16 confirmed venues for 2004 (including Las Vegas MS)

[Barton]

Edit: Damnit! 15 venues... stupid fingers! ;)

MIAMI (September 28, 2003) - The 2004 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car
World Series Powered by Ford season will feature another year of providing
one of the most challenging tests in all of motorsports, as its drivers will
continue the tradition of having to master every discipline of racing.
Challenging street courses, fabled road venues, short ovals and
superspeedway slugfests await the drivers of the Champ Car World Series in
2004 as the series today released a list of confirmed venues for the
upcoming season.

The 15 confirmed dates include 14 traditional Champ Car venues as the series
continues to build on the support that has seen the CART Champ Car World
Series draw over 2.3 million fans for each of the last 11 seasons. The
traditional list will be augmented by an exciting new addition in 2004 as
the 750hp Champ Cars will take to the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval
for the first time next season. In addition, there are six other venues that
are also under consideration for spots on next year's schedule.

"The addition of such a strong market such as Las Vegas, where our
television numbers have always been well above average, gives us even more
reason to be excited about the upcoming campaign," said CART President and
CEO Christopher R. Pook. "We are confident that 2004 will provide our fans,
sponsors, teams and drivers with a series that they can be proud of and that
delivers maximum value across the board."

The confirmed dates will see the series race in four different countries,
including three stops in Canada, two in Mexico along with the annual sojourn
to Surfers Paradise in Australia. Oval races will take place at California
Speedway and the Milwaukee Mile along with Las Vegas, while road and street
circuits in Cleveland, Denver, Long Beach, Miami, St. Petersburg and Elkhart
Lake will test the drivers.

Recent Champ Car venues such as Brands Hatch, EuroSpeedway Lausitz, Mazda
Raceway Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Portland International
Raceway are under consideration to join the 2004 schedule, as is a new track
in East Asia. The complete event and television schedule will be announced
in the very near future. The list of 15 confirmed venues signifies races
that will be run in 2004, although specific dates continue to be coordinated
with Champ Car television partners.

Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (NYSE: MPH) owns, operates and markets
the 2003 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.
Veteran racing teams such as Newman/Haas Racing, Player's/Forsythe Racing,
Team Rahal, Patrick Racing and Walker Racing will compete with many new
teams this year in pursuit of the Vanderbilt Cup. CART Champ Cars are
thoroughbred racing machines that reach speeds in excess of 200 miles per
hour, showcasing the technical expertise of manufacturers such as Ford Motor
Company, Lola Cars, Reynard Motorsport and Bridgestone/Firestone North
American Tire, LLC. The 19-race 2003 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car
World Series Powered by Ford will be broadcast by television partners CBS
and SPEED Channel. CART also owns and operates its top development series,
the Toyota Atlantic Championship. Learn more about CART'S open-wheel racing
series at www.champcarworldseries.com.

CONFIRMED VENUES FOR 2004

California Speedway - Fontana, California - Superspeedway
Burke Lakefront Airport - Cleveland, Ohio - Temporary road course
Denver, Colorado - Street course
Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas, Nevada - Oval
Long Beach, California - Street course
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez - Mexico City, Mexico - Permanent road course
Miami, Florida - Street course
The Milwaukee Mile - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Short oval
Fundidora Park - Monterrey, Mexico - Temporary road course
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - Montreal, Canada - Permanent road course
Road America - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin - Permanent road course
St. Petersburg, Florida - Street course
Surfers Paradise, Australia - Street course
Toronto, Canada - Street course
Vancouver, Canada - Street course

DATES TO BE CONFIRMED

Brands Hatch, England
East Asia
EuroSpeedway Lausitz
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Portland International Raceway

[mello]

Yippeee!! Vegas! Means we might have to make it out there 2 times next year. Already have Early Jan. booked. Let's just hope they put Laguna and MO on there.

[pchall]

M-O better be on the schedule.

Just how far can RaceGrrl and I drive to feed all our friends here teriyaki chicken?

Maybe we need to send Michelle Gajoch an invitation to the grill out to speed the negotiations? ;)

[Treeface]

Well I always said I'd only go to Vegas for a CART race, so I'll see you all there. :D :thumbup:

It will be interesting to see who is in the bidding next year for the season ender.


Guessing Laguna wants back to the Fall. I hope Lausitz can work out the financials given the crowds and suitablity of the track for CART.

[TKGAngel]

Are Cleveland and Milwaukee going to be night events again?

Either way, definitely looking forward to going to Cleveland again, and its nice to see some good news coming out of the series. :)

[Railbird]

lock MO in and give RA a different date.


other than that it looks good.

[Sean O'Gorman]

Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca, Portland, "to be considered?" My interest in the series in '04 is "to be considered" at this point with that schedule. :shakehead

[Ankf00]

Originally posted by SOG35
Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca, Portland, "to be considered?" My interest in the series in '04 is "to be considered" at this point with that schedule. :shakehead

gimme seca and portland and i'll live, screw the gokart track and the mile wide hole.

[racer2c]

Originally posted by SOG35
Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca, Portland, "to be considered?" My interest in the series in '04 is "to be considered" at this point with that schedule. :shakehead


:shakehead

[Treeface]

Portland: (http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/exclude/1064836807287050.xml)

Catch-22. "available dates and TV times" were more a sticking point with Portland than the question of how the race would be promoted and how it would obtain major sponsorship and the necessary financing.
Vegas (http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sports/2003/sep/29/515681074.html)

Ugh. Sounds like CART & SMI still have cultural and communications issues.

[Dr. Corkski]

Originally posted by SOG35
Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca, Portland, "to be considered?" My interest in the series in '04 is "to be considered" at this point with that schedule. :shakehead You should know by now that fans like you who would go the extra mile (or make that long drive to a proper racing facility) is not important to CART. It's the yuppies that hang out at the beer tent only when the circus comes to town.

"Insert name of City" Chamber of Commerece shouldn't be the track designer for the majority of the tracks that the Champ Cars race on.

EDIT - typo

[racer2c]

Originally posted by Dr. Zhivago
You should know by now that fans like you who would go the extra mile (or make that long drive to a proper racing facility) is not important to CART. It's the yuppies that hang out at the beer tent only when the circus comes to town.

"Insert name of City" Chamber of Commerece should be the track designer for the majority of the tracks that the Champ Cars race on.

Strange, I've seen way more sloppy drunks at MO than I ever have at any street course. Just an observation, not a vote for one venue over the other.

If my interest in a sport revolved around the participation of only one venue, I'd be an IRL fan.

[FRANKY]

Originally posted by racer2c


If my interest in a sport revolved around the participation of only one venue, I'd be an IRL fan.

:laugh: :thumbup:

[Jonezzy_33]

I was surprised to see Fontana left on there. I hope they can get their issues straightened up with the ISC. LVMS I think will be a great addition too. I do hope they keep Portland, Seca, and MO on the schedule, I kinda have a sentimental attachment to MO.

[jons]

Califoria Speedway surprises me. It seems like they don't want CART there and never promote the race. It is not well attended and you need Speedway wings for this race only. Why bother:confused:

[Treeface]

The CART Fontana contract has 1 year left.

[Jonezzy_33]

Originally posted by Treeface
The CART Fontana contract has 1 year left.

OK thanks, I wasn't sure. I was under the impression it was done after this year.

[nrc]

Based on Gentilozzi's comments you could rename this list to: Venues we have a contract with (which we may or may not get out of) and venues we're still talking with.

CART may be calling ISC's bluff by announcing their intention to fullfill their contract. If the buyout goes through, ISC can either pay a good old fashioned fat sanctioning fee for a race they didn't put in their season ticket pacakge, or they can pay CART some settlment to go away a year early.