The message that emerged from the Champ Car World Series two-day season
preview is that the open wheel league formerly known as CART is alive. But
we won't know how well it will fare until the 2004 season opens with the
30th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 18
source: espn.go.com Only 12 car/driver combinations were confirmed to the media over the course of two days of announcements at the Westin Long Beach. The Herdez Competition Team is expected to nominate its second driver -- possibly American Ryan Hunter-Reay -- within a week, bringing the total to a baker's dozen. That would have left the series five cars short of the 18-car field promised by Paul Gentilozzi, owner of Rocketsports Racing and one of the three new owners that saved the series from going out of business. But Adrian Fernandez announced on Thursday that he is pulling out of Champ Cars in favor of competing in the Indy Racing League, shrinking the number of confirmed Champ Car entries for 2004. Gentilozzi is well aware that CART often tested the patience of its fans, sponsors, manufacturers and teams since the split that tarnished open-wheel racing in 1996. While recognizing that the jury will remain out until well into the 2004 season, he believes that he and series co-owners Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven have a winning formula for the future. "We have to prove first that we can put on a good event," Gentilozzi said. "We want to convert the issues into positive alternatives and not make the mistakes CART made again." The complete article at sports.espn.go.com
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