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I feel like I had a whole breakthrough on writing my podcast epsiodes, like I've struggled so much with it but then yesterday I was like, wait, there is nothing from stopping me from writing these scripts just like I'm writing an essay to answer a Tumblr anon motorsport history question? nothing? so

#Kate talks

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I can tell my brain is fully in IndyCar Mode now because I've been thinking about IndyCar fic allllll day

#I have other things I need to write but #bus bros divorce fic is looking soooo enticing

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not me looking up scott mclaughlin because i’m very much team anyone kiwi and walking face first into the bus bros divorce drama

#somebody needs to write the bus bros divorce fic tbh LMAO #<<< prev tag #kate that is literally your job??? #guess what guys #im gonna just write the divorce fic myself

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hey maureen how can roger penske even own indycar in the first place my researches have been inconclusive and I trust you for storytelling of historical narratives better than anyone whether they're a century old or not

hi anon, I'm so glad you asked! buckle up while I give you the briefest, most straightforward history of sanctioning bodies for American Open-Wheel motorsport and you'll definitely be like "why is this even relevant" but it (mostly) is, I promise (the stuff that isn't relevant is just interesting and makes you realize that motorsport history does generally just operate on a time loop basically) (Adding this: I do talk about motorsport deaths in here so if that’s something that bothers you, pls keep scrolling. Fwiw, I do stay as vague as possible)

So in the very beginning, (1899!) a group of rich men formed a little club called the Automobile Club of America (otherwise known as ACA). Now don't let the name fool you because it was more or less, a small, local organization. The ACA was a founding arm of the American Automobile Association (otherwise known as the AAA), which happened in 1902. The AAA formed a contest board and sanctioned the Vanderbilt Cup (which was like The Big Race at this point).

Well, in 1907, AAA raised their dues and that pissed the ACA off so their response was essentially, "I see your Vanderbilt Cup and we're going to do the American Grand Prize" which pissed the AAA off and there was a Whole Thing that eventually ended up with an agreement that AAA would sanction all American races while the ACA would sanction all international events held on American soil (think like modern day F1 type races).

SO that essentially meant that AAA was in charge and oh boy, they were IN CHARGE. Bless their hearts, if a driver did a non-AAA sanctioned race (like say, a local dirt track race or a hill climb), the AAA would SUSPEND the driver from all AAA races, often for a full year (which was a big deal because it would prevent that driver from participating in the Indy 500 and if they continued to participate in 'outlaw' races, the AAA would just straight up revoke the driver's racing license). Essentially what started to happen is that young drivers would start to race on the local dirt tracks, gain 'outlaw' status and when they were ready, they would ask AAA for forgiveness and to gain their racer's license because AAA was more lenient to drivers who didn't already have a license.

Anyway, alls that to say is that the AAA was completely separate from everything, including (and especially) the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

So what changed?

Well. 1955 happened.

I am not even being dramatic when I say that it is no less than a miracle that motorsport as a whole survived 1955.

May 1955 saw Manny Ayulo die in a crash while practicing for the Indianapolis 500 (mind you, he was found to not be wearing his seatbelt), then ten days later, Alberto Ascari, Ferrari F1 World Champion was killed in a test session. AND THEN, Bill Vukovich, defending two-time Indy 500 champion (he had won the two previous) was leading the race and he was involved in a chain reaction crash that killed him and that -- listen, I think there is a misconception that in the past when drivers died, there was no backlash but there absolutely was and the public was horrified that this had happened.

And then -- because things weren't going badly enough -- approximately two weeks later, the racing world turned to watch Le Mans and at approximately 6:20 pm, at the end of the 35th lap, there was a (admittedly much smaller than Indy) chain reaction wreck that launched Pierre Levegh and his Mercedes towards the crowd. The car slammed into an embankment and there was so much force that a lot of the pieces of this car just kept going... right into a stand of spectators, killing at least 80 and injuring at least 120 more. I can talk more at length about the Le Mans disaster (which is what it's generally referred to as) but I do want to caution everybody because there are gruesome pictures on the internet, including ones where Pierre Levegh's body is more or less visible.

This triggered a whole chain reaction of events that had (and in some cases continue to have) long lasting impacts on all motorsports (which again, I would love to dig into if people are interested but for the sake of this essay, I will be brief and focused -- two things I'm really good at LMAO).

But the impact that I'm going to highlight here is that the AAA decided that at the conclusion of the 1955 racing season, they would no longer sanction any events.

WELL that is a Big Problem because AAA didn't only sanction the Indy 500, they sanctioned A LOT of races of various motorsport disciplines (not NASCAR though, they are completely separate). So Tony Hulman, owner of IMS, along with other midwest promotors formed what was initially called the "Temporary Emergency Committee" which ultimately ended up being called the United States Auto Club (USAC). And guess who owned it? Tony Hulman!

So USAC essentially becomes the be all, end all of what they called "Championship Car Racing" which is now what we think of as IndyCar. So USAC and IMS are owned by the same person. What could go wrong?

Well obviously lots go wrong and really the main reason that there even is the IndyCar Split (and the reason things got so bad) was because the same people owned IMS AND the Sanctioning Body. There are other things at play including Tony Hulman's sudden death and Elmer George's justified homicide and a plane crash but the core issue did ultimately boil down to the fact that the same person owned IMS and the sanctioning body and the Indy 500 was being placed above everything else to the detriment of everybody else (basically)

Anyway so like when Tony George forms the IRL (Indy Racing League), that takes over as the sanctioning body for the Indy 500. When IRL and Champ Whatever it was called by then merged back together in 2008, it was all done under the IRL stuff which meant the Hulman-George family still owned IndyCar, the series, as well as IMS/the Indy 500.

So in 2019, they sold both IMS/Indy 500 AND the IndyCar Series to Roger Penske. I wish they would have not done that because I think it would be better for American Open Wheel Racing if there was somebody independently looking out for their interests BUT things are so intertwined and the Indy 500 is such a powerful chip to have, I guess I don't know if it would ultimately matter who owned IndyCar?

So yeah, that is how Roger Penske could even buy IndyCar.

I hope this is clear enough and as always, I am willing to clarify anything/everything!

#grace is that you #im just not sure who else would call me maureen #motorsport history #Kate's history lessons #also holy shit i did try hard to be brief i promise

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oh i need somebody to ask me about how roger penske could even own indycar in the first place even though it’s a huge conflict of interest

(somebody did and i answered it here)

#i mean i’ll write the essay anyway but knowing somebody wants the answer will make me write it faster LMAO

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no it wouldn’t. it’s essentially only a big deal because roger penske owns both team penske and indycar (and people have long felt that that is Bad and that roger would absolutely rig things in his favor) so people are taking this whole deal as confirmation that roger is rigging things

seriously though, if it was ANY other team than penske, would be THIS big of a deal?

#which like to be clear that logic is flawed

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I dont care about ethics but rpf seems like it requires a lot of research.

Yeah but that's secretly the fun part.

#no this is exactly the appeal to me

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people are taking the p2p scandal very personally and part of me wants to unpack that but the other part of me knows i probably should just shut up 💀

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gagged them 😭😭😭😭

#CRYING #indycar #this scandal is just so good lol

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Please could you explain the meat wagon thing? 😭

okay so apparently last year scott mclaughlin had a sponsor called good ranchers which is a meat delivery service and he called it the meat wagon 💀

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I humbly request context on the cheating scandal please 🥺

OKAY so like this is in simple terms as I currently understand it!

SO push to pass — it’s a boost drivers have a certain amount of seconds per race. BUT there are limitations on when you can use it so you can. For example, you can’t use it on restarts.

So APPARENTLY somehow team penske’s cars had the ability to use P2P on restarts in Long Beach and Scott and Josef used it (Will apparently did not). So Scott and Josef got disqualified which means Pato is now the St Pete winner!

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penske MURDERED by indycar. 100000000 dead. all 3 drivers taken out back and shot. shame placed upon their familes for generations

#what a day omg

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indycar with a good old fashioned cheating scandal? yeehaw 🤠🤠🤠🤠

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Not F1 or Indy related but the season 3 promotion for Bridgerton has really ramped up - the trailer has some out, a world promo tour has been announced, and now Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlin have surprised fans at a screening in Australia and they look so good, and I have become unhinged. I must not become parasocial about them!!

OH YES

I saw them holding hands and I was so !!!!! their chemistry is soooooo good, I can't wait for this season. I think it'll be worth the wait!!

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Not a question but i wanna say thanks for being so nice to new fans (myself included), Indycar itself is such fun series but feeling so welcome by people like you and you explaining things and being willing to answer all questions is making this experience so much more enjoyable, thank you!

AWE this made my day!!

I did not have a particularly great experience as a brand new IndyCar fan and I feel like I had to struggle really hard to understand the series (things were a lot different when I started getting into it in 2019-ish as far as like the demographics of the fandom). And I accidentally built a little platform here with my social media tracking that was pretty centered on motorsports so I thought -- well, I can do good with this and I can help people have better experiences than I did?

Plus, if people haven't figured out, I love to talk and I love to share knowledge (if the education system wasn't so fucked, I would probably be a teacher) so I really do love to answer questions.

I'm glad you're having a good experience with IndyCar and I am honored to be a part of that <3

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What's something that brought you joy recently?

OOH!

Getting to spend time with my best friend is the biggest one. I went whale watching yesterday and that was magnificent. Getting to look at the world below on this airplane right now

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hello hello I have a 3 1/2 hour flight and wifi so like... pls send any questions/comments/thoughts/predictions about indycar or literally anything else. I'll even talk about f1