The 2005 Champ Car World Series will feature one of its strongest and most talented driver lineups in many years when the new season kicks off this weekend in Long Beach.

This year's campaign features four drivers that have captured Champ Car titles in their illustrious careers, one of which has four Long Beach wins under his belt, along with three former Long Beach pole sitters. But the battle for Long Beach won't be determined just among those drivers with championship pedigrees as the 2005 Champ Car lineup features a number of drivers and teams that will figure prominently in how the weekend – and the championship – is decided.

The battle for the title usually begins with the guy that holds the crown, but on the 1.968-mile Long Beach street course, any quest for victory has to go through the pit of Forysthe Racing star Paul Tracy. The series active leader in victories (28), poles (22), laps led (3,672) and starts (223), Tracy is the two-time defending winner at Long Beach and has four total Long Beach victories on his resume, second only to Al Unser Jr.'s six. Tracy stormed to the front on the first lap in 2004, using the push-to-pass feature on his Ford-Cosworth XFE engine to move up from his third-place starting spot, and led 78 of the day's 81 laps to score the win.

One of the two men that Tracy passed on that opening-lap move would shake off the effects of pass and go on to put together one of the strongest seasons ever by a second-year driver en route to the 2004 Champ Car title. Newman Haas driver Sebastien Bourdais carries the Vanderbilt Cup to Long Beach after a year that saw him win six races and seven poles. He earned his first Long Beach podium a year ago with a third-place run and began a remarkable qualifying string that saw him start in the top-three spots in every race in the 2004 season. He has started in the first two rows in each of the last 18 races and has gridded in the top-five in both of his previous Long Beach starts.

Last year's polesitter also has a strong streak going, but Bruno Junqueira's string is based on finishes instead of starts. The fifth-year Champ Car pilot – and teammate to defending champion Bourdais - brings a streak of six consecutive podium finishes to Long Beach. The Newman/Haas Racing driver could become the eleventh driver in series history to score seven straight trips to the podium if he can reprise his second-place Long Beach finish from a year ago.

Possibly the most impressive streak of all comes to Long Beach courtesy of another former series champion. PKV Racing's Jimmy Vasser will look to make his 198th consecutive Champ Car start when the green flag drops at Long Beach, extending the longest such run in series history. The 1996 Long Beach winner, Vasser had an uncharacteristic off day in SoCal last year when his 16th-place finish snapped a streak of eight consecutive top-10 Long Beach runs.

Vasser will partner with the other former series champ in 2005 as PKV racing looks for its first series victory. Cristiano da Matta makes his return to Champ Car racing after two seasons in Formula 1, and comes back to a Long Beach course that saw him start on the front row and lead 30 laps in 2002. The popular Brazilian has four previous Long Beach starts to his credit with a podium finish coming in 2001.

Changes have abounded in the Champ Car paddock during the offseason with some teams still considering last-minute changes even as the transporters roll for the opener. But some of the teams have had their programs in place despite making changes and expect to make a lot of noise once the engines fire for Friday's first practice. One of those teams is the Colorado-based RuSPORT squad, who will field a pair of sophomore shoes in its quest for a maiden Champ Car victory.

Reigning Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year, and Crash.net columnist, AJ Allmendinger and the man that finished second in the rookie chase Justin Wilson will carry the RuSPORT banner into Long Beach as they head into their second seasons. Allmendinger made his series debut at Long Beach a year ago, but knows the way to Victory Lane after winning the 2003 Toyota Atlantic event on the SoCal streets. Wilson made a stirring debut a year ago, coming from eleventh on the grid to place sixth, the highest finish for a driver making his Champ Car debut in 2004.