# @speedyoulater on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Chz2ED6NpD7
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/13202825-speedyoulater-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/f3232427d8.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-08-28T16:35:09.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Speed You Later | INDYCAR (@speedyoulater) — https://gondola.cc/speedyoulater

## Caption

Over the last decade, IndyCar’s heritage of racing on ovals began fading due to an increase in the number of road and street courses making their way on the calendar. But such was not the case when the series was created.

The American open-wheel racing series is rooted in the 1990s, when the Indy Racing League (IRL) was founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s president Tony George.

The new series was introduced as a lower-cost open-wheel alternative to CART, which would have been focused exclusively on oval tracks, in response to the increasing prominence of road and street courses on the CART schedule.

According to George, CART had began losing the American racing traditions that had made its history: too many road courses and few ovals, high costs, and drivers who gave more importance at the high prizes.

Throughout the years, the IRL was able to develop an engine package and chassis rules that allowed spectators to witness some of the closest finishes in any racing series. 
The real change came in 2001-2002, when Team Penske (team_penske) - the most popular team in the US - decided to switch from CART to the IRL.

Thanks to the success earned by the series, George began considering whether it was time to open up to non-oval circuits as well. 2005 was the turning point: in that year, the series abandoned its ovals-only stance, and added three road/street course events (among which was St. Petersburg). Lately, in 2007, Mid-Ohio and Belle Isle were also added to the calendar.

Written by luciapasp 

#indyhistory #indycar #nttindycarseries #racing #motorsport #ovals #speedyoulater #race #tracks #2022 #season #americanracing #roadcourse #streetcourse #TonyGeorge

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 66
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- **Comments:** 6

## Tags

indyhistory, indycar, speedyoulater, tonygeorge, tracks, race, motorsport, roadcourse, racing, 2022, ovals, nttindycarseries, streetcourse, season, americanracing

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