Among Champ Car drivers, perhaps no award other than the Vanderbilt Cup is more coveted than the one given in honor of a racer that may have seen his own name etched on the historic championship trophy had it not been for his untimely death in 1999

source:   champcarworldseries.com

The Greg Moore Legacy Award is given annually to the driver that best represents the ideals and talents of the Canadian star, who met with tragedy in the 1999 Champ Car season finale. The award is presented to the driver who best typifies Moore 's legacy of outstanding talent on track, as well as displaying a dynamic personality with fans, media, and the Champ Car community.

Four drivers have been nominated for this year's award and will be voted on by a panel of motorsports officials, team executives and journalists. The fifth annual Greg Moore Legacy Award will be bestowed upon one of the four nominees during the 2004 Champ Car Awards banquet in Mexico City on November 7

This year's award nominees include Champ Car veteran Jimmy Vasser of PKV Racing, series Rookie of the Year A.J. Allmendinger of RuSPORT, and Herdez Competition's Ryan Hunter-Reay. The Toyota Atlantic Championship is represented by two-time series champion Jon Fogarty of Pacific Coast Motorsports.

"Greg Moore was the kind of driver that today's youngsters should aspire to be," said Champ Car President and CEO Dick Eidswick. "I have no doubt that Greg would have been one of the stars of Champ Car for many, many years. The four drivers nominated for the 2004 Greg Moore Legacy Award have shown the same spirit and dedication throughout this season that Greg had throughout his too-brief career. This is an extremely special award, and all of the drivers who have been nominated should feel tremendously honored."

Vasser, a native of Canoga Park, California, set a new Champ Car record in 2004 by making his 193rd consecutive series start and has taken his new PKV Racing team to the top 10 in the standings. Boca Raton, Florida's Hunter-Reay set a new series record of his own when he led a Champ Car single-event record 250 laps in winning at the Milwaukee Mile earlier this year. Allmendinger, a Hollister, California native, won the Champ Car Rookie-of-the-Year award in 2004 and has qualified in the top seven in each of the year's last six starts. Fogarty, from Portola Valley, California, won six races en route to his second Toyota Atlantic title, coming back to the series after winning the 2002 championship.

Brazilian Helio Castroneves was the inaugural winner of the Greg Moore Legacy Award in 2000, Dario Franchitti was named as the recipient in 2001, former teammate Patrick Carpentier took the honor in 2002 while Sebastien Bourdais won the award last season.