Class of 99 and Indy Split

Author John Oreovicz is one of the finest motorsports journalists in the country, and this bundle pairs his award-winning book, Indy Split, with his brand-new epic saga, Class of '99! Get yours today! 

CLASS OF '99

For a huge number of IndyCar racing fans, October 31, 1999, was the day the music died. On that blackest of Halloweens, the sport lost its brightest young star: Greg Moore. No one person was capable of saving Indy car racing from destroying itself, but if anyone stood a chance, it was Moore. He was just twenty-four years old when he died, and already he had captivated a legion of fans and conquered the world-class drivers he fought against on the track in the CART series.

Moore ultimately didn’t factor in the 1999 CART championship battle that ended in a points tie between Franchitti and brash twenty-three-year-old rookie Juan Pablo Montoya after a modern-era record twenty races. But that remarkable title clash—and its tragic conclusion—was just one of many storylines during what was arguably the most compelling single season of competition in the one-hundred-year history of American open-wheel championship racing.

Class of ’99 recounts the 1999 CART season in detail, combining contemporary reporting and new interviews conducted by author John Oreovicz with many of the key players to bring the year’s personalities and storylines to life with nuance, depth, and reflection.

INDY SPLIT

Indy Split is the winner of the Motor Press Guild's Best Book and Dean Batchelor Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism, a silver winner for the 2022 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award in Sports & Recreation, and a bronze winner of a 2022 IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Award) in Sports!

Indy Split is a fascinating, authoritative and overdue account of the big money battle that nearly destroyed the sport of Indy car racing. In the new book, long-time motorsports reporter John Oreovicz dives deep into the divisive battle between CART and the Indy Racing League. With insightful reporting, Oreovicz recounts the political infighting within the industry which climaxed with a 12-year “Split” from 1996 to 2007 between competing forms of Indy car racing and prevented the sport from achieving its potential.
 
The book traces the roots of Indy car racing’s dysfunction, which began in 1945 when Tony Hulman rescued the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from potential redevelopment. Over the next 75 years, the Hulman-George family used the stature of the Speedway to carve out a powerful position in American auto racing that sometimes resulted in conflict with Indy car competitors. A volatile period in the late 1970s sparked the formation of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), and tensions ramped up even more when Hulman’s grandson, Tony George, assumed power in 1990.
 
In unprecedented detail, Indy Split uncovers how the Split forced Indy car fans, sponsors, broadcasters and participants to choose sides. The book brings to light the confusion and animosity which caused unnecessary damage to the sport, and covers how negotiations driven by legendary racer Mario Andretti and actor/racer Paul Newman ended the Split in 2008, only to have George to walk away less than three years later. The long struggle for stability was finally resolved in 2020 when Roger Penske acquired IMS and the IndyCar Series, securing a bright future for the Speedway, the Indy 500, and the sport.
 
Longtime motorsports reporter John Oreovicz began attending the Indianapolis 500 as a teenager in the late ‘70s, allowing him to witness the sport’s growth as an avid fan before documenting its decline as a journalist. With a foreword by Motorsport Hall of Fame inductee Robin Miller, arguably Indy car racing’s most vocal advocate, this is the real story of The Split from one of the sport’s most respected voices.
 

ACCOLADES FOR INDY SPLIT

“First off all, Oreo is a good writer who covered CART/IRL/IndyCar for ESPN.com, Autosport, RACER and was the PR man for PacWest. He knows the sport, the players and the politics, and this book needed to be written because it lays out all the stupidity, egos and mistakes that were made on both sides. And you can’t say The Split didn’t do the damage - just look at the attendance, sponsorship, TV ratings and media coverage that CART had in the ’90s and see how it’s diminished today. John spent several years getting interviews and going over notes and old stories, and I think it was about as even-handed a view as anyone would want. I’m proud of Oreo for penning a much-needed history book.”
–Robin Miller, March 2021