Reigning two-time championSébastien Bourdais won the series championship for the third consecutive time withNewman/Haas Racing, becoming the first driver to win three American open wheel National Championships in a row sinceTed Horn in 1948, and the first non-American driver in history to win three titles. For this season theLola B02/00 chassis (which the series had introduced under its' previousCART identity in2002 continued as the sole chassis for the series for a second consecutive season in what would prove to be the final season of usage for this particular chassis as Champ Car would replace it with a new spec chassis - thePanoz DP01 for2007. This was also the last CART/Champ Car season prior to the2008 re-unification of American open-wheel racing to feature a round held on a oval track as the only round on the 2006 Champ Car schedule held on oval at Milwaukee would be dropped for what would prove to be Champ Cars' final season in2007.
TheFord–Cosworth XFE engine continued to be the exclusive power plant for the series.Bridgestone also continued as the exclusive series tire supplier. The two companies continued the marketing agreement that branded the seriesBridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.
All teams ran theLola B02/00 chassis, the final year these chassis would be run as ade-facto spec chassis in the series. A new bespoke formula for the series was announced on August 3, 2006 with the unveiling of thePanoz DP01, which would feature the same engine package. The car was slated to weigh 100 pounds less, have onboard starters and paddle shifting, as well as refined aerodynamics.[1]
On December 15, 2005,Bruno Junqueira announced he would return to the No. 2Newman/Haas Racing car in 2006, signing a one-year extension after the conclusion of his three-year deal.[3] Junqueira had missed most of the 2005 season due to an injury sustained at theIndianapolis 500 in May, withOriol Servià finishing second in the standings as a substitute. Newman/Haas tried to secure funding to run a third car for Servià in 2006, but verbal agreements on the matter failed to materialize.[38]
On February 14, 2006, PKV Racing announcedKatherine Legge as the first new driver of the team, making the step up from theAtlantic Championship after finishing third in the 2005 standings with three wins. Legge became the seventh woman to compete at the top level ofAmerican open-wheel car racing, the first to race in CART or Champ Car sinceLyn St. James, who last drove in the series in 1995, and the first to run a full season of Champ Car racing.[15][39] She effectively replaced driver-ownerJimmy Vasser, who had been pondering the possibility of scaling back or retiring altogether for months.
On February 21, 2006,Forsythe Racing announcedMario Domínguez would remain with the team for the 2006 season as Paul Tracy's teammate.[4] The announcement also ratified Tracy's place in the team, despite still having a year left in his contract, as his plans for the year had been on doubt due to his intended full-time switch toNASCAR in 2007.[40] However, by April, Tracy spoke on the media about talks for an extension of his current contract withForsythe,[41] and a new five-year deal was announced on May 11, 2006.[42]
On March 9, 2006,PKV Racing announcedOriol Servià as their lead driver, fresh off his runner-up finish in 2005 forNewman/Haas as an injury stand-in.[13] PKV had tested withRyan Briscoe,Franck Montagny,Giorgio Pantano andRyan Dalziel, but elected to go with an experienced Champ Car driver to partner rookieKatherine Legge. Servià's announcement officially leftCristiano da Matta without a seat despite having two years left in his contract, as the former CART champion's relationship with the team had fallen off following a difficult 2005 season.[43]
On March 15, 2006,Jimmy Vasser announced he would step back from full-time competition, and confirmed his participation in theGrand Prix of Long Beach in a third car forPKV Racing.[14] While adamant it could be his final Champ Car race, Vasser stopped short of announcing a retirement. The statement indicated Vasser could take part in "selected races" during the season, but he would only make one further start two years later at the Champ Car finale, also in Long Beach.[44]
On March 28, 2006,CTE-HVM Racing completed their line-up by announcing British rookieDan Clarke for their second seat. Clarke graduated fromBritish Formula 3, where he finished 5th behind future IndyCar driversCharlie Kimball andMike Conway.[10] Clarke took the spot intended forRonnie Bremer, who saw his 2005 deal extended to 2006 back in July when HVM demoted him due to a lack of sponsorship.[45] Bremer later claimed that HVM failed to provide the promised funding to solve the budget shortfall, which led to the deal being voided a few days before the start of the season.[46]
On March 29, 2006,Dale Coyne Racing announced the signing ofCristiano da Matta, who had lost his seat in PKV Racing after returning from Formula One.[29] The former series champion agreed to forfeit his salary and drive for free in order to secure the ride.[43]
On March 29, 2006,Andrew Ranger was announced byMi-Jack Conquest Racing for a one-race deal at Long Beach, returning to the team after his rookie campaign.[33] Afterwards, Ranger and Conquest tried to secure additional races, as funding was already in place for the three Canadian events.[47] On May 4, the deal was extended for the rest of the season.[34]
On March 29, 2006,Rocketsports Racing announced it would compete at Long Beach with just one car, driven by rookieAntônio Pizzonia in a one-race deal. Pizzonia had competed partially in Formula One for three seasons, including the last five races of 2005.[16]Franck Montagny had been close to secure the second seat[48] before the team was approached with a Brazilian-backed sponsorship effort, which called for Pizzonia to team up withEnrique Bernoldi for a full season under the Team Brazil banner. Both drivers tested with the team, but a deal was not reached in time for the start of the season.[49] Negotiations continued over the season, but no agreement was made.[20]
On April 4, 2006,Team Australia announcedAlex Tagliani would remain with the team in 2006. Previously, the team unsuccessfully tried to lureRyan Briscoe after he failed to land a seat at PKV Racing, in order to form an all-Australian lineup alongsideWill Power.[12]
On April 7, 2006, shortly before the start of practice for the Grand Prix of Long Beach,Dale Coyne Racing announcedJan Heylen would drive the No. 11 car full-time. Heylen was the reigningEurocup Mégane Trophy champion, after stints inFormula 3000 andFormula Three. He beat fellow rookieNicky Pastorelli for the seat, after both drivers took part in the pre-season test atFontana a few days earlier.[28]
On June 9, followingthe race at theMilwaukee Mile, theRuSPORT team announced that they were replacingA. J. Allmendinger withCristiano da Matta, who switched after just four races with Dale Coyne Racing.[25] The change came as a total surprise, as Allmendinger had been the cornerstone of the team since its founding in 2002. The move was caused by profound differences between both parties over RuSPORT and Allmendinger's joint potential to overcome Bourdais' early domination.[52]
On June 12Forsythe Racing announced they were parting company withMario Domínguez over "changes in the engineering structure of the team (that) no longer suit both parties". Domínguez had clashed twice with his teammatePaul Tracy andBruno Junqueira in the first four races.[53] On June 14, the open seat was filled, asA. J. Allmendinger was announced as Domínguez's replacement, just five days after being fired himself.[7]
Since July, the line-up atRocketsports Racing underwent a number of changes:
On July 5, it was announced that the No. 8 car driven byNicky Pastorelli would not compete at theToronto event, after one of Pastorelli's sponsors had defaulted.[18] The sponsorship problem was solved in time for the next round inEdmonton, as announced on July 18.[54]
On September 18,Mario Domínguez was signed to complete the season in the No. 8 car for the final three races, switching fromDale Coyne Racing.Nicky Pastorelli was out again due to his continuing financial issues, and while the team hoped to have him in the No. 18 for the final two races, it went with Pizzonia instead.[19]
On August 3,Cristiano da Matta sustained serious head injuries in a testing accident atRoad America, after colliding with a deer that crossed the track between turns 5 and 6.[26] Da Matta was transferred out of intensive care unit later that month and left the hospital on September 23, but the crash sidelined him for the rest of the season, and it eventually ended his open-wheel racing career. In response to the crash,RuSPORT withdrew the No. 10 car for theDenver event,[55] and no replacement driver was announced forMontréal[56] orRoad America, despite rumours ofDario Franchitti finishing the season in the car.[57]
On October 31,Forsythe Racing announced a deal to run a third car in Mexico City for rookieDavid Martínez, who finished fifth inChamp Car Atlantic.[5] However, on November 6, it was announced thatPaul Tracy would miss the Mexico race after breaking his right scapula in an alcohol-fueled accident that was alternately reported as happening on either anATV or agolf cart.[6][59] As a result, David Martínez ended up making his Champ Car debut driving Tracy's No. 3 car, instead of the No. 33 he was originally slated to drive.
On March 24, 2005, Champ Car announced an agreement with the Beijing Auto and Motor Sports Association to race in China in 2006, and a promoter for the event was signed the following month.[62] The race was to be held either in May or September 2006 atGoldenport Park.[63] However, the event was not included in the final Champ Car calendar, and the initiative would morph into the plannedZhuhai race for 2007.
On August 13, 2005, Champ Car released the 2006 schedule. All 14 races scheduled for 2005 were back, including the Ansan Champ Car Grand Prix, whose inaugural running would not be postponed until September. The lone addition to the schedule was the return of theGrand Prix of Houston, to be held on a 1.7 mile street course around theReliant Park venue that differed from the course used between 1998 and 2001 adjacent to theGeorge R. Brown Convention Center. It was scheduled for Saturday, May 13, the same day as theIndianapolis 500 Pole Day time trials, complicating matters for teams that potentially aimed to race at the Brickyard. In the end, no Champ Car teams entered the Indy 500 in 2006.[60]
The race atLas Vegas, one of just two oval events on the schedule, was included on a provisional basis, as a new contract had not been signed at the time of release, but both parties eventually failed to reach an agreement. On November 29, 2005, it was announced that the race would be replaced by a return toRoad America, who last held a Champ Car event in 2004, using the same September weekend allocated for Las Vegas.[61]
On March 22, 2006, it was announced that theMexico City finale had been moved from November 5 to November 12 at the request of the promoter, in order to avoid conflict with theDia de Muertos week, the traditional national holiday of remembrance inMexico.[64]
On July 23, 2006, Champ Car announced the cancellation of the Ansan Champ Car Grand Prix for the second year in a row due to trouble with track construction, access roads and red tape.[65][66] After three consecutive failures to race at South Korea, the venture was finally abandoned.
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Sébastien Bourdais
Will Power
Newman/Haas Racing
Bruno Junqueira
Paul Tracy
David Martínez R 
Dan Clarke R 
Oriol Servià
Nicky Pastorelli R 
Tõnis Kasemets R 
Jan Heylen R 
Juan Cáceres R 
Andreas Wirth R 