Results tagged “Champ Car World Series” from Haddock in the Paddock

There are a few drivers in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach keeping a watchful eye on the Indy Racing League race in Motegi, Japan. Rain postponed the start of the Motegi race and pushed the start to Sunday. It was supposed to start tonight.
If the Motegi race gets rained out, the Long Beach race won’t count toward the IRL championship. Part of the merger agreement between the IRL and the old Champ Car World Series was that the points drivers earned in the Grand Prix of Long Beach would count toward the IRL championship. It could have been a great opportunity for a driver like Graham Rahal, who won the IRL race in St. Petersburg, to build a lead in the IRL championship standings.
But it looks like if the Motegi race gets cancelled, the Grand Prix of Long Beach will be nothing more than an exhibition in the IRL season, a meaningless final chapter in the Champ Car World Series.
Justin Wilson, who won the provisional pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Long Beach, said he hopes the race in Motegi happens.
“I heard a rumor early, I don’t know how true it is, of it possibly being rained out the whole weekend, in which case this race wouldn’t count for points,” said Wilson, driver for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. “We’re hoping that’s not true because we feel like we’ve got a good opportunity here to do what we’re used to and get a few points before we go back and struggle on the ovals.”
The latest from Japan is that the race is scheduled to run at Sunday at 11 a.m. Japan Standard Time, 10 p.m. on Saturday Eastern Daylight Time, 7 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. It will be televised on ESPN Classic live and again at 7 a.m. Sunday Pacific time.
"We never got a situation where the race track was presentable and safe to race on,” said Brian Barnhart, president of Indy Racing League competition and operation division. “The drivers would not have been comfortable and been in a position to where we could have done anything today."

The Grand Prix of Houston became a casualty of the unification between Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. The Champ Car World Series was supposed to be the main event in the Grand Prix of Houston, which also included the American Le Mans Series, April 25-27. But Grand Prix officials decided to cancel the races rather than stage them without the Champ Car World Series.
The Champ Car race was not one of the events the IRL wanted to include in its schedule. The only races the IRL wanted to incorporate into its 2008 schedule were the Grand Prix of Long Beach and races at Surfers Paradise in Australia and Edmonton, Canada.
As a result, the owner and chairman of the Grand Prix of Houston said he explored the possibility of staging the event with the American Le Mans Series as the premier race, but decided that would not be possible.
"The unification of Champ Car and IRL caught us by surprise, and we were informed that due to the last-minute nature of this unification the Houston date could not be accommodated for 2008," said Michael T. Lanigan, owner and chairman of the Grand Prix. "We are saddened and disappointed to have to make this decision, but we remain optimistic that we will have the opportunity to bring the American Le Mans Series and the Indy Racing League to Houston in 2009."
Grand Prix of Houston officials added that discussions have begun to stage a weekend event in 2009 with the American Le Mans Series and the IRL.

Champ Car teams were supposed to test and race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, but plans have been changed after the merger of the Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League was announced Friday.
The Champ Car race scheduled at Laguna Seca, part of the Monterey Festival of Speed on May 16-18 has been canceled. A weeklong Champ Car test session scheduled for March 10-14 has also been canceled
“At this point, we know that Champ Car will not be participating in the Monterey Festival of Speed,” said Gill Campbell, CEO/General Manager of the Laguna Seca. “We are in the process of addressing this issue with customers who have purchased tickets, sponsorships, hospitality and vendor space based on a Champ Car race being part of the weekend.”
Fans with questions regarding the Monterey Festival of Speed are encouraged to call the ticket office (1-800-327-SECA) to discuss their options.
The Monterey Festival of Speed features Round 5 of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, along with open-wheel races from Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda and Formula BMW Americas. Additional races are being considered and a revised schedule for the Monterey Festival of Speed weekend will be announced soon, according to a release from the track.

2008 Schedule of Events at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

May 16-18, Monterey Festival of Speed featuring the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series (Sat.)Fortune Market 250

July 18-20, Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix featuring the MotoGP World Championship

Aug. 15-17, 35th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races Presented by Toyota

Sept. 27-28, Corona AMA Superbike Finale featuring the AMA Superbike Championship

Oct. 17-19, Monterey Sports Car Championships featuring the American Le Mans Series

Indy Racing Founder Tony George and Champ Car World Series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven have been in meetings the past two days in Indianapolis. Reports indicated that a merger announcement unifying the two racing series was expected Friday, but a statement released by the IRL suggests otherwise.
“The ongoing talks between the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series will continue into at least Friday in regards to the unification of open-wheel racing," according to the statement released Thursday night. "Any confirmation of unification will be made once an agreement is in place. There are no plans for a news conference at this time. Much progress has been made toward unifying the sport.”
There have been a couple of online and newspaper reports regarding which Champ Car races will be absorbed by the IRL. One report indicated that the Twin Ring Motegi IRL race in Japan will not be moved and will proceed as planned, which means it will conflict with the Long Beach Grand Prix, the supposed start of the Champ Car World Series schedule. The Twin Ring Motegi race is April 19; the Long Beach Grand Prix is April 20.
Instead of running the Long Beach Grand Prix as an IRL race, it's possible it could become a farewell race for Champ Car. However, if the merger series unify, most of the Champ Car teams would switch to the IRL. There could potentially be only about a half dozen Champ Car teams willing to race in the Long Beach Grand Prix.
Other reports suggest the season-ending Champ Car race in Surfers Paradise, Australia would become a non-points exhibition race in the IRL in 2008. Chicagoland Speedway has a contract with the IRL that guarantees the race there will be the season finale in the IRL.

In what could be a sign of things to come, a highly regarded Champ Car official has joined an Indy Racing League team.
Andretti Green Racing, which has a four-car team in the IRL IndyCar Series, hired Paul "Ziggy" Harcus on Tuesday as its team manger. Harcus was the director of operations for the Champ Car World Series.
"Paul is a great addition to our team," said Andretti Green's chief executive officer Kim Green, who co-owns Andretti Green with partners Michael Andretti and Kevin Savoree. "He has a wealth of experience and great knowledge that allows him to join Andretti Green and make an immediate contribution to our organization."
The IRL and Champ Car World Series have been in merger negotiations for the past two weeks. One IRL official said this is the closest the two sides have been to unifying since open-wheel racing in the United States split into two separate factions, the IRL and CART, the predecessor of Champ Car, in 1996.
Wire, newspaper and online reports indicate that a merger announcement could come as early as Friday, with the IRL absorbing a handful of Champ Car races and teams.

A decision on the potential merger of the Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League is expected within 48 hours, said a spokesman from American Honda Motor Company.
While Tony George, the founder of the IRL, and Robert Clarke, the outgoing president of Honda Performance Development, were in Japan talking with track officials at Twin Ring Motegi about moving the IRL race there to a date later in the year, Champ Car teams in the United States were waiting for any news of the negotiations.
Rumors are circulating that Champ Car will file for bankruptcy on Tuesday, a move that would signal a merger is imminent.
One Champ Car owner said the bankruptcy rumor is gaining momentum around Indianapolis, where the Champ Car World Series is headquartered and a number of teams are based.
Derrick Walker, owner of Walker Racing, said, "If there's a merger happening, it's not going to be pretty."
"Bankruptcies never are," he said. "I would like to think it wasn't, but it's probably a distinct possibility. I haven't heard anything official, I've just heard the rumors."
Tyler Tadevic, team director for the Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports, which has a two-car team in Champ Car, said his team is working on a contingency plan if Champ Car does file for bankruptcy. He said his team is looking into a number of options, including the IRL, American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am Rolex Series and off-road racing.

A team director for one of the Champ Car World Series teams said he expects a decision to be made on the potential merger between Champ Car and the Indy Racing League by the end of the week, but added that it would be a "rough deal" to switch this year.
Tyler Tadevic, the team director for Pacific Coast Motorsports, said no one in Champ Car is saying anything, formally, about the progression in the merger talks.
"They're working very hard to make something happen," said Tadevic, whose two-car team is based in Oxnard.
As far as he has been told, the negotiations are at a standstill, yet he said he believes that is not exactly the case.
Ideally, he would like to see the merger happen next year in 2009 to give teams time to introduce new equipment, engines, chassis and properly market races at new venues that would be on the IRL schedule.
Tony George, the founder of the IRL, is in Japan with representatives from the IRL and Honda Performance Development to work out a deal that would allow the merger to take place. It has been reported that the main obstacle standing in the way of the merger is the date of the IRL race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. It is the same weekend as the Long Beach Grand Prix, the opening race for the Champ Car World Series. If the Motegi race can be moved, a spokesman from the IRL said a merger agreement is likely.

An official from the Indy Racing League said a merger between the IndyCar Series and Champ Car World Series is closer than ever and that moving the IRL race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan to later in the year is the last significant hurdle in completing the merger.
Tony George, the founder of the IRL, is in Japan meeting with track officials at Twin Ring Motegi to convince them to move the race date. The Twin Ring Motegi race, a staple on the IRL schedule for years, is on the same weekend as the Long Beach Grand Prix, April 19-20, and is the season-opening race for the Champ Car World Series.
George left for Japan on Friday with representatives from the IRL and Honda Performance Development to meet with officials at Twin Ring Motegi, which is owned by Honda.
If the merger happens, that would mean the big-name teams and big wallets from the IRL, Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi, Bobby Rahal and Michael Andretti, would return to race on the streets of Long Beach.
John Griffin, a spokesman for the IRL, said moving the Twin Ring Motegi race is the last significant hurdle in completing the merger.
Champ Car World Series owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Jerry Forsythe were not so optimistic about the merger. They released a statement on Friday saying leaks to media have hampered the negotiations.
"Unfortunately, leaks and media reports about a possible unification of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League (IRL) have significantly hampered discussions," according to the statement attributed to Kalkhoven and Forsythe. "Over the past three years, we have fielded and offered several proposals regarding unification of the two premier U.S.-based open-wheel racing series, but we have been unable to reach an acceptable solution. Discussions currently are at a standstill, and we therefore are proceeding with plans to continue as Champ Car."

As a member of the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association, I get to vote on the All-America team every year. We select the top drivers in a variety of disciplines: open wheel, road racing, drag racing, short track, stock car and touring series. There is an at-large category as well for drivers who don't quite fit into the other categories.
Six drivers are nominated in each category. This year in the open wheel category, Sébastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, Will Power and Justin Wilson were nominated. That's right, no Formula One guys. Here are the nominees:

Sébastien Bourdais won the Champ Car World Series championship. He won eight races, six poles and became the first driver to win four straight Champ Car World Series titles. In addition, he was second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Scott Dixon won four races and two poles in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. He was second in the IRL IndyCar Series championship standings.

Dario Franchitti won four races, including the Indianapolis 500, and four poles in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. He was the IRL champion scoring a record 637 points.

Tony Kanaan won five races in the IRL IndyCar Series, the most of any driver in the series, and had two poles. He led the most laps in the Indy 500 and finished third in the IRL IndyCar Series standings. He was also part of the winning team from Andretti Green Racing in the LMP2 portion of the 12 Hours of Sebring in the American Le Mans Series.

Will Power won two races and five poles in the Champ Car World Series. He set five qualifying records and was fourth in the Champ Car World Series drivers standings.

Justin Wilson won one race and was second on the Champ Car World Series drivers standings.

Tomorrow: Road racing.