Wing things at Lime Rock 1970, the last year F5000 allowed high, suspension-mounted airfoils. Running from 1968, when they were called Formula-As, the brawny open-wheelers lasted through 1976 and made champions of Lou Sell, Tony Adamowicz, John Cannon, David Hobbs, Graham McRae, Jody Scheckter and Brian Redman (three times). Photo: Pete Lyons - www.petelyons.com
Fast Lines

Formula 5000–an Idea for Today?

Avatar photo

The late news—very late—that U.S. open-wheel racing’s long uncivil war has finally staggered to its hemorrhagic conclusion, fell with less than seismic impact in the motor sports world at large. As someone emailed in to SpeedTV’s “Wind Tunnel,” the only reason for many fans to bother talking about IRL’s muffled victory over Champ Car in February was their boredom with the rain delay in that weekend’s NASCAR event.

Pete Lyons
Pete Lyons

I think it was host Dave Despain who opined that two-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves is better known to the public for his ballroom dancing than his Speedway driving.

Related
Members only$29 / year

Keep going. This is where it gets good.

Sports Car Digest Membership is for people who'd rather spend an hour with one chassis number than skim ten headlines. The rest of this story — and every other one like it — is a few seconds away.

  • 5,000+ members-only stories

    Concours, auctions, race history, driven classics and the full archive.

  • No ads. None.

    The whole site reads like a magazine, on every device.

  • The market, every week

    Auction results and classic-car values from the people who were there.

  • 30% off the shop

    Every Sports Car Digest shirt and piece of merch, all year.

Join Sports Car Digest — Keep Reading

$29 a year. Cancel anytime, no hoops.
Already a member? Sign in

BY CAR PEOPLE, NOT A NAMELESS MEDIA COMPANY. Your membership keeps a small independent team of historians, photojournalists and racing drivers doing this.

Join — Keep Reading $29/yr