Firestone Indy 400
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| Venue | Michigan International Speedway |
|---|---|
| Corporate sponsor | Firestone |
| First race | 1968 |
| First IndyCar race | 2002 |
| Distance | 400 miles |
| Number of laps | 200 |
| Previous names | Michigan Indy 400 (2002, 2004-2005) |
The Firestone Indy 400 is an Indy Racing League IndyCar Series race held at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.
Since 1970, Michigan International Speedway (MIS) has hosted at least one open-wheel race in every season, hosting 55 open-wheel races over 38 years. In July 2007, MIS announced that it would not hold an open-wheel auto race after the Indy Racing League was unable to provide a suitable date, and was not willing to return to the twin race format.
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[edit] USAC Indy Car Years
In 1968, American open wheel racing debuted at the circuit with a 200-mile USAC Champ Car event. In 1970, USAC returned with what would become a traditional July race date. In 1973, a second USAC race was added to the Champ Car schedule, a fall race usually held in September.
[edit] CART Champ Car years
In 1979, both MIS races switched to CART Champ Car sanctioning, remaining 150 - 250 miles in length.
In 1980, Ontario Motor Speedway closed, and thus Indycar racing's triple crown lost one of its 500-mile races. In 1981, the summer race at Michigan was expanded to a 500-mile event, replacing Ontario. NBC agreed to broadcast the race live, making it the first 500-mile Indy race to be broadcast live. Michigan joined Indianapolis and Pocono for the new triple crown of 500-mile races. Following the 1986 CART season, the fall race was dropped from the schedule, leaving the Michigan 500 the track's lone Indycar event.
In 1987, the 500-mile race began to sponsored by Marlboro. On network television, however, due to tobacco regulations, the race was still advertised as the "Michigan 500." From 1988-1991 the race was part of the Marlboro Million, a cash prize awarded to any driver who won the Marlboro Grand Prix, the Marlboro 500, and the Marlboro Challenge All-Star event in the same year. The prize was never won.
In 1996, the CART series held a second 500-mile race, the U.S. 500, the same day as the Indianapolis 500. See main article: U.S. 500 for more information. The race featured a capacity crowd of around 80,000, albeit aided greatly by corporate sponsors who encouraged -- and allegedly, in some cases, ordered -- their employees to attend. This race was dropped immediately after its only running, partially due to a hope of running the Indy 500 in 1997.
After debris from a crash on the track killed 3 spectators in 1998, corporate sponsorship dropped off drastically, and attendance started to wane. Worse yet, MIS started a massive grandstand expansion program to accommodate the NASCAR crowds, and the smaller crowd looked even smaller in the larger grandstands. In addition, Roger Penske sold the track to ISC in 1999, and ISC lacked the emotional and economic ties to CART.
In spite of a very memorable race -- one of a long string of very memorable races -- the 2001 CART race was the last sanctioned by that organization at MIS.
[edit] Safety concerns
During the CART era, safety was always a major concern due to the high speeds of the CART cars. In fact, much of the discussion by the CART Board of Directors centered on safety issues when they approved increasing the race to 500 miles in 1981. Crashes at MIS ended the careers of Chip Ganassi, Emerson Fittipaldi, Hector Rebaque and Danny Sullivan, and crashes injured Derek Daly, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Jr., Gordon Johncock, Mario Andretti and Bobby Rahal among others. Most crashes resulted in a total write-off of the vehicle, and high speeds resulted in many mechanical failures.
While no drivers have been killed at an MIS open-wheel event, many drivers expressed grave reservations about racing at such speeds during the CART years, and it is fair to say that few drivers looked forward to racing at MIS. Michael Andretti and Nigel Mansell both complained publicly about the high speeds; ironically, both won in the years that they complained the loudest.
In 1987, a dogleg was hastily built on the backstrech, but was never used, partially due to fear of gearbox failure, but mostly due to concern over fan reaction.
Al Unser, Jr. averaged 189.727 mph in the 1990 Marlboro 500, which is still the fastest 500 race ever run at MIS. In 1996, Paul Tracy was clocked at 256.948 mph during a practice session.[citation needed] In 1997, Richie Hearn was clocked at 249.018. Paul Tracy set the track record for qualifying at 234.949 in 2000, which is still a track record.
In 1998, the Hanford Device was introduced. It was a rear wing which was modified to induce tons of drag. It provided wheel to wheel competition as well as multiple lead changes per lap. In 1998, CART counted 62 official lead changes, but since lead changes were only counted at the start-finish line, the number was much higher. These races were exciting to watch, but terrifying to the drivers.
Also in 1998, three spectators were killed, and six others injured, when debris from a single-car crash flew over the 15-foot fence into the grandstands. All of the wounded and dead were from local residents from Michigan. In spite of the improvements to the fence, subsequent attendance in races declined greatly over previous totals.
By 2001, it was clear that change was needed. CART drivers and teams still complained about the high speeds, with the corresponding safety and cost concerns that it generated. The Hanford Device cost $50,000, and was blamed by some for the death of Greg Moore in 1999 at Fontana. In 2001, an early attempt at a "soft wall" was tried, using tires to line the exit to turn 2, but it was ineffective, as the lone crash into the tires resulted in a total loss to the car and a trip to the hospital for the driver.
[edit] Indy Racing League years
Starting for the 2002 season, the race became an Indy Racing League Indycar series event. In addition, the race distance was changed from 500 miles to 400 miles. In a very memorable race, Tomas Scheckter overcame bickering with team owner Eddie Cheever to beat team mate Buddy Rice. The race featured wheel-to-wheel racing, albeit at much slower speeds than the CART-sanctioned events. In addition, Sarah Fisher became the first female driver to pass for the lead under green flag conditions in an Indy-style race.
The IRL was unable to rebuild the event's attendance in spite of heavy support from the Jackson, Michigan community leadership. In many cases, the attendance for supporting stock car events was as great, if not greater, than the IRL race itself.
For the 2007, the race had to move dates. The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard was moved by ESPN up one week, and created a conflict. Originally the race at Michigan was to move to July 22, but after the Indy Racing League added a new event at Mid-Ohio for that date, the race was moved to the first weekend in August. The IRL was faced with the task of selling tickets for 3 events (Mid Ohio, Michigan, and Detroit) within 6 weeks of each other, at venues that are within easy driving distance of one other.
In July, 2007, ISC announced that they would not be hosting an IRL race in 2008. The track management was not offered their traditional date for 2008 due to the same constraints that led to the 2007 date. In addition, track management wanted to return to the twin 200-mile race format in order to gain publicity, and the IRL refused to meet that request. Faced with very low attendance, as well as the task of a race only 2 weeks before a major NASCAR race, ISC terminated negotiations and announced that there would be no race in 2008.
[edit] Past winners
[edit] References
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