With the recent news that The Walt Disney Company bought most of 20th Century Fox’s media assets, it seems that everything is owned by Mickey Mouse. But did you know, Mickey had a white-gloved hand in IndyCar too?
Few remember but, for a short time Disney was partly responsible for keeping the new Indy Racing League (IRL) afloat. So sit back and enjoy this look back at when Disney was part of IndyCar.
To begin, Disney is no stranger to the world of sports. In fact in the early 1990s Disney was in a sports mood.
Disney is the reason the Los Angeles-area has a second ice hockey team. The Anaheim Ducks or the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim as they were called when they were founded in 1993 by The Walt Disney Company. The team came to be because Disney had produced and distributed a movie of the same name in 1992. In 1996, Disney bought a controlling stake in the Anaheim Angels baseball team which lasted until 2005.
Also in 1996, Disney bought 80 percent of ABC (American Broadcasting Company) which included ABC Sports and ESPN—the Worldwide Leader In Sports—and its sports affiliates.
Now, to the IndyCar connection.
When Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George decided to split from CART in 1995, and start his own rival racing league (the IRL) in 1996; he had begun construction in the summer of 1995, on a 51,000 seat, one-mile, three-turn tri-oval at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida to be owned by Disney.
The Walt Disney World Speedway, aptly nicknamed “The Mickyard”; was to be the site of the Indy 200 at Walt Disney World. During the IRL’s inaugural season in 1996, the three-race season consisted of (in order): the Indy 200 at Walt Disney World, the Dura Lube 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, and the 80th Indianapolis 500 at IMS.
YouTube: 1996 IRL at Walt Disney World
With Disney owning the venue, they wanted the race to succeed, so the first race was heavily advertised on ABC and ESPN, and broadcasted on ABC through ABC Sports, with heavy replay on ESPN afterwards. All three races that year were broadcast on Disney-owned ABC.
The Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Speedway served as the IRL season opener every year until 2000; except in 1997 when it was dropped to the third race on the 1997 10-race calendar. It also served as a primary testing facility for the budding IRL.
In addition to IRL usage, NASCAR held two Craftsman Truck Series races at The Mickyard in 1997 and 1998. Then-driver Sam Schmidt was paralyzed following a crash at the Speedway in 2000 during preseason testing. In 2001, the IRL dropped the venue altogether.
After being dropped as a professional racing venue, the track primarily became a fantasy driving experience at Walt Disney World. In 2015, Disney closed and demolished The Mickyard to make way for a larger parking lot for Disney World.
To this day, Disney still has an indirect hand in IndyCar; with the Indy 500 is still shown exclusively on ABC in the United States.
However, it was thanks to a shrewd partnership with Disney; to build a race venue, stage races, and use Disney’s massive media outlets, that George’s IRL series was partly able to weather its early teething stages. Eventually overtaking and absorbing CART to unify and become IndyCar.
So, thanks Disney.
