BONUS: Indycar at war! Ep. 1 - The insane story of how a sport was split apart

About this episode

The episode explores the split in Indycar racing during the mid-90s, focusing on Tony George's announcement to form a competing series.

We know from your feedback that you enjoy it when Bring Back V10s dips into the world of Indycar racing, so as a winter bonus we're delighted to bring you our special three-part series on the infamous story of how Indycar racing was torn apart in the mid-90s, shortly after Nigel Mansell had helped make the North American series so popular that Bernie Ecclestone saw it as a threat to F1. In episode one, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw and 'Indy Split' book author John Oreovicz head back to early-1994 and the moment Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss Tony George announced he would be forming his own competitor to the CART Indycar series. We look at what drove George to make his bombshell announcement, and how the world of Indy racing reacted and evolved in the two years before the Indy Racing League hit the track for its first race. There's also discussion around the silly move the CART teams made that helped the IRL get up and running, and how both sides of the war fired major shots at each other with their plans for the weekend of the 1996 Indianapolis 500. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw

Guest: John Oreovicz

Topics covered

• Indycar racing
• sports split
• CART vs IRL
• Tony George
• 1990s motorsport
• Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Keywords

• Indycar
• CART
• Indy Racing League
• Tony George
• 1996 Indianapolis 500
• Nigel Mansell
• motorsport history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Indycar, CART, Indy Racing League, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Bernie Ecclestone

More episodes of Bring Back V10s - Classic F1 stories

• BBV10s World Cup: We decide the best race of the V10 era! · June 11, 2026 · 1h 15m
• S13 E6: Why Benetton's post-Schumacher era was so rough · May 28, 2026 · 1h 15m
• S13 E5: Turkey 2010 - The dramatic fallout from big Vettel/Webber clash · May 14, 2026 · 1h 28m
• In tribute: Remembering the remarkable Alex Zanardi · May 2, 2026 · 34 min
• S13 E4: Malaysia 2002 - F1's first drive-through penalty causes controversy · April 30, 2026 · 1h 8m
• BONUS: Bring Back V10s Debrief on the Senna-Schumacher rivalry · April 27, 2026 · 50 min