The term "Indy car" began as a popular nickname for the cars competing in USAC's Championship Division, deriving from the sport's most celebrated event, the Indianapolis 500. The name eventually overtook the official term "championship car" in everyday use. CART, which became the dominant governing body after breaking from USAC in 1979, officially adopted the mark when Indianapolis Motor Speedway registered the camelcase trademark IndyCar in 1992 and licensed it to CART.
In 1994, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George founded the Indy Racing League as a lower-cost oval-focused alternative to what he saw as a technology-heavy, team-dominated CART. Racing began in 1996. George designed the IRL to promote American grassroots talent — from midget and sprint car backgrounds — in the tradition of legends such as A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, and Al Unser. The IRL reserved 25 of the 33 Indianapolis 500 grid slots for full-time IRL teams, a move CART met by staging a rival event, the U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway, on the same Memorial Day weekend in 1996.
A settlement over the IndyCar trademark saw CART relinquish the mark after the 1996 season; the IRL agreed not to use it until after 2002. CART rebranded simply as CART for 1997 and revived the "champ car" description for its machinery. The new IRL technical regulations featured production-based, less expensive engines deliberately incompatible with CART specifications. The league's early seasons were criticised for thin fields and a notable decline in prestige at the Indy 500.
By 2002 the IRL began attracting leading CART teams, accelerating CART's financial collapse. CART filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and was reorganised by a trio of former team owners as the Champ Car World Series. On 23 January 2008, IRL founder and CEO Tony George offered Champ Car free cars and engine leases in exchange for adding Champ Car race dates — Long Beach, Toronto, Edmonton, and Australia — to the IndyCar Series schedule. The agreement was completed in February 2008; the Champ Car World Series was suspended after its Long Beach race, and most of its teams moved to the IndyCar Series using IRL-supplied equipment.
Randy Bernard succeeded George as CEO in February 2010. On 1 January 2011, the organisation formally adopted INDYCAR as its trade name, retiring the Indy Racing League identity; the company's legal name became INDYCAR LLC on 1 November 2013. The Dallara DW12 chassis was introduced for the 2012 season, and the series has since introduced hybrid powertrains.
In November 2019, Penske Corporation — through its subsidiary Penske Entertainment Corp — purchased IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Hulman & Co. In July 2025, Fox Corporation acquired a one-third stake in Penske Entertainment Corp for approximately $125–135 million.
Safety has been a persistent focus throughout IndyCar's history. The series was the first in racing to adopt the SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reduction) soft wall system, which debuted at the Indianapolis 500 and subsequently spread to nearly all major oval circuits. The Hulman-George family and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway provided substantial funding for SAFER's research and development. Despite these advances, the series has recorded five fatalities: Scott Brayton during 1996 Indianapolis 500 practice; Tony Renna in Firestone private testing in October 2003; Paul Dana during 2006 Toyota Indy 300 practice; Dan Wheldon at the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship finale; and Justin Wilson at the 2015 ABC Supply 500.
Post-unification, the IndyCar Series has come to resemble the international character of the CART era it originally sought to replace. Historic CART teams such as Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske are regular race winners, and the grid features a strong contingent of foreign-born drivers. The calendar now includes more road and street circuits than oval tracks, broadening the competitive profile of the championship beyond its oval-racing roots.
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