The race cars participating in national championship events have been referred to by various names. Early nomenclature was to call the machines "Championship Cars", which was later shortened to "Champ Cars". The ambiguous term "Big Cars" saw some limited use; a term that identified the machines as larger and faster than junior formulae such as sprints and midgets. That term quickly disappeared from use and was instead largely used for Sprint cars. In the post-World War II era, the term "Speedway Cars" saw brief use, a loosely descriptive term, distinguishing the machines as those driven at the Indianapolis Motor "Speedway" and other major "speedways", as opposed to those driven at smaller tracks, for instance. However, the term "Champ Cars" prevailed as the preferred moniker.