As everyone knows the past winter has been a perilous time for the Champ Car World Series. First there was the OWRS buy-out and the battle in Judge Frank Otte's courtroom in Indianapolis. Then there was the difficult matter of reaching out to all the interested teams and drivers to pull together a healthy, competitive field for the 2004 season.

Recent events have knocked doubts in Champ Car's ability to achieve this last goal but over the last few weeks an intensive effort has gone into shoring up the field and 1996 champion Jimmy Vasser is convinced the series will kick-off the new season next month with a competitive and exciting Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

"I can tell you a lot of effort has gone into keeping guys like Michel (Jourdain) and Patrick (Carpentier) in the series," Vasser said. "I've been insisting to Kevin (Kalkhoven) and Paul (Gentilozzi) and Jerry (Forsythe) that they've got to find competitive seats for these guys. We need every qualified driver we can possibly have in the field. There are plenty of good guys out there who deserve rides and over the next week or two I think you'll see a series of good things announced."

At 38, Vasser has assumed the role of elder statesman for the Champ Car World Series. This past winter he has been deeply involved in helping put together teams and drivers with potential sponsors and Jimmy is pleased to see his faith in the Champ Car organization beginning to bear fruit.