during this era was the implementation of the MSA, which effectively ended tobacco sponsorship in the sport. Unification Era From 2008 through 2011. In 2008, the Indy Racing League and Champ Car completed an organizational unification, which marked the first time since 1978 that the sport of Indy car racing would be contested under a single sanctioning banner. The newly reorganized series would compete under the name IndyCar Series. The seeds of unification and the end of the "split" began as early as 2000, when CART-based teams began crossing over to compete at Indy with the IRL regulars in one-off entries. The unified era can also be traced back more specifically to 2003, when most of the top CART-based teams and manufacturers defected to the IRL permanently and returned to Indy full-time. The Unification Era spans specifically from either 2003 or 2008 through 2011. By the time of the formal 2008 unification, it was contested with the aforementioned "spec car", the Dallara IR03/05 powered by the normally aspirated Honda V-8 engines. With the sudden influx of former Champ Car teams and drivers, and an abundance of available rolling chassis, fields briefly grew. For a few years, bumping returned to time trials, and the era was highlighted by the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 in 2011. The end of the IR-03/05 "spec" era came at the conclusion of the 2011 IndyCar season. It ended, however, tragically at Las Vegas. Spec series Era Since the 2012 IndyCar season, the series rolled out a new chassis and engine formula, bringing back turbocharged engines and multiple engine manufacturers. Honda, Chevrolet, and Lotus provided engines, though Lotus withdrew after only one season. The Dallara DW12 chassis was fitted with aero kits from Dallara from 2012-2014, then from Honda and Chevrolet respectively, from 2015-2017. A new universal Dallara aero kit has been used since 2018. Speeds began to climb again, surpassing the 230 mph barrier, but not breaking existing qualifying records that were set in 1996. The era was highlighted by the much-anticipated 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2016. The era has been marked with an increase in competition on the track, with an all-time record of 68 lead changes set in 2013, and a record 15 different leaders in 2017. The 2014 race saw a 149-lap caution free stint from the start, and the 2013 and 2014 races are the two fastest