2004 Champ Car season

2004 Champ Car season
Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford
Season
Races 14
Start date April 18
End date November 7
Awards
Drivers' champion Sébastien Bourdais
Constructors' Cup Lola
Nations' Cup Canada
Rookie of the Year A. J. Allmendinger
Chronology
Previous season Next season
2003 (CART) 2005

The 2004 Champ Car season was the inaugural season for the Champ Car World Series. It began on April 18, 2004 and ended on November 7 after 14 races. The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford Drivers' Champion was Sébastien Bourdais. The Rookie of the Year was A. J. Allmendinger.

The open-wheel racing organization CART, Inc. had operated until 2003. After that year's season, the series declared bankruptcy and was liquidated in an Indianapolis courtroom in January 2004. Three team owners who had participated in the CART series, Gerald Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven, and Paul Gentilozzi, purchased the series' liquidated assets and resurrected it as the Champ Car World Series for the 2004 season.

Contents

Drivers and teams

The Ford-Cosworth XFE, a 2.65 liter turbo V8 engine remained the exclusive power plant for the reorganized Champ Car series. Bridgestone remained the exclusive tire supplier as well. They also continued the marketing agreement that branded the series Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. The following teams and drivers competed in the 2004 Champ Car season.

Team Chassis No Drivers Races
Forsythe Championship Racing Lola B02/00 1 Paul Tracy All
3 Rodolfo Lavín All
7 Patrick Carpentier All
Newman/Haas Racing Lola B02/00 2 Sébastien Bourdais All
6 Bruno Junqueira All
Herdez Competition Lola B02/00 4 Ryan Hunter-Reay All
55 Mario Domínguez All
Walker Racing Reynard 02I 5 Mario Haberfeld All
15 David Besnard 13
Michael Valiante 14
Rocketsports Racing Lola B02/00 8 Alex Tagliani All
17 Nelson Philippe 1-5
Memo Gidley 6-7
Guy Smith 8-14
RuSPORT Lola B02/00 9 Michel Jourdain, Jr. All
10 A. J. Allmendinger All
PKV Racing Lola B02/00 12 Jimmy Vasser All
21 Roberto González All
Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Reynard 02I
Lola B02/00
14 Alex Sperafico 1-8
Nelson Philippe 9-14
34 Justin Wilson All
Dale Coyne Racing Lola B02/00 11 Oriol Servià All
19 Tarso Marques 1-2, 14
Gastón Mazzacane 3-12
Jarek Janiš 13

From CART to Champ Car

The assets of the bankrupt Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (CART) organization were awarded to Open Wheel Racing Series, LLC in the Indianapolis courtroom of Judge Frank Otte on January 28, 2004.[1] A bid from Indy Racing League owner Tony George was rejected, thus ensuring the split in American Open Wheel racing would continue. Despite this victory the OWRS partners, CART team owners Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerald Forsythe, and Paul Gentilozzi, would still have to work hard to get the 18 racecars they promised would be on track for the scheduled Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 18. Two CART teams founded in 2003, American Spirit Team Johansson and Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing, would not race in 2004, while U. E. "Pat" Patrick, one of the original founders of CART, sold off his CART team assets before starting a short-lived IRL effort.[2]

Long Beach Season Premiere and its aftermath

On March 9 a "Season Premiere" promotional event was held in Long Beach, California, announcing 12 confirmed drivers and a 16 race schedule.[3] However, just two days later on March 11, Adrián Fernández threw the plans for the season into serious doubt by announcing the one car team he had presented at Long Beach would not compete in the Champ Car series. He instead expanded his Indy Racing League team to two cars (even though the IRL season had already seen its first race).[4] Another blow came a week later on March 18 when Bobby Rahal, onetime CEO of CART and 3 time series champion and who also presented a one car team in Long Beach, announced he would not compete in CART and would also run a two car IRL team like Fernández.[5]

Champ Car makes it to Long Beach

Momentum for Champ Car began to turn in the aftermath of Rahal's exit when his driver, Michel Jourdain, Jr., announced that he and his sponsor, the Mexican supermarket Gigante would not follow Rahal to the IRL.[6] Jourdain ended up driving for the new RuSPORT team, partnering with rookie A. J. Allmendinger.[7] On March 20, Herdez Competition announced that Ryan Hunter-Reay would race a 2nd car for them.[8] On March 24 Gerald Forsythe expanded his team from two cars to three, providing a seat for Patrick Carpentier.[9] Conquest Racing announced a two car team featuring ex-Formula One driver Justin Wilson on March 25.[10] Walker Racing's one car team announced on April 8 proved to be the final piece of the puzzle to get to the 18 car field promised by the Champ Car partners in January.[11] Although his participation with two cars was already known, Dale Coyne waited until just before practice began for the Grand Prix of Long Beach to announce that his drivers would be Champ Car veterans Oriol Servià and Tarso Marques.[12]

Mid-season changes

Races

Rnd Race Name Circuit City/Location Date
1 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California April 18
2 Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix Fundidora Park Monterrey, Mexico May 23
3 The Time Warner Cable Roadrunner 250 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin June 5
4 Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon June 20
5 U.S. Bank Presents The Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio July 3
6 Molson Indy Toronto Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario July 11
7 Molson Indy Vancouver Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia July 25
8 Grand Prix of Road America Presented by the Chicago Tribune Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 8
9 Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver Streets of Denver Denver, Colorado August 15
10 Molson Indy Montreal Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Montreal, Quebec August 29
11 Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California September 12
12 Bridgestone 400 Presented by Corona Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada September 25
13 Lexmark Indy 300 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia October 24
14 Gran Premio Telmex-Tecate Presented by Banamex Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Mexico City, Mexico November 7
  Oval/Speedway
  Road Course/Street Circuit

The initial schedule announced by Champ Car at the Long Beach Season Premiere event included 16 races.[18] One event that didn't make the final schedule was a race on a street circuit in Seoul, South Korea on October 17, a week before the Surfers Paradise race. The race was canceled in July after efforts to secure government approval for the race near Seoul World Cup Stadium could not be arranged.[19] The second was a "TBA" event that was scheduled to take place somewhere in the United States after the Gran Premio Telmex/Tecate in Mexico City and never materialized. A second TBA event on the initial schedule became the Bridgestone 400 on September 25 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which was announced on July 7.[20]

Full Series Results

Race Results

Rnd Race Name Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Report
1 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Bruno Junqueira Sébastien Bourdais Paul Tracy Forsythe Championship Racing Report
2 Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing Report
3 The Time Warner Cable Roadrunner 250 Ryan Hunter-Reay Ryan Hunter-Reay Ryan Hunter-Reay Herdez Competition Report
4 Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Sébastien Bourdais Bruno Junqueira Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing Report
5 U.S. Bank Presents The Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Paul Tracy Bruno Junqueira Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing Report
6 Molson Indy Toronto Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing Report
7 Molson Indy Vancouver Paul Tracy Paul Tracy Paul Tracy Forsythe Championship Racing Report
8 Grand Prix of Road America Presented by the Chicago Tribune Sébastien Bourdais Bruno Junqueira Alex Tagliani Rocketsports Racing Report
9 Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing Report
10 Molson Indy Montreal Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais Bruno Junqueira Newman/Haas Racing Report
11 Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey Sébastien Bourdais Mario Domínguez Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Championship Racing Report
12 Bridgestone 400 Presented by Corona Patrick Carpentier Bruno Junqueira Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing Report
13 Lexmark Indy 300 Paul Tracy Bruno Junqueira Bruno Junqueira Newman/Haas Racing Report
14 Gran Premio Telmex-Tecate Presented by Banamex Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing Report

Point Scoring System

The 2004 season featured a change to the 1st through 12th place CART point system that had been in effect since 1983.[21] The number of points awarded were increased and point scoring positions increased to 20. Points continued to be awarded based on the driver's finishing position regardless of the number of laps completed. New bonus points were added as well, adding a point for fastest lap, leading a lap, as well as a point for the driver who improved the most positions from his starting position, while the point for leading the most laps was dropped.

Final driver standings

Pos Driver LBH MTY MIL POR CLE TOR VAN ROA DEN MTL LAG LAS SUR MEX Pts
1 Sébastien Bourdais 3 1* 18 1* 1* 1* 5 3 1 15* 8 1* 2 1* 369
2 Bruno Junqueira 2 2 6 2 2 18 4 15 3 1 2 2 1 2 341
3 Patrick Carpentier 4 4 2 4 16 3 16 14 9 2 1* 3 16 6 266
4 Paul Tracy 1* 7 17 3 17 5 1* 12 2* 4 10 18 4* 10 254
5 Mario Domínguez 5 3 8 17 8 17 6 5 4 3 11 7 3 8 244
6 A. J. Allmendinger 12 17 5 6 6 11 3 13 5 5 15 6 6 3 229
7 Alex Tagliani 8 5 13 7 3 7 7 1* 10 7 6 16 19 11 218
8 Jimmy Vasser 16 12 4 8 5 2 10 8 17 8 17 5 12 5 201
9 Ryan Hunter-Reay 7 8 1* 12 11 8 8 4 16 18 5 13 5 19 199
10 Oriol Servià 15 14 7 11 4 9 12 6 6 9 3 12 13 7 199
11 Justin Wilson 6 6 11 5 18 12 14 7 7 14 18 8 8 4 188
12 Michel Jourdain, Jr. 11 11 3 14 15 15 2 9 14 6 4 11 17 9 185
13 Mario Haberfeld 9 15 10 9 14 4 9 11 8 13 7 14 14 15 157
14 Rodolfo Lavín 10 13 9 18 9 14 15 2 11 11 12 4 15 13 156
15 Roberto González 14 9 12 10 7 13 13 16 12 10 14 10 11 12 136
16 Nelson Philippe 13 10 14 15 10 13 17 16 9 10 16 89
17 Gastón Mazzacane 16 13 12 6 DNS 18 15 12 13 15 73
18 Guy Smith 10 18 16 9 17 9 17 53
19 Alex Sperafico 17 16 15 16 13 10 17 17 47
20 David Besnard 7 18
21 Memo Gidley 16 11 15
22 Tarso Marques 18 18 18 9
23 Michael Valiante 14 7
24 Jarek Janiš 18 3
Pos Driver LBH MTY MIL POR CLE TOR VAN ROA DEN MTL LAG LAS SUR MEX Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th & 5th place
Light Blue 6th-10th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 10)
Purple Did not finish
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

Point Scoring System:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Points 31 27 25 23 21 19 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Bonus Points:

Nation's Cup

Pos Country LBH MTY MIL POR CLE TOR VAN ROA DEN MTL LAG LAS SUR MEX Pts
1 Canada 1 4 2 3 3 3 1 1 2 2 1 3 4 6 380
2 France 3 1 14 1 1 1 5 3 1 15 8 1 2 1 358
3 Brazil 2 2 6 2 2 4 4 11 3 1 2 2 1 2 352
4 United States 7 8 1 6 5 2 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 3 310
5 Mexico 5 3 3 10 7 13 2 2 4 3 4 4 3 8 295
6 Spain 15 14 7 11 4 9 12 6 6 9 3 12 13 7 195
7 England 6 6 11 5 18 12 14 7 7 14 9 8 8 4 195
8 Argentina 16 13 12 6 DNS 18 15 12 13 15 73
9 Australia 7 17
10 Czech Republic 18 3
Pos Country LBH MTY MIL POR CLE TOR VAN ROA DEN MTL LAG LAS SUR MEX Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup

Pos Chassis Pts
1 Lola 462
2 Reynard 168
Pos Chassis Pts

Driver Breakdown

Pos Driver Team Entries Wins Podiums Top 5 Top 10 Poles Laps Led Pts
1 Bourdais Newman-Haas Racing 14 7 &1000000000000001000000010 &1000000000000001100000011 &1000000000000001200000012 8 &10000000000000506000000506 369
2 Junqueira Newman-Haas Racing 14 2 &1000000000000001000000010 &1000000000000001100000011 &1000000000000001200000012 1 &10000000000000123000000123 341
3 Carpentier Forsythe Championship Racing 14 1 &100000000000000050000005 &100000000000000080000008 &1000000000000001000000010 1 &1000000000000006600000066 266
4 Tracy Forsythe Championship Racing 14 2 &100000000000000040000004 &100000000000000070000007 &1000000000000001000000010 3 &10000000000000286000000286 254
5 Domínguez Herdez Competition 14 &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000030000003 &100000000000000060000006 &1000000000000001100000011 &10000000000000000000000-- &1000000000000001000000010 244
6 Allmendinger RuSPORT 14 &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000020000002 &100000000000000050000005 &100000000000000090000009 &10000000000000000000000-- &1000000000000001600000016 229
7 Tagliani Rocketsports Racing 14 1 &100000000000000020000002 &100000000000000030000003 &1000000000000001000000010 &10000000000000000000000-- &1000000000000002900000029 218
8 Vasser PKV Racing 14 &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000010000001 &100000000000000050000005 &100000000000000090000009 &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000050000005 201
9 Hunter-Reay Herdez Competition 14 1 &100000000000000010000001 &100000000000000040000004 &100000000000000080000008 1 &10000000000000250000000250 199
10 Servià Dale Coyne Racing 14 &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000010000001 &100000000000000020000002 &100000000000000080000008 &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000060000006 199
11 Wilson Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 14 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000020000002 &100000000000000080000008 &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000010000001 188
12 Jourdain, Jr. RuSPORT 14 &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000020000002 &100000000000000030000003 &100000000000000060000006 &10000000000000000000000-- &1000000000000001300000013 185
13 Haberfeld Walker Racing 14 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000010000001 &100000000000000070000007 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- 157
14 Lavín Forsythe Championship Racing 14 &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000010000001 &100000000000000020000002 &100000000000000050000005 &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000030000003 156
15 González PKV Racing 14 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000050000005 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- 136
16 Philippe Rocketsports Racing
Mi-Jack Conquest Racing
11 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000040000004 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- 89
17 Mazzacane (R) Dale Coyne Racing 10 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000010000001 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- 73
18 Smith Rocketsports Racing 7 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000030000003 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- 53
19 Sperafico (R) Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 8 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000010000001 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- 47
20 Besnard Walker Racing 1 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &100000000000000010000001 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- 18
21 Gidley Rocketsports Racing 2 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- 15
22 Marques Dale Coyne Racing 3 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- 9
23 Valiante (R) Walker Racing 1 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- 7
24 Janiš (R) Dale Coyne Racing 1 &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- &10000000000000000000000-- 3

Notes

  1. ^ "OWRS awarded CART assets". motorsport.com. 2004-01-28. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=144777&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  2. ^ "Patrick Racing, Unser Jr to debut at Indy500". motorsport.com. 2004-03-21. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=148385&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-07-04. 
  3. ^ "Out of the woodwork in Long Beach". motorsport.com. 2004-03-09. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=147287&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  4. ^ "Fernandez moves to the IndyCar Series". motorsport.com. 2004-03-11. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=147517&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  5. ^ "Two Rahal cars for IndyCar Series". motorsport.com. 2004-03-18. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=148025&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  6. ^ "Jourdain leaves Team Rahal". motorsport.com. 2004-03-18. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=148055&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  7. ^ "Jourdain joins RuSPORT for 2004". motorsport.com. 2004-03-31. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=149239&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  8. ^ "Herdez adds Hunter-Reay to second car". motorsport.com. 2004-03-20. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=148225&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  9. ^ "Forsythe commits to three cars". motorsport.com. 2004-03-20. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=148629&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  10. ^ "Justin Wilson to pilot Conquest Racing Lola". motorsport.com. 2004-03-25. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=148736&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  11. ^ "Walker Racing will compete in 2004". motorsport.com. 2004-04-08. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=149863&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  12. ^ "Marques, Servia secure rides with Coyne Racing". motorsport.com. 2004-04-16. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=150405&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  13. ^ "Memo Gidley To Drive For Rocketsports Racing In Toronto". motorsport.com. 2004-07-09. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=159537&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2008-05-11. 
  14. ^ "Rocketsports signs Guy Smith". motorsport.com. 2004-08-03. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=162264&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2008-05-11. 
  15. ^ "Walker Racing enters second car in Australia". motorsport.com. 2004-10-18. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=171636&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2008-05-11. 
  16. ^ "Jaroslav Janis gets ride with Coyne". motorsport.com. 2004-10-21. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=171869&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2008-05-11. 
  17. ^ "Marques returns with Coyne for Mexico City". motorsport.com. 2004-11-04. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=172868&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2008-05-11. 
  18. ^ "The 2004 schedule is more complete". motorsport.com. 2004-03-08. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=147277&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 
  19. ^ "No Seoul". AutoWeek. 2004-07-26. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-119860222.html. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 
  20. ^ "Champ Car to run at Las Vegas". motorsport.com. 2004-07-07. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=159310&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 
  21. ^ "New point system announced". motorsport.com. 2004-02-05. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=145218&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 

References

See also