OWRS bankruptcy and unification Champ Car

sébastien bourdais car in 2007.

in 2007, withdrawal of bridgestone , ford motor company presenting sponsors, official name of top-tier series promoted champ car became champ car world series. rumors , accounts of financial troubles, reported respected motor sports reporters, plagued series during 2007.

by late 2007, clear ccws lacked resources mount season. several races in 2007 season canceled before held, , in fact, ccws never had season ran every scheduled race. rumors , press reports of financial situation of series common, , complicated future plans.

in february 2008, ccws board of managers authorized bankruptcy, filed on february 14, 2008. on february 22, 2008, agreement in principle reached , signed merged champ car series irl. memorandum sold ccws sanctioning contracts (notably long beach) , intangible assets, along champ car mobile medical unit, irl $6 million. document included non-compete agreement forsythe , kalkhoven in exchange $2 million each, provided paid bills long beach race 2008 , support irl.

the assets of ccws sold @ auction on june 3, 2008. league had officially folded.

in agreement, irl became owner of cart , ccws material , history, cart history became part of aaa-usac-irl history. therefore, indycar events held @ traditional ccws venues (such edmonton) not inaugural events, despite press promotions contrary.

the irl picked edmonton , surfer s paradise races 2008, , revived toronto race 2009 season, albeit under different promoters.

newman/haas racing, dale coyne racing, conquest racing, hvm racing (without minardi), , pacific coast motorsports transitioned indycar series in 2008 season. pkv racing became kv racing technology, took team australia sponsorship walker racing. failing make transition forsythe racing, walker racing (except joint program vision racing @ edmonton run paul tracy), , rocketsports.

the first merged event gainsco auto insurance indy 300 homestead-miami speedway on march 29, 2008.

on april 8, 2008, in first merged indycar series event, graham rahal drove newman/haas racing entry victory in grand prix of st. petersburg, marking first win merged team.

due scheduling conflict indycar series motegi event, long beach race held on april 20, 2008 irl points-paying event using ccws-spec panoz dp01 cars, , contested entirely ccws teams. merged series share name indycar.