CART SUFFERS SERIOUS BLOW.Byline: BILL SCHLOTTER Motor Sports The FedEx Championship Auto Racing Teams series will survive and race again next season. The world will continue to turn, the sun and moon will rise and set. But Tuesday's long-expected announcement that Alex Zanardi will leave the series next season to return to Formula One racing This article focuses on a specific subtopic of Formula One. A Formula One race takes place over an entire weekend, with two free practice sessions on Friday, a practice session and a qualifying session on Saturday, and the race on Sunday. was not good news for open-wheel racing in America. Just three years after losing its premier event, the Indianapolis 500, the CART series has lost Zanardi, its two-time champion and reigning star. And with the pending retirement of Bobby Rahal and the recent sub-championship performances of former stars Michael Andretti and Al Unser Jr., CART is left a tour much in need of an identity. Sure, there are some fine racers out there. Zanardi's teammate Jimmy Vasser is a proven winner. Andretti still runs at the front on occasion. And young drivers like Greg Moore, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta might become dominating champions and household names. But mention the names of most CART drivers to any but diehard fans and prepare for blank stares.``Mauricio who? Gil de where?'' They know the cars, but they can't put a face on the guys who drive them. In his three short years on the circuit, the 31-year-old Zanardi was becoming the answer to that marketing dilemma. With his aggressive - reckless at times - style and his flamboyant postvictory doughnuts, Zanardi and his red Target racer gave the tour its identity. CART will miss him far more than he will miss it. And as NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. tightens its grip on the mantle as America's No. 1 racing tour, CART, once the most recognized racing tour in the world, desperately needs a new star and a quick return to the fading limelight still generated by the Indianapolis 500. U.S. Grand Prix in Indy? Broadcast and published reports from Indianapolis claim the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana (a separate town completely surrounded by Indianapolis) in the United States, is the second-oldest is close to a deal to bring Formula One racing back to the United States, possibly by September 2000. Thursday's Indianapolis Star, citing an unnamed source close to the negotiations, said the Speedway and Formula One have a spoken agreement to stage the U.S. Grand Prix in September 2000 on a new $15 million 2.5-mile road course to be built for the event. The Speedway is also required to post $10 million to host the event, the Star reported. The last Formula One event held in the U.S. was in Phoenix in 1991. Formula for drama: Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher are tied for the Formula One points lead heading into Sunday's Luxembourg Grand Prix The FIA rulings for Formula One stipulate that no country be allowed more than one race. However the FIA have got around this ruling in the past by having Grands Prix under another name. And so it was that the Luxembourg Grand Prix(Großer Preis von Luxemburg) came about. with only November's race in Japan remaining. Although both drivers have 80 points, Hakkinen could wrap up his first tour title with a win Sunday while scenarios resulting in Schumacher's third championship can't play out until Japan. To take the title, Hakkinen must finish first and hope Schumacher winds up short of the top six point positions. A Schumacher win would leave him short of clinching the title regardless of Hakkinen's finish since Hakkinen has a tiebreaker tie·break·er n. An additional contest or period of play designed to establish a winner among tied contestants. Also called tiebreak. tie advantage in having finished second twice this season to Schumacher's once. Both drivers have six wins. COMING UP NASCAR WINSTON CUP Sunday - NAPA AutoCare 500, Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va. NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK Saturday - NAPA 250, Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va. FORMULA ONE Sunday - Luxembourg Grand Prix, Nuerburgring, Germany. LOCAL Glen Helen Raceway (San Bernardino) - Sunday: SRA SrA abbr. senior airman grand prix. Mesa Marin Raceway Mesa Marin Raceway was a high banked half mile racetrack in Bakersfield, California that was demolished following the 2005 racing season to make way for housing developments in the foothills of northeast Bakersfield. (Bakersfield) - This week: Off. Perris Auto Speedway - Saturday and Sunday: Oval nationals. Ventura Raceway - Saturday: IMCA IMCA International Motor Contest Association (Vinton, Iowa) IMCA Investment Management Consultants Association IMCA International Marine Contractors Association IMCA Instituto de Matematica y Ciencias Afines (Spanish) sprint cars, IMCA modifieds, VRA VRA Visual Resources Association VRA Voting Rights Act of 1965 VRA Volta River Authority VRA Veterans Recruitment Appointment VRA Virginia Recycling Association VRA Volunteer Rescue Association ( Australia) VRA Voice Risk Analysis street stocks, I-4, go-karts. Willow Springs Raceway Willow Springs International Motorsports Park is located near Rosamond and Lancaster, California, and is about an hour north of Los Angeles. It is a historic race track, in existence more than fifty years, with the first race in 1953. The main track is a challenging 2. (Rosamond) - Saturday-Sunday: Porsche Club of America The Porsche Club of America is an organization of Porsche enthusiasts in the United States and Canada. It is organized into 139 regions, which are grouped into 13 zones. The PCA, as it is known, conducts Porsche-related events including club racing, rallying, driver's education, Racing Series. Sunday: Gold Coast Karters Club. CAPTION(S): Box Box: COMING UP (See Text) |
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