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Class of '99: Triumph and Tragedy in the 1999 CART IndyCar Series
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 30, 2025
Excellent recap of an entertaining and paradigm-shifting season that could be considered the absolute peak of the CART series. Oreovicz thoughtfully covers the tragedies of that year and their impacts on the people who lived through them. A must-read for race fans.
June 26, 2026
Noted motorsports journalist John Oreovicz argues that the 1999 season of the CART Fed Ex Championship Series was the most consequential period in the history of modern open-wheel racing in the United States.
It’s a good argument, and his book about that memorable season of racing — which introduced a generation of drivers who have helped shape the sport ever since — is a highly readable history that proves his point.
“Class of ‘99” is something of a sequel to Oreovicz’s acclaimed “Indy Split,” which chronicled the disastrous rift in American open-wheel racing in the 1990s that all but killed the sport. Many of the characters are the same. But while the previous book focused on politics, this one focuses on one thrilling season of racing at the height of the split between the established Championship Auto Racing Teams and the upstart Indy Racing League.
Drivers from that CART season would go on to win 14 Indy-car championships and 276 races, including 13 Indianapolis 500-Mile Races, Oreovicz notes. Twenty-three of the 24 drivers who started the 1999 season would go on to win at least one Indy-car race in their careers. Since the rival series got back together 18 years ago, this special group’s influence is still felt today. Some are still active drivers. Others are key executives for racing teams or series.
Based on new interviews and contemporary reporting — much of it the author’s own, since he was there — the book takes us on a race-by-race journey through a fateful season that ended in tragedy but which produced one of the most thrilling championships in the sport’s history.
That breath-taking dynamic, of course, refers to the two-man duel for the season championship and the death of driver Greg Moore, who was killed in a crash in the last race of the season.
Oreovicz develops this painful intersection deftly. Moore, the young, immensely talented Canadian who was well-liked by everyone in the CART paddock, was on the verge of superstardom, having just signed a contract to drive in 2000 for Roger Penske. The two drivers who would battle for the championship on the same afternoon of Moore’s fatal crash, Dario Franchitti and Juan Pablo Montoya, were not yet household names to fans of Indy-car racing. Oreovicz’s descriptions of the racing and the relationships — aided by perspectives cured for 25 years — make for fascinating reading.
This book is likely going to appeal mostly to fans of American open-wheel racing. I consider myself a knowledgeable student of racing in that era and attended some of the races Oreovicz writes about. I still was surprised by some of the details he shares. It’s good that someone has pulled together a narrative of that rich history.
It’s a good argument, and his book about that memorable season of racing — which introduced a generation of drivers who have helped shape the sport ever since — is a highly readable history that proves his point.
“Class of ‘99” is something of a sequel to Oreovicz’s acclaimed “Indy Split,” which chronicled the disastrous rift in American open-wheel racing in the 1990s that all but killed the sport. Many of the characters are the same. But while the previous book focused on politics, this one focuses on one thrilling season of racing at the height of the split between the established Championship Auto Racing Teams and the upstart Indy Racing League.
Drivers from that CART season would go on to win 14 Indy-car championships and 276 races, including 13 Indianapolis 500-Mile Races, Oreovicz notes. Twenty-three of the 24 drivers who started the 1999 season would go on to win at least one Indy-car race in their careers. Since the rival series got back together 18 years ago, this special group’s influence is still felt today. Some are still active drivers. Others are key executives for racing teams or series.
Based on new interviews and contemporary reporting — much of it the author’s own, since he was there — the book takes us on a race-by-race journey through a fateful season that ended in tragedy but which produced one of the most thrilling championships in the sport’s history.
That breath-taking dynamic, of course, refers to the two-man duel for the season championship and the death of driver Greg Moore, who was killed in a crash in the last race of the season.
Oreovicz develops this painful intersection deftly. Moore, the young, immensely talented Canadian who was well-liked by everyone in the CART paddock, was on the verge of superstardom, having just signed a contract to drive in 2000 for Roger Penske. The two drivers who would battle for the championship on the same afternoon of Moore’s fatal crash, Dario Franchitti and Juan Pablo Montoya, were not yet household names to fans of Indy-car racing. Oreovicz’s descriptions of the racing and the relationships — aided by perspectives cured for 25 years — make for fascinating reading.
This book is likely going to appeal mostly to fans of American open-wheel racing. I consider myself a knowledgeable student of racing in that era and attended some of the races Oreovicz writes about. I still was surprised by some of the details he shares. It’s good that someone has pulled together a narrative of that rich history.
August 1, 2025
Thank you to Edelweiss, the author, and the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!
In 1999, I was 10 years old and my dad and I would watch every CART race. Naturally, as a Canadian, my favourite driver was Greg Moore. It was a traumatic experience at that age to be watching one of your favourite athletes crash live on TV and have his death announced a few hours later. Besides that moment, I have no real recollection of the drivers and events of the season leading up to that race.
This book is filled with details about the 1999 season, including interviews with all the important parties, that really makes the reader feel like they are reliving that season and the primetime for CART.
I recommend this book to any racing fan and it's honestly one of my favourite sports books I've read in a long time.
In 1999, I was 10 years old and my dad and I would watch every CART race. Naturally, as a Canadian, my favourite driver was Greg Moore. It was a traumatic experience at that age to be watching one of your favourite athletes crash live on TV and have his death announced a few hours later. Besides that moment, I have no real recollection of the drivers and events of the season leading up to that race.
This book is filled with details about the 1999 season, including interviews with all the important parties, that really makes the reader feel like they are reliving that season and the primetime for CART.
I recommend this book to any racing fan and it's honestly one of my favourite sports books I've read in a long time.
February 8, 2026
An in-depth look at the CART World Series season of 1999, famous for a championship battle for the ages between Dario Franchitti and Juan Montoya, the emergence of a new set of US open wheel stars and for unimaginable tragedy.
Oreovicz, a veteran motorsports journalist who has seen it all, has crafted something special here. You'll smile, you might laugh, and you'll almost certainly get a lump or two in your throat.
See you at the front.
Oreovicz, a veteran motorsports journalist who has seen it all, has crafted something special here. You'll smile, you might laugh, and you'll almost certainly get a lump or two in your throat.
See you at the front.
July 23, 2026
My son gave me this book as a gift because I had ties to CART, working in Indy Lights as a Technical Inspector and Pit Lane official back then. This book brought back many memories from that time. It was just like how the 1999 season is portrayed in the book. The highs and lows and everything in between. Definitely a must read if you want to know what it was like or want to remember what it was like in CART.
November 27, 2025
Great book if you are like me: a motorsport and Indycar nerd with a soft spot for amazing machines, great tracks and a great cast of drivers.
The story of the 1999 is, as the title says, triumph mixed with tragedy, and is well narrated in the book. It's sometimes limiting to just be able to tell and not show, though - this is a book better read with Youtube open in your device. Probably fits better with fans that remember the 1999 season in the first place.
The story of the 1999 is, as the title says, triumph mixed with tragedy, and is well narrated in the book. It's sometimes limiting to just be able to tell and not show, though - this is a book better read with Youtube open in your device. Probably fits better with fans that remember the 1999 season in the first place.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews