Champ Car World Series

Series logo (2020-present)

*To look at the current season of the Champ Car World Series, please refer to the 2023 AT&T Champ Car World Series season.*

The **Champ Car World Series**, currently known as the **AT&T Champ Car World Series** under sponsorship, is the premier open wheel series in North America. It is currently organized and managed by Horizon Corporation, who took over organization of the Indycar World Championship during the 2019 season. The series officially began with the 2020 season, but shares its heritage with the previous IndyCar Series via the Indycar World Championships, which date back to the 2000 season. Due to its international presence, it is sanctioned by both the North American Motor Racing Association (NAMRA), and the Federation Internationale Course d'Artificielle (FICA).

The series' premier event is the Indianapolis 500, which itself is part of the Firestone Triple Crown, which is also entirely within the series.

## Overview

The Champ Car World Series was created during the 2019 Straight Talk IndyCar Series season by Horizon Corporation, who had inherited the rights to host the Indycar World Championship after Citadel Promotions was stripped of those rights due to multiple issues, including defaulting payments to NAMRA, and FICA, as well as two high profile driver fatalities and multiple driver injuries from 2016 to early 2019. Horizon Corporation, who own several tracks used on the Champ Car calendar, including Pocono Raceway, Auto Club Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, among others, was tipped to replace Citadel as the Indycar World Championship's organizer.

After Citadel Promotions was removed as Indycar World Championship organizer, the company cancelled the 2019 Indianapolis 500. Citadel owned, and still owns, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and was no longer willing to cooperate or negotiate with NAMRA or FICA. Horizon Corporation, however, picked up where Citadel left off, and through the 2019 season, negotiated a ten year deal with Citadel to secure the immediate future of the Indianapolis 500 as a World Championship event.

Horizon elected to not use the IndyCar Series moniker used from the mid 1990s, instead trademarking their own series name, the Champ Car World Series. Straight Talk was not renewed beyond the 2019 season as the series title sponsor, despite Telcel being very interested in renewing the sponsorship deal. Horizon, instead, signed a five year, USD$800 million deal with American telecommunications giant, AT&T, which will go until the 2024 season at minimum.

## Car History and Current Regulations

The Champ Car World Series has used chassis built by Andromeda Automotive Initiative (AAI) the entirety of its existence to date, with two variations existing.

### Chassis

#### 2020-2021

For the first two seasons, Champ Car used the AAI IR-20, which was a ground up redesign of the Indycar World Championship chassis. It was dramatically different than the Dallara IR-10 series of chassis, including ground effects, more front wing aero devices, a more complex rear wing, an overhauled sidepod design, and the removal of the controversial rear wheel guards. The oval aero kit, on the other hand, was even more streamlined. Downforce at the rear of the car was reduced to just 300 pounds at speed, down from the 750 pounds that the Dallara IR-10 series chassis produced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The front wing, while designed differently to push more air into the venturi veins under the car, produced a similar amount of downforce compared to the 2019 chassis.

The largest difference was built into the survival cell itself. Unlike with the Dallara car models, the roll bar designed for the AAI IR-20 was a standalone piece of the chassis. With previous car models, the roll bar doubled as an opening for the engine bay. With the AAI IR-20, the roll bar was reinforced and detached from the engine bay, making the engine bay and cowling more streamlined akin to the cars of the 1990s. The cockpit was reinforced as well, made thicker, with more energy absorbing zones around the front and sides of the cockpit.

As with prior chassis, the cost of the AAI IR-20 was capped by the series and Horizon Corporation to USD$500,000 per chassis, with aero kits ranging from USD$70,000 to USD$140,000. Parts of the chassis were made open to development by the teams, including the undertray and venturi veins, suspension parts, brake systems, and cooling devices. From 2020 to 2021, teams were limited to spending USD$7,000,000 per car on development.

#### 2022-present

For the 2022 season, AAI introduced an improved chassis, called the IR-22. The biggest change was the introduction of the aeroscreen, a device that combined a windscreen to a halo, as seen in European single seater cars since the 2018 season. Another change introduced was a revised undertray, which was made slightly larger than the IR-20. AAI also began production of a third aero kit. Beginning in 2022, Champ Car teams were to use low downforce aero kits at ovals over 1.4 miles in length, while the new short oval aero kit would be used for ovals shorter than 1.4 miles. The standard high downforce aero kit would continue being used for road and street courses, and on very small ovals, if deemed the best option.

For 2022, Horizon Corporation altered the spending cap for Champ Car teams, raising the limit to USD$8,000,000, while also excluding staff costs from counting against that spending limit. Upgrades were licensed and approved from multiple fabrication and manufacturing companies, including Brembo, Bilstein, Cosworth, Marelli, among others.

### Engines

For the entirety of the Champ Car World Series' time, Horizon Corporation has maintained a semi-open engine formula that remains in compliance with Indycar World Championship master regulations. Beginning in 2020, engine manufacturers were permitted to supply engines in inline 4, V4, inline 6, V6, or V8 configurations. Turbochargers were permitted, but no more than two were allowed to be attached to the engine, while superchargers were banned. Engines were not permitted to go above more than 12,500 rpms, to increase engine longevity. Full season engine leases were capped at no higher than USD$2,000,000, though engine suppliers could adjust their prices under that limit at their discretion. Horizon Corporation also required that engine suppliers supplied all of their customers with the same engines, to promote equality through the field in controlled means.

#### 2020

For the 2020 Champ Car season, three engine suppliers produced engines for the series. Alpine-Renault supplied a turbocharged V6 engine producing 780 brake horsepower. The engine was an advancement of their previous generation engine used from 2017 to 2019. Honda moved from the V6 engine formula to utilize their twin-turbo inline 4 engines. The engines were identical to what they were supplying to teams in the GP1 Championship and the All Japan GT Championship's GT-S Class. The engine produced 800 horsepower, the approved limit for power from 2020 to 2022. Mercedes-Benz went with a naturally aspirated V8 engine previously found in use in Formula One. It produced 790 brake horsepower, and was the simplest to maintain for Mercedes-powered teams.

#### 2021

For 2021, all three engine manufacturers returned, as well as Chevrolet, who would introduce their turbocharged V8 engine to the series after a year away. The engine was based off of the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R's engine, but given a better supercharger and more adjustments to bring it to 790 brake horsepower. Alpine-Renault would bring a revision to their engine, bringing it closer to 800 BHP, while Honda held their engine formula steady for the year.

#### 2022

For 2022, Mercedes-Benz would leave the series, leaving just Alpine-Renault, Chevrolet, and Honda to supply the series' 26 full time cars. All three suppliers would continue into 2022 with the same engine layouts, but with slight adjustments to improve performance.

### Fuel

#### Fuel Cell

Each Champ Car chassis is equipped with an 18.5 gallon (70 litre) fuel tank built of rubber and lined on the outside with a Kevlar-produced fire retardant material in the instance that a side impact affects the fuel cell. The 18.5 gallon fuel tank has been standard in the series since the 2010 season.

#### Ethanol

The series uses a 98% methanol, 2% additives blend of ethanol, which meets the U.S. regulations for ethanol production guidelines. From 2020, the series has been supplied this blend of ethanol by Speedway, a midwestern gas station chain. For races outside of the United States, a pure 100% methanol blend is used, with races in Europe being supplied by Repsol, and races in Oceania and Asia being supplied by Exxon-Mobil.

### Performance

Champ Car machines can reach up to 240 miles per hour (386 kph), at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. On intermediate and long ovals, such as Texas Motor Speedway, or Auto Club Speedway, top speeds vary from 215-220 mph (346-354 kph). On road and street courses, 210 mph (338 kph) can be seen, but with reduced levels of downforce compared to international counterparts, it is around 10 seconds slower per lap than a Formula One machine. GP1 machines from Japan are roughly 1 second slower in dry conditions, but 4 seconds faster in damp or rainy conditions.

## Race Venues

The Champ Car World Series is renowned for the variety of venues it races at. It races on natural terrain road courses, and temporary street circuits, like most other formula series do, but it also races on a variety of paved ovals, from short ovals a mile or less in length, intermediate ovals between 1 and 1.6 miles in length, and superspeedways 2 miles or longer in length. The variety in the calendar requires its drivers and teams to be proficient enough at all of them to be championship contenders, a challenge many have ranked as one of the most difficult.

## Teams

The following table lists all the teams that have competed in the Champ Car World Series, with dates they competed marked if they have since left the series.

## Championship Points System

Champ Car utilizes the same points system used for Indycar World Championship seasons since the beginning of the World Championship in 2000. The only difference between Champ Car and the previous iterations is the absence of double points events, which varied year to year when series organization was done by NAMRA or Citadel Promotions.

## Seasons

The following table only tracks champions dating back to the 2020 AT&T Champ Car World Series season. Refer to the Indycar World Championship page to find the full history of World Champions.

## Reception

Similar to its predecesor, the Champ Car World Series has fallen under criticism for its perceived overabundance of danger. In 2020, the first full season under Horizon Corporation's management, and the first with the new chassis regulations, two drivers were killed in a crash in the 2020 Indianapolis 500, with two others injured in the same accident. That tragedy followed a less severe accident at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where rookies Jace Clarke and Gerard Perth were injured. In late summer 2020, Alicja Kowalkiewicz was also injured during a race at EuroSpeedway Lausitz, a track also notorious for its bad accidents over the actual racing it showcases.

Horizon Corporation has responded to most of the criticisms that have befallen their series, however. Horizon Corporation re-established a developmental series, the Atlantic Championship, to help drivers learn the nuances of open wheel oval racing. All but two of the injuries and fatalities in 2020 affected rookies to Champ Car's style of racing. Horizon Corporation has also begun phasing tracks out of the calendar that it views as being unsafe compared to modern standards. EuroSpeedway Lausitz has not hosted an oval event since 2020, and likewise, the series has altered how it allows teams to prepare for the Indianapolis 500 to prevent accidents similar to the one that claimed the lives of Tim Kourting and Giuliano Ansaldi.

Horizon Corporation, on the other hand, has been praised for its swiftness to adapt to the changing racing environment. In early 2022, Horizon Corporation announced its Neutral Initiative, vowing to offset the emissions produced by the series with how Horizon's events are organized, including wide-scale recycling efforts at every event, a tree-replanting pledge, where the company will plant a tree for every lap scheduled for the series each year. Champ Car as a series has already been running on a reduced carbon footprint, having run methanol or ethanol since the 1990s, which is cleaner than refined gasolines currently found in use in endurance championships and in Formula One. The company has also stated it would support the creation of a driver's association for Champ Car, but such an association has not yet materialized. Champ Car has led the way for equal rights and inclusion, with multiple drivers being part of the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as people of color holding high level positions within the series and its teams.

## Broadcasting

From 2020 until 2022, the Champ Car World Series was broadcasted worldwide by CRC Network. CRC Network broadcasted the events live, and also makes the races available on demand via their CRC Now streaming service. Beginning in 2023, ABN Sports took over broadcasting rights for the series globally.

## See Also

* GTPlanet Fandom Series, the premier level of American stock car racing.
* Champ Car Academy (2024-), the second tier of American open wheel racing.
* Atlantic Championship, the former developmental series for Champ Car.