Caption Competition 286: What have we here?

The most famous IndyCar race is the Indianapolis 500, held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in front of huge crowds. However American open-wheel racing has a chequered history. The championship reached its peak in the late eighties and early nineties under the sanctioning body CART. It attracted huge international attention as Formula 1 champions including Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti competed in it. However the creation of the rival Indy Racing League in 1996 created a split which badly damaged the championship. CART, which rebranded as Champ Car, fell into decline. By 2008, with Champ Car on the bring of collapse, the two series finally merged, but the damage had been. Nonetheless today’s IndyCar championship retains a reputation for spectacular racing with its single-specification chassis and features a broad range of circuits including road, street and traditional American oval courses.