CART NOTEBOOK: TIRE FIRM STEPS IN AS SERIES SPONSOR.

Byline: A.J. Perez Staff Writer

FONTANA - When CART returns to Long Beach for the 29th running of the Toyota Grand Prix in April, not only will half the drivers be new, but the name of the open-wheel racing series will have a different look to it.

In a news conference Saturday at California Speedway as part of The 500, CART CEO Chris Pook announced Bridgestone will become the series' first presenting sponsor. The series will be known, for the moment at least, as ``Bridgestone presents the CART Championship Series.''

``This is a significant development for us,'' Pook said. ``I mean, I've talked about stability all year long and the importance to have stability. ... I think this is a very significant building block.''

FedEx's four-year relationship as CART's series sponsor ends at the end of the season. FedEx will follow drivers such as Michael Andretti and the pole-sitter for today's race, Tony Kanaan, and sponsors such as Target, KOOL, Shell and Motorola out of the series.

The FedEx deal meant $1.5 million a year to CART, but the shipping company provided no national advertising for the series this year.

Pook and Bridgestone/Firestone Motorsport director Al Speyer said the sponsorship runs for a year. Pook said as presenting sponsor Bridgestone ``clearly is not going to be required to invest in fees into the series as a title sponsor would.''

Both refused to disclose how much the deal was worth to CART, but there is much more in the agreement than just money heading the series' way. Bridgestone - CART's exclusive tire supplier - will provide national television and print advertising along with in-store promotions at the tire-maker's retail outlets, according to Speyer.

CART is chasing Ford as a series sponsor to replace FedEx. Pook refused to comment on how the negotiations are going or whether an announcement was imminent.

Speyer said after the news conference CART told him there is a possibility Ford will come on board, which would make for an interesting situation. A major rift was created when Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone blamed each other for rollovers that led to 271 deaths and more than 800 injuries in Ford Explorers, according to Reuters news service.

--Tagliani joins new team: Alex Tagliani will be part of a new team next season headed by Paul Gentilozzi of the Trans-Am Series, a CART official confirmed.

Tagliani, who qualified seventh for The 500 today at California Speedway, has raced the past three seasons with Players-Forsythe Racing. The 30-year-old Montreal native has one win, the 2001 Molson Indy Toronto, in his Champ Cars career.

Gentilozzi, 51, has raced in the Trans-Am Series - one of the support races at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach - since 1987 and owns several series records, including race starts (173), top-three finishes (55) and top-five finishes (86). He has also won the series championship three times.

The deal could be announced as soon as today.