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©1999 SpeedCenter Publishing The unique sounds of Champ Cars running through the streets of Long Beach and the wooded hills surrounding Road America will be heard for several more years as Championship Auto Racing Teams announced today that it reached multi-year agreements to continue conducting FedEx Championship Series Champ Car events at each facility. The announcement was made by CART Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Craig. "Both Long Beach and Road America have played a long and significant role in CART history," Craig said. "The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is one of the most anticipated events every year in Southern California. It is a city festival that attracts a massive audience each and every year. The Texaco/Havoline 200 at Road America is another outstanding event that is the largest single-day sports event in Wisconsin. We are truly pleased to announce these agreements and look forward to building on the great relationships we have with our fans who support these races." According to CART Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Finance Randy Dzierzawski, the Long Beach agreement will extend the race on the streets of the Southern California city through 2005 while the twisting, four-mile Wisconsin permanent road course will play host to the series through 2003. "The multi-year agreements at both venues continue to add to CART's high degree of revenue and earnings visibility for the future," Dzierzawski said. The Long Beach event first came aboard the CART schedule in 1984. The temporary street circuit that overlooks Long Beach harbor and the Queen Mary provides some of the most visually memorable pictures in the series. Over the years in Long Beach, Al Unser Jr. has been the most dominant driver with six victories, including four in a row from 1988-91. "On behalf of the City of Long Beach, the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach and its parent company, Dover Downs Entertainment, we are delighted to have the opportunity to extend our association with Championship Auto Racing Teams," stated Christopher R Pook, president and chief executive officer of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. "This relationship began in 1984, and over the years, the many loyal spectators who attend the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach have been entertained year after year by some truly spectacular racing. We look forward to more of the same well into the new millennium." The rolling hills of the Kettle Moraine of southern Wisconsin have served as the backdrop for 18 races since the first was conducted in 1982. Mario Andretti and Michael Andretti share the record for career wins on the 15-turn course, with three each. "On behalf of Road America, I want to say that I'm delighted we are continuing our long-standing relationship with CART through the year 2003," said George Bruggenthies, Road America general manager and chief operating officer. "Since 1982, CART has provided our fans with an exciting, fiercely competitive brand of open-wheel racing that is unmatched, we feel, anywhere in the world. Likewise, we feel Road America's unique four-mile course, with its wide variety of turns and long straightaways, offers these top-caliber drivers the type of challenge they look forward to year after year. What this makes for is Champ Car racing at its ultimate best, and we look forward to even more as we enter the next millennium." Source: CART |
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