous damage to the sport. With negotiations driven by legendary racer Mario Andretti and actor/racer Paul Newman, The Split was finally resolved in 2008, only for George to walk away less than three years later from the role he so desperately coveted. The long struggle for stability and leadership was finally resolved in 2020 when Roger Penske acquired IMS and the IndyCar Series.

Car Wars
Car Wars

Author: John J. Fialka

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2015-09-22

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1466849606

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Drawing from the last decade of his 26-year career at the Wall Street Journal, where he covered energy and environmental matters, ClimateWire founder and industry insider John Fialka brings to life this thrilling and important story about American's rejection and second obsession with the electric car. The resurgence of the electric car in modern life is a tale of adventurers, men and women who bucked the complete dominance of the fossil fueled car to seek something cleaner, simpler and cheaper. Award-winning former Wall Street Journal reporter John Fialka documents the early days of the electric car, from the M.I.T./Caltech race between prototypes in the summer of 1968 to the 1987 victory of the Sunraycer in the world's first race featuring solar powered cars. Thirty years later, the electric has captured the imagination and pocketbooks of American consumers. Organizations like the U.S. Department of Energy and the state of California, along with companies from the old-guard of General Motors and Toyota as well as upstart young players like Tesla Motors and Elon Musk have embraced the once-extinct technology. The electric car has steadily gained traction in the U.S. and around the world. We are watching the start of a trillion dollar, worldwide race to see who will dominate one of the biggest commercial upheavals of the 21st century.

The Winning Cars of the Indianapolis 500
The Winning Cars of the Indianapolis 500

Author: J. Craig Reinhardt

Publisher: Red Lightning Books

Published: 2019-04-01

Total Pages: 367

ISBN-13: 1684350727

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At speeds of over 230 miles per hour, the Indy open-wheel race cars set the bar for American Championship car racing. For over 100 years, the Indy cars and their drivers have drawn hundreds of thousands of spectators to Speedway, Indiana, with another 6 million people watching the race on television or by live stream. In The Winning Cars of the Indianapolis 500, James Craig Reinhardt, author and official tour guide for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, details the history of the famous race and how the open-wheel race cars have evolved over the last century. Starting in 1911 with the first running of the Indy 500, Reinhardt profiles each race and car, including the starting position, engine, tires, race speed, margin of victory, and much more. Featuring nearly 200 images of the automobiles and individuals who make the race renowned, this book showcases the top drivers and how racing has changed through two world wars, the Great Depression, and unforgettable accidents. This beautifully illustrated book is a must-have for veteran and rookie race fans alike.

The Art of Race Car Design
The Art of Race Car Design

Author: Bob Riley

Publisher: Icon Publishing Limited

Published: 2016-04-15

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781910584101

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After building his first race cars out of southern Louisiana junkyards, Bob Riley quickly established himself as a leading light, if not genius, when it came to race car design. His first major suspension design helped Henry Ford II make good on his vendetta to beat Enzo Ferrari at Le Mans. Riley's first radical Indy car designs with its ingenious center hub mounted suspension resulted in A.J. Foyt's landmark fourth victory at the Indianapolis 500 in 1977. Since then, Riley has continued to be at the heart of the world of motorsports, working with its most famous drivers at the biggest events, including the Daytona 500, where his engineering helped Dale Earnhardt finally win NASCAR's marquee event. Americans love the "genius" angle like everyone else. They love winners. Sports stars are overtaking Hollywood these days in popularity. Racing readers are a small but predictable group and suspect the generation familiar with Bob's exploits at Indy would be keen on a book like this. They're the same age group pumping up the vintage magazine market and the collectible car market.

Car Wars Down Under
Car Wars Down Under

Author: Murray Hubbard

Publisher: ETT Imprint

Published: 2021-10-01

Total Pages: 307

ISBN-13: 1922473901

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A rollicking ride through the early days of Australian Motorsport set in 1900-1918 in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, the true story of bitter rivalry between two Brisbane car importers/dealers: E.G.Eager Son and Canada Cycle and Motor (CCM). There are four main characters: Fred Z. Eager, Alec Fraser Jewell, E.G.Eager and CCM managing director A.V.Dodwell. The paths of speedsters Fred Eager and Alec Jewell collide on Christmas Day, 1916, on Southport Beach at the first attempt to set an Australian land speed record. Whitey in the premier motorsport event of hill climbs so they decided to stage an event of their own, bespoke for Studebaker. This race would nullify Fred Eagers driving skills and suit the big-engined Studey: A straight line speed contest against the clock on the firm low-tide sand of Southport (Surfers Paradise) beach. Only one of them could win ... Or could they?

Go Like Hell
Go Like Hell

Author: Albert J. Baime

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0618822194

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By the early 1960s, the Ford Motor Company, built to bring automobile transportation to the masses, was falling behind. Young Henry Ford II, who had taken the reins of his grandfather's company with little business experience to speak of, knew he had to do something to shake things up. Baby boomers were taking to the road in droves, looking for speed not safety, style not comfort. Meanwhile, Enzo Ferrari, whose cars epitomized style, lorded it over the European racing scene. He crafted beautiful sports cars, "science fiction on wheels," but was also called "the Assassin" because so many drivers perished while racing them.Go Like Helltells the remarkable story of how Henry Ford II, with the help of a young visionary named Lee Iacocca and a former racing champion turned engineer, Carroll Shelby, concocted a scheme to reinvent the Ford company. They would enter the high-stakes world of European car racing, where an adventurous few threw safety and sanity to the wind. They would design, build, and race a car that could beat Ferrari at his own game at the most prestigious and brutal race in the world, something no American car had ever done.Go Like Helltransports readers to a risk-filled, glorious time in this brilliant portrait of a rivalry between two industrialists, the cars they built, and the "pilots" who would drive them to victory, or doom.

Rodger Ward
Rodger Ward

Author: Mike O'Leary

Publisher: Motorbooks International

Published: 2006-10-15

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 0760321779

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Kansas-born Rodger Ward was a P-38 fighter pilot in World War II, then made his name in racing by starring on the budding Southern California sprint car scene. He raced from 1948 - 1966 and he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992. This work embodies the post-war era of open wheel racing in the US.

Inspired to Design
Inspired to Design

Author: Nigel Bennett

Publisher: Veloce Publishing

Published: 2013-12-01

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781845845360

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The differences between running an Indy car on a road circuit and an oval are covered, as is the struggle to get the best from a car for the Indy 500 - a task which is described with unusual clarity. Nigel also describes the story of the ‘Big Beast’ – the Mercedes pushrod engine that won the 1994 Indy 500. Sharing in detail his own view of the importance of suspension geometry, and how it deviates from present practices, this book also includes personal views on the Penske years from a number of motor sport figures, and those of a rival Indy car designer Bruce Ashmore. A fascinating first-hand behind-the-scenes insight. Included in the story is considerable detail of Nigel’s eight years spent with the Firestone European Racing Division, covering an area vital to racing car performance, plus the relationship between a tyre company and its leading contracted team. The 60s and 70s were rife with tyre wars, and many interesting stories unfolded during those decades. With descriptions of the importance of the Race Engineer to the driver, and to a team’s competitiveness, Nigel Bennett draws on his years of experience to offer detailed insight to how an engineer worked with a car and tuned its set-up in an era before computer readouts and telemetry came to dominate.