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

by John Oreovicz

Indy Split is a silver winner and a gold finalist for the 2022 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award in Sports & Recreation! Indy Split is a fascinating, authoritative and overdue account of the big money battle that nearly destroyed the sport of Indy car racing. In the new book, long-time motorsports reporter John Oreovicz dives deep into the divisive battle between CART and the Indy Racing League. With insightful reporting, Oreovicz recounts the political infighting within the industry which climaxed with a 12-year “Split” from 1996 to 2007 between competing forms of Indy car racing and prevented the sport from achieving its potential. The book traces the roots of Indy car racing’s dysfunction, which began in 1945 when 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 that sometimes resulted in conflict with Indy car competitors. A volatile period in the late 1970s sparked the formation of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), and tensions ramped up even more when Hulman’s grandson, Tony George, assumed power in 1990. In unprecedented detail, Indy Split uncovers how the Split forced Indy car fans, sponsors, broadcasters and participants to choose sides. The book brings to light the confusion and animosity which caused unnecessary damage to the sport, and covers how negotiations driven by legendary racer Mario Andretti and actor/racer Paul Newman ended the Split in 2008, only to have George to walk away less than three years later. The long struggle for stability was finally resolved in 2020 when Roger Penske acquired IMS and the IndyCar Series, securing a bright future for the Speedway, the Indy 500, and the sport. Longtime motorsports reporter John Oreovicz began attending the Indianapolis 500 as a teenager in the late ‘70s, allowing him to witness the sport’s growth as an avid fan before documenting its decline as a journalist. With a foreword by Motorsport Hall of Fame inductee Robin Miller, arguably Indy car racing’s most vocal advocate, this is the real story of The Split from one of the sport’s most respected voices.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Racing

432 pages, Hardcover

Published May 29, 2021

Reviews

[Nick Roser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Given that it’s the month of May, it only makes sense that this was on the top of my “to read” list. Being a Hoosier and having attended the Indy 500 every year since 1996, Indycar has been my favorite form of motorsport since I was a kid. It’s ironic that my first year attending was the first year marking “the split”. I never fully understood the politics involved with USAC, CART, the IRL and Champ Car or the ultimate reasons behind the split. This book not only addresses all of that in great detail, but it also serves as a great overview of Indy racing and the 500 in general. I’d highly recommend to anyone interested in the series, motorsport, or even business in general.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm pretty much a lifetime NASCAR fan. I've been aware of, watched and to some extent followed points battles or big races in other series. But NASCAR was my jam. I got into Indy Car the last couple of years, particularly following Jimmie Johnsons migration, but after reading Indy Split (and the recent Little Al bio) I think I may now be an open wheel convert!

First, this book was awesome. I mean awesome awesome awesome. In telling the story of the top-tier open wheel wars, author John Oreovicz gives a wonderful, well thought and researched primer of open wheel/Indy Car racing. Bravo, John.

This book shines sunlight on the gory details of the CART/CHAMP Car/IRL wars of the late 90's-tge late 2000's. Multiple stories about many great names like Roger Penske, Micheal & Mario Andretti, Bobby Rahal and Tony George. Lots of strong opinions from Super Tex. Bill France finds his way into things. All played out under the shadow and withing the gravitational pull of The Brickyard.

Succession is huge on HBO right now. After reading Indy Split, man, someone needs to option this for a tremendous story of boardroom brawling, bankruptcies, PR fisticuffs of shareholder take overs with a 200 mph background.

Again, this is a great, well researched and written book completely worth the time to read!

[Todd Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic history of both the Indy500 and the family that owned it, as well as a general history of Indycar racing. While it is easy to blame Tony George for the “split“ the truth is more complicated. The author explores the nuances and personalities behind the split. The final fourth of the book is more recent history and includes short commentary from important participants.

My one quibble with the book is that while it includes a nice number of historical photographs, most of them are not identified or given background. Hopefully the second edition of this book corrects that.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough telling of the history of IndyCar, and the split between the IRL and Champ Car. As someone who is too young to remember the Split, I found the history fascinating. I wish the book had a list of people and a timeline of cars to follow along. At some points, it was difficult to work out what team was using what chassis with what engine and which driver. However, the detail of the book is what made it shine.

[Jerry Karasinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book a three because as I read this book I became more and more disappointed in the lack of in depth analysis and felt the “why” was missing. I felt like we missed out on learning about the personalities involved and what each person’s motivations were. For example, there were 24 CART team owners mentioned but we only learned about a few. We learned little about the race promoters and track operators. We didn’t learn how most drivers fared during the split except in generalities. However, John does a great job summarizing what happened and when.

I was a part of CART from 1995-2001 with the Indy Lights series Tech Committee. I found a couple of minor facts that I questioned but on balance this book matches well with what I recall. If you want to know what happened, then this book is going to be a great read. If you want to really know why, you may be disappointed.

[Andy Strasser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a perfect explanation of the history of American open wheel racing including the Indy 500 and Indycar series- and to anyone who might have become a fan within the past couple of years, this will be a must-read to help catch you up to speed on the sport. I read and kept up with John Oreovicz's articles during the split and always found him to be fair and balanced when it came to his reporting and he maintains that in this book(although you can definitely pick up some hints on who might have been more difficult to work with).
I rooted for CART during the split but realized later on that they had many flaws as well as the IRL and in the end both sides lost as well as the fans.
Whenever I think of the split and the time lost out on some talented drivers that were not able to compete in the Indy 500 I always think of a lyric from a Rush song named Heresy, "All those precious wasted years".
The book has a happy ending and I thoroughly enjoyed the 'Afterword' excerpts from former drivers and team owners. It is a real tell on how everyone felt about the split and how the status of the series is viewed today- Very positive and in great hands with Roger Penske at the helm.
The only negative I would say about the book is that I was expecting some bigger revelations about what had happened behind the scenes back when the CART and Tony George were first having issues but there wasn't much in the way of new details that I didn't already know, although like I said before I had followed it very closely. Great book overall and one that I will probably read again.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended for all IndyCar fans. Amazing the series is alive, let alone in such good shape in 2021 considering the decades of costly fighting - highlighted by the CART/IRL Split that only helped NASCAR - that is summarised brilliantly by Oreovicz in this very readable and very interesting story. I remember parts of the drama played out on racetracks and court rooms (amongst other places) and forgot other details. A chronicle of (hopefully) a turbulent time we won't see again in IndyCar racing in my lifetime.

[John Binhack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must read for any racing fan, especially of open wheel racing. The book does a great job of highlighting the lead up to the Indycar split that resulted in two American open wheel racing series - CART and Indycar. Before the 'split' as it's popularly called, Indycar was in an era of high notoriety at home and even worldwide to an extent. It was challenging Formula 1 on some levels in the 90s for its prominence as the top open wheel series worldwide. Centered around the legendary Indy 500 event in May, Indycar had developed technically and attracted high profile sponsorships, engine & chassis manufacturers, as well as a mixture of road & street courses and ovals run over a yearly schedule. As the book overviews, not all was well between the power brokers in the sport as some thought the American racing series was getting too European and costing owners too much money to field cars, thereby making it difficult for small teams to participate and thrive. Additionally, ovals were becoming less and less of the Indycar schedule which did not sit well with Tony George. As a result, Tony George, President of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during this time proposed a 100% oval racing league after multiple failed negotiation attempts with CART leaders to come to better terms. Called the Indy Racing League(IRL), it would be 100% ovals, cost effective for smaller teams to run and help develop American drivers from around the country. Beginning in 1996, the IRL And CART began their period of running separate open wheel racing leagues in the US. While the IRL had the most famous race (the Indy 500), it's cars were generally considered low-tech with little customization with safety concerns and low crowd attendance at races.. CART contained many of the high profile drivers and tracks as well as the large sponsorship and engine packages , but didn't have the most famous open wheel race on its calendar. These distinctions and struggles left both series to their own devices to distinguish themselves and try to be successful in a US market that only could sustain one top open wheel series. Also at this time, NASCAR was taking prominence as the top racing series in the US after spending its previous time as a mostly southern stock car sport with a smaller audience. Due to the split, many open wheel fans left to follow NASCAR and it's rising stars which resulted in more trouble for both series. The book does a great job at highlighting the complications behind the split for all players involved and how multiple negotiations failed due to power brokers inability to compromise for the betterment of everyone. This is a sticking point for me about this book because it seems like the power brokers just didn't have the best interests in mind for the future of open wheel racing. I was always confused at Tony George's actions leading up to and during the split as it was clearly more beneficial for all involved to have a single open wheel series instead of two. He deserves the most blame in my opinion as his negotiations during the book were also not as forthright as they could be. He and his family had ownership of the most prized part of open wheel racing and quite frankly did not need to splinter the sport. While CART and the IRL unified in 2008, a lot of damage had already been done in terms of sponsors and fans leaving. Overall, I really enjoyed this book especially the perspectives section at the end highlighting the views of prominent drivers and their thoughts on the matter.

[EG Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notes after reading “Indy Split. The Big Money Battle That Nearly Destroyed Indy Racing.” by John Oreovicz. 2021

Impressions
It’s an encyclopedic look at IndyCar racing from about the mid-1940’s to the present. This book is not for the general public but is an excellent way for the casual fan to learn the history of open-wheel racing in the USA.

The book covers every major technical development of open-wheel racing in the past 70+ years and the significant moments of each season. It’s all here: the move away from roadsters to rear-engines, turbochargers, Mario, A.J., the Unsers, the F1 Michelin tire disaster at IMS, Toyota & Honda, Fittipaldi’s orange juice, cancelling the TMS race due to G-forces making the drivers blackout, Rick Mears’ feet, Dr. Olvey and Dr. Trammell, SAFER barriers, Dan Wheldon, Robert Wickens, and everything in between culminating in Roger Penske’s ownership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

And it puts it all into context of the intense political and personal rivalries that led to a civil war in open-wheel racing where the only true winner was NASCAR. This book thoroughly documents the tragic story of how and why the golden era of open-wheel racing was squandered, and how we might finally be turning it around again.

Things I learned

• The resistance to non-USA drivers was overt
• Why the driver development ladder from sprint cars and dirt tracks fell away (due to fundamental changes in the cars)
• The IRL favoritism of Castroneves over Tracy in the 2002 Indy 500 dispute had a strong political backstory (Team Penske had just moved to the IRL that season, and Tracy was on record calling the IRL cars “crap wagons”.)
• We have SAFER barriers thanks to Tony George
• Roger Penske’s desire to run teams as a business was behind the formation of CART. The old guard USAC saw racing as more of a gentleman’s hobby. The USAC also gave advantages to the old Offy’s to resist the coming of the rear-engine wave.
• CART had a lot of international races which in some cases worked against them with some US-based sponsors.
• IRL was ovals only. CART was the current mix of oval, road, and street courses.
• In 2006 the Dallara-Honda-Firestone package made IndyCar a spec series by default when the last two teams went to Dallara chassis. (Chevy and Toyota left, and Goodyear had been gone for years.)
• A quote from 2006 that captures the current strategy and market position of IndyCar well “We want to operate profitably, we want to keep all our partners involved, and we want them to have a return on their investment. But it’s a delicate balance between sport, business, entertainment, and technology.” --Tony George

[Mariano · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are and IndyCar fan and, like me, you lived trough the painful split of the 90s this book is for you. The split was excruciating and it happened at the peak of the series popularity, just when IndyCar was challenging Formula 1 as the premier open-wheel category in the world. It was incomprehensible to me why the series as I knew it was coming to an end and how people running the Indy 500 and CART could be so stupid. I had a lot of unanswered questions all these years until I read this book. Full of facts and very easy to read, Indy Split will help you understand exactly what went down and why, giving you a full recount of all IndyCar history along the way. Don't miss this book if you are an IndyCar fan.

[Doug Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting only if one is really, really into the minutiae of open-wheel American auto racing. I found the material about the early days to be quite interesting -- mainly because the 60s and 70s was when I followed the sport closely and attended a few 500s -- but there is just too much of it for easy digestion. The book would have benefited by cutting out a lot of the extraneous detail and keeping mainly to the main theme of the breakup of Indy car racing over the last 30 or more years. The way it is written I found to be simply difficult to follow.

[Joe Dykta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read about the split in Indy car racing. It brought back great memories of my best job ever: an internship with Firestone Racing the summer of 74, traveling to races all over and going to a picnic at Mario Andretti’s house during Pocono 500 weeks. The split was detrimental to the series, allowing NASCAR to speed ahead. Egos get in the way of what is best sometimes. Lots of details, many names and reminders of the tragedies of racing. Worthwhile read. I wish Mr.Penske much success.

[Darrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that needed to be written, and John Oreovicz was certainly the guy to do it. It masterfully covers the history of open-wheel racing and the split that tore IndyCar racing apart, from many angles. It could have likely been cut short by about 75 pages with all of the technical components surrounding engines and chassis, but that was one of the main catalysts for the split so it was relevant and didn't detract from how amazing this book was. This was the story that needed to be told.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title should be how to kill the golden goose. It could be a business management book to study, just never do any of this. As a former CART fan it was interesting and depressing to go through it again. It’s amazing how people’s egos and selfishness can drive them to poor decisions.

If you want to go over what happened buy this book!

[Diana Andrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this, some times the jumps between years to make reference to stories about the same team/person was hard to follow but overall I loved how much I learned from IndyCar and its history.

[Harrison Reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dry but useful account of the CART/IRL split. If you know the story already, there isn’t anything revelatory here. At times this reads like a Wikipedia article, but there’s enough here to make it a worthwhile read.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a kid I grew up watching mainly the IRL, not knowing anything about the split. Really interesting to learn about the history of the sport that I love so much. Would recommend to any fan of motor racing.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book about The Split that I've ever read. Really detailed and fascinating. Highly recommend it to any type of INDYCAR/racing fan or someone curious about the open wheel split so many of us talk about.

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

400 pages. Fantastic!

[Randy Holbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent inside look at the split that nearly killed open wheel racing in America. Very well written in an unbiased manner. Highly recommended for any racing fan.

[John Goebel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A full history of the INDYCAR series. A definitive history and reference book. But also at the end perspectives from several people who lived/live in the sport.

[Thomas Shears · Rating 4 out of 5]

FTG

[Indydave1958 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This long-overdue history on the frustrating dispute that all but destroyed open-wheel racing in the United States doesn’t play favorites: All the parties in the schism between Championship Auto Racing Teams and the Indy Racing League and its founder, Tony George, are held to account in John Oreovicz’s excellent history.

The author, a longtime motorsports journalist who covered this slow-rolling disaster for over a decade, does a wonderful job of explaining the dispute whose roots were decades in the making before George, whose family then owned the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, literally took his toy and went home.

The narrative will be familiar to racing fans; it will come as a shock to more casual followers of the sport. Increasingly disappointed in the sport’s rising costs and the direction of the country’s top open-wheel racing series, George created a rival series that took on the well-established CART organization, touching off a decade-long standoff that weakened both and drove fans away from the sport. (Oreovicz argues many of these fans migrated to NASCAR, whose popularity surged at roughly the same time.)

Imagine, for example, the owners of 15 NFL teams deciding they didn’t like the rules and splitting off to form their own league with a drastically reduced salary cap. That’s a little what this split was like.

George rightly comes off here as a well-meaning but naive executive who thought running the crown jewel of American motorsports, the Indianapolis 500, would grant him leverage and break his opponents. CART’s leaders, led by entrepreneur/team owners like Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe and a revolving door of poorly qualified CEOs, thought they could mount a successful open-wheel series without participating at Indy. In Oreovicz’s telling, these arrogant men overestimated the value of their product and underestimated the resolve of George, whose Indy Racing League focused on developing young American drivers (Tony Stewart, Sam Hornish) while attempting to cut costs.

It took over 10 years for both sides to realize they needed each other. Along the way, the racing was diminished; hundreds of millions of dollars was squandered; and the careers of many of the sport’s brightest stars were derailed.

The nuts and bolts of the dispute — dates of meetings, court filings, media coverage, etc. — is interspersed with what was happening at race tracks around the country at the time. Oreovicz, who witnessed many of these races, provides rich detail that adds wonderful texture to the story.

I read this book during IndyCar’s 2022 season-opening weekend at St. Petersburg, an event that attracted a record crowd for an entertaining race won by a talented newcomer. Twelve years after the handshake that ended the dispute, IndyCar racing is better than ever. But we are left to wonder what was lost during a dispute among flawed men who refused for years to consider compromise.

[Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when you take the largest sport in the country and let greed and ego almost kill it? Well, this. This book is very informative; it covers the entire history of a sport from its inception in the 1920s all the way to nearly one century later. It mainly covers the period of 1996 to 2008 when what is now known as the “NTT indycar series” split into two different series, twice. First the split between “U.S.A.C.”(United States Auto Club) and “C.A.R.T.”(Championship Auto Racing Teams). Then split between “C.A.R.T.” and “I.R.L.” (Indy Racing League). That is like if the NFL and most of its teams all decided to leave and form their own sanctioning body with their own rules. The only complaint I have of this book was it was organized very unorthodoxly. What I mean by this is it would repeatedly circle back to already discussed points suddenly and confusingly. Another positive was that this story remained completely objective without any influence and/or bias from the author. This is a good thing because it tells the actual story; not just the perceived story from the author's perspective. I would recommend this to people wanting to learn further about the tumultuous endeavor that is Open wheel racing in America.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a big open wheel motorsports fan who grew up watching IndyCar this was an excellent read. It goes back to the early days of USAC and the first 'split' when CART was formed. Great summary of both 'splits' in Indy racing and the fallout. The author did a great job of going into details of the CART board and its contribution to the downfall as well as the arrogance of Tony George and the Indy Racing League. Newspaper article quotes really added a lot to the story for me as I was too young to understand the dynamics of the split when it happened.

Even though it was a terrible time for both series during the split and after unification, I feel the sport is on the upswing again. So much interest in IndyCar from the new F1 fans in North America looking for opportunities to watch and attend races closer to home. A great read for any motorsports or open wheel racing fac.

[Bob Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Understanding the “Modern” Indy reality

For this book to resonate, you must care about motor racing - specifically the racing of so-called Indy Cars. But if you do, this book is important, informative and terrific.

My interest greatly pre-dates the “split.” My Dad took me to my first car race in Southern California before I turned five, a jalopy race that a teen name Parnelli Jones won. We listened to “the 500” each May on radio with the voice of Sid Collins and the real lure for me was the varied “one off” cars, the sounds and the innovation of the 1950s and early 60s races.

So both the IRL and CART series lost some of the romance for me. But two series were clearly not better than one. This book explains how and why it happened in clear detail.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Hoosier in High School in the 90's I thought the IRL was the greatest thing since slice bread. It was a series that ran only ovals and it allowed USAC dirt guys like Tony Stewart that I watch on Saturday nights, a chance to make it to the big time.

I know realize just how wrong I was all those years ago. And I knew that before this book came out but this was still a very good detailed read. Starting all the way back at the first split in the 70's.

This will probably be one of the few books I'll reread again in the near future.

Since it’s May, had to read it again. Still as good the 2nd time through. Highly recommend for racing fans.

[Diogo Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge faraway fan of Indy I was always fascinated by the Split and could not believe back in 1996 how the biggest race in the world was taken over by a bunch of obscure American drivers. I had never found a suitable way to learn more about the biggest case study of value destruction in motorsport until this year , through some well made YouTube videos and now with this amazing book. Well narrated story and thumbs up for good coverage of all time periods in this “battle” and all the comedy, stupidity and tragedy that came along. Real fans of Indy have to read this masterpiece.

[Charlie Thomason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great history of not just "the split" but of Indy racing as a whole over the past 70+ years. Very detailed story including the social, political, and technical aspects. Gets sidetracked on some tangent stories and shows slightly obvious favoritism toward certain drivers and teams. Still, one of the best books out there on IndyCar and one that culminates with Penske's recent acquisition of IMS and the IndyCar series. Also includes some great pieces by Robin Miller, Mario Andretti, Chip Ganassi, and Dario Franchitti. Would definitely recommend to anyone with an interest in auto racing.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, one of the most interesting motorsports books I've read and I've read quite a few. I grew up watching open wheel racing and found the Champ Car series massively entertaining. It was a huge disappointment for me when "the split" happened and being mostly a road course fan I had my thoughts about who the villain was. While not entirely wrong, this book delves into details that I suspect many open wheel racing fans from that era would likely not be aware of which is what made this book such a compelling read for me.