THE IRL-CART FEUD TIMELINE

March 1994 -- TONY GEORGE, PRESIDENT OF THE INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, ANNOUNCES THE FORMATION OF A LOWER-COST, AMERICAN-BASED OVAL SERIES THAT WILL INCLUDE THE INDY 500.

July 1994 -- INDY RACING LEAGUE IS NAMED.

December 1995 -- CART ANNOUNCES IT WILL BOYCOTT THE 1996 INDIANAPOLIS 500 AFTER GEORGE DECIDES THAT 25 OF 33 SPOTS IN THE FIELD WILL BE RESERVED FOR IRL REGULARS. AN ALTERNATE RACE IS PLANNED FOR MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY.

January 1996 -- THE IRL HOLDS ITS INAUGURAL EVENT AT WALT DISNEY WORLD. THE WINNER IS BUZZ CALKINS, A VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN RACER WHO COMPETED IN INDY LIGHTS THE PREVIOUS SEASON.

May 1996 -- BUDDY LAZIER WINS THE 80TH INDY 500, WHILE CALKINS AND SHARP CLINCH A SHARE OF THE IRL'S FIRST SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP. CART TEAMS COMPETE AT THE INAUGURAL U.S. 500 ON THE SAME DAY AT MICHIGAN; JIMMY VASSER WINS IN HIS BACKUP CAR AFTER CRASHING ON THE PACE LAP.

October 1997 -- TONY STEWART CLINCHES HIS FIRST IRL CHAMPIONSHIP. HE WILL LATER MOVE TO THE NASCAR WINSTON CUP SERIES.

March 1998 -- CART GOES PUBLIC ON THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE.

May 1998 -- INDIANAPOLIS REDUCES ITS MONTHLONG SCHEDULE TO TWO WEEKS TO REDUCE COSTS. THE TRADITIONAL MONTH OF TESTING AND QUALIFYING WILL RETURN TWO YEARS LATER.

November 1999 -- TEAM OWNER RICK GALLES ANNOUNCES THAT TWO-TIME INDY 500 WINNER AL UNSER WILL MOVE TO THE IRL IN 2000 AFTER LEAVING HIS LONGTIME CART RIDE WITH ROGER PENSKE'S TEAM.

May 2000 -- AFTER TAKING PART IN THE INDY 500 BOYCOTT FOR FOUR YEARS, CART STALWART CHIP GANASSI RETURNS TO THE BRICKYARD WITH DRIVERS JUAN MONTOYA AND JIMMY VASSER. MONTOYA WINS THE RACE AS A ROOKIE, WHILE VASSER FINISHES SEVENTH.

May 2001 -- MORE CART STARS RETURN TO THE INDY 500, INCLUDING MICHAEL ANDRETTI AND PENSKE'S TEAM OF GIL DE FERRAN AND HELIO CASTRONEVES. CASTRONEVES WINS THE RACE TO GIVE THE CAPTAIN HIS RECORD 11TH 500 VICTORY; CART TEAMS TAKE THE TOP SIX SPOTS.

December 2001 -- PENSKE ANNOUNCES HE WILL SWITCH TO THE IRL FULL TIME IN 2002 WITH TWO-TIME REIGNING CART CHAMPION DE FERRAN AND CASTRONEVES.

March 2002 -- CART BEGINS ITS 24TH SEASON WITH ONLY 20 REGULAR DRIVERS.

May 2002 -- EIGHT CART REGULAR QUALIFY FOR THE 86TH INDY 500, INCLUDING POLESITTER BRUNO JUNQUEIRA. IRL ANNOUNCES THAT HONDA WILL MAKE ENGINES FOR ITS SERIES AFTER ABANDONING CART, WHERE IT WON SIX STRAIGHT SEASON CHAMPIONSHIPS. A JAPANESE TRACK, TWIN RING MOTEGI, SIGNS UP AS THE IRL'S FIRST INTERNATIONAL EVENT FOR 2003 AFTER FIVE YEARS ON THE CART CIRCUIT.

-- AP