IndyCar World Series

*For the current second tier series, refer to IndyCar Series (2022)*

The **IndyCar World Series**, known lastly as the Straight Talk IndyCar Series, was the premier level of American open wheel racing, and from 2000 until 2019 crowned the Indycar World Championship. From 2000 until 2015, it was managed directly by the North American Motor Racing Association, or NAMRA, with international approval from the Federation International Course d'Artificielle (FICA). From 2016 until its seizure in 2019, it was managed by Citadel Promotions, who also purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In April of 2019, NAMRA announced it would be revoking hosting rights from Citadel Promotions, with Horizon Corporation obtaining the rights to host the Indycar World Championship beginning in 2020 with the Champ Car World Series.

The IndyCar branding would be revived for the 2022 Microsoft IndyCar Series season, which also revived the Indycar National Championship to act as a second tier of American open wheel racing. The new IndyCar Series does not share any lineage from the IndyCar World Series.

## Overview

Prior to 2000, the IndyCar World Series awarded the National Championship to the season's highest points scorers. With the foundation of the Indycar World Championship, the National Championship was retired, and the series underwent a fundamental shift in how it operated. NAMRA, as it had done with most top level championships, organized and hosted the series internally from 2000, taking care of day to day operations as well as overseeing regulation changes and revisions.

The IndyCar World Series maintained a very strict formula during its existence. From 2000 to 2009, it required all teams to use the Dallara IR-00 chassis, and required all engine suppliers involved with the series to produce naturally aspirated V8 engines, with teams only permitted to develop parts like suspension pieces and brake systems. From 2010 until 2019, NAMRA required all teams to use the Dallara IR-10 chassis, and moved the engine formula to turbocharged V6 engines. It also restricted the amount of development was permitted by teams regarding the aforementioned suspension parts and brake systems, among other areas.

NAMRA's aim was to promote and foster as much wheel to wheel racing as possible. The sanctioning body favored high banked ovals over road courses, and often helped cover the costs of unrepairable car damage that was prevalent in the series. As a result, the series garnered a stigma of being overtly dangerous and clumsy, and during the course of the series' existence, numerous drivers were killed.

## Car History and Regulations

During the entirety of the IndyCar World Series, the series was supplied chassis exclusively by Dallara. Two generations of Indy car machines were produced for the series, the first generation lasting from 2000 until 2009, and the second generation lasting from 2010 to 2019. A planned third generation chassis was scrapped when the organizing of the Indycar World Championship moved to Horizon Corporation, who went a different direction.

### First Generation (2000-2009)

#### Chassis

The Dallara IR-00 was first generation Indy car chassis for the World Championship. The car was smaller than the cars of the 1990s, and featured none of the undertray aerodynamics that teams had rampantly worked on developing during the latter stages of the National Championship. These two changes created a chassis that was robust and fast on ovals, but difficult to drive on road and street courses, where mechanical grip was at a premium and limited.

Dallara's production of the IR-00 was limited to the survival cell, which contained the cockpit and steering assembly, as well as the engine bay, front and rear wings. Teams were allowed to purchase or develop their own suspension pieces, brake system, and could purchase gearboxes as long as they contained six forward gears. During the first half of the first generation, multiple drivers retained clutch pedals and stick shifts in their cars, while the newer drivers were phasing in the paddle shift steering wheels with the clutch pedal also being on the steering wheel. The last season to feature an H-pattern gearbox and floor clutch pedal was 2006, when Miguel Espinoza ran the season with it in his car. From 2007, all cars used paddle shift steering wheels.

#### Engines

NAMRA's first generation engine formula called for a naturally aspirated V8 engine, limited to no higher than 12,500 rpms. From 2000 until 2004, total engine power was limited to 700 brake horsepower (BHP), while from 2005 to 2009, engine power was increased to 750 BHP. Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Chevrolet, and Honda all produced engines during this time period.

#### Fuel

From 2000 until 2005, the series used high octane gasoline fuel, changing in 2006 to E85 ethanol fuel. During the entirety of the first generation, cars were equipped with 22 gallon fuel tanks.

### Second Generation (2010-2019)

#### Chassis

Dallara's second generation chassis, the IR-10, was a dramatic departure from the previous chassis. Visually, the car was bulkier, weighing over 200 pounds more than the IR-00, but also was more aerodynamically inclined and built with safer technologies in mind. The result was an increase in downforce by as much as 70% at road and street courses, and 20% on high speed ovals, which contributed to closer wheel to wheel racing as cars had more grip. Another set of changes made to the series was the production of control parts to bring the field closer together. Beginning in 2010, suspension parts must come from Dallara, or Bilstein, while brake systems from Brembo were the only ones permitted. All gearboxes had to come from Hewland, and all were required to be paddle shift, with the clutch being removed completely. Internals, such as cooling systems, were also fixed, with engine suppliers being required to supply cooling systems with their powertrains. This removed a lot of costs from the teams, and also removed significant competitive advantages that were abundant in the first generation.

#### Engines

The series' second generation engine formula was a bit more complicated, with the series moving to turbocharged V6 engines. These engines were limited to 750 BHP during the entirety of the engine formula, but full power was only used for road and street course events, and short ovals. For low downforce, high speed ovals, power was limited to 550 BHP frequently, which was done by lowering the amount of boost pressure applied through the turbocharger.

#### Fuel

The series used E85 ethanol supplied by Sunoco the entirety of the second generation for races within the United States. For international events, E100 methanol was used instead. Fuel cells were reduced from 22 gallons, to 18.5 gallons beginning in 2010.

## Race Venues

Throughout its 20 year existence, the series was always a oval-heavy series. Road courses like Watkins Glen, Barber, Mid-Ohio paired well with street circuit events such as Long Beach, and Toronto, but more often than not, ovals were the dominant presence in the series calendar. During the 2010s, the series placed emphasis on high banked ovals, as it wanted to spotlight its incredibly close high speed racing, but a frequency of high profile accidents forced a change of heart late into the series' lifespan.

## Sponsorship

Despite being registered as the IndyCar World Series in most official documents, it always omitted the 'World' out of its name when it carried sponsorship. From 2000 until 2008, the series was known as the Armor All IndyCar Series, with car care product maker Armor All continuing the deal it first signed in 1995. From 2009 until 2015, clothing brand Izod was the title sponsor of the series, with the series being appropriately named the IZOD IndyCar Series. Telecommunications brand, Straight Talk sponsored the series from 2016 until the series was replaced at the end of 2019.

Sponsorship deals for the series were increasingly lucrative in the 2000s and early 2010s. The series contested with Formula One in terms of international audience, with sponsors paying upwards of USD$4 million per year at the highest point. However, instability in the series from 2014 onwards devalued the series, with Straight Talk only paying $1.5 million per year to sponsor the series near the end after Citadel had taken over and begun attempting wholesale changes.

## Reception

During the first generation of the series, reception was very positive. Fans fell in love with the series' close wheel, daring racing in contrast to the more methodical racing seen in Formula One. The series contained enough road and street course events to keep the two championships comparable, but did enough differently, to attract a lot of attention. The series also attracted a lot of international drivers. Prior to 2000, most of the series was composed of North American drivers. By 2009, less than a quarter of drivers in the field were from North America at all. The international flare added to its appeal, with the Indianapolis 500 pulling more viewers than the Grand Prix of Monaco for eight consecutive years from 2003 to 2010.

The second generation received varying levels of pushback by fans and media alike, with fans turning away from what became an overabundance of high banked ovals, and the increasing frequency of driver injury and death. Praise was given as the series began including more road and street courses, with the series branching out to visit places like Europe and Asia more frequently. The death of Henna Venalainen marked a significant downturn in the series' reviews and its appeal, with backstage instabilities beginning to encapsulate the series more than the on track product itself.

## See Also

* Champ Car World Series, the successor of the IndyCar World Series,
* Indycar World Championship.