Adrian Fernandez created a stir in open-wheel racing last week when he announced he was moving his single-car team from the struggling Champ Car World Series to the rival Indy Racing League IndyCar Series source: lasvegassun.com - Brian Hilderbrand The move, which came one race into the 2004 IRL season and five weeks before the start of the Champ Car season, was made when Fernandez said Open Wheel Racing Series, which owns Champ Car, couldn't make several "assurances" about the viability of the series. And one of those assurances, Fernandez strongly maintained, had nothing to do with financial support from the series' new owners. Last year, Fernandez Racing received a reported $2 million from CART to field his team. OWRS principals said when they took over the series that they would not continue to pay teams to participate. "Any money owed or not owed to Fernandez Racing -- we knew that in December," Fernandez, who also drives for the team, said Tuesday during a conference call. "Do you think I'm going to wait all this late and let the first (IRL) race go away and in the last little minute, present my car in Long Beach and after that go to my sponsors ... and tell them my story and move them to the IRL because of money?" Fernandez, a native of Mexico City, said he took a huge risk in switching series because two of Champ Car's most successful races are staged in Mexico and Mexican companies Tecate and Telmex, as well as Quaker State, sponsor his team.
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