An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fenders. Open-wheel cars are built both for road racing and oval track racing. Open-wheel cars licensed for use on public roads, such as the Ariel Atom, are uncommon, as they are often impractical for everyday use.
The Offenhauser Racing Engine, or Offy, is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers.
All American Racers is an American-licensed auto racing team and constructor based in Santa Ana, California. Founded by Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby in 1964, All American Racers initially participated in American sports car and Champ Car races as well as international Formula One events with cars named Eagle. The Formula One team, based in the United Kingdom and using British-built Weslake engines was named Anglo American Racers. Under team manager Bill Dunne they set up shop in Rye, East Sussex. The team were adjacent to Harry Weslake's engine development plant and half a mile from Elva cars. They participated in 25 Grands Prix, entering a total of 34 cars.
American open-wheel car racing, generally known as Indy car racing, or more formally Indianapolis car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2024, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive events for professional-level, open-wheel race cars have been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies, tracing its roots as far back as 1902. A season-long, points-based, National Championship of drivers has been officially recognized in 1905, 1916, and each year since 1920. As such, for many years, the category of racing was known as Championship car racing. That name has fallen from use, and the term Indy car racing has become the preferred moniker.
Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones was an American professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race, and the Trans-Am Championship series. In 1962, he became the first driver to qualify over 150 mph (240 km/h). He won the race in 1963, then famously broke down while leading the 1967 race with three laps to go in a turbine car. During his career as an owner, he won the Indy 500 in 1970–1971 with driver Al Unser.
David Earl "Swede" Savage Jr. was an American race car driver. He died at age 26 from complications while recovering from injuries suffered in a crash during the 1973 Indianapolis 500, nearly five weeks earlier.
Joe Saldana is an American former open-wheel racing driver.
James H. Malloy Jr. was an American racecar driver.
Parker Johnstone III is a former race car driver and motorsports announcer from Redmond, Oregon. An accomplished musician, he was the principal trumpet of the International Youth Orchestra, touring Europe, playing with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, and famed pianist Van Cliburn. Instead of attending Juilliard School of Music, he went to the engineering school at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his degree in 1982.
The IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma was an IndyCar Series race held at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. The USAC Championship Car circuit raced at the circuit in 1970. In 2005, American open wheel racing returned to the circuit with an IndyCar Series event. The 2006 event saw rookie Marco Andretti win his first career race. It marked the record youngest winner of a major open-wheel racing event at the time.
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies since 1920 after two initial attempts in 1905 and 1916. The series is self-sanctioned by its parent company, IndyCar, LLC., which began in 1996 as the Indy Racing League (IRL) and was created by then Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George as a competitor to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). In 2008, the IndyCar Series merged with CART's successor, the Champ Car World Series and the history and statistics of both series, as well as those from its predecessors, were unified.
Élan Motorsport Technologies is an American enterprise that serves as an umbrella company containing the race car engineering, development and manufacturing companies owned by American racing and automotive company conglomerate Panoz Motor Sports Group. Élan engineers, designs and builds Panoz-branded race cars and components. Since its founding it has also acquired several manufacturers, including famous Formula Ford builders Van Diemen and IndyCar Series constructor G-Force. Élan-built cars have successfully competed in the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, IMSA Prototype Lites and various other championships, racing series and types of professional racing throughout the world. It designs, develops and manufactures full line race cars, i.e. chassis, bodies, components and engines for professional racing competition for a variety of segments and classes.
The 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 16th season of the IndyCar Series and the 100th recognized season of American open-wheel motor racing. The season was sanctioned by IndyCar and was part of the Mazda Road to Indy. The season began in March and concluded in October, consisting of seventeen events.
The MAVTV 500 was an IndyCar Series race held at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The event represented a continuous lineage of open wheel oval racing in the Southern California-area that dates back to 1970. Since 2012, the event had been sponsored by MAVTV, a motorsports cable channel owned by Lucas Oil.
The 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 17th season of the IndyCar Series, and the 101st season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event was the 96th Indianapolis 500, held on Sunday, May 27. The series was sanctioned by IndyCar, and took place in three countries on two continents. Chevrolet returned to the series for the first time since 2005 while Lotus debuted, with the later leaving the IndyCar Series after the 2012 season due to poor performance.
DragonSpeed Racing is an American racing team that competes in the European Le Mans Series, FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2019, the team entered the NTT IndyCar Series with a five race schedule, including the 103rd Indianapolis 500, with car #81 driven by Ben Hanley. In the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans, Team DragonSpeed USA won the LMP2 Pro/Am Category, in an Oreca 07, car #21, driven by Henrik Hedman, Ben Hanley and Juan Pablo Montoya.
The Lola T150, and it's the derivatives, the T152 and T153, were open-wheel racing car chassis, designed and built by Lola Cars to compete in USAC IndyCar racing series, between 1968 and 1970. The T150 and T153 were powered by the 159 cu in (2.61 L) 780–900 hp (580–670 kW) Ford Indy V-8 turbo engine; while the T152 chassis used a 159 cu in (2.61 L) 900 hp (670 kW) Offenhauser 4-cylinder turbo engine. Both the T150 and T152 used a unique four-wheel-drive system, which would be banned after the 1969 season. The T153 only used a conventional two-wheel-drive (rear-wheel-drive setup. The different chassis would, over the span of three years, win a total of 9 races, all while being driven by Al Unser.
The Colt 70 was an open-wheel race car, based on the Lola T150, designed for USAC IndyCar racing, specifically the 1970 season. It was driven by Al Unser, and successfully won the Indianapolis 500 that year.
The Eagle 69, also known as the Eagle Mark 7, was an open-wheel race car developed and built by Dan Gurney's All American Racers team, designed to compete in USAC IndyCar racing, starting in the 1969 season. In its most powerful form, It was powered by a small-displacement turbocharged Ford V8 engine, capable of producing over 800 hp (600 kW).
The Eagle 68 was an open-wheel race car developed and built by Dan Gurney's All American Racers team, designed to compete in USAC IndyCar racing, starting in the 1968 season.
AAR