Dan Gurney's words still hold true today...and his son is a champion racer in sports cars. (LAT photo) » More Photos

For those who haven’t followed its every insult, here’s a condensed history of the split:

* In 1978, Dan Gurney writes the White Paper, which urges team owners to form their own advocacy group to counteract the ineptness of the U.S. Auto Club, the sanctioning body at the time. When the USAC board rejects the proposal, Gurney, Roger Penske and Pat Patrick lead a movement to form Championship Auto Racing Teams and break away from USAC, which remains the sanctioning body for the Indianapolis 500.

* Jump ahead to the mid-1990s. Tony George, whose family owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway and remains closely associated to USAC, is frustrated with the F1-like dominance of a few wealthy teams in CART and the fact that the owners also run the sanctioning body. He announces that the 1996 Indy 500 will operate as part of his new Indy Racing League. George’s implementation of the 25/8 rule, which allows only eight spots on the Indy 500 starting grid for teams that don’t compete in the IRL’s races, is seen by CART owners as proof of ill will. They call it a lockout and schedule their own race, the U.S. 500 at Michigan, on the same day in 1996.

* The following year, the IRL introduces its own equipment with two major points that differentiate it from CART equipment -- naturally aspirated engines and high-downforce aero packages that allow the cars to perform at NASCAR-like closeness on NASCAR-like tracks. The IRL’s all-oval format is seen as laughable by CART leaders, who continue down their own path of road courses, street courses and ovals in cars with turbocharged engines. Meanwhile, drivers and teams that had been backmarkers in CART races before the split start winning IRL events and championships. USAC, which had been in charge of IRL race operations, is eventually dropped, and its longtime association with IMS and the 500 ends.

* In 2003, a dramatic shift in leverage takes place when first Toyota and then Honda leave CART and join the IRL, bringing major players like Penske, Ganassi, Andretti and Rahal along for the ride. General Motors, the IRL’s original engine supplier, soon bows out, and NASCAR-bound Toyota follows, leaving the IRL with a single-engine, single-chassis format.

* After George tries and fails to purchase CART’s assets in bankruptcy court in 2004, Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerald Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi revive the moribund series under the Champ Car banner. All but the most successful teams are thought to be bankrolled by Kalkhoven; meanwhile, George is financially supporting the IRL’s least successful teams and starting his own team, another point of contention for CART supporters.

* In recent years, the IRL has gained momentum over Champ Car as the overall interest in American open-wheel racing has faded dramatically. NASCAR is now considered the fourth entity in American professional sports, trailing only the NFL, NBA and MLB in popularity. The Indy 500 still outdraws the Daytona 500 on race day, but only because Daytona has fewer seats.

* This winter, it becomes apparent through waning sponsorship, suddenly canceled races and just a few contracted drivers that Champ Car is in serious jeopardy. Reports abound that George has offered free chassis and engine leases to Champ Car teams willing to cross over. On Friday, an agreement is finally reached among George, Kalkhoven and Forsythe that will bring Champ Car teams into the IRL fold.

So the war is over -- for now, anyway -- yet little has changed. Most of the same people who were successful in open-wheel racing in 1995 are still successful at it today, only they’re doing it under George’s rule in slightly different equipment. The shift of power is complete, yet it looks much like 1995.

In the end, the motives of both sides weren’t all that outrageous. No, what trashed open-wheel racing was the way they went about attaining their goals. Both sides saw something wrong with the way things were being run and sought to change. Frankly, Gurney was right. USAC was a joke in the late ’70s, incapable of conducting or promoting a major-league racing series. But what replaced it -- an owner-operated series -- was probably worse.

Criticize the way George went about it -- truth be told, the 25/8 rule at Indy set this thing on fire more than any single act -- but his motives weren’t out of line, either. Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 are his enterprises. If he saw something wrong with the organization that raced at his track, he had a right to change it. He had an obligation to change it.

But a little diplomacy would have done the trick. Instead of taking a blowtorch to it, he could have lit a match under them. He would have gotten what he wanted without 12 years of bonfire.

Yet, for all the bitterness and blame he receives, George is not the sole cause of what went on the past dozen years. He’s not the monster he’s made out to be. He’s also not the same person he was in 1995. He isn’t rigidly stuck to any misguided notions about what open-wheel racing should be, a claim that couldn’t be made 10 years ago. He’s shown a willingness to compromise and adapt. He’s surrounded himself with sharp people. He’s created something far more nimble than old-school USAC, something better equipped to react and adjust.

He’s also the only one in a position to revive this form of racing. Nobody else is in control now, or fighting for control. It belongs to him. To the Champ Car faithful, that thought makes skin crawl. To others, it’s not such a squeamish notion. At least now there’s one direction and one leader, and, as F1 and NASCAR have proven in recent decades, racing thrives under dictatorships. As this form of racing has proven, it falls apart when everyone wants to dictate.

The last 12 years (some will say the last 30 years) were nothing more than a shin-kicking contest among men who have more money than God intended them to have. Their motives may have been understandable, but their actions were unforgivable. Shame on all of you. Shame on your greed. Shame on your lack of foresight. Shame on you for not caring about the people who pay your bills. All of you share some blame, and all of you share an obligation to put it back together.

Nobody won this war, no points were proven. Some say they’re willing to forgive and forget. Others, like the fans who walked away, never will forgive. How do you forgive people who would do this to the sport they claim to love? How do you trust people like that?

A wise old relative once said, “Never trust a rich man. If he has more money than you and intends to keep it that way, he will tell you a lie, smile to your face and reach for your wallet.”

A bunch of us fantasy-league geeks figured that out a long time ago.

Jeff Olson is a Senior Writer for RACER magazine. For details about the current issue, visit www.racer.com.


The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, SPEED, or Haymarket Worldwide.