page_title: Sports in the United States
section_title: IndyCar Series
hierarchical_section_title: Sports in the United States / Individual sports / Motorsports / IndyCar Series
caption_attribution_description: English: Andretti Green Racing's Danica Patrick at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Pole Day for the 2008 Indianapolis 500 on Saturday, May 10, 2010.
context_page_description: Sports in the United States are an important part of culture in the United States. American football is the most popular sport to watch in the United States, followed by baseball, basketball, and ice hockey, which makes up the "4 major sports". Soccer, Rugby union, Rugby league, tennis, golf, wrestling, auto racing, softball, field lacrosse, box lacrosse, handball, volleyball, and water polo are also played in the country. Based on Olympic Games, World Championships, and other major competitions in respective sports, the United States is the most successful sports nation in the world.
  Based on revenue, the four major professional sports leagues in the United States are Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League. The market for professional sports in the United States is roughly $69 billion, roughly 50% larger than that of all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined. All four enjoy wide-ranging domestic media coverage and are considered the preeminent leagues in their respective sports in the world, although American football does not have a substantial following in other nations.
context_section_description: Historically, open wheel racing was the most popular form of U.S. motorsport nationwide. However, an infamously acrimonious split (often referred to by many as "The Split") in 1994 between the primary series, CART (later known as Champ Car), and the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (the site of the Indy 500), Tony George, led to the formation of the Indy Racing League, now known as INDYCAR, which launched the rival IndyCar Series in 1996. From that point on, the popularity of open wheel racing in the U.S. declined dramatically. The feud was settled in 2008 with an agreement to merge the two series under the IndyCar banner, but enormous damage had already been done to the sport. Post-merger, IndyCar continues to run with slight viewership gains per year. However, as a result, the only post-Split IndyCar race that still enjoys widespread popularity among the general public is the Indianapolis 500.
caption: Danica Patrick is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing.
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