Champ Car World Series--Nothing (and everything) to prove

For many, Sebastien Bourdais' astounding Champ Car World Series statistics always will be accompanied by an unwritten asterisk: He dominated the series, but he did it against a diminished field. Had CART and the Indy Racing League not split, the argument goes, Bourdais would not have won four straight championships and 31 races in just 73 starts and led 2103 laps of a possible 6905.

There's no argument that Bourdais ran over the competition again this year, with eight wins in 14 races. He heads to Formula One in 2008, where he will drive for Scuderia Toro Rosso.

With just one win, RuSport's Justin Wilson was second in the standings, finishing strong despite the knowledge that RuSport would fold at season's end and he'd be looking for a ride. Third was Minardi's Robert Doornbos, the ex-F1 driver who took rookie-of-the-year honors and two wins. Fourth was Team Australia's Will Power, whose two wins do not suggest just how strong his team was at times.

The year was bizarre, on and off the track. The heralded season opener in Las Vegas, proclaimed a success by almost everyone involved, has been scratched after promoter trouble. The season-ending street race in Phoenix (promoted by the same people as Las Vegas) was canceled. So was China. The last U.S. Champ Car race of the 2007 season was at Road America in August, so for many--certainly for the mainstream media--that was, effectively, the end of the season. It will be the same thing for 2008, when Road America runs on Aug. 10, though Champ Car keeps racing until the Mexico City finale three months later.

Near the end of this season, the trial of several former executives of the California high-tech company JDS Uniphase--sued by investors after company stock plummeted--hung over the series. The suit targeted series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven as a defendant and sought millions of dollars in damages. In November, the jury acquitted Kalkhoven and the other defendants on all counts.

The season had some bright spots. The new Panoz chassis was racy and reasonably reliable. The venerable turbocharged Cosworth engine is still fast and sounds good. The event crew, led by race director Tony Cotman, delivered professional, well-organized shows. The TV team was solid, hampered only by having to hopscotch networks and report the overseas races from a U.S. studio.


Bruno Junqueira's performance for underdog Coyne Racing was courageous. Rookie Graham Rahal, Bourdais' Newman-Haas-Lanigan teammate, drove beyond his age and experience. The surprise for many was Doornbos, who was fast, smart and funny and kept the priggish Bourdais on his toes. Simon Pagenaud, the 2006 Atlantic Series champ, brought his $2 million in prize money to Team Australia and finished eighth in points, showing that the ladder system works. Sometimes things were crazy, such as Paul Tracy's Cleveland win for Forsythe Racing after he hit everything but the trophy girl.

For 2008, the search is on for Bourdais' NHL replacement, with Wilson an early favorite. After closing RuSport, owner Dan Petit took a minority stake in Forsythe, now Forsythe-Petit, and Wilson also could end up there. By the time Champ Car opens its 2008 season, expect to see a field where at least half the drivers are new or are new to a team.

Regardless, there will be a new champion in 2008. As for the long-hoped-for merger of Champ Car and the IndyCar Series, it's awfully quiet out there.