Race sponsor pressures Champ Car to keep Canadian
source: By Deab McNulty, Toronto Sun Alex Tagliani will race in the Champ Car World Series this season -- something that was in doubt last week -- after Molson Breweries pressured to have the popular Canadian on the 2005 grid. Molson Sports and Entertainment CEO Jo-Ann McArthur told the Sun yesterday that an announcement will be made by the end of this week that Tagliani will be back in Champ Car -- but not likely with Rocketsports Racing -- his home for the past two Champ Car seasons. "(Molson) has been assured that Tags will be racing in Champ Car this season," McArthur said. "I don't know what team it is but I do know that he has a ride." Tagliani had told the Sun that he and Rocketsports owner Paul Gentilozzi had a handshake deal to race together for three more seasons. But that deal apparently fell through when American Ryan Hunter Reay and German Timo Glock came to Gentilozzi with money to pay their way onto the team. McArthur admitted that Molson executives were "concerned" about Tagliani's fate, especially after Patrick Carpentier bolted to the rival Indy Racing League when he was dumped by Champ Car's Forsythe Championship Racing at the end of the 2004 season. That left Toronto's Paul Tracy and Tagliani as the only Canadian drivers in Champ Car.
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