| 2004 Champ Car season | |
|---|---|
| Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered byFord | |
.svg){kind=logo} | |
| 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 |
The2004 Champ Car World Series season was the 26th overall season in theCART/Champ Car genealogy, and the first under the ownership of Open-Wheel Racing Series (OWRS) as theChamp Car World Series. It began on April 18, 2004, and ended on November 7 after 14 races. For sponsorship purposes, it was branded asBridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. The Drivers' Champion wasSébastien Bourdais. The Rookie of the Year wasA. J. Allmendinger.
The open-wheel racing organization Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. had operated until2003. After that year's season, CART declared bankruptcy and was liquidated in anIndianapolis courtroom in January 2004. Three team owners who had participated in the CART series,Gerald Forsythe,Kevin Kalkhoven, andPaul Gentilozzi, purchased CART's liquidated assets and resurrected it as Open-Wheel Racing Series for the 2004 season.
Champ Car races were broadcast onSpike TV.[1] Also, high-definition live broadcasts were onHDNet. This was the last CART/Champ Car season which would see chassis from more than manufacturer used during the season as theLola B02/00 chassis (introduced in 2002) would become the sole chassis for the series for the next two season before thePanoz DP01 took over as the sole chassis for2007.
TheFord-Cosworth XFE, a 2.65 literturboV8 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 seriesBridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. The followingteams anddrivers competed in the 2004 Champ Car season. The would be the last Champ Car season in which any team would run aReynard chassis during the season.
On January 28, 2004, the assets of the bankrupt Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (CART) were awarded to Open-Wheel Racing Series, LLC, over a bid fromIndy Racing League ownerTony George as the judge decided that OWRS's bid would allow CART's debt holders a better chance at recouping their money.[2] Despite this victory, the OWRS partnersKevin Kalkhoven,Gerald Forsythe, andPaul Gentilozzi, would still have to work hard to ensure the 18 racecars they promised would be on track for the scheduledGrand 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, whileU. E. Patrick, one of the original founders of CART, sold off his CART team assets before starting a short-lived IRL effort.[3]
On March 9 a "Season Premiere" promotional event was held inLong Beach, California, announcing 12 confirmed drivers and a 16 race schedule.[4] 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).[5] Another blow came a week later on March 18 whenBobby 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.[6]
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 supermarketGigante would not follow Rahal to the IRL.[7] Jourdain ended up driving for the newRuSPORT team, partnering with rookieA. J. Allmendinger.[8] On March 20,Herdez Competition announced thatRyan Hunter-Reay would race a 2nd car for them.[9] On March 24 Gerald Forsythe expanded his team from two cars to three, providing a seat forPatrick Carpentier.[10]Conquest Racing announced a two car team featuring ex-Formula One driverJustin Wilson on March 25,[11] withAlex Sperafico filling the second seat two days later.[12]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.[13] Although his participation with two cars was already known,Dale Coyne waited until just before practice began for theGrand Prix of Long Beach to announce that his drivers would be Champ Car veteransOriol Servià andTarso Marques.[14]
| Icon | Legend |
|---|---|
| O | Oval/Speedway |
| R | Road course |
| S | Street circuit |
The initial schedule announced by Champ Car at the Long Beach Season Premiere event included 16 races.[20] One event that didn't make the final schedule was a race on a street circuit inSeoul, South Korea on October 17, a week before the Surfers Paradise race, but the race was cancelled on September 24 because of "environmental issues",[21] two months after reports that government approval for a race nearSeoul World Cup Stadium could not be arranged in time.[22] The second was a "TBA" event that was scheduled to take place somewhere in the United States after theGran Premio Telmex/Tecate in Mexico City and never materialized. A second TBA event on the initial schedule became theBridgestone 400 on September 25 at theLas Vegas Motor Speedway, which was announced on July 7.[23]
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| Pos | Country | LBH | FUN | MIL | POR | CLE | TOR | VAN | ROA | DEN | CGV | LAG | LAS | SUR | MXC | 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 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 73 | ||||
| 9 | Australia | 7 | 17 | |||||||||||||
| 10 |  Czech Republic | 18 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Pos | Country | LBH | FUN | MIL | POR | CLE | TOR | VAN | ROA | DEN | CGV | LAG | LAS | SUR | MXC | Pts |
| Pos | Chassis | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lola | 462 |
| 2 | Reynard | 168 |
| Pos | Chassis | Pts |