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During 12 years of bitter rivalry, the IRL's IndyCar Series and the Champ Car World Series longed for a phenom to capture the imagination of the American public.
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Last weekend, in the first race of the unified series, they got their wish.
Hello, Graham Rahal.
The 19-year-old son of longtime open-wheel star Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner, took the checkered flag in his first IndyCar start last Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla., to become the youngest winner ever in major open-wheel racing.
It wasn't easy. The former Champ Car driver had to hold off former IndyCar champion Tony Kanaan and two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves
"I have to say, if I was 19 years old, restarting three laps to go and you have Helio and Tony Kanaan behind you, I was going to be kind of worried," Kanaan said. "He played it so cool, so I guess he proved how good he is."
Good enough to draw more fans to IndyCar racing?
"I think everybody's happy that it's one series now," Graham Rahal said. "I'm not going to say that we're going to make a dent in the popularity of NASCAR instantly. But I think we're already seeing there's more interest in this than there used to be in the last several years."
For a while, Danica Patrick gave IndyCar a boost with her good looks and a great showing in the 2005 Indianapolis 500, when she led the race and finished fourth -- both firsts for a woman. DanicaMania ensued, with the then 23-year-old gracing magazine covers, making national TV appearances and becoming a darling of Madison Avenue.
But Patrick still hasn't won a race.
In 2006, third-generation open-wheel driver Marco Andretti, then 19, was the IRL's top rookie and won a road race at Sonoma, Calif. But the American youngster slumped badly in 2007.
Last year, Brazil's Helio Castroneves raised a wave of interest last year when he won Dancing with the Stars.
Now here comes Rahal.
