Motorsport in the United States

Motor sports are widely popular in the United States, but Americans generally ignore major international series, such as Formula One and MotoGP, in favor of home-grown racing series.

Road racing has generally waned, though an extensive, albeit illegal street racing culture persists.^[1]

Americans, like the rest of the world, initially began using public streets as a host of automobile races. As time progressed it was soon discovered that these venues were often unsafe to the public as they offered relatively little crowd control. Promoters and drivers in the United States discovered that horse racing tracks could provide better conditions for drivers and spectators than public streets.

In the 1910s, board track racing became widely popular. Based on the concept of the velodrome used in bicycle racing, board tracks were relatively inexpensive but could accommodate far faster speeds than dirt tracks. The drawbacks of board tracks soon became apparent: the tracks were difficult to maintain and, being constructed of wood, highly flammable; most closed or burned down within a few years of opening, with the phenomenon as a whole largely abandoned by the end of the 1920s. Many of the principles that board tracks used, including the elliptical banked tracks with smooth surfaces, were later adapted into oval track racing, first by the contemporary brickyard surface pioneered by Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909, then on asphalt surfaces, which provided many of the benefits of board tracks without the flammability or durability problems.

The result has been long standing popularity for oval track racing while road racing has waned; however, an extensive illegal street racing culture persists.^[2]

Historically,

Notable IndyCar drivers include A. J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Al Unser, Al Unser Jr., Bobby Unser, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon.

Since reunification, the Indycar series and especially the Indianapolis 500 have enjoyed a resurgence. The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2016 (races were not held during the years of 1917-1918 and 1942-1945 due to world wars) featured the largest crowd in more than two decades, and local Indianapolis media suspended their longstanding television "blackout" during the race due to a sold-out crowd.^[5] Californian rookie and ex-Formula 1 driver Alexander Rossi won the 2016 Indy 500 on fuel mileage ^[6] and subsequently became an IndyCar mainstay at Andretti Autosport.^[7]

Subsequent races have featured victories by Takuma Sato (2017), Will Power (2018), and Simon Pagenaud (2019).

Longtime team owner and billionaire ^[8] Roger Penske purchased Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the IndyCar series, and IMS Productions in November 2019.^[9]