NEWMAN ADDS TO CONFUSION.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

A few weeks ago, actor Paul Newman, the quiet co-owner of Newman-Haas Racing, released a statement describing his team's commitment to the Champ Car World Series, which opens its season this weekend with the 30th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

``Any rumor that Newman-Haas Racing is leaving the Champ Car World Series is a figment of somebody's imagination,'' Newman said in the statement. ``We remain committed to the series and are looking forward to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach season-opener on April 18.''

This was promptly followed by another team announcement describing Newman-Haas Racing's entry in the Indianapolis 500, the premier race of the rival Indy Racing League.

Thus is the state of open-wheel racing in America. The casual race fan has trouble distinguishing between the two leagues and with teams such as Newman-Haas Racing running all of one season and entering only one race in the other, it only adds to the confusion.

At least team owners Bobby Rahal and U.E. ``Pat'' Patrick have taken some of the confusion, and cars, out of the equation. Adrian Fernandez, a driver and team owner, also made the jump from Champ Cars to the IRL.

In a growing trend, several of the mainstays of the old Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), which used to run the Champ Car World Series, have made the switch to the Indy Racing League. Rahal, Fernandez and Patrick are the latest.

Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi and Morris Nunn, once committed owners in CART, have moved their teams to the IRL in recent years.

Rahal has been fielding teams in both series for a little more than a year, but decided recently to focus his efforts in the IRL. Fernandez switched leagues and entered his first IRL race at Phoenix. He is in Japan for the IRL race at Twin Ring Motegi.

Carl Haas and Newman, the owners of Newman-Haas Racing, appear to be leaning toward the IRL now, too. Even though the usually quiet and media-dodging Newman released a statement confirming his commitment to the Champ Car Series, his team's entry in the Indianapolis 500 would lead to the contrary.

Plus it shows the importance of racing in the Indianapolis 500, which apparently carries more prestige than all the Champ Car races combined.

For Newman-Haas drivers Bruno Junqueira and Sebastian Bourdais, it has been a tumultuous offseason. For a time, it looked like a custody battle would take place as court battles ensued over the assets of CART. A bankruptcy judge ruled in favor of three owners from the Champ Car World Series and turned over select CART assets so the series would continue. The lone challenge came from Tony George, president of the IRL.

But even after the legal battles were settled, the Champ Car World Series began laboring over schedules, car counts and desertions.

Races in St. Petersburg, Fla., Miami and Fontana were removed from the schedule. The series barely made the minimum car count, 18, for the Grand Prix of Long Beach. The 18th car and driver were announced last week.

And of course there were the defections of Rahal, Fernandez and Patrick.

``It's been a very long winter,'' said Bourdais, the driver from France who won three races in his rookie season for Newman-Haas Racing. ``All in all, the changes are for the good. I'm glad we're back on the scene, ready to race and stop talking.''

Publicly, the teams and drivers racing this weekend have shown their faith in the new Champ Car owners. Not that they have much choice.

At least for Junqueira and Bourdais, there might be an option outside of the Champ Car World Series. But the other drivers in the series might not be so lucky. For the other 16 drivers in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Champ Car World Series is the best chance they have to race in a top series.

``It's been a different experience,'' said Junqueira, the Brazilian driver who was runner-up in the Champ Car Series championship for the second year in a row. ``This has never happened to me before. It's kind of a little bit frustrating. As a driver, you can't do nothing. It makes no difference. All I can do is pray everything is going to be good.''

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