After the 1995 Indianapolis 500 saw driver complaints about USAC's oversight, George announced that for the 1996 Indianapolis 500 the top 25 drivers in IRL points would be guaranteed a spot in the race, leaving only eight of the 33 grid positions available to others. This was known as the "&lt;a href="1996%20Indianapolis%20500%23Locked-in%20entries"&gt;25/8 Rule&lt;/a&gt;," and was unprecedented, as the 500 had traditionally always put every spot up for open qualification. CART declared they had been locked out of the event and would no longer race at Indianapolis, while George declared that CART was boycotting. To placate sponsors who contractually required the accommodation of large contingents to attend Indianapolis, CART created a rival showcase event, the U.S. 500, at Michigan International Speedway on the same day as the Indy 500 in 1996. In March, Indianapolis Motor Speedway attempted to terminate CART's license to their "IndyCar" trademark in Federal Court.