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PORTLAND
TO HOST INITIAL 2003 CHAMP CAR TOWN MEETING WITH CART INDIANAPOLIS (February 17, 2003) Building on a successful idea that began last year in Columbus, Ohio and allowed fans of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford to discuss their sport with some of the most influential and established personalities in open-wheel racing, Champ Car announced today that it will host another "Town Meeting" in Portland, Oregon on Wednesday, February 26th from 7:00 9:00 p.m. The event, officially titled "2003 Champ Car Town Meeting: Portland" will be held at The Doubletree Hotel Columbia River at Jantzen Beach, 1401 N. Hayden Island Drive, exit #307 off I-5 north of downtown Portland. The featured panel will include Champ Car President and CEO Christopher R. Pook, Champ Car's Senior Manager of Safety Lon Bromley, Bill Hildick a member of the Portland team that brought the series to the Pacific Northwest in 1984 and a top Champ Car driver to be announced in the coming days. Former driver and current CBS and SPEED Channel television analyst Scott Pruett will serve as the moderator over the discussions. The Town Meeting is free and open to all Champ Car fans who register in advance. The evening's highlight will feature a question and answer session moderated by Pruett from 7:00 8:30 p.m., with all attendees welcome to ask questions. The question and answer program will be followed by a brief reception where guests will have the opportunity to meet and socialize with the evening's panelists. Beginning this evening, ticket reservations for the Town Meeting can be made through Champ Car's official web site, www.champcarworldseries.com. A limited number of tickets are available for the event and will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis with priority status being given to members of the Champ Car Winner's Circle Fan Club. Those in attendance at the Town Meeting will also have the opportunity to win one of nine spots in the Champ Car FANatics promotion, which gives fans a once-in-lifetime opportunity to be immersed in the pre-race activities as teams prepare for battle on race day at Portland International Raceway. Attendees can also register to become one of two chosen to win a pace car ride around Portland's 1.969-mile permanent road course that has hosted the series since 1984. For more information on the Town Meeting contact Kathi Reichert at Champ Car communications at (317) 715-4167, kreichert@cart.com, or Sharon Tracy at Global Events Group at (503) 821-4347, sharon@globaleventsgrouppdx.com. Portland's 20th anniversary edition of the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Featuring the G.I. Joe's 200 is slated for June 20-22, 2003. Ticket information is currently available by calling (503) 821-4345. Ticket sales to the general public will kick off March 8 at all G. I. Joe's and Ticketmaster outlets, as well as by phone through Ticketmaster at (503) 224-4400, and online at www.ticketmaster.com. Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (NYSE: MPH) owns, operates and markets the 2003 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta led a list of open-wheel stars this past season competing with teams such as Newman/Haas Racing, Player's/Forsythe Racing, Team Rahal, Fernˆndez Racing, Patrick Racing, Herdez Competition, Walker Racing and others. Champ Cars are thoroughbred racing machines that reach speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour, showcasing the technical expertise of manufacturers such as Ford Motor Company, Lola Cars, Reynard Motorsport and Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC. The 19-race 2003 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford will be broadcast by television partners CBS, FOX and SPEED Channel. CART also owns and operates its top development series, the Toyota Atlantic Championship. Learn more about CART's open-wheel racing series at www.champcarworldseries.com. 21-Nov-02 Miami, FL - Bridgestone
Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford... 17-Nov-02 Mexico City, Mexico
- Gran Premio Telmex/Gigante Presented by Banamex/Visa 03-Nov-02 Fontana, CA - The
500 presented by Toyota 27-Oct-02 Surfer's Paradise, Australia
- Honda Indy 300 06-Oct-02 Cristiano da Matta captured the win and the CART FedEx Championship Series 2002, in the Miami, FL Grand Prix Americas. 06-Oct-02 Miami, FL - Grand
Prix Americas 14-Sep-02 Rockingham, England
- The Sure for Men Rockingham 500 INDIANAPOLIS (September 5, 2002) – CART FedEx Championship Series point leader Cristiano da Matta (#6 Havoline Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone) of Newman/Haas Racing topped the voting for the third quarter 2002 Driver of the Year award, a unique achievement considering it is the only award that encompasses all of the racing series in the United States. -www.cart.com- 01-Sep-02 Denver, Colorado -
Shell Grand Prix of Denver 25-Aug-02 Montreal, Canada -
Molson Indy Montreal 18-Aug-02 Elkhart Lake, WI -
Grand Prix at Road America featuring the Motorola 220 11-Aug-02 Lexington, OH -
CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio 28-Jul-02 Vancouver, BC -
Molson IndyVancouver 14-Jul-02 Cleveland, OH - Marconi
Grand Prix of Cleveland 07-Jul-02 Toronto, Canada - Molson
Indy Toronto 30-Jun-02 Cicero, IL - CART
Grand Prix of Chicago 16-Jun-02 Portland, OR - GI Joe's 200 Results
16-Jun-02 Portland, OR - CART And Cosworth Racing Join To Continue Turbo Era In a move that will
keep the CART FedEx Championship Series in touch with its rich racing heritage
while addressing the issue of escalating costs, Championship Auto Racing Teams
(NYSE:MPH) and Cosworth Racing have reached a two-year agreement that will see
the fabled turbocharged Cosworth Racing V8 engine serve as the exclusive powerplant
in CART Champ Car competition for at least the next two seasons. 09-Jun-02 Laguna Seca, CA - Grand
Prix of Monterey Shell 300 Results 02-Jun-02 West Allis, WI - Miller
Lite 250 Results 1-May-02 Denver, Colorado - Announces
New Grand Prix 28-Apr-02 Montegi, Japan - Bridgestone
Potenza 500 Results 26-Apr-02 Montegi, Japan 24-Apr-02 Toyota Atlantic Test
Day 14-Apr-02 Toyota Grand Prix of
Long Beach 13-Apr-02 Toyota Grand Prix of
Long Beach Qualifying 10-Mar-02 Tecate Telmex Monterrey
Grand Prix 07-Mar-02 The 2002 Season Opening CART event will be shown Live on The Speed Channel, 10 March, 2002. The Speed Channel will also show qualifying on Friday and Saturday. For the full TV schedule go to www.speedtv.com. 06-Mar-02 2002 promises to be the most thrilling year yet, in CART. With the introduction of several new rule changes, expect more green flag racing excitement. For further details of the new rule changes, go to the official site of CART, Inc at www.cart.com. 19-Jan-02 Veteran Racing Engineer Lee Dykstra has joined CART, INC as Director of Technology and Competition. 19-Dec-01 On Wednesday, December 19, 2001, CART announced that Christopher R. Pook has become its new president and Chief Executive Officer. Pook rose to prominence by creating the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and turning it into one of the most successful annual sporting events in the world. 06-Dec-01 The following is CART's statement in response to Marlboro Team Penske's decision to leave the CART FedEx Championship Series: “We are disappointed to learn of Marlboro Team Penske's decision to leave the FedEx Championship Series. Both Roger Penske and Marlboro have been long-time supporters of CART and they will be missed. We wish them and their two talented drivers, Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves, well. “The economics of our sport require teams to satisfy sponsors' marketing needs. We believe the CART FedEx Championship Series delivers significant value for sponsor investment as evidenced by the 2.5 million spectators who attended our races in 20 markets around the world in 2001; the recent renewal of our relationship with series sponsor FedEx; our new television agreement with Fox Cable Networks/Speedvision and CBS; the ongoing commitment of race teams such as Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Team KOOL Green and the PacWest Racing Group; and the expansion of our schedule to include races at three new venues – Denver, Mexico City and Montreal – in 2002. “CART has always
enjoyed the loyal support of our owners, sponsors and fans. They are drawn to
our fast cars, unique tracks and technological sophistication, as well as to our
many world-class drivers. We will maintain their support by offering the same
top-quality product we have offered for decades. And we will remain focused on
our No.1 objective – growing our sport and the CART brand.”
2001 Portland, Freightliner/GI Joe's 200 Race Recap PAPIS AVOIDS TROUBLE, CLAIMS SECOND CAREER VICTORY AT FREIGHTLINER/G.I. JOE'S 200 PRESENTED BY TEXACO PORTLAND, Ore. (June 24, 2001) - Max Papis of Team Rahal mastered a damp racetrack that wreaked havoc on many of his most prominent pursuers Sunday when he drove to his second career FedEx Championship Series victory in the Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco at Portland International Raceway. On a day which saw none of the top 10 drivers in the championship post as much as a top-five finish, Papis kept control of his Miller Lite Ford Lola to score a 1.472-second victory over Roberto Moreno of Patrick Racing in the two-hour, timed event. It was the second Champ Car victory of Papis' career, following Homestead in 2000, and the third of the season for Team Rahal, following wins by Kenny Brack at Japan and Milwaukee. A total of nine caution flags for 25 laps helped shorten the race to 76 laps from its scheduled 98-lap distance per CART rules, which mandate a two-hour time limit for all road or street-course events. Papis averaged 74.606 miles per hour en route to the triumph and led a race-high 69 laps to collect the maximum 22 championship points for winning from the pole and leading the most race laps. The effort moved Papis from 14th to 11th place in the championship with 38 points. Brack (Shell Ford Lola) maintains the championship lead with 76 points after his 11th-place finish Sunday, and actually extended his advantage over Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Honda Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske, who finished 17th and did not score. Castroneves, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion, remained at 69 points, followed by Michael Andretti (Motorola Honda Reynard) of Team Motorola, who continued in third with 53 points following an eighth-place performance. Moreno's (Visteon Toyota Reynard) runner-up effort was a season best, as was the third-place finish of Christian Fittipaldi (Kmart Toyota Lola) of Newman/Haas Racing. An unusual twist saw Moreno and Fittipaldi duplicate their second and third-place performances of last year here. An assortment of spins, contact and misfortune conspired to bedevil the championship frontrunners, beginning with defending FedEx Championship Series champion Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard), of Marlboro Team Penske. De Ferran entered Sunday's race in fifth place in the championship, but spun on the pace lap on the rain-slickened track surface and immediately fell off the lead lap. He managed to get his lap back before the checkered flag, but finished 13th and out of the points. Before a single lap was completed, Brack, the championship leader, and second-place Castroneves also spun off course; Brack in the first corner and Castroneves in Turn 7. Both continued after falling out of the top 20 and never challenged for the lead thereafter, although Brack managed to salvage a pair of championship points by finishing 11th. Third-place Andretti and fourth-place Cristiano da Matta (Texaco/Havoline/Kmart Toyota Lola) of Newman/Haas Racing also fell victim to early incidents. Andretti spun on Lap 23, then was assessed a drive-through penalty four laps later for an illegal pass of Bryan Herta (Zakspeed/Forsythe Racing Ford Reynard) under caution. Still, Andretti managed an eighth-place finish worth five championship points to solidify his hold on third place. Da Matta, meanwhile, slid off course while trying to wrest the lead from Papis at the end of the front straightaway on Lap 8, then spun under caution when he rubbed wheels with Papis three laps later and dropped to 19th place. Like Andretti, he bounced back to score three points with a 10th-place finish and continues fourth in the championship with 49 points. Rookie Max Wilson (winner B2B.com/Arciero-Blair Racing Ford Lola) of Arciero/Blair Racing put together a strong effort to finish a career-best fourth, followed by Patrick Carpentier (Player's/Indeck Ford Reynard) of Player's Forsythe Racing, who came home a season-best fifth. WHAT THEY'RE SAYING MAX PAPIS, Miller Lite Ford Lola: "First of all, now I'm very glad I can show my emotions. Yesterday [after winning the pole], it was a job half-done, and I didn't want to show too much joy. Today I'm a happy person, we did a great race. The Miller team did a great job on the strategy, and the Ford engine was great today with the Lola chassis. I knew I had to drive the hell out of it, because it was very slippery out there. It was a very tactical race, and you had to be smart and pace yourself. Besides that, we kicked their ass! On every restart I was dictating the pace. It was very special for me, because I came back from zero to hero. Now 'Mad Max' is here and he's back!" ROBERTO MORENO, Visteon Toyota Reynard: "We had a very slow start this year. We were qualifying in the back, and it's very difficult to make up positions. It took a little while for us to learn the Toyota engine. Today wasn't a fuel race, but the fuel strategy got us up here. I didn't have enough for Max today. I'm very happy to be the Reynard between the two Lolas. It was extremely tough in the beginning. One of the Target guys went by me in the Festival [Curves], and slid his car right into my sidepod, and actually damaged the sidepod a little bit. That was tough today. There were a lot of drivers trying 'Kamikaze' moves. [On yellow flags] CART did a great job in Detroit in keeping the course as green as possible. In many cases today, it was important to get the cars off the track, because more cars could go off the track there." CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, Kmart Toyota Lola: "The conditions were very hard, especially in the beginning of the race. There were a lot of guys who went out on brand new wets [tires], and they were very slippery. I had a small 'off,' and missed the track by a few centimeters. I'm very happy, more happy for the points. We had a slow start to the season, but now we're coming back. The top two [finishers] did a helluva job, and didn't make any mistakes, and that's why they were first and second, and I was third. Of all the guys out there Max [Wilson] did a helluva race. He's pretty new to the series and his team is a new team this year. I could see his car was understeering pretty badly. I think he finished fourth. He did a good job." June 24, 2001 - PORTLAND, Ore. -- Results of Sunday's Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco FedEx Championship Series race at Portland International Raceway, with starting position in parentheses, driver, type of car, laps completed, and reason out, if any: 1. (1) Max Papis, Ford Lola, 76. Time of race: 2:00:20.836. |
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