What happened to Champ Car?
From 2003 to 2007, the Champ Car name was a significant part of the American open-wheel racing scene. But then, the name disappeared—so what exactly happened to it?The name Champ Car was derived from the national motorsport championship in the first half of the twentieth century: the car was a “Championship Car,” or “Champ Car” for short. As the Indianapolis 500 grew in importance, the term "Indy Car" gradually began to replace "Champ Car."
After the Indy Racing League split from the Indy Car World Series at the end of 1995, the "Indy Car" name could no longer be used, so the CART organization reverted to the old "Champ Car" name. Starting in 2003, Champ Car even became the name of the organization itself after CART went bankrupt and was purchased by Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi, and Kevin Kalkhoven.
The Champ Car name wouldn’t last much longer after 2007: in 2008, the series merged with the rival Indy Racing League, which had split from CART at the end of 1995. The “unified” series was called the IndyCar Series, a name that the series still uses today.So, the Champ Car name now refers to the period between CART and the “reunification” with the Indy Racing League.