Overview
The 1994 season was memorable for four main reasons: the dominance of Team Penske's PC-23 chassis, the retirement of the great Mario Andretti, the return of Michael Andretti after his unsuccessful season in Formula One, and the rise of young Canadian Jacques Villeneuve.
- Another major story started before the season. Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George announced plans for the formation of what would become the Indy Racing League, with an intended focus on oval track racing and predominantly American drivers. This was nearly identical to NASCAR, which at the time had all American drivers and just two (of 31) races on road courses. The 1994 IndyCar season schedule featured six oval track races (37.5%) and eleven full-time drivers were from the United States (including Italian-born Mario Andretti and German-born Dominic Dobson). ABC Sports' Paul Page said during the broadcast of the race at Surfers Paradise that this announcement, "could drastically affect what we know as IndyCar racing in the future".
Read more about this topic: 1994 Indy Car Season