Kanaan Takes Phoenix

The rumors surrounding Team Rahal's defection to the IRL from the newly reorganized Champ Car World Series had some teeth to them. Bobby Rahal's Team Rahal, co-owned by famous talk show host David Letterman, has ceased all operations of its Champ Car program.

Team Rahal will be running the remaining races left on the circuit with two teams, beginning with the IRL Series third race at Montegi, Japan. Buddy Rice is piloting the present IRL entry for Team Rahal, subbing for the injured Kenny Brack. The driver and primary sponsor for the upcoming second IRL Team Rahal entry will be announced soon.

Rahal's primary Champ Car sponsor, Mexican department store chain Gigante, and driver Michel Jordain will not be making the move to the IRL. Apparently Gigante wouldn't go along with Rahal's desired move to the IRL, so he decided that he'd move without them and hunt another sponsor for his second entry. As I stated in a previous article, the Champ Car Series has a race in Mexico, and the IL doesn't.

With Team Rahal's recent defection, and the defection of Adrian Fernandez, the Champ Car Series is now down to eleven entries. With such a limited field, insiders have speculated that the proposed series opener at Long Beach, CC on April 17th may not get off of the ground.

The Indy 500 is gaining entries as the days and weeks wane into the early spring. With only a month left before the month long preparations for the event get started, more drivers are lining up. Al Unser Jr. is planning returning to the IRL for the event, along with Kenny Brack. Unser will pilot a Chevrolet powered Dallara chassis for Patrick Racing, owned by industrialist U. E. Patrick. Unser has been in rehabilitation after getting hurt in an ATV accident.

We all know about the terrible accident that ended the IRL season at the Texas facility when Kenny Brack's car flew into the fencing and disintegrated onto the race track. Brack was at the Phoenix race and visited with his old race team and Tem Rahal substitute driver Buddy Rice. Team Rahal's owner Bobby Rahal was planning on fielding a third team for the Indy 500, but hasn't named a driver or sponsor for the team. If Brack comes back, it may be he who ends up in the third ride. I'm sure that a firm decision will be forth coming in the next few days.

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