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©1999 SpeedCenter Publishing By Dan Proudfoot DETROIT -- Greg Moore and Gil de Ferran will drive for Roger Penske next year, Penske announced yesterday in a hastily called news conference with neither driver in attendance. With Moore and de Ferran signing three-year contracts, the once-mighty Team Marlboro Penske bids farewell to veteran Al Unser Jr., Moore to Player's and team owner Gerry Forsythe and de Ferran to Derrick Walker's team, which also is losing its main sponsor, Valvoline. "I feel bad for Al, but as a professional race driver you've got to try to further your career however you can," Moore said yesterday from Indianapolis, where he drove in the season-ending IROC race last night. "It's difficult to leave a team that I've been with for five years, but on the other hand I think it's time for a change." Penske was excited by the signings, which caught other CART teams by surprise. "If you look at the people who were available, I don't think you could have picked two better drivers," he said. "And you know how fast this game works, you need to move. "The sport is tough, it's competitive, and I had to be competitive in making my decisions. It's a tough decision, obviously, because Al has been a very good friend, he still is." Unser agreed. "We've had great success with Marlboro Team Penske," he said. "It wasn't that hard of a decision, because Roger is a friend of mine and supports me. This is another corner we're taking." In signing with Penske for an estimated $3.5 million a year -- Penske does not disclose contract terms -- Moore, 24, is staking his career on Mercedes making its engines competitive and on Penske returning to form after failing to win since Paul Tracy's triumph at Madison, Ill., in 1997. Moore, critical of Mercedes earlier this year, was able to qualify fourth at Detroit yesterday before rushing to Indianapolis. Through Penske's initiative, an opportunity for an English-speaking Canadian driver comes open at Player's/Forsythe, given that team policy is to have both French- and English-speaking drivers and that Patrick Carpentier hopes to return. Toyota/Atlantic champion Lee Bentham has tested with Arciero/Wells and had hoped to move up this season. David Empringham, who chose retirement last year believing he had no chance, has tested Indy Lights cars in his role as driver coach for Brian Stewart Racing. Already sore from an accident in IROC practice Wednesday, Moore crashed on the third lap at the Brickyard and finished last. Mark Martin won but Dale Earnhardt claimed his third overall IROC title. Fellow drivers Paul Tracy, Juan Montoya and Michael Andretti, who finished 1-2-3 here in provisional qualifying, questioned Moore's wisdom of combining two races on a weekend. But Penske applauded Moore's IROC involvement. "Al ran IROC ... Rick Mears, Danny Sullivan (did too)," said the man who co-founded the series with top drivers in identical cars. "It gives them more experience."
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