1996 IRL at Walt Disney World

[Rintin07]

6:30 Danny Sullivan starting his broadcasting career as he meant to go on :D

[99dndd]

Well we all knew that the IRL was a Mickey Mouse League.

This is the day American Open Wheel Racing died.

[AlonsoRules]

lol thats probably the biggest oval crowd the irls ever had!

[Rummenigge11]

crap league, with unheard of drivers, and ludicrous teams. Cart rules!

[BobbyRossRacing93]

@Rummenigge11 But who's still here?

[MrJoe53]

Historically cool to see, but knowing how the split of IRL and CART ruin the sport...don't like it at same time.

[BobbyRossRacing93]

@MrJoe53 It was a mix of both good and bad just like you said, I can't be mad at this because this was my first car race I ever went to. :)

[damnyankeefl]

thanks a lot for posting this

[damnyankeefl]

I went to all 5 of these races. I sure wish they still raced there. great track bring em back!

[benskateplanb]

the begging of the end for american open wheel racing.. locking in spots for the indy 500 FUCK YOU TONY GEORGE!!!!

[UltimateWheelman]

That's such a weird shape for an oval, which is what I like most about it.

[TheAntihero6212]

This track kinda reminds me of Nazareth. I wish they still raced here. It had potential to be a special track, from what I can see. :-)

[TheAntihero6212]

Scott Brayton would become only the seventh driver since WWII to grab back-to-back Indy 500 Poles in that year's race, joining the late Eddie Sachs, Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones, AJ Foyt, Tom Sneva, and Rick Mears; Only Helio Castroneves has done it since. However, we all know what happened to Scotty after he grabbed the pole.........

[TheAntihero6212]

10:14-10:43 Is that the Jonathan Byrd Cafeterias Jonathan Byrd? 'Cause it sure looks like it.

[DeathToRetro666]

this race is historical in that this was the first race of the league that killed indy racing. i honestly don't see how indycar can ever come back

[lakegary1]

When Tony George created the IRL he wanted to give american drivers an oppertunity to race in indy cars and the indy 500 that they normally wouldn't get a chance. Thats what I respected about him when he created the IRL, IT WORKED!!! Well at least for a while. Then of course he even forgot about his dream! What happened Tony?

[lakegary1]

Can anyone download the 1996 IRL Phoenix 200 or the New England 200 race? Those are 2 races I never got to see.

[lakegary1]

Thanks for posting the full race, I hate watching them a part at a time!!! Need more full reces from the 1996 Irl season.

[djbadlt]

not even Paul Page can polish a turd

[faustostewart]

the beginning of the end....

[TheCarlsonsRaiders]

IRL can suck my dick, CART was much better, and yet it died. Fuck you Tony George, and your entire organization.

[BobbyRossRacing93]

@TheCarlsonsRaiders well which one is still going >:)

[Treetop64]

Tony George. The man who destroyed American open-wheel racing.

[JoshTheBassist]

I was at this race.  IT WAS UNGODLY BORING. The truck races at Disney Speedway were way better =)

[Talladega93]

foookin' IRL. champ car all the way

[BobbyRossRacing93]

@Talladega93 well which one is still going >:)

[TheCarlsonsRaiders]

@BobbyRossRacing93 The one that doesn't deserve it.

[BobbyRossRacing93]

@TheCarlsonsRaiders Why did they seperate ?

[TheCarlsonsRaiders]

@BobbyRossRacing93 Because Tony George is a moron, and thought he could create a better series with slower, inferior cars. Champ car was faster, and better than the IRL right up until it ran out of money. A shame really, because they could do 240 mph laps at Fontana/Auto-club, try that in an Indycar today.

[BobbyRossRacing93]

@TheCarlsonsRaiders Why don't they use those type of cars now : /

[TheCarlsonsRaiders]

@BobbyRossRacing93 Because Honda and Dallara have a monopoly on supplying chassis and engines for the Indycar Series. In CART, teams had options.

[BobbyRossRacing93]

@TheCarlsonsRaiders Well thier together now I guess,

[erasetoimprove]

@TheCarlsonsRaiders I think Indycar is starting to move back in the right direction

[fo3]

@BobbyRossRacing93

TG owned ovals, and he and the other track owners wanted to control the teams.

CART wanted to use other tracks, not all ovals, and didn't want oval track owners to tell the what to do.

[Talladega93]

@BobbyRossRacing93 i know, it sucks

[BobbyRossRacing93]

@Talladega93 Well their together now I guess

[ChiTownJib]

what a great crowd and a unique track, i know the grandstands were knocked down but they should go back there

[tiresome79]

I'm booking a surprise for my family I did my research at bestvaluethemeparks (.) com

[Sprintcarrodeo]

It's obviously difficult to start a major racing series from scratch, but Tony George pulled it off. An inauspicious beginning for sure, but contrast this race with the You Tube video of the IRL at Texas in '98. Boat and Stewart going at it with Ray and Brack, great racing! I wish the IRL had remained an oval track only series.

[Andresouza23]

This man screwed up the IndyCars!!!

[dalejunior8888]

Dave Kudrave: the IRL's first-ever start & park driver.

[THEkingjaymz]

Wow, Tony Stewart only had one chin back then

[jbracer86]

15:55 Even in the first ever IRL start they didn't know how to line them up properly to take the green.

[jbracer86]

I remember I was 10 and was so confused, I expected to see all my favorites Andretti, Unser, Rahal, Emmo, Paul Tracy ready to start the 1996 season only to see a field full of no namers, has beens, and back markers, and to make matters worse to discover this would be the field for the Indy 500 that year was devastating.

[Rummenigge11]

@jbracer86 says a lot about what a sad fucker Tony George is.

[Rummenigge11]

Lazier had more than 60 Cart starts under his belt and he never quite made the podium. Then came the Irl and he is an Indy 500 winner. Pathetic.

[themayor911]

I don't think anybody can get me more pumped up about a race than Paul Page!!

[majik991]

Quote of the day "You'll see a lot of Dave Kudrave, that is for sure." LOL

[rlaffen]

So Micky was the original IZOD Trophy Girl...

[jasonmoyer]

Gotta love those American oval drivers like Michele Alboreto and Roberto Guerrero..

[IndyCarFan68]

@jasonmoyer So you harp on 2 of the 4 non-Americans; meaning 16 of the 20 drivers ARE American! I guess now your small mind kind find something else to nitpick.

[panzer1515]

This is a bad oval to Eliseo Salazar :(

[GoFeri]

Short ovals are always great and the IRL cars were not crapwagons yet, but uploading this race makes me sour. It reminds me of a big mistake that started the destruction of US open-wheel racing.

[Savvrawr]

Paul Page is king of open wheel commentating. I miss him...

Thumbs up!

[kirkpatrick321]

I was there in 1996.

[v10mclaren]

this was a neat track imo. shame its not used anymore, and wasnt really used much at all to begin with

[anthony0358]

oh man! the first ever IRL Race!

All oval racing!

Man those were the days!

[iRacerMatt]

@anthony0358 It might have succeeded if the cars were as cool as they were in 1996, long live the turbos!

[filo6777]

C'erano anche Alboreto ... e Cheever ... tempi eroici!!!

[racermac1988]

And the war is on...

[thisusersuck]

CART was better :)