Alex Figge's five-year tenure behind the wheel of a Pacific Coast Motorsports-prepared race car will come to an end next weekend when he is strapped into the #29 Panoz Champ Car for the final time.
Although the run may only be halted temporarily, it will still be a landmark moment as the 2008 Grand Prix of Long Beach goes down in history as the final race of Champ Car's 29-year existence following the recent merger of the CCWS and the IndyCar Series.
Figge formed PCM with Tyler Tadevic in late 2002 and drove for the California-based squad in the Atlantic Series in 2003 and 2004, taking his first professional victory at Monterrey in their second season together. The team changed direction after that and headed to sportscars, with Figge and Ryan Dalziel sharing the cockpit in the ALMS and Grand-Am in 2005 and 2006 respectively, earning podium finishes in both seasons.
Last season, the pair debuted in the Champ Car World Series with the new Panoz DP01 but, with the championship being absorbed by the IRL for 2008 - and the team failing to put together a package to switch series - Figge is facing up to one last race as a Champ Car driver.
"Obviously, things didn't end up the way that PCM and I thought - and hoped - they would,” the 27-year old admitted, "After [testing at] Sebring in January, I was really excited and extremely positive about the upcoming Champ Car season. I think both PCM and I learned a lot in '07 and made huge strides for '08, so I was looking forward to a new experience with my engineer Chris Lurch - who was really tuned in to the Panoz and helped me a lot at Sebring - and Mike Zimicki, who I just started working with as a coach and who has a great resume all over the industry.
"My feelings on Long Beach are bitter sweet. It's my favourite race of the season but, in this case, also the final race for me and a team that I think was ready to surprise a lot of people this year. Tyler, Michael and Roy did an amazing job rebuilding after what was a very difficult rookie season.
