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MILLER: A Brief History of CART
Written by: Robin Miller   
04/16/2008
Indianapolis, Ind.
 
At its peak - arguably 1993, when then-F1 world champion Nigel Mansell came stateside - CART had it all: big crowds, top sponsors and a global following. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

It began as a common sense plan to take control of open wheel racing and ended 29 years later in bankruptcy. In between, there were 452 races, 451 marketing directors, 12 presidents, 12 champions, two title sponsors and one really good idea.

Among its highlights: bringing races to the streets of major cities, creating the most diverse series in the world and taking safety to a new plateau.

Among its failures: the staggering lack of leadership, the greed of going public, the many conflicts of interest and the total ineptness of supposed smart businessmen to manage a company.

In many ways, Championship Auto Racing Teams/Champ Car represented the best and worst of motorsports in North America.

When it makes its last laps Sunday at Long Beach, we'll look back on what it was, what it almost became and what it turned into.

Thirty years after Dan Gurney crafted his "White Paper" and called out his fellow owners to take control of their destiny, CART/Champ Car is history. Twelve years after Tony George created the Indy Racing League, the car owners threw in the towel and made him King.

Now there's finally one series again but it's so far behind NASCAR you can't even see Kyle Petty's bumper.

"It's sad, no doubt, but Indy-car racing had more potential in 1979 than NASCAR and had open wheel been given equal leadership, IndyCar would still be bigger today than NASCAR," said Gurney, whose contributions as a driver and constructor are second to none in this country.
Gurney's famous "white paper" triggered the birth of CART in 1979, but years of mismanagement meant his vision for the sport never fully materialized. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

"Now it's just limping along and that's one of the great crimes of the ages."

Gurney took time out from building Eagles and chasing races to write a seven-page manifesto in late 1978 on what was wrong with Indy-car racing and what it desperately needed.

Under the United States Auto Club's reign, Indy cars were controlled by a board of directors that either had no skin in the game, no clue about the costs, no vision for the future or all three. Purses were small, costs were escalating, television money was paltry, sanction fees were laughable and there was no marketing, per se, of the series.

Gurney advocated staying under USAC's banner but only if it endorsed letting the owners renegotiate the TV contract with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in addition to asking for the purse (a ridiculous $1 million at the time) to be doubled. He also wanted to ramp up the advertising/marketing department, be allowed access to the books at all tracks and be involved in all negotiations. He suggested tracks, promoters, teams and the sanctioning body worked together instead of carving each other up.

Naturally, this fell on deaf ears so CART was born in March of 1979 at Phoenix (Gordon Johncock was the winner). It had the old USAC blue bloods like Pat Patrick, Roger Penske, Bob Fletcher, Jim Hall, Jerry O'Connell and Gurney before eventually picking up sports car mavens like Carl Haas, Paul Newman, Jim Trueman, Rick Galles and Doug Shierson.

Much like the CART/IRL war in 1996, CART sported most of the big names (USAC was called A.J. & the Seven Dwarfs) in 1979 and when PPG Industries came aboard as the title sponsor, the car owners suddenly had a foothold. (PPG was also referred to as Patrick, Penske and God, by the way).

There was a brief truce in 1980 when the first five races were run together under the CRL (Championship Racing League) banner with Patrick and Penske on the board. But when then IMS boss John Cooper threatened to shop around for a new sanctioning body, USAC dumped Patrick and Penske and the war resumed.

It was all over by 1982 as USAC was left with only Indianapolis, while CART ran the rest of the races. It was always an uneasy truce during May.

The first flaw in CART's way of life also turned out to be the one that proved fatal. Not only could rich car owners seldom agree on anything, they usually opted to hire a president who they could manipulate or one who knew nothing about racing (or both).
By 1988, CART's team owners were bickering as stubbornly as ever, but the Andrettis were national household names. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

Save Jim Melvin and Dick Eidswick, it's been a litany of lawyers and leeches leading the show, but controlled by Patrick and Penske early on and Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe lately since they spent the money and made most of the big decisions.

The classic CART president template was John Frasco. A reputed Michigan lawyer who had successfully represented the six CART teams initially banned from the 1979 Indy 500, Frasco made USAC and the Speedway look foolish in Federal Court before playing his old employers like a fiddle. Besides the golden parachute he wrote into his contract, 'ol John also secured the rights to the diamond vision screens at a few tracks. He cared so little about the product he was usually at the airport before the race
hit the halfway point.

Another CART trademark became the revolving door in the marketing office.

"Our first marketing manager quit before he ever set foot in the office," recalled Michael Knight, CART's first public relations director from 1979-83. "The second one showed up on Monday morning, read the files, went to lunch and never came back. The third one wasn't around long either, so you get the picture. It didn't change much in 30 years."

And while the front office follies never ceased, CART did make a name for itself in a good way during the 1980s. Led by former driver Wally Dallenbach, Dr. Steve Olvey and surgeon Terry Trammell, CART formed the first full-time safety team in racing. It made cars and tracks safer in addition to advancing the technology.

Still, by 1988 CART was more divided than ever before between the haves and have nots. Certain owners controlled chassis and engines, costs were insane and there was universal distrust throughout the paddock. It was anything but a happy family. Had TGeorge started the IRL in 1988, it might have worked.

But, despite all the mismanagement and ill will, in 1993 we looked up and CART had Nigel Mansell, 25-27 cars, monstrous crowds and mainstream media. The novelty of taking the race to a big city was a hit in Miami, Toronto, Vancouver, Cleveland, Surfer's Paradise, Australia and Long Beach.
Tony George: the eventual "civil war" winner has won control over a prize much less relevant in the national landscape than it was back in the 90s. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

It raced 20 times on road courses, small ovals, street circuits and superspeedways. It was the toughest challenge on four wheels and it had Bernie Ecclestone's attention because more people were watching CART than F1 in many F1 bastions.

Bill France Jr. also had his eye on CART because it was neck and neck with his circuit in terms of TV ratings, sponsorships and attendance.

Tony George, whose offer to buy CART in 1991 had been way too low and poorly presented (his words), didn't take kindly to his rude rejection or the fact nobody in CART seemed to value his opinion. His eye was on power.

By 1996, when the IRL sputtered to life, CART sported four engine manufacturers, four chassis manufacturers, two tire companies, record attendance, 28 cars (mostly fully funded) and 10 talented American drivers who were hired on their ability.

We know what happened next. CART refused to bury the IRL (instead selling it used cars), compete at Indy or take it seriously. In 1998, the owners went public and made lots of money but hoarded it instead of re-investing in their future. Honda and Toyota made everybody rich before bailing to the IRL earlier this decade -- led by none other than Mr. Penske. Followed closely by Mr. Ganassi, Mr. Rahal, Mr. Andretti...

CART collapsed into bankruptcy after the 2003 season where it was rescued by Kalkhoven and Forsythe to become Champ Car. Michael Andretti said at the time he wished those two would just have let TGeorge take control and, as it turns out, open wheel would have been much further ahead had the IRL founder not lost in bankruptcy court.

Champ Car gave us standing starts, the optional tire, an honorable man in Dick Eidswick and a thinking man in race control with Tony Cotman but that was offset by buffoons in the front office, nothing approaching a business plan, lack of an American presence behind the wheel, a laughable Far East strategy and Paul Gentilozzi.

After spending millions for four years and then supposedly catching a couple of his "allies" with their hands in the cookie jar, Kalkhoven told Forsythe he was done last winter. And so, mercifully, was Champ Car.

Of course the irony is that the IRL's original concepts all failed (American short trackers, USA cottage industry, U.S. manufacturers, no engine leases, all ovals) and has subsequently adopted CART's philosophy almost to the letter. Oh yeah, and it's dominant teams belong to all those guys TG didn't like back in the '90s.

Yet, for all its shortcomings, there was a time standing amidst the 12-deep all the way around Elkhart Lake or driving into Phoenix before 7 a.m. to beat the traffic or trying to get a ticket to Indy, that CART was poised to be everything Gurney had hoped and France had feared.

A popular, self-sufficient, revenue-generating, sponsor-friendly, TV staple that was a money-maker for just about everyone concerned.

Instead, it dissolved into a sea of red ink after being scuttled by bone-headed decisions and self-serving agendas.

In the final analysis, CART gave us some memorable races and racers. The Andrettis, Fittipaldi, Rahal, Mears, Mansell, Montoya, Sullivan, Tracy, the Unsers and Zanardi made race fans and then made them care.

But the on-track product was doomed because car owners can't run the store. Never have, never will.
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