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2004 INDYCAR IRL

KANAAN WINS 2004 INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP

• KANAAN (ANDRETTI GREEN): "... This is a dream come true and now I can relax a little bit"
  Brazilian Driver Tony Kanaan won 2004 Indycar championship. With 3 race wins and 3 poles this season his 2nd finish at the penultimate race (Fontana, Oct 3) gave him enough points to claim his first Indycar title. Kanaan made his Indycar debut last season with the newly formed Andretti Green Racing team.
• 2004 SEASON: DE FERRAN RETIRES    HORNISH JOINS PENSKE    FERNANDEZ JOINS     UNSER JR. RETIRES MID SEASON      Taylor, Carpenter and Matsuura's Indycar Debut 

IRL CHAMPIONS

2003 CHAMPION:
Tony Kanaan, BRA

2003 CHAMPION:
Scott Dixon, NZ

2002 CHAMPION:
Sam Hornish Jr, USA

2001 CHAMPION:
Sam Hornish Jr, USA

2000 CHAMPION:
Buddy Lazier, USA

1999 CHAMPION:
Greg Ray, USA

1998 CHAMPION:
Kenny Brack, SWE

2004 INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP

2004 RACE RESULTS: 2004 calendar

• FINALE: R15, OCTOBER 17, Indy 500, Texas Motor Speedway
  winner Castroneves ; pole: Castroneves

• R15, OCTOBER 3, Indy 400, Fontana, California Speedway
  winner Fernandez (2nd win) ; pole: Castroneves
  *** KANAAN IS 2004 CHAMPION ***

• R14, SEPTEMBER 12, Indy 300, Chicagoland Speedway
  winner Fernandez (2nd win) ; pole: Castroneves

• R13, AUGUST 29 , Indy 225, Nazareth Speedway
  *** 100TH INDYCAR RACE *** ; final race for Nazareth
  winner: Wheldon (3rd win); pole: Castroneves

• R12, AUGUST 22, Indy 225, Pikes Peak International Raceway
  winner: Franchitti (2nd win); pole: Kanaan

• R11, AUGUST 15, Kentucky Speedway Indy 300
  winner Fernandez (maiden win) ; pole: Rice

• R10, AUGUST 1, Michigan Indy 400, Michigan International Speedway
  winner Rice (3rd win) ; pole: Kanaan

• R9, JULY 25 , Milwaukee Indy 225, The Milwaukee Mile
  winner: Franchitti (maiden win); pole: Meira

• R8, JULY 17, Indy 200, Nashville Superspeedway
  winner Kanaan (3rd win) ; pole: Rice

• R7, JULY 4 , Kansas Indy 300, Kansas Speedway
  winner Rice (2nd win) ; pole: Rice

• R6, JUNE 26, Richmond International Raceway
  winner Wheldon ; pole: Castroneves

• R5, June 12, Bombardier 500, Texas Motor Speedway
  winner Kanaan (2nd win) ; pole: Franchitti

• R4, May 30, Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
  winner Rice (1st win) ; pole: Rice

• R3, Apr 17, Indy Japan 300, Twin Ring Motegi
  winner Wheldon; pole: Wheldon

• R2, Mar 21, Indy 200, Phoenix International Raceway
  winner Kanaan (1st win) ; pole: Wheldon

• R1, Feb. 29, Indy 300, Homestead-Miami Speedway
  winner Hornsh Jr; pole: Rice

AL UNSER JR. RETIRES

• 42 year old Al Unser Jr. has retired from racing. Two time Indy 500 (1992, 1994) and Indycar champion (1990, 1994) has been driving for Patrick Racing this season. He achieved 34 race wins over a 22 year racing career.
  UNSER JR: "... After careful thought, I came to this conclusion just after the Richmond race on 26 June and knew it was time to retire ... So, true to my word, I am stepping out of the car"
  T GEORGE (IRL): "... Very few race drivers will ever accomplish as much on the race track as Al has during his career ...As a competitor he has upheld the Unser tradition and added balance to their legacy"
  JUNE 30, 2004

PRE-SEASON QUOTE

• DIXON (GANASSI): "... You have to go in thinking you can win the championship again and I think our team, in general, is probably the favorite .."
• CASTRONEVES (PENSKE): ".... My goal is to win the championship, but it's extremely competitive in the Indy Racing League ... The (Indy) 500 is one of the most prestigious races in the world and you always want to do well there. I hope I don't have to choose between one or the other this year, but if I do, I choose both !"
• KIM GREEN (ANDRETTI GREEN): ".. It's going to be very competitive and a lot of hard work, and we're going to have our work cut out for us to try to win the championship. But, we're capable of getting it done"
• KANAAN (ANDRETTI GREEN): ".. I think we all learned a lot from being in the middle of the championship battle last year and I'm sure this year will be just as tight. We want to make sure we're there at the end, so the first step is to go out and run well in Miami .."
• HORNISH JR. (PENSKE): "... Team Penske has so much tradition and heritage that it's kind of tough to come in here and know what to expect but I knew what to expect on track – they've got the best-prepared cars and everything you need .."

DIXON LEADS PRE SEASON TESTING (FEB 2004)

• Reigning Indycar champion Scott Dixon set the fastest time during final pre season test at Phoenix.
  DIXON (GANASSI): "... There's still a lot of work to do. I think you'll see the same teams, cars and drivers pretty much at the front again .."
• COMBINED TEST TIMES:
• 1. Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Toyota G-Force 20.143s 178.715 mph
• 2. Sam Hornish Jr. Team Penske Toyota Dallara +0.056s 178.224 mph
• 3. Helio Castroneves Team Penske Toyota Dallara +0.153s 177.367mph
• 4. Dario Franchitti Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara +0.208s
• 5. Dan Wheldon Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara +0.268s
• 6. Bryan Herta Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara +0.28s
• 7. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara
• 8. Tomas Scheckter Panther Racing Chevrolet Dallara
• 9. Greg Ray Access Motorsports Honda G-Force
• 10. Darren Manning Chip Ganassi Racing Toyota G-Force
• 11. Alex Barron 12. Buddy Rice 13. Ed Carpenter 14. Mark Taylor 15. Scott Sharp 16. A.J. Foyt IV A.J. 17. Kosuke Matsuura 18. Tora Takagi 19. Robbie Buhl

DRIVERS CHANGES IN 2004:

• FERNANDEZ JOINS INDYCAR
• 39 year old veteran Champcar will race from round 2. He will race alongside Kosuke Matsuura in Super Aguri Fernandez Racing team with Panoz G Force/Honda package. Fernandez has 8 career wins and was the only owner driver in Champcar series.
• HORNISH JOINS PENSKE
• Dual IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr. leaves Panther to join the Penske Racing.
• DE FERRAN RETIRES
  2003 Indy 500 winner and dual Champcar (CART) champion Gil De Ferran retired at season end.
  DE FERRAN: " .. This has been a very difficult and emotional decision because racing is all I've known since I was a teenager ... After the Indy 500 and approaching mid-season, I thought it was important to make the call whether to continue or not ... It would not be fair to the team and our sponsors to wait until the end of the season because the best drivers make their choices between June and August and I wanted to give the team the opportunity to choose the best driver for next season .. driving will no longer be the main focus of my life. I have a lot of experience developing cars, shocks, tires and engines and I feel I'll be able to make good use of that experience and my business relationships in the future.."
• SCHEKTER JOINS PANTHER
• Tomas Schekter will move from Ganassi Rcaing to fill the vacant spot left by Hornish Jr in Panther Racing.
• INDYCAR DEBUT (Taylor, Matsuura, Carpenter)
• Mark Taylor - 2003 Infiniti Pro champion joins Panther Racing
• Kosuke Matsuura
• FRANCHITTI BACK
• Dario Franchitti who missed 2nd half of last season due to off track injury has returned to racing with Andretti Green team.
• MANNING JOINS GANASSI
• British driver Darren Manning joins Chip Ganassi team from Champcar (he finished 9th in 2003)
• KENNY BRACK RECOVERING - RICE TO FILL IN
  Kenny Brack will is expected to miss first part of the season, still recovering from his injury. He had a horrendous crash during the season finale race in Texas (Oct 12). His car disintegrated after flipping over and crashing into the retaining fence. He suffered serious injury (a fractured right femur, a fractured sternum and lumbar and fractures to both ankles) and underwent several surgery.
  BRACK: "... I still think that I'm very competitive on the track. You know, it's my life, basically. I just want to try to get back into that position. I wanted (to jump back into the car) yesterday. But I've got to wait until my bones are completely healed and I feel completely 100 percent healed. So, I'll wait. But, hopefully, it will happen soon ..."
  Buddy Rice will drive for Team Rahal in place of Brack ".. I know this is Kenny's ride and I'll gladly jump out when he is ready to go. But for now I'm pumped up about driving for Team Rahal.."
• DRIVERS ABSENT
  De Ferran (retirement), Al Unser Jr., Buddy Lazier, Felipe Giaffone, Jacques Lazier, Jimmy Kite, Airton Dare, Vitor Meira, Richie Hearn, Robby McGehee, Billy Boat

LAST SEASON (2003):

• DIXON WINS 2003 CHAMPIONSHIP
  23 year old New Zealander Scott Dixon won the Indycar championship beating 4 other contenders (Castroneves, De Ferran, Kannan and Hornish). Dixon won the New Zealand Formula Ford title (Class 1) at age 16 in 1996. Two years later he won the Australian Formula Holden title in 1998. He then moved to US and became Rookie of the year in Indy Lites. In 2000 he won the Indy Lite championship then moved up to CART (Champcar) series and finished Rookie of the year in 2001. After 2 years in CART he made his IndyCar debut this season with Chip Ganassi Toyota Racing team.
• TONY RENNA KILLED (OCT 22, 2003)
  In October last year 26 year old Tony Renna was killed on track shortly after joining the Ganassi Racing team. He crashed during testing at Indianapolis. He made his Indycar debut in 2002 with Kelley Racing and finished 7th in Indy 500 in 2003. Prior to Indycar he raced in Lindy Lights, Barber Dodge Pro series and British Formula 3.
  INDYCAR (T GEORGE): "... Tony Renna was a rising star in IndyCar racing. All of us involved in racing feel a great loss ... Our prayers and best wishes go out to his family, friends, team and fans.."