IndyCar News

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.

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.

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.

"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

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.

"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.

"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.

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.

"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.

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.

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].

Champ Car veteran Bryan Herta will make his Indy Racing League IndyCar Series debut on Saturday night for Michael Andretti's Andretti-Green stable at the fearsome Texas Motor Speedway.

"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.

Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport has been a fixture on the CART Champ Car schedule longer than any other temporary street circuit in the world, and the fans that have made Cleveland part of the racer's diet since 1982 got a chance to pick at CART's buffet Monday night.

Scotland's Ryan Dalziel claimed his first career Toyota Atlantic victory by eking out a 0.339secs advantage over fellow second-year competitor Kyle Krisiloff at the Milwaukee Mile Centennial 250 presented by Miller Lite last night.

Puerto Rican driver Victor Gonzalez took pole position for Saturday's Barber Dodge Pro Series Race at the Milwaukee Mile after recording a lap of 29.706secs around the 1.032mile oval.

Officials from Wisconsin State Fair Park and CART Champ Car have confirmed a new three-year operating agreement that will see the Bridgestone and Ford-backed series continue to race its 750hp Champ Cars at the historic Milwaukee Mile on its traditional date through to at least the 2006 racing sea

After a seven-week hiatus, the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship returns to action this weekend at the historic Milwaukee Mile for round three of the twelve-race 2003 schedule -, the Milwaukee Mile Centennial 250 presented by Miller Lite.

Doug Hardwick, the vent man for Shinji Nakano's #54 Beard Papa's Dallara-Honda, has been released in good condition from Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis following an incident during yesterday's Indy 500.

Buddy Rice led the Chevrolet engine to its best finish in the 87th Indianapolis 500 when he drove the #52 Red Bull Cheever Racing car to eleventh place in Sunday's big race.

American chassis manufacturer Panoz G-Force clinched its third Indianapolis 500 victory, with Gil de Ferran taking the win for the Penske team - which also ran a rival Dallara chassis for double-winner Helio Castroneves.