CART TV Action Series Announced ©1998 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc. Weekly TV action series about fictional 3rd Newman/Haas entry The high-speed, glamorous world of Champ Car racing will soon be turned into a major new weekly television action series. The program is the result of an agreement reached between Championship Auto Racing Teams, Newman/Haas Racing, owned by Paul Newman and Carl Haas and respected motion picture and television producer Neil Russell and his partner, Peter W. Kuyper. The one-hour television series was announced today at the final FedEx Championship Series event of the year - the Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota at California Speedway - by CART Chairman and CEO Andrew Craig; CART Vice President of Broadcasting, Keith Allo; Haas; and Russell and Kuyper. Setting fictional characters against the very real backdrop of the world of the open-wheel Champ Cars and the CART circuit, the new series will take viewers inside racing the same way that "ER" takes them into a hospital's emergency ward. "We are very enthused about the potential for this program and happy to be working with a producer of the stature of Neil Russell," said Craig. "It gives us a wonderful opportunity to reach new and potential fans of our sport." The CART television series is the creation of producer Russell, who with Jerry Bruckheimer (CON AIR, THE ROCK, ARMAGEDDON) is the originator and executive producer of the hit weekly action hour "SOF (Soldier Of Fortune): Special Ops Force," currently in its second season in worldwide syndication. Russell also is developing two feature films, one with Bruckheimer for Touchstone/Disney entitled CRUSH, and the second with Wendy Finerman (FORREST GUMP) entitled YES WE CAN for Columbia Pictures. Russell has more than 30 television movies to his production credit. "With nearly one billion viewers watching CART races each season via television, the worldwide audience for the CART weekly television series is both vast and loyal," said Russell. "We are excited to join with CART and Newman/Haas Racing in the mounting of this action-packed and drama-filled series for television." Long-time Champ Car team owner Haas, who has Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi as drivers, is providing technical support in much the same way he and his team worked with producer Stephen Low on the IMAX film "SuperSpeedway," which featured Mario and Michael Andretti. "SuperSpeedway" has been viewed by more than 13 million people around the world since its introduction in 1997. In the television series, a fictional third Champ Car entry from the Newman/Haas team will be featured against the backdrop of the 20-race FedEx Championship Series. The series is being represented for production and worldwide distribution by agents David Tenzer and Debra Goldfarb of Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Source: CART Press Release

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