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]
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]
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]
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.
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 |