Background
After the tumultuous and controversial month of May at Indy in 1979, the landscape of Indy car racing was starting to evolve into a more harmonized fashion. At the beginning of the year, the leaders of USAC and CART jointly formed the new Championship Racing League (CRL) to co-sanction the season of events. The 1980 CART/PPG Indy Car World Series began in April, and Indianapolis was the second race of the season. CART awarded points for Indianapolis towards their championship. After Indianapolis, Speedway officials were unhappy with the arrangement, after five races, USAC pulled out of the CRL.
Going into the month USAC dropped turbocharger "boost" levels to 48 inHG across the board. Previously the levels were 50 inHG for qualifying and 70 inHG during the race. The rule change slowed cars down by approximately 8-10 mph, and caused considerable complaint amongst the competitors. Outspoken critics included A. J. Foyt who referred to it as "taxicab racing," and Johnny Rutherford who said it made it difficult to pass other cars.
Read more about this topic: 1980 Indianapolis 500
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“Pilate with his question “What is truth?” is gladly trotted out these days as an advocate of Christ, so as to arouse the suspicion that everything known and knowable is an illusion and to erect the cross upon that gruesome background of the impossibility of knowledge.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)