I grew up about an hour from the Speedway in the 50's and 60's and remember very well the USAC days. What a glorious time to follow the 500, Champ Car Series, and racing in general. Tickets for the 500 went on sale the day after the race and normally sold out in a few hours, and this was before online ticket purchases. Hotel rooms were sold out years in advance. The race what you brought as long as it fit within the rules was great. Having the best of F1 and NASCAR competing against the USAC mainstays lent an International Flair that was lost when they starting holding the race on Sunday instead of Memorial Day (either the 30th or the last Monday depending on when it was celebrated). I really miss those days and the characters it produced. Foyt, Jones, Ward, Sachs, Mel Kenyon and his special glove to compensate for his burned hand. Merle Bettenhausen driving the 500 with one arm (he lost his right arm at MIS in 72). Vukovich, Granatelli, NOVI, STP, Dean Van Lones, Blue Crown, Offenhouser, Kutis Kraft, Leader Card, Bowes Seal Fast, Watson. The Rathman brothers racing under each other's name. Ma Unsers chili and her and her husbands Fireyear and Goodstone jackets.. And how about Jim Hurtubise roling up to the line to qualify his beloved Mallard Roadster even though he knew it wasn't fast enough. When time expired he opened the hood to reveal an ice chest filled with Miller Beer (his sponsor). While CART made the series better, the 500 simply hasn't been the same since.
Indinapolis 500 The Simulation. One of my favorite games and one of the first PC games I used to own back in the early 1990s. I favorite and liked this for all of it!
This really took me back, I used to play the crap out of Indy 500 on my dad's PC. Honestly I used to have more fun causing chaos though, I would win the pole and then cause a massive pileup on lap 1 and watch the replays of the destruction.
CART and USAC was a split, but the major difference is that there wasn't a 25-8 rule. The IRL only survived because it had the Indy 500, even if there were no-name field fillers.
It sure didn't help, but when you look at the landscape of tobacco money drying up and attendance issues that racing is having now I doubt they would have made it too much longer than they actually did.
Perhaps as they were going - heck, it wasn't even sustainable WITH the tobacco money, but you also have to remember that CART's death was NASCAR's boom. No telling if in the alternate universe we are pondering if CART has killed off Formula 1 or if the series dried up up the tobacco money. Fun to ponder though.
Agreed. Honestly between Greg Moore's death and Dale Sr's death I lost a lot of interest in both for about a decade. CART while mismanaged still had the talent to put on a superior show for a long time. Also can I make a request for the original Indycar Racing for the next video??? That's like my childhood right there.
One of the greatest games ever made. I still play it to this day around May. I still have the original manual and floppy for the game too. That being said, 30 laps no damage?! Come on Empty Box, I expected more out of you! I can qualify top 10 with the March-Cosworth, and I've got a couple top 5 finishes in the full 200 lap race! You need to up your keyboard skills! (Though I never won a race without cheating in this game (10 lap race, wreck all the cars in the front straight...))
The AOWR split is a complicated story that has many different eras that played an impact. As you mention in a later post, so many are caught up in the FTG 1995 split, not really understanding the USAC/CART split and all of what lead up to it, therefore not really understanding the evolutionary processes that set all of this in motion and created huge conflicting powers and ideologies . Also, as you mention, F1's story and NASCAR's story also play a massive role, and they themselves underwent much of the same evolution and today, they are facing the same identity crisis.
Fun fact, this year USAC is sanctioning the F1600 Championship Series. It isn't officially part of the Road To Indy, but it's often used by drivers as a step between karting and USF2000.
Awesome video Matt. I thing that ear of racing is so interestong the transiotion from front engine cars that could go on dirt and pavement to only pavement machines was such a change and I think that was a big factor. The racing itself went through such a big change and I think USAC coudn'dt keep up, I am pretty sure they kept changing rules to try to keep old stuff relevant such as the offy engine. Racing still was advancing and USAC couldn't keep up. It's amazing that the top level of open wheel used to go on dirt and pavement.
I've been going to the 500 for 11 years in a row including last Sunday and even i wish i was around the time all these advancements were being made for racing. And the one thing I regret was not giving a damn about Indy Car until like 2013 so I missed the last few good years for the sport where we had 50+ entries for the show and now we're stuck to being lucky enough to actually have the 33.
More to the point ... A good story told well. VERY interesting stuff and nicely done. I have two suggestions ... if it were legal, would you be willing to give your source material? Sort of a recommended book list. The other is a request. A similar project on Can-AM, Trans-Am? Heck ... there might be a job in this.
T Duncan If you're interested in another viewpoint of this split from a reporter from around the "later" years, Ed Hinton of ESPN wrote a five post blog entry of his experiences as a reporter during the more infamous time. Just google "ESPN Ed Hinton Indycar Split" and you'll find it. It's an absolute fanscinating read
excelent video and good info Matt i still have the original floppy disk for that game, its awesome and i still play it once in a while, you can actually play it with a gamepad or wheel via virtualbox, gas and brake are buttons but the steering is an analog input and its very enjoyable playing it like that
I loved those for ICR2 - the 3D model improvements then you got the updated dashboard and the carsets. There was a great feeling of weight to the car even without FF the corners were scary and the driving below the line a little and the track textures at Indy made for a Zen experience that no sim of Indy has met IMO since.
Don´t know if it was the first, but was mine 1st, I was about 15 at this time. I have it in the box with 5-1/4 flops. I easily spent hours a day racing real 500 miles sim using a good proportional flight stick and after padles as whee and proportional triggers as gas and brakes, like RC (remote control). Then, came my 1st wheel for World Circuit and Nascar, the rest you guess, all Simbin collection, rfactor´s/GSC/Automobilista and Assetto, with many other trials by the path, maybe one worth mentioning made my Gamigo online only, almost like iRacing, my first real online experience also with WC2 perhaps, can´t remember if World Circuit was called like this in the 2nd or 3th online version.
I think we all do. Even those who tend to scoff at those guys as not being fit for duty in a modern IndyCar. If the USAC guys are ever going to come back to the 500, that means one of two things have happened - 1) Yet another split, or most likely 2) WE ACTUALLY HAVE A BUMP DAY AGAIN!
so the ideas on the white paper were effed with, and when we need it again, unless it is defacto operation, we need to ha e Indycar revisit and make it happen again.
wow the Amiga version really was much better, especially sound-wise ^^' It required a faster CPU tu fully exploit it though (68020 or 30). Also I remember a settings 'exploit': on the red car (Lola maybe), by putting the front suspension super stiff and the rear toally loose, you suddeny stopped loosing speed in the bends, making it way faster than the others :D First proper motorsport sim, before Grand prix legends. And first with a realistic sound engine (on Amiga)
There is a reason CART was formed in the first place, USAC didn't have a clue. We'd be reminded they still didn't have a clue 18 years later when IMS/IRL admitted they didn't have a clue and removed them from officiating. It's no different than what the SCCA went through with World Challenge - they were out of their league, club level approaches to a national series and no will or desire to expand. I'm blah on Bernie. He was crazy in many ways but he kept the ship mostly up right and took heat himself to keep it off of the series. I think he set the series up in a problematic spot manifesting itself now all these years later, but could just as easily blame those who are calling the shots down wind of where he was.
Empty Box it's a culture clash. It went from home town American heros driving sprints midgets modifieds etc to being run by people with mega bucks. That's what makes American open wheel racing so shitty
Why would Roger give someone a shot because they are successful in sprints or midgets? That doesn't reflect what the series is, and hasn't for decades. Sure those cars are great for producing talent, but a 400-1000 HP rocket on dirt going left doesn't equate to 750 HP with a crap ton of downforce going left and right on asphalt. Karting is a far more relevant background to what the series has been for a looooooooong while. Who was the last sprint / midget guy who was actually successful in what is now IndyCar? You'd have to go back to Stewart, but even then he was racing in the early IRL which can hardly be considered a top challenge. His success in NASCAR doesn't automatically translate to an IndyCar, especially given a stock car is closer to a dirt car than a modern open wheeler. There is also of course Ed Carpenter, which while he wasn't ever a truly amazing standout talent in the USAC ranks, he's so horrendous on road courses he steps out of a car he owns and on ovals he's at best a contender occasionally while being one of the most boneheaded drivers out there. You can also go listen to Mears talk about transitioning to oval racing from road racing. Penske putting non-Americans in the car has little to do with anything other than talent. That's why he signed an American last year, and why he won the championship. Oh, and Newgarden made ECR worth a damn before Penske scooped him up. He was a better oval driver than the sprint and midget guy... Ain't that something.
Fair enough, just trying to give some feedback as that part felt like dragging a bit. Anyway just watched all 3 videos, quite enjoyed it, there was a surprising amount of interesting nuance in the whole story I'd never heard of. You planning on continuing with the post-1996 split era I assume?
Yes, series. I couldn't reasonably talk about the implosion in the late 90s / early 00s without it being just yet another "Fuck Tony George" video without the background. This all comes full circle.
Oh yea no doubt Bestwick is one of the GOATS in sports broadcasting as far as PxP. I was saying that because he won't be with ESPN/ABC next year after that firing that ESPN did a few weeks ago.
The lead announcer on ABC/ESPN pays the price for the poor job by those surrounding him. It doesn't matter who that lead announcer is, it's hard to do a good job with those they've had surrounding them in the last several years. Cheever and Goodyear are just not a good combination. Definitely not a dynamic combination that is for sure. But it's more than that. I've heard Marty Reid set them up with things they should be able to run with and talk about. I've heard Bestwick do the same. And Cheever/Goodyear consistently drop the ball and let it hit the ground rather than running with it and take advantage of the opportunity for entertaining and informing commentary. And some of this goes back to the overall production as well and giving them all something to work with. But that is a two way street with the booth. Hopefully, when the contract is up in a year it can go to NBC entirely because NBSN has shown they know how to do a racing broadcast and staff it properly and produce it properly. ...IMHO....
Alan Hamilton I won't be surprised and saddened if ABC/ESPN loses the TV rights to the Indy 500 and now NBC & NBCSN would take over the entire schedule... Its just time for that to happen after 2018.
The Indy 500 was a metaphor for US industry. It used to be about innovation and a showcase of US industry, plus general courage of truly dangerous racing. Greed by the George family killed all that, and what's left is an open wheeled NASCAR like spec series featuring nothing made in the US. It just a bullshit hypefest now, with racing replaced by a lottery of pit stop passing. F1 is no better, all ruined by greedy old men leaving us with boring racing. The last hope of car racing is WEC, but real racing continues to be MotoGP.
I grew up about an hour from the Speedway in the 50's and 60's and remember very well the USAC days. What a glorious time to follow the 500, Champ Car Series, and racing in general. Tickets for the 500 went on sale the day after the race and normally sold out in a few hours, and this was before online ticket purchases. Hotel rooms were sold out years in advance. The race what you brought as long as it fit within the rules was great. Having the best of F1 and NASCAR competing against the USAC mainstays lent an International Flair that was lost when they starting holding the race on Sunday instead of Memorial Day (either the 30th or the last Monday depending on when it was celebrated). I really miss those days and the characters it produced. Foyt, Jones, Ward, Sachs, Mel Kenyon and his special glove to compensate for his burned hand. Merle Bettenhausen driving the 500 with one arm (he lost his right arm at MIS in 72). Vukovich, Granatelli, NOVI, STP, Dean Van Lones, Blue Crown, Offenhouser, Kutis Kraft, Leader Card, Bowes Seal Fast, Watson. The Rathman brothers racing under each other's name. Ma Unsers chili and her and her husbands Fireyear and Goodstone jackets.. And how about Jim Hurtubise roling up to the line to qualify his beloved Mallard Roadster even though he knew it wasn't fast enough. When time expired he opened the hood to reveal an ice chest filled with Miller Beer (his sponsor).
While CART made the series better, the 500 simply hasn't been the same since.
I had forgotten half those names = use to watch in the 60's and 70's.
Here's another. Jigger Sirois. I was there at the Speedway when he made his entry into Speedway Lore.
That was an amazing time, even though I wasn't old enough to see it. I'm surprised David Land didn't reply to this.
cee128d 1
this game looks incredible accurate for such graphics
Indinapolis 500 The Simulation. One of my favorite games and one of the first PC games I used to own back in the early 1990s. I favorite and liked this for all of it!
empty box playing indy 500, now this is some neat thing we got here
cidcarlosaugusto I loved this game when I was a kid!
Me too
This really took me back, I used to play the crap out of Indy 500 on my dad's PC. Honestly I used to have more fun causing chaos though, I would win the pole and then cause a massive pileup on lap 1 and watch the replays of the destruction.
I remember playing this as a kid. Took me forever to win the 200 laps race, and afterwards I was never able to repeat the success.
Being from outside the US I knew some of the stories/history but not this much detail or how far back this went. Interesting to hear more about it.
Same. American open wheel racing history is pretty much absent from the general European motorsport fan mind.
@@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8Xits crazy how indycar is older than f1 by like 50 years and no international love
Thank you for this video Matt. Very informative and easy to listen to. Will be waiting for the next chapter.
Great work Matt! Can't wait for the rest of the series.
CART and USAC was a split, but the major difference is that there wasn't a 25-8 rule. The IRL only survived because it had the Indy 500, even if there were no-name field fillers.
I'm still convinced that the IRL surviving and CART dying is more due to incredibly poor management decisions on the behalf of CART than the 500.
Trying to run a race at Texas Motor Speedway was the start of it.
It sure didn't help, but when you look at the landscape of tobacco money drying up and attendance issues that racing is having now I doubt they would have made it too much longer than they actually did.
Perhaps as they were going - heck, it wasn't even sustainable WITH the tobacco money, but you also have to remember that CART's death was NASCAR's boom. No telling if in the alternate universe we are pondering if CART has killed off Formula 1 or if the series dried up up the tobacco money. Fun to ponder though.
Agreed. Honestly between Greg Moore's death and Dale Sr's death I lost a lot of interest in both for about a decade. CART while mismanaged still had the talent to put on a superior show for a long time. Also can I make a request for the original Indycar Racing for the next video??? That's like my childhood right there.
One of the greatest games ever made. I still play it to this day around May. I still have the original manual and floppy for the game too.
That being said, 30 laps no damage?! Come on Empty Box, I expected more out of you! I can qualify top 10 with the March-Cosworth, and I've got a couple top 5 finishes in the full 200 lap race! You need to up your keyboard skills! (Though I never won a race without cheating in this game (10 lap race, wreck all the cars in the front straight...))
The AOWR split is a complicated story that has many different eras that played an impact. As you mention in a later post, so many are caught up in the FTG 1995 split, not really understanding the USAC/CART split and all of what lead up to it, therefore not really understanding the evolutionary processes that set all of this in motion and created huge conflicting powers and ideologies . Also, as you mention, F1's story and NASCAR's story also play a massive role, and they themselves underwent much of the same evolution and today, they are facing the same identity crisis.
Fun fact, this year USAC is sanctioning the F1600 Championship Series. It isn't officially part of the Road To Indy, but it's often used by drivers as a step between karting and USF2000.
Last time I was this early McLaren was still a good f1 team
Awesome video Matt. I thing that ear of racing is so interestong the transiotion from front engine cars that could go on dirt and pavement to only pavement machines was such a change and I think that was a big factor. The racing itself went through such a big change and I think USAC coudn'dt keep up, I am pretty sure they kept changing rules to try to keep old stuff relevant such as the offy engine. Racing still was advancing and USAC couldn't keep up. It's amazing that the top level of open wheel used to go on dirt and pavement.
That ending was complete nightmare fuel.
can't wait for next episode！
I've been going to the 500 for 11 years in a row including last Sunday and even i wish i was around the time all these advancements were being made for racing. And the one thing I regret was not giving a damn about Indy Car until like 2013 so I missed the last few good years for the sport where we had 50+ entries for the show and now we're stuck to being lucky enough to actually have the 33.
Awesome video Matt, thanks for the history lesson can't wait for the rest of it.
More to the point ... A good story told well. VERY interesting stuff and nicely done. I have two suggestions ... if it were legal, would you be willing to give your source material? Sort of a recommended book list. The other is a request. A similar project on Can-AM, Trans-Am? Heck ... there might be a job in this.
T Duncan If you're interested in another viewpoint of this split from a reporter from around the "later" years, Ed Hinton of ESPN wrote a five post blog entry of his experiences as a reporter during the more infamous time. Just google "ESPN Ed Hinton Indycar Split" and you'll find it. It's an absolute fanscinating read
Nice job Matt I really enjoyed the video!!!!
excelent video and good info Matt
i still have the original floppy disk for that game, its awesome and i still play it once in a while, you can actually play it with a gamepad or wheel via virtualbox, gas and brake are buttons but the steering is an analog input and its very enjoyable playing it like that
God damn cheater running the apron.
This was the 80s, the apron was fair game!
I must apologize for my ignorance.
You were probably smoking the last part of your name at the time.
It's OK as long as USAC didn't notice...
Nicely put together cheers EB
If you ever record a video using Indycar Racing 2, I may still have some nice CART/Champcar carsets from 2002-2008.
I loved those for ICR2 - the 3D model improvements then you got the updated dashboard and the carsets. There was a great feeling of weight to the car even without FF the corners were scary and the driving below the line a little and the track textures at Indy made for a Zen experience that no sim of Indy has met IMO since.
The ghost of IRL and why January IRL was a thing at disney world
Indy 500 on the Amiga with a mouse,mind blown in '89.
Used to play this game on my Amiga 2000 in the late eighties, early nineties.
I wonder if David Land has seen this???
These are awesome! You should do formula 1 history as well!
Don´t know if it was the first, but was mine 1st, I was about 15 at this time. I have it in the box with 5-1/4 flops. I easily spent hours a day racing real 500 miles sim using a good proportional flight stick and after padles as whee and proportional triggers as gas and brakes, like RC (remote control). Then, came my 1st wheel for World Circuit and Nascar, the rest you guess, all Simbin collection, rfactor´s/GSC/Automobilista and Assetto, with many other trials by the path, maybe one worth mentioning made my Gamigo online only, almost like iRacing, my first real online experience also with WC2 perhaps, can´t remember if World Circuit was called like this in the 2nd or 3th online version.
Technically, it’s called FOCA, not FICA
Damn! Is that the game where you had to answer questions in order to be able to boot it up? Faint memories... Vukovich...
@emptybox where are the tokyo xtreme racer videos? I was enjoying the series so much ):
Yay! That was my first "real" racing game as well. So I guess, we'll see sequels as well :-)
Wish more USAC guys could get Indy 500 rides such as Ballou, Bacon, KTJ, Windom, Swanson. Etc
I think we all do. Even those who tend to scoff at those guys as not being fit for duty in a modern IndyCar. If the USAC guys are ever going to come back to the 500, that means one of two things have happened - 1) Yet another split, or most likely 2) WE ACTUALLY HAVE A BUMP DAY AGAIN!
Empty Box so CART/ChampCar 3.0?
I would LIKE this 1000X if I could
Excellent start!!
Can you do a review on the Assetto Corsa ready to race DLC
so the ideas on the white paper were effed with, and when we need it again, unless it is defacto operation, we need to ha e Indycar revisit and make it happen again.
Good ol PC Speaker sound
i played this game back in the day.
I used to love playing that game even though I played it on the Amiga 500 which had better graphics and not as blocky or pixelated as the PC version.
Part 2? The split up?
the information of the video is very interesting, BUT the indy 500 game has a very annoying sound ... that almost kills the longing for more.
You should make a live UA-cam vid of racing
wow the Amiga version really was much better, especially sound-wise ^^' It required a faster CPU tu fully exploit it though (68020 or 30). Also I remember a settings 'exploit': on the red car (Lola maybe), by putting the front suspension super stiff and the rear toally loose, you suddeny stopped loosing speed in the bends, making it way faster than the others :D
First proper motorsport sim, before Grand prix legends. And first with a realistic sound engine (on Amiga)
Rip Dan Gurney
Memories. Awesome game.
I played a LOT of Indy 500
Was this game before Microprose Grand Prix? Looks similar graphically.
Yes, this was 1989, Grand Prix was 91/92.
Empty Box wow, shows how slow the progression was in the very early days. They look very similar for a 3 year difference. Thanks for the reply.
Man it really sounds like you're down on USAC and Indy. And pro Bernie in F1?
There is a reason CART was formed in the first place, USAC didn't have a clue. We'd be reminded they still didn't have a clue 18 years later when IMS/IRL admitted they didn't have a clue and removed them from officiating. It's no different than what the SCCA went through with World Challenge - they were out of their league, club level approaches to a national series and no will or desire to expand.
I'm blah on Bernie. He was crazy in many ways but he kept the ship mostly up right and took heat himself to keep it off of the series. I think he set the series up in a problematic spot manifesting itself now all these years later, but could just as easily blame those who are calling the shots down wind of where he was.
Empty Box it's a culture clash. It went from home town American heros driving sprints midgets modifieds etc to being run by people with mega bucks. That's what makes American open wheel racing so shitty
Empty Box god forbid Roger Penske give someone that's successful in sprints midgets etc a shot in a top ride. Oh no. Let's put foreigners in the ride.
Why would Roger give someone a shot because they are successful in sprints or midgets? That doesn't reflect what the series is, and hasn't for decades. Sure those cars are great for producing talent, but a 400-1000 HP rocket on dirt going left doesn't equate to 750 HP with a crap ton of downforce going left and right on asphalt. Karting is a far more relevant background to what the series has been for a looooooooong while.
Who was the last sprint / midget guy who was actually successful in what is now IndyCar? You'd have to go back to Stewart, but even then he was racing in the early IRL which can hardly be considered a top challenge. His success in NASCAR doesn't automatically translate to an IndyCar, especially given a stock car is closer to a dirt car than a modern open wheeler. There is also of course Ed Carpenter, which while he wasn't ever a truly amazing standout talent in the USAC ranks, he's so horrendous on road courses he steps out of a car he owns and on ovals he's at best a contender occasionally while being one of the most boneheaded drivers out there.
You can also go listen to Mears talk about transitioning to oval racing from road racing.
Penske putting non-Americans in the car has little to do with anything other than talent. That's why he signed an American last year, and why he won the championship.
Oh, and Newgarden made ECR worth a damn before Penske scooped him up. He was a better oval driver than the sprint and midget guy... Ain't that something.
This was all very interesting and educational, but surely, surely you could've summarized the Dan Gurney letter a bit rather than reading it in full?
Could have, elected not to as I deemed it important enough to warrant it.
Fair enough, just trying to give some feedback as that part felt like dragging a bit. Anyway just watched all 3 videos, quite enjoyed it, there was a surprising amount of interesting nuance in the whole story I'd never heard of. You planning on continuing with the post-1996 split era I assume?
Yes, it will continue on from where part 3 left off.
where is the AC AI video man???
Watch the video uploaded before this video.
series?
Yes, series. I couldn't reasonably talk about the implosion in the late 90s / early 00s without it being just yet another "Fuck Tony George" video without the background. This all comes full circle.
i just wish be didnt have a retro blinginginging in the back round while you were talking.
GP2 Declaration of independence
I must annoy it is my calliing.
Matt could replace Allen Bestwick next year. He could prob straighten Cheever and Goodyear out and has a commentating voice.
Bestwick is great, it's Cheever in particular that kills the ABC crew. Goodyear is average at best even without Cheever, but he isn't the problem.
Oh yea no doubt Bestwick is one of the GOATS in sports broadcasting as far as PxP. I was saying that because he won't be with ESPN/ABC next year after that firing that ESPN did a few weeks ago.
The lead announcer on ABC/ESPN pays the price for the poor job by those surrounding him. It doesn't matter who that lead announcer is, it's hard to do a good job with those they've had surrounding them in the last several years. Cheever and Goodyear are just not a good combination. Definitely not a dynamic combination that is for sure. But it's more than that. I've heard Marty Reid set them up with things they should be able to run with and talk about. I've heard Bestwick do the same. And Cheever/Goodyear consistently drop the ball and let it hit the ground rather than running with it and take advantage of the opportunity for entertaining and informing commentary.
And some of this goes back to the overall production as well and giving them all something to work with. But that is a two way street with the booth.
Hopefully, when the contract is up in a year it can go to NBC entirely because NBSN has shown they know how to do a racing broadcast and staff it properly and produce it properly.
...IMHO....
Alan Hamilton I won't be surprised and saddened if ABC/ESPN loses the TV rights to the Indy 500 and now NBC & NBCSN would take over the entire schedule... Its just time for that to happen after 2018.
beee booo bii bi boooo.
480P?
The sounds of the game are obnoxious and pretty much ruined the video. Still a thumbs up, though, because, history.
Tinfoil hat alert lol
Why would you need a tinfoil hat?
with the sound an pixels it came to mind not EMPTY BOX commentary oops left that out my bad
The Indy 500 was a metaphor for US industry. It used to be about innovation and a showcase of US industry, plus general courage of truly dangerous racing. Greed by the George family killed all that, and what's left is an open wheeled NASCAR like spec series featuring nothing made in the US. It just a bullshit hypefest now, with racing replaced by a lottery of pit stop passing. F1 is no better, all ruined by greedy old men leaving us with boring racing. The last hope of car racing is WEC, but real racing continues to be MotoGP.
1st xD hyd doing empty box