IndyCar News

Newman-Haas Racing's Sebastien Bourdais will carry McDonald's sponsorship for three races this year thanks to a tie in with co-owner Paul Newman that sees the world famous golden arches return to the Champ Car World Series for the first time since 1999.

Midget racing veteran Sarah McCune completed 155 laps in an IRL Infiniti Pro Series car last weekend during testing for Sam Schmidt Motorsports at Kentucky Speedway, posting an unofficial fastest lap above 185mph.

Lynx Racing's Michael Valiante is trying hard to maintain focus on his current Toyota Atlantic program even though his recent development deal with Walker Racing should see him in a fully blown Champ Car next season.

"It was a great run for us. The folks at GMAC and AOL have been looking for a good run since Indy. This is our chance to shine. Chevy shines on the short tracks. I come from a short-track background, and engineer Mark Weida and I have a good rapport together.

Scott Dixon won the MBNA Pole for the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway, enduring a one-hour rain delay before making his qualifying run.

Greystone Multi-Family Builders Inc., one of the premier apartment builders in the United States, will serve as an associate sponsor of AFS Racing, Inc. through the 2004 IRL Infiniti Pro Series season, team officials announced earlier this week.

"I see this series growing. We've had so much interest. I think that next year you're going to see a lot more cars. You know, at Indianapolis this year I think they had 20 or 21 cars compete. I'm sure that the economy right now has a lot of affect on what's going on.

In keeping with the difficulties already experienced at last weekend's GI Joe's 200 in Portland, the Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing entry developed a gearbox problem at the start of the race, bringing about an early retirement for driver Tiago Monteiro.

As the owner of the largest Indy Racing League IndyCar Series points lead since October 2001, Team 7-Eleven driver Tony Kanaan doesn't appear to need too much help with his 2003 effort.

Adrian Fernandez claimed his eighth, but perhaps most emotional Champ Car career win on Sunday with a victory in the G.I. Joe's 200 at Portland International Raceway, closing the book on a tough two years marked by personal injuries and collective teething troubles.

The fourth round of the 2003 Toyota Atlantic championship at Laguna Seca last weekend was not kind to Lynx Racing, who watched new signing Bryan Sellers have his race ruined on the first lap and the seriously poorly Michael Valiante fail to take the start.

Team Rahal's Argent Mortgage sponsored Toyota Atlantic Championship contender Danica Patrick was involved in a first lap scrum that left the #24 Argent car badly damaged and out of the running in Saturday's race at Laguna Seca.

English CART rookie Darren Manning was handed a boost on Friday with the news that international bearing manufacturer and loyal motor-racing sponsor NTN had signed on to become an associate backer for Manning's #15 Walker Racing Reynard-Ford.

"It's really great to be on pole here because with Western Union being based in Denver, this is sort of like a home race. When all of them come to the track tomorrow, they're going to be excited to see us up front." - Jeff Simmons

In what many CART fans hope will be the last move in a rather disjointed month at Dale Coyne Racing, former Indy Lights race winner Geoff Boss has signed to drive the team's #11 Lola-Ford, starting this weekend at Laguna Seca and continuing (hopefully) for the remainder of the season.

"The last two years, obviously, were really difficult for me, not being able to race and after winning the two championships and then doing the Indy Lights season with Team Green, which didn't go as well as I had hoped.

"Since we crashed at Indy, we have gotten a new car, and everything within the setup is pretty close to the same as it was before Indy. It is a cool track, a pretty fast mile oval. After the accident, we are just trying to get back in it. I'm not really worried about the championship right now.

"Qualifying well is a big factor at Laguna because there aren't a lot of passing opportunities during the race. Pit strategy comes into play quite a bit.

It was hard to find a person at Texas Motor Speedway who wasn't happy to see Al Unser Jr drive his Kelley Racing Dallara-Toyota into victory lane at the Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Tora Takagi finished an IRL career-best third in Saturday night's Bombardier 500k for Mo Nunn Racing and the #12 Pioneer team. However his first IRL podium didn't come without controversy after he nudged teammate Felipe Giaffone and Scott Sharp into the wall less than ten laps from home.

Brazilian Airton Dare is in a stable condition in a Dallas hospital after breaking his right leg and arm in a practice accident on Thursday at the Texas Motor Speedway. Team Owner AJ Foyt has tabbed former Team Menard driver Jaques Lazier as a replacement.

Former IRL series Rookie of the Year Airton Dare has been confirmed to will drive an AJ Foyt Racing entry in the Bombardier 500 at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend [7 June].

Racing legends Mario Andretti and CART Champ Car co-founder UE 'Pat' Patrick will relinquish their positions as members of the Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc board of directors next month, although both plan to stay involved in the sport they have helped define for five decades.

"I'm excited about getting back into the regular race weekend rhythm. After missing Texas and Colorado last year, it will be great to get both of the Texas races back under my belt again since we have support from AOL and GMAC to get us through the 2003 season.