When Gil de Ferran beat a full 26-car field to win the CART IndyCar World Series finale at Laguna Seca on 9 October 1995, no-one could have imagined that twelve-and-a-half years would elapse before all of America's open-wheel elite next shared a grid.
Back then the nascent breakaway Indy Racing League, created by Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George due to his discontent with CART's structure and direction, lacked quality venues, teams and drivers, and few believed it would last beyond 1996.
But they had underestimated George's determination and the magnetism of the Indianapolis 500. There would be no quick victory for either side in what soon turned into a long, bitter and deeply damaging civil war finally ended by last week's historic merger announcement.