Buzz Calkins won his first Drivers' Championship whileScott Sharp (pictured here in 2007) became co-champion in the championship despiteCalkins having one victory.
The1996 Indy Racing League was the first season in the history of the series, which was created and announced on March 11, 1994, by theIndianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), as a supplementary series to the established Indy Car World Series sanctioned byChampionship Auto Racing Teams (CART) since 1979. It consisted of only three races, as the season concluded with the80th Indianapolis 500 in May.Walt Disney World Speedway was completed in time to host the first ever event of the Indy Racing League (IRL), andPhoenix International Raceway switched alliances from CART to the IRL, in order to host the second event of the season. At the conclusion of the three-race schedule,Scott Sharp andBuzz Calkins ended up tied for first place in the season championship. With no tiebreaker rule in place, the two drivers were declared co-champions. Its creation, and the opposition of CART's teams and drivers to take part in it, marked the start of 'the Split', a 12-year period of competition between rival series at the top level ofAmerican open-wheel car racing that had lasting negative effects in the sport.
The series was the initiative of IMS presidentTony George, who had left the CART Board of Directors in January 1994 after disagreements over the direction of Indy car racing, and its potential effect on theIndianapolis 500. The new championship would feature the marquee race, effectively removing it from theCART schedule, and was to be sanctioned by theUnited States Auto Club, racing exclusively on oval tracks as a response to its perceived decline in recent Indy Car seasons. The Indy Racing League name was revealed on July 8, 1994, and its first set of rules was published later that year, but it encountered criticism and resistance from the established team owners that formed CART and its drivers, who derided the concept as a 'power grab' attempt from George.
On January 23, 1995, the IRL announced that theIndy 200 atWalt Disney World Speedway would host the first event of the series on January 27, 1996, on a new oval track at theMagic Kingdom atWalt Disney World Resort inOrlando, Florida. On April 3, the IRL announced thatPhoenix International Raceway, which would switch alliances from CART to IRL, and the then-under constructionLas Vegas Motor Speedway would be on the 1996 schedule, its dates being finalized 10 days later. On May 30, 1995,New Hampshire Motor Speedway also switched alliances from CART to IRL, completing the five races that would be held in 1996. Initially, IRL officials hoped that competitors from the rival CART series would choose to race in some or all of the IRL events, since there were no foreseen conflicts in their respective schedules.
Talks between both series in early 1995 resulted in the former delaying its new rules for 1997, instead adopting frozen regulations with 1995-and-older CART chassis with a fixed limit on how much a team could spend on its combination. However, CART would later adopt a lower-downforce philosophy for their new 1996 chassis that was similar to the delayed IRL rules (except for the initially planned engine downsizing), and announced a 1996 schedule that had multiple conflicts with the previously announced IRL dates. The race atRoad America was scheduled for the same day as the IRL event atLoudon, while the races atRio andAustralia were bookended around the IRL race at Phoenix, creating an impossible travel situation.
In a controversial move, on July 3, 1995, it was announced that the top 25 drivers in IRL points would secure guaranteed starting positions for the 1996 Indianapolis 500. The '25/8 rule', intended to encourage participation at Orlando and Phoenix, left only eight positions open for at-large competitors, which was interpreted by most CART teams as ade facto 'lock out' for its 26-car field.[1] As a result, CART would later schedule a second 500-mile race atMichigan International Speedway in direct competition with the Indianapolis 500, and established that teams would be stripped of their voting rights in the Board of Directors if they competed in an IRL event. Therefore, almost all of CART's established drivers and teams stayed away from the upstart series, withGalles andWalker fielding additional cars at the Indy 500 without its regular drivers, in deference to their sponsors.
The IRL, nonetheless, had its sights on becoming a low-cost alternative for American drivers over the influx of foreign drivers attracted by CART's increasing road racing focus, and for short-track open-wheel stars that had found the sport too expensive to compete in previous seasons, or had searched for a more viable option in stock-car racing. Only 11 of the 33 starters from the 1995 Indianapolis 500 were featured in the 1996 event, which had one Indy 500 champion (Arie Luyendyk), two former race winners, and only two full-time teams and drivers from the 1995 season. The rest of the IRL field was composed of new entrants, part-time drivers and a large contingent of rookies, which amounted for half of the starters (17 out of 33) at the Indianapolis 500, while leading detractors and most of the media to describe the event as a 'watered-down' affair.
On August 28, 1995, it was announced that the inaugural 1996 season would end at the Indianapolis 500, the plan being to spread subsequent seasons over two calendar years and award the IRL championships at the conclusion of every Indy 500. As a result, the announced races at New Hampshire and Las Vegas would in fact open the1996–97 season in late summer. This scheduling format went against the traditional motorsports grain, and the idea was eventually scrapped in October 1996, with the 1996–97 season being expanded in order to bring the schedule back in sync with the rest of the motorsports world for 1998.
The IRL points system was to be staggered to adjust for the number of races each driver entered. The number of points awarded per race would be multiplied by the number of events the driver had participated in. If a driver entered all three events, the points awarded for that third race were multiplied by three. Despite the short season, only fifteen drivers competed in all three events, but all of them had a decent number of entrants due to the pool of older chassis made available by some of the teams with previous Indy 500 experience, as well as spare machinery being acquired from some CART teams.FordCosworth supplied most of the field with its V8 engines, with the rest relying on stock-block V6 units, eitherBuick orMenard-branded.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises became the only Indy Car full-time team to join the Indy Racing League ranks for its 1996 inaugural season. The team would fill more than one car at every race for the first time sinceRoger McCluskey joined Foyt as teammate in the1969 USAC Champ Car season.
Indianapolis business man Fred Treadway formed an alliance with Andreas Leberle, owner of theProject Indy team that had run 15 Indy Car races in two years, and Jonathan Byrd, who had lent support to a number of teams in the Indy 500 since 1985. The one-car team, initially known asByrd/Leberle–Treadway Racing, acquired aReynard 95I fromWalker Racing, and a 94I that had been used byTeam Green as a back-up car forJacques Villeneuve,[2] which would eventually become the pole-sitting, record-breaking car at Indianapolis.
Four teams that had competed in Indy Car in a part-time basis, mainly at theIndianapolis 500, also entered the competition:
Team Menard, who had been running an Indy 500 one-off program with stock-block engines for a decade, planned to compete in the Indy Racing League with a two-car program. Since 1985, their only Indy Car race outside Indianapolis was the 1990 Autoworks 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, withJim Crawford. The team bought two brand-new Lola T95 to complement their effort.[3]
Hemelgarn Racing also entered the Indy Racing League, competing outside Indianapolis for the first time since 1990. The team only employedFord Cosworth powerplants, phasing out entirely the use ofBuick engines after 10 years, and purchased twoReynard chassis fromChip Ganassi Racing.[3]
Pagan Racing, a team that had run a 3-race program in Indy Car in 1995, entered the series. The team bought aReynard 95I chassis fromForsythe Racing, and switched toFord Cosworth powerplants, as Mercedes declined to lease theirIlmor powerplants outside of the Indy 500.[4]
Beck Motorsports, a team that had debuted at the1995 Indianapolis 500 after four years running entries for other teams, partnered with The Zunne Group, a company that tried to promoteSan Antonio as a racing hub, to compete in the IRL season.
Team Scandia was anIMSA GT outfit led by driverAndy Evans, who entered the IRL in a partnership with Indy Car teamDick Simon Racing, on which both sides would provide a full-time car each. This union was dissolved in January when Evans took full control of the team, although Simon remained as team manager. The team competed as Scandia/Simon Racing in the first race, before switching to its original name.
Two further teams also came from IMSA GT competition: Cunningham Racing, a team that also had experience atLe Mans, andLeigh Miller Racing, a relatively novel team with two years of experience. Cunningham was one of the few teams to make use of a brand-new 1995 car during the season.
Blueprint Aircraft Engines, an independent engine builder owned by former drag racer Ed Rachanski, entered the series as Team Blueprint, being later renamed to Blueprint Racing.
Three weeks before the inaugural IRL race, long-time chief mechanics Paul Diatlovich and Chuck Buckman led the formation of a new race team, which would be known asPDM Racing. The team had bought the assets of the defunct Leader Card team, on which Diatlovich had been the Team Manager for its last three years.[5]
With the support of Frank and Dominic Giuffre, owners of a crane company and past Indy-backers, veteran driverBill Tempero was able to set-up his own team, Tempero–Giuffre Racing. Out of all the driver-owner teams coming from theAmerican Indycar Series, Tempero–Giuffre was the only one able to start an IRL race.
On February, Beck Motorsports and Zunne Group ended their partnership. As Zunne Group was the legal owner of the cars employed by Beck, the team retained them to compete on their own, partnering withMcCormack Motorsports to run the operation, and Beck had to sat out the Phoenix race while looking for new machinery.
On February 13, Andreas Leberle stepped out of his partnership with Jonathan Byrd and Fred Treadway, as he desired to compete in selected events in the Indy Car World Series, while Treadway and Byrd wanted to concentrate exclusively on the IRL. From then on, the team was known asByrd–Treadway Racing, whileProject Indy competed independently in the IRL.
On February 26, ABF Motorsports was registered as a new team under the leadership of Canadian owner Art Boulianne, a former super-modified driver.[6]
At some point between the Phoenix and Indianapolis races,Leigh Miller Racing's assets were bought byBeck Motorsports in order to compete at the Indy 500.[7]
On April,Galles Racing andWalker Racing, two teams competing in Indy Car, entered theIndianapolis 500 because of sponsorship commitments. Walker's main sponsor,Valvoline, was also a sponsor of the race telecast onABC, whileDelco Electronics, primary sponsor for Galles, was based in Indiana.[8] Galles would have the onlyMercedes-Ilmor engine in the field.
After supporting Dan Drinan's entry at Phoenix, Loop Hole Racing entered the IRL for an Indy 500-only effort. The team owned by David & Bud Hoffpauir had previously competed in thePikes Peak Hill Climb and the American Indycar Series with the same machine they entered for the race, a formerlyAlfa Romeo-powered Lola T91 bought from the defunct Leader Card team in 1994.[3]
On September 21, 1995,Team Menard became the first team to announce a driver for the IRL, selectingEddie Cheever for one of their cars. Cheever had been out of a drive since losing his full-time seat withA. J. Foyt Racing a month prior.
On October 3, 1995,Scandia/Simon Racing announced that Eliseo Salazar would continue with the team as their driver for their 1996 program. Salazar remained at the wheel of the No. 7 Simon car, on which he had finished 21st in his debut Indy Car season. Salazar and Cheever were the lone competitors coming from full-time Indy Car status in 1995.
On November 9, 1995,Byrd/Leberle–Treadway Racing announced that1990 Indianapolis 500 winnerArie Luyendyk would drive the No. 5 entry. Luyendyk was the most popular driver in the IRL roster, although he had only run a couple of oval races in 1995.
On November 29, 1995,Team Menard filled their two-car lineup with the announcement ofScott Brayton, who would drive the No. 2 car. Brayton wasthe reigning Indianapolis 500 pole-sitter, and would be the most-experienced Indy Car driver in the field at 148 starts.
On December 2, 1995,Della Penna Motorsports announced their plans to field the No. 4 for 25-year oldRichie Hearn, who had won the1995 Atlantic Championship with the team. Hearn would also compete in selected Indy Car World Series races with the same team.
Testing continued atWalt Disney World Speedway from November 28 to December 8, 1995, with prospective and yet-to-be-announced drivers, leading to a tentative entry list with 18 drivers:[9]
Hemelgarn Racing announced thatStéphan Grégoire would drive the No. 9 entry. Grégoire's only Indy car experience was a 19th-place finish at the1993 Indianapolis 500, having failed to qualify for the 1994 event before driving in a singleIMSA GT event in late 1995.
Pagan Racing announced thatRoberto Guerrero, the 2-time pole-sitter at theIndianapolis 500, would drive the No. 21 entry, the same he had driven at Indianapolis in 1994 and 1995 after losing his full-time status.
Bradley Motorsports fielded the No. 12 entry forBuzz Calkins, who had finished 6th in Indy Lights. The team had been formed around him by his father, in order to aid his racing career.
Team Scandia, on their side of the Scandia/Simon partnership, arranged the signing of veteran driverMichele Alboreto in the No. 33 for a dual IRL/IMSA program. A formerFerrari driver with 15 seasons ofFormula One experience, Alboreto had last driven in theDTM forAlfa Romeo. The Lola T95 he drove at Indianapolis had been sold byTeam Green andJacques Villeneuve, according to IMS Radio.
Cunningham Racing filed the No. 75 entry forJohnny O'Connell, who had raced for the team since 1991. O'Connell, who won theFormula Atlantic Pacific division in 1987, had since become a consummate GT driver, scoring a class win in the Le Mans 24 hour race and finishing 5th in the IMSA GTS-1 class in 1995.
Blueprint Racing submitted the No. 16 entry for 51-year oldJohnny Parsons, who had made the last of his 11Indianapolis 500 starts in 1986. Since then, Parsons had failed to qualify for the race seven times, with only one further Indy Car start in 1991. He had remained active in theUSAC scene, finishing 6th in the Midget series and 9th in the Silver Crown series in 1995.
As owner of Tempero/Giuffre Racing, 52-year oldBill Tempero entered himself to drive the No. 15 car. Tempero ran 25 Indy Car races in the early 1980s with his own team, but he had not run an Indy car race in 13 years. He was the founder and reigning champion of theAmerican Indycar Series, which he had won a record 4 times, and used the same machinery he raced in that series.
Butch Brickell entered the series as a driver-owner of Brickell Racing with the No. 77 entry, despite only having very minor road racing experience. Brickell had been more proficient in off-road racing and offshore powerboat racing, and he worked full-time as a Hollywood stuntman. He broke two vertebrae in a January 13 testing crash, and never raced in the series.
Jim Buick, a commercial airline pilot who used to double up as a racing driver in a variety of amateur series, entered the race atWalt Disney World Speedway with his own Buick Racing team, from theAmerican Indycar Series. Buick, who was 55-year old, had run four oval CART races in 1981. Despite being present at Orlando, he never took to the track.
Rick DeLorto was another driver withAmerican Indycar Series, midget and amateur racing experience that entered the Orlando event as a driver-owner. DeLorto, a 46-year old, had unsuccessfully tried to qualify for two CART races in 1982. He would fail his rookie tests at Orlando practice and Phoenix testing for being too slow.
Tony Turco, also ofAmerican Indycar Series background, entered the Orlando race with his own team, but he withdrew two weeks before the race, as he had no sponsor to field his car.[10]
On January 8,PDM Racing, operating under a provisional name at the time, announcedJohn Paul Jr. as the driver of the No. 18. Paul Jr. was the 1983Michigan 500 winner, and had been mainly an Indy 500 one-off driver during the decade, years after serving time for drug-related charges. He also remained inIMSA GT competition, where he had been a regular competitor during 1995.
On January 10,Team Scandia announced thatLyn St. James would drive the No. 90 entry during the 1996 season. St. James had 11 Indy Car starts since 1992, four of them at theIndianapolis 500, where she qualified 6th in 1994.
On January 12,Hemelgarn Racing announced thatBuddy Lazier would drive the No. 91 entry for the season. Lazier had been a perennial backmarker in Indy Car since his debut in 1990, with only 3 top-10 finishes in 55 starts.
On January 12,Beck Motorsports announced thatRobbie Buhl would drive the No. 54 entry. Buhl, the 1992 champion and 1995 runner-up inIndy Lights competition, had contested 12 Indy Car rounds between 1993 and 1994. After Beck and The Zunne Group split, Buhl was allowed to run with Zunne at Phoenix in the No. 45 car, before returning to Beck Motorsports at Indianapolis.
On January 19,Team Menard announced that dirt-track phenomTony Stewart would drive the No. 20 entry for the season. Stewart was the first driver to achieve theUSAC Triple Crown by winning all three series, and combined the IRL season with a partial schedule in theNASCAR Busch Series.
On January 24,Tempero/Giuffre Racing announced thatDavid Kudrave would drive a second car for the team. Kudrave raced seven times in the1993 Indy Car season, scoring points at Phoenix and the Michigan 500. After running the No. 25 entry at Orlando, Kudrave ran the No. 15 car at Phoenix, and was scheduled to do so at Indianapolis.
On February 19, Blueprint Racing announced thatJim Guthrie would drive the No. 27 entry from Phoenix onwards. Guthrie had finished 11th in theAtlantic Championship standings the previous year.
On February 26,Team Scandia announced thatMichel Jourdain Jr. would drive the No. 22 car at Phoenix and Indianapolis, along a part-time program in the Indy Car World Series, becoming one of the youngest Indy car drivers ever at 19 years old. Jourdain Jr. was the son of former Indy Car driverBernard Jourdain, and had finished third in theMexican Formula 2 series.
On March 8, Blueprint Racing confirmed thatDan Drinan would drive the No. 36 entry at Phoenix. His entry, as well as Guthrie's, was co-owned by Loop Hole Racing's owners, who would later enter Drinan for the Indianapolis 500 on their own. A former mechanic in CART in the 80's, Drinan had run theUSAC Silver Crown series in 1995, having been a midget racer the previous years.
On March 15, ABF Motorsports announced 36-year oldPaul Durant as the driver of the No. 96 entry. Durant was a three-time SMRA champion in supermodifieds, and had raced in the USAC Silver Crown series.
On March 22,Project Indy announced thatJohnny Unser would drive the No. 64 entry at Phoenix and Indianapolis. Unser had run five Indy Car races in 1993 and 1994, and finished 2nd in the GT2 class of the1995 24 Hours of Le Mans.
On April 7,Galles Racing announced that their test driverDavy Jones, a noted sports car driver with 11 Indy car races behind the wheel, would drive the No. 70 entry at Indianapolis.[12]
As the entry list for the Indianapolis 500 was unveiled on April 15, a number of deals were made public:
Hemelgarn Racing fieldedBrad Murphey in the No. 10 entry. Murphey had failed to qualify twice for a CART race in 1984, and hadn't raced since suffering a concussion in an SCCA Corvette Challenge crash in 1988, also his third year ofAmerican Racing Series -Indy Lights- competition.
McCormack Motorsports fieldedRandy Tolsma in the No. 24 car, although his entry would be later integrated under the Zunne Group Racing banner. Tolsma had been since 1993 a regular in the USAC Midget and Silver Crown circuits, finishing 3rd in the latter in 1994.
Scott Harrington entered the race as a driver-owner of the No. 39 entry, in an effort run by Larry Nash's LP Racing. The former motocross racer had one Indy Car start atRoad America in 1989, and had last competed at theSCCA Can-Am series in 1994. His Lola T92 was the same machineA. J. Foyt drove to a 9th-place finish in his last Indy 500 start in 1992.
At the start of practice, three additional drivers had signed to drive in the Indy 500.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises entered Brazilian driverMarco Greco in the vacant No. 41 car. Greco had been a regular of Indy Car's lower ranks for the past three years, with no top-10 finishes to his credit.
Tempero-Giuffre Racing enteredJoe Gosek to drive the No. 25 entry. 'Double-O Joe' had a cult following at grassroots level, being a Super-modified champion and a two-times track champion at the Oswego Speedway.
On May 5, the first day of practice,Tempero-Giuffre Racing putJustin Bell in the No. 15 entry, replacingDavid Kudrave. Bell was a GT driver for multiple General Motors' brands, and had previously competed in the American Racing Series, precursor of Indy Lights. On May 16, he stepped out of the ride, as his chassis kept struggling for speed.
On May 6,Team Scandia announced a deal withAlessandro Zampedri to drive the No. 8 entry. Zampedri had run in Indy Car for two years, collecting five top-10 finishes in 28 starts.
On May 7, Zunne Group Racing announced thatLyn St. James would drive the No. 45 entry at Indianapolis. Unlike Robbie Buhl in the previous race and Randy Tolsma, she competed with Goodyear tires.
On May 14,Pagan Racing announced thatBilly Boat would attempt to qualify for theIndianapolis 500 in the team's back-up car, the No. 99 entry. Boat was the reigning USAC Western Midget Series champion, and had won the prestigiousTurkey Night Grand Prix. On Bump Day, Boat sampled the No. 84 entry forA. J. Foyt Enterprises to prevent a possible bumping, but he crashed before being bumped from the grid.
On May 16,Brickell Racing announced thatDanny Ongais would drive the No. 77 entry at Indianapolis, asButch Brickell had not been medically cleared to race. Ongais, who turned 54 on May 21, was the winningest driver in the field with 6 Indy car wins, but he hadn't raced since the 1987 Nissan Indy Challenge at the Tamiami Park street circuit.
On May 17,Scott Brayton was killed in a crash during practice for theIndianapolis 500 after suffering a basilar skull fracture. Two days later,Team Menard announcedDanny Ongais as Brayton's replacement for the race. Brickell Racing replaced Ongais withTyce Carlson, a dirt-track racer who had run in the three USAC national series the previous year.
On May 19,Team Scandia fielded their seventh Indy 500 entry forJoe Gosek, who had leftTempero/Giuffre Racing after passing his rookie test two days before. He drove the No. 43 entry, asFermín Vélez was moved to the No. 34 car.
On May 19,Scott Harrington signed a last-minute deal to switch to the No. 44 back-up car forDella Penna Motorsports, after damaging his chassis in a practice crash on May 16.
^AScott Brayton was the fastest qualifier for the 1996 Indianapolis 500, but was killed during practice. Hence, second-fastest qualifierTony Stewart started from the pole.
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Buzz Calkins
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