Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
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| Owner(s) Name(s) | Paul Newman, Carl Haas, Michael Lanigan |
| Racing Series | IndyCar Series |
| Number of Championships | 8 |
| Car Number(s) | 02, 06 |
| Driver(s) | Justin Wilson (02) Graham Rahal (06) |
| Primary Sponsor(s) | McDonald's (02) Hole in the Wall Camps (06) |
| Shop Location | Lincolnshire, Illinois |
| Homepage | [1] |
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) is an motor racing team competing in the IndyCar Series. The team operations are based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Newman/Haas Racing was formed when actor Paul Newman and long-time racer Carl Haas, competitors in the Can-Am championship, each began looking to Champ Car racing in 1982. The two decided to join forces for 1983, with Mario Andretti as the team’s driver. Since then, the team has won 105 Champ Car races, as well the drivers championship in 1984 with Mario Andretti, 1991 with Michael Andretti, 1993 with rookie Nigel Mansell, 2002 with Cristiano da Matta and the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 championships with Sébastien Bourdais. In 2007 Mike Lanigan became a partner in the company, resulting in the change of team name.
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[edit] Champ Car World Series
NHLR was the most successful team that was active as of the 2007 Champ Car World Series. Since the team's inception in 1983, its drivers have won seven points championships. The first four championship crowns came in Champ Car's predecessor series, CART, and four others by Sébastien Bourdais in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 were Champ Car World Series titles. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing is also second overall in driver wins. The team has had many notable drivers over the years, including Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Cristiano da Matta, Sébastien Bourdais, and current drivers, Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal.
In 2005, Newman/Haas Racing fielded two cars in the Champ Car World Series. The drivers were Bruno Junqueira and Sébastien Bourdais, the eventual champion. Junqueira was injured in a crash during the 2005 Indianapolis 500, however, and was replaced in the cockpit by Oriol Servia.
For 2006, Newman/Haas Racing fielded two cars in the Champ Car World Series. The cars were based on Lola chassis, powered by Ford Cosworth engines and rode on Bridgestone tires. The drivers were Sébastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira.
NHLR earned its 100th Champ Car World Series win on June 10, 2007 as Sébastian Bourdais won the Portland Grand Prix by a margin of over 15 seconds.
On January 29, 2008 NHLR announced that Justin Wilson will team with Graham Rahal for the 2008 Champ Car World Series season. NHLR will attempt to earn their ninth series title in their 26th season of Champ Car competition. Justin Wilson has finished runner-up in the Champ Car World Series driver standings in 2006 and 2007 to Sébastien Bourdais and NHLR.
[edit] IndyCar Series
After more than a decade of intense rivalry, Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George and owners of the Champ Car World Series agreed on February 22nd, 2008, to re-unify American open-wheel racing for 2008 and beyond. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing welcomed the news and confirmed their participation in the unified IndyCar Series in 2008 with Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal.
[edit] 2008 IndyCar Series
The 2008 season started in the difficulty typical to all transitional teams, with Wilson struggling for pace on the high-speed Homestead-Miami Speedway. Graham Rahal in the Hole-In-The-Wall-Camps car was not able to run in the opening race after crashing heavily in testing at Homestead. Wilson drove a steady race to finish highly amongst the ex-ChampCar teams, but struggled to race the established IndyCar teams.
Fortunes changed dramatically for the powerful squad at round two on the streets of St. Petersburg in Florida. Wilson qualified strongly, and led most of the opening stint before being shuffled back in the chaotic stops onto slick tires as the track dried. Graham Rahal's crew, however, read the conditions perfectly, and filled him with just enough fuel to scrape to the end with a few safety cars. It came down to the final laps, when Rahal had just enough fuel to pull away from Helio Castroneves to take an historical win, becoming the youngest winner in the history of major open-wheel racing.
Round 3, the final Champ Car sanctioned event at Long Beach, was tough for NHLR. Wilson was supreme in qualifying and took pole position. Running a strong second early on the race, his engine suffered a rare failure and was out. Rahal struggled, and after a spin mid-race, he crashed out on the final lap. His strong result at St. Petersburg maintains him ninth in the driver's standings, and NHLR remains ninth in the teams' points standing.
[edit] Past and Present Drivers
Justin Wilson (2008-Present)
Graham Rahal (2007-Present)
Sébastien Bourdais (2003-2007)
Bruno Junqueira (2003-2006)
Oriol Servia (2005; sub for Junqueria)- Cristiano da Matta (2001-2002)
- Christian Fittipaldi (1996-2002)
- Michael Andretti (1989-1992, 1995-2000)
- Roberto Moreno (1997-1999; sub for Fittipaldi)
Paul Tracy (1995)- Nigel Mansell (1993-1994)
- Mario Andretti (1983-1994)
Teo Fabi (1992; sub for Ma. Andretti)
Alan Jones (1985; sub for Ma. Andretti)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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