Champ Car Picks Up The Pace With Superspeedway Battle in Las Vegas Motor
Speedway
INDIANAPOLIS (September 2, 2005) -- Champ Car drivers are well-known
throughout the racing world as some of the most versatile in the sport,
due to the fact that they must master many different types of courses in
their quest to claim the prestigious Vanderbilt Cup.
The next stop on the 2005 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series
Powered by Ford schedule is another example of this as the stars and cars
of the series will tackle the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval
September 23-24.
The superspeedway played host to the Champ Cars a year ago and provided a
setting for one of the most thrilling races of the season as Sebastien
Bourdais (#1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) nipped
Newman/Haas Racing teammate Bruno Junqueira by 0.066 seconds to take the
win. This year's event will be the final U.S race for the Champ
Cars as the battle for championship reaches the final stretch.
The high-banked Vegas oval continues a long-standing tradition in Champ
Car annals, ensuring that series champions not only have the skills to
deal with the technical street and road courses, but also the fortitude
to handle a night full of 205 mph wheel-to-wheel laps. Last year's
Vegas race winner and series champion Bourdais followed in the footsteps
of Alex Zanardi, Jimmy Vasser (#12 Gulfstream
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) and Nigel Mansell as champions who used
superspeedway wins as part of their march to the title.
The Champ Cars made their maiden visit to LVMS last season and put on a
strong show for the crowd that had gathered to watch the Champ Car/NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series doubleheader. The race featured five different
leaders and 13 lead changes -- including a heart-stopping six swaps
in the final nine laps as Bourdais and Junqueira tested each
other's will with each orbit of the oval.
"I think just going to Vegas in general is always good. It's good
for the series, good for the fans, good for the drivers," said
Montreal winner Oriol Servia (#2 PacifiCare
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone). "It's just a very different race
in a very cool city. The event, it's always good fun. I know it's an
important race for PacifiCare also. Last year they put a great show,
Sebastien and Bruno. I hope this year we can do the same. Maybe we
could reverse the order and would be welcome for all of us."
This year will be no different as the Champ Cars will again team with the
NASCAR trucks in a Saturday night showdown under the lights. The trucks
will kick off the show with a 6:15 start, to be followed by the 750 hp
turbocharged fury of the Champ Car World Series. Fans can get tickets for
the weekend's Double Down In The Desert event by logging on to
www.champcar.ws or www.lvms.com. Champ Car fans can purchase a special
ticket package available at the LVMS website which includes a seat in the
Earnhardt Terrace overlooking the exit of Turn Four as well as a paddock
pass for Saturday's race.
-ccws-
